hbo@hub.ucsb.edu (Howard Owen) (12/19/88)
I always thought that the arcade version of Dragon's Lair was a waste of
money. It had something to do with the arbitrary nature of the puzzles. Why
pour quarters into a machine simply to figure out which way to pull the
joystick or when to push the fire button? Besides, the real appeal of the
game was the graphics, and finding out what came next, both of which you could
get watching some puerile youth feed the game with his parent's hard earned
copper-nickel alloy. It therefore came as quite a suprise to hear an irres-
istible siren's song emanating from a copy of "Don Bluth Dragon's Lair" on the
shelf of my local Software Etc. store. "I have insanely great graaaphics" sang
the software. "Quiet!" I retorted, "You take over the machine and won't work
with my hard disk." "I have a hi-res mode that will knock your sooocks off"
sang the software. "Get thee behind me!" I commanded, "You are too expensive."
I'm discounted a whole entire 5 perceeent" sang the software. "I'll take it!"
I said in abject surrender. So what if I hadn't got any Christmas shopping in?
Getting the game home, I proceeded to fire it up. Dragon's Lair comes on
six floppy disks, accompanied by a little two page instruction sheet. Start-
ing up is simple: put disk one in DF0: and boot away. The instructions state
that "The game will recognize as many disks as are connected." I was a little
worried that this would not extend to the external floppy on my A2000. Amiga-
DOS configures this drive as DF2:. Since I don't have an internal DF1:, I
thought this might give Dragon's Lair some problems. Fortunately though, the
game had no problem with my configuration. Perhaps that is one slight benefit
of dropping the supplied DOS in favor of a custom loader. One big drawback to
this is the impossibility of loading the game on a hard disk. Readysoft says
they "support" the Comspec SCSI controller and drive, but you need to give
the game a dedicated partition of ten megs! This requires reformatting the disk
to load the game. Not my idea of support! Speaking of the loader, though, it
is quite fast, although I can't help wondering how much slower it might be than
FFS on my A2090. Yes, I know most people have only floppies, but still.
In any event, it wasn't long before I was watching Dirk the Daring glance
suspiciously to his right and left. As he turned to stride purposfully toward
the castle gate, I was feeling a trifle overwhelmed. There were too many
astonishing elements in the scene that was unfolding in front of my eyes. The
animation was smooth and realistic. The scene appeared crisp, with a minimum
of "jaggies." The image filled the entire screen from top to bottom. This game
was done in overscan! Pressing the "H" key yielded another suprise. The digital
soundtrack fell silent, and the screen shrank to about a quarter of its
original size. in this smaller area, an image sharper and clearer than any I
had ever seen on my Amiga before appeared! A bare trace of flicker betrayed the
use of interlace in the ultra high resolution display. I sat back and cheered!
As a result, I was eaten by the slimy monster at the bottom of the castle's
moat. A trivial price to pay for the privilege!
After getting over my initial astonishment at the sheer technical artistry
of Dragon's Lair, I settled in to enjoy the game. As in the original version,
the controls are trivially simple. The four "cardinal" directions on the joy-
stick, and the fire button are the only options for control. The key to the
game is knowing WHEN to push the appropriate widget. Since I hadn't given in to
the urge to fill the arcade version with quarters, I never memorized the
sequences needed to get through the various screens. This left me in a neophyte
adventurer's position with regard to the Amiga version. I found that at first,
the wait for disk loading was tolerable. As I progressed beyond the first few
screens, however, I found myself becoming more and more impatient for the next
scene (which I had seen before) to load. Another feature which I sorely missed
was a pause button. I KNOW it wasn't present in the arcade version, but this is
HOME computer software. Come on, guys! Other than that, I found myself experi-
encing a profound sense of deja vu. This IS Dragon's Lair, digitized frame-by-
frame from the original. It has all the strengths, and all the weaknesses of
the arcade version. If (like me) you were annoyed by the shallow and arbitrary
nature of the puzzles in the original, so will you be with the Amiga version.
If you were blown away by the graphics and smooth animation in the arcade, you
will be when you see it on your Amiga's screen, too.
In summary, I give Dragon's Lair a ten out of ten for artistry and technical
excellence, and a five out of ten for game play. I won't take off technical
points for taking over the machine, because I believe this is a rare instance
where such measures are justified. As long as the disk loader was needed in
order to support the data compression schemes, then I'm even willing to accept
floppy swapping and lack of hard disk support. I do NOT consider the zany
scheme with Comspec's hard disk to be "support!" Overall, I'd say this game
belongs in every Amiga user's library, if only to show our less fortunate
computer bretheren what they are missing!
The preceding article is Copyright, 1988 by Howard Owen.
--
Howard Owen, Computer Systems Manager PHYSNET/HEPNET/SPAN: SBPHY::HBO
Physics Computer Services internet: hbo@nobbs.ucsb.edu
University of California, Santa Barbara bitnet: HBO@SBITP.BITNET PLink: HBO
"I am not a pay TV service!" BBS: "The Quirk" 805-967-9357 u-jmolse%sunset.utah.edu@wasatch.UUCP (John M. Olsen) (12/22/88)
The graphics for DL are quite astounding. My problem is in understanding why the writers decided to copy protect it so completely. From watching someone run all the way through to killing the dragon, I found nothing that could not have been done with a pile of artwork and the Director. I suppose that using a custom disk layout made it easier to load pictures and sounds quickly, but I still see that as no excuse for the unfriendliness of the game with relation to multitasking and hard disks. They will not get any of my money this time. /\/\ /| | /||| /\| | John M. Olsen, 1547 Jamestown Drive /\/\ \/\/ \|()|\|\_ |||.\/|/)@|\_ | Salt Lake City, UT 84121-2051 \/\/ /\/\ | u-jmolse%ug@cs.utah.edu or ...!utah-cs!utah-ug!u-jmolse /\/\ \/\/ "A full mailbox is a happy mailbox" \/\/
hbo@sbphy.ucsb.edu (Howard B. Owen) (12/22/88)
In article <822@wasatch.UUCP>, u-jmolse%sunset.utah.edu@wasatch.UUCP (John M. Olsen) writes... >I suppose that using a custom disk layout made it easier to load pictures >and sounds quickly, but I still see that as no excuse for the unfriendliness >of the game with relation to multitasking and hard disks. They will not >get any of my money this time. > The article in Amazing Computing implied that the custom loader was needed to support the compression scheme they used. If true, I see this as a valid excuse for trashing the operating system. Otherwise, the game wouldn't have been possible.
sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) (12/22/88)
In article <1062@hub.ucsb.edu> hbo@sbphy.ucsb.edu (Howard B. Owen) writes: [regarding Dragon's Lair] > The article in Amazing Computing implied that the custom loader was >needed to support the compression scheme they used. If true, I see this >as a valid excuse for trashing the operating system. Otherwise, the game >wouldn't have been possible. Wouldn't have been possible? Wouldn't have been *possible*? Could it be that their programmers were so bright they came up with a fantastic compression scheme, but they were so dull they couldn't figure out how to use expansion memory? Could it be they were so bright that they bypassed Amigados for rapid disk loading, but were so dull they couldn't make the disks "diskcopy"able? Who do they think they are fooling? That's what makes it *really* bad; their complete lack of faith in the consumer's intelligence. Sean -- *** Sean Casey sean@ms.uky.edu, sean@ukma.bitnet *** Who sometimes never learns. {backbone site|rutgers|uunet}!ukma!sean *** U of K, Lexington Kentucky, USA ..where Christian movies are banned. *** ``My name is father. You killed my die. Prepare to Inigo Montoya.''
karl@sugar.uu.net (Karl Lehenbauer) (12/22/88)
I haven't seem Dragon's Lair yet, but I assume it does long, contiguous track- by-track loads from the disk. With this sort of thing, one can achieve several times higher disk i/o performance than through the filesystem. This sort of thing is essential for DL. One person already was saying disk load times get annoying. As to whether a "regular" game boots in 35 seconds or a minute is not, in my opinion, so critical of an issue. It looks to me like DL had to be totally hacked up to get it to have even reasonable performance. From what I've heard it's astonishing, so what the hey. Do they support systems with scads of memory? My 5 MB system ought to be able to fit most of it in RAM. If not, too bad and this is part of the problem with games that take over the machine, they don't make use of extra resources on slicked-out machines. -- -- "We've been following your progress with considerable interest, not to say -- contempt." -- Zaphod Beeblebrox IV -- uunet!sugar!karl, Unix BBS (713) 438-5018
karl@sugar.uu.net (Karl Lehenbauer) (12/23/88)
OK, I bought DL and have been playing with it today. The wait while loading sequences is interminable. The graphics are the best ever. This game represents a revolutionary advance, with all the beauty and the flaws of the original. The hard disk support is absurd, as others have mentioned. You have to have a Comspec controller and a DL partition. That's a pretty narrow set of people. What's really absurd, though, is that DL doesn't support memory beyond 1 MB. So I'm sitting here with 5 MB of autoconfig RAM while the game grinds the disk reloading the first set of imagery of Dirk going across the drawbridge so we can play it again but reversed left to right. It should still be in RAM, dammit! There's almost enough there for the contents of all six disks. Also, once you've died three times you have to start all over from the beginning. I've gotten killed about twenty times trying to fight the snakes (somebody please email me what to do.) At the rate I'm going, I'm going to have to walk the drawbridge and refuse the poison about ten thousand times. -- -- "We've been following your progress with considerable interest, not to say -- contempt." -- Zaphod Beeblebrox IV -- uunet!sugar!karl, Unix BBS (713) 438-5018
armhold@topaz.rutgers.edu (George Armhold) (12/24/88)
Just read in Amazing Computing (December '88) that the 1000 is the only Amiga that will run Dragon's Lair with only 512k!! Apparently, the program uses the WCS where kickstart normally resides. The 2000 and 500 have ram chips instead of WCS, so they must have 1 meg. Finally! Something the 1000 can do that the others CAN'T! (I know, big deal...) Does this mean that DL must be loaded from a kickstart prompt or does it just overwrite WCS (WCS is 'write protected' though, isn't it??) -GEA
spierce@pnet01.cts.com (Stuart Pierce) (12/24/88)
I always thought Dragon's Lair was a mediocre arcade game with fabulous laserdisc graphics. The Amiga translation has been done well, but the graphics can't match the original, so that leaves you with a mediocre game with somewhat fabulous graphics. For those of you considering Dragon's Lair, I recommend Sword of Sodan by Discovery Software instead. 1) Sword of Sodan has much better graphics. 2) Sword of Sodan is more playable. You actually control the on-screen guy at all times. 3) Sword of is on 3 disks. Less disk swapping, and you play for a longer period of time before accessing the disk. 4) Sword of Sodan costs less, and it runs on a 512 KB Amiga. Both games have pretty simplistic play routines, but if you want a game to demo some impressive Amiga graphics for your friends, go for Sword of Sodan. Stuart Pierce
hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com (Harv Laser) (12/25/88)
I bought Dragon's Lair today ($46 at Creative Computers, Lawndale, CA).
<sigh><sigh><sigh>... got it home, shoved in disk 1, rebooted, and it
sat at the "visionary technologies" opening screen with df0:'s light
on forever. Rebooted.. same thing. Powered off, powered on, kickstarted,
shoved in disk 1 again... same thing. <sigh>
Back it goes on Monday for an exchange but FIRST I'm gonna try to
boot this bum copy on one of the dealer's machines. If it works, I'll
try one more new copy and if that doesn't work, it's refund time.
This is the FIRST piece of copy-protected brand new right out of the
box software that I've EVER had trouble with on my 3-year old A1000.
Happily, my dealer is huge, has a mountain of copies and is only 5
miles down the road... but I really feel for folks who buy all their
stuff mailorder (due to no dealers in their locale)
------
By the way, I also bought one of Dale's "Boing" mice (optical) today too.
Works great. But there was not one shread of paperwork in the box.
No manual (it doesn't really need one but....), no registration card,
no warranty card, nothing.
Harv Laser, Sysop, The People/Link AmigaZone. Plink: CBM*HARV
UUCP: {ames!elroy, <backbone>}!gryphon!pnet02!hrlaser
INET: hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com
<---open Push down while turning close tightly--->SAC.509LGX@e.isi.edu (02/19/89)
I am sure everyone has asked this question, BUT, at the risk of starting a flame, IS IT POSSIBLE TO MAKE A *BACK-UP* of DRAGON'S LAIR??? ALSO, (Forgive this) Ho can I get past the BATS??? Steve Brady
smsst5@cisunx.UUCP (Steve M Suhy) (02/20/89)
In article <9098@louie.udel.EDU>, SAC.509LGX@e.isi.edu writes: > > ALSO, (Forgive this) Ho can I get past the BATS??? > > Steve Brady To get past the bats, let Dirk walk the stone path until the stone further on down the path lights up. If you are traveling across the screen left to right, press [right] on the joystick. If you need anymore help, post it on the net and I'll reply. I figured it out in 3 days. -Steve
storbakken@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Steve Storbakken) (02/21/89)
In article <16005@cisunx.UUCP>, smsst5@cisunx.UUCP (Steve M Suhy) writes: > In article <9098@louie.udel.EDU>, SAC.509LGX@e.isi.edu writes: > > > > ALSO, (Forgive this) Ho can I get past the BATS??? > > > > Steve Brady > > To get past the bats, let Dirk walk the stone path until the stone > further on down the path lights up. If you are traveling across the > screen left to right, press [right] on the joystick. If you need anymore > help, post it on the net and I'll reply. I figured it out in 3 days. > > -Steve How do you get by the rapids.....????? That one gets me... Steve
scott@applix.UUCP (Scott Evernden) (03/01/89)
INFO Mag revealed the following this month about Dragon's Lair: PRess: <ESC> R / L N 7 (six keys) simultaneously during the credits screens. The screen will kind-of flash, and then the game will play thru to completion all by itself in a demo mode. -scott
smsst5@cisunx.UUCP (Steve M Suhy) (03/08/89)
In article <752@cs-spool.calgary.UUCP>, storbakken@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (Steve Storbakken) writes: > > How do you get by the rapids.....????? That one gets me... > > > Steve Well, after you get thru the whirlpools, you go to the rapids. In the rapids you go right and up; next screen; up. Then the next sequence left and up; then up. Keep going alternately until you complete it. -Steve
3423YKN@CMUVM.BITNET (Dan Bracken) (06/08/89)
I vaguely recall this being discussed in the past... but asking
for a friend......
Does anyone know what "Disc Error 000295" would mean on Dragon's Lair?
Is the disk bad or is there some other solution?
Many thanks,
Dan Bracken 3423ykn@CMUVM.bitnet
Acknowledge-To: <3423YKN@CMUVM>owen@euclid.dec.com (Steve Owen) (06/10/89)
In article <8906091809.AA27732@jade.berkeley.edu>, 3423YKN@CMUVM.BITNET (Dan Bracken) writes...
*>
*> I vaguely recall this being discussed in the past... but asking
*>for a friend......
*>Does anyone know what "Disc Error 000295" would mean on Dragon's Lair?
*>Is the disk bad or is there some other solution?
*>
*>Many thanks,
*>
*>
*> Dan Bracken 3423ykn@CMUVM.bitnet
*>Acknowledge-To: <3423YKN@CMUVM>
Yea, It means the disk is copy-protected to within an inch of it's life. Get
used to all sorts of neet errors, because when you least expect it, expect it.
I've had 2 copies of the disk, and different errors keep showing up. It's very
unnerving to think that this company expects us to buy it's software, and put
up with these 'inconviencences' so that they can get their money.
Steve O (soon to back at N.U., so don't reply to me)
*******************************************************************************
Steve Owen * "In the locust wind, comes * The opinions and comments here
DEC * a Rattle and Hum" - Bono * are mine, NOT dec's. I'm just
Maynard, MA * * a co-op.
*******************************************************************************
If anyone would like to trade U2 bootlegs, send me mail!
******************************************************************************C503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu (Baird McIntosh) (06/16/89)
From the May/June INFO magazine review of Dragon's lair:
"...(Press ESC R / L N 7 simultaneously just after the credits finish
loading; the screen will flash, then press the joystick button.)"
This *should* put the game into demo mode, and it will play thru the entire
game for you. I don't know if it works; I don't have the game. Try at your
own risk... heh heh heh :-)
Baird McIntosh
# INTERNET- c503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu <-or-> BITNET- c503719@umcvmb.bitnet #
# "Don't tell me truth hurts, little girl, 'cause it hurts like hell." #
# - UNDERGROUND, by David Bowie / "USENET is not a network." - Eric Edwards #ccemdd@rivm.UUCP (Marco Dedecker) (06/19/89)
In article <17832@louie.udel.EDU>, C503719@umcvmb.missouri.edu (Baird McIntosh) writes: > "...(Press ESC R / L N 7 simultaneously just after the credits finish > loading; the screen will flash, then press the joystick button.)" > > This *should* put the game into demo mode, and it will play thru the entire > game for you. I don't know if it works; I don't have the game. Try at your > own risk... heh heh heh :-) > > Baird McIntosh Well, I got Dragon's Lair about one month ago, and I tried this out. And what do you know, the combination worked. It played thru the entire game by itself. It's a nice game, I would recomment it to anyone that wants to buy a great game. I don't know if the 'running man' is already out in the states (it is in europe) but that's a hit too. Marco Dedecker