hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com (Harv Laser) (12/02/88)
Having just wasted about 6 hours of my life playing FTL's Dungeon Master
(yes kids, it's FINALLY out) I thought I'd waste a few more minutes and
share my impressions of it. I'll try not to =spoil= anything.
The software: one disk, requires one meg. Heavily copy protected. Marauder ][
with Brain 10 couldn't copy it. The master disk is read from but never
written to. $10 to FTL gets a registered owner a backup copy.
The package: as far as I can tell, comparing the box and manual with those
supplied in a press kit I got from FTL back in Jan '88 at AmiExpo, everything,
except the disk itself, is identical to the Atari ST version of the game.
I'm assuming gameplay is identical too, though I've never played DM on an ST.
It was my understanding that the long delay in releasing the Amiga version
had to do with trying to code it so it would run on a 512K Amiga. The
shrinkwrap on the box said "One Meg of Ram Required."
The game: in a word-> Incredible! If you liked "Asylum" on the C64...
if you enjoyed but were somewhat disappointed by Bards Tale on the Amiga...
Dungeon Master is what you have been waiting for. I could run out of
superlatives real quick-like describing this masterpiece.
Real time, role-playing, FAST 3-D scrolling underground maze adventuring
with multiple characters who can share resources, cast 100s of spells,
gain attributes, fight foes, solve puzzles both physical and logical...
torches that grow dimmer and get brighter, moss growing on the walls,
strange sounds in the distance, pick up objects and throw them and see
them whiz off into 3-d space, and on and on. Dungeons that LOOK like
dungeons. The whole thing is totally enchanting.
drawbacks: just a couple. Multitask with it? Forget it. Mount it on a
hard drive? Highly unlikely. Gave saves are done to a blank floppy
(which can be formatted from inside the game) but only one save per
disk..each save overwrites the previous save. Kind of wasteful of
disk space since only about 70K of data is written during a save.
Asylum allowed up to 10 different saved positions per save disk.
conclusion: this is a wonderful game, just in time for the Xmas market.
Treat yourself or your kids or an Amiga-owning friend to it. I can
almost promise you hours of blissful recreational time with this one.
I'm a whole afternoon into it and I feel like I've barely scratched
the surface of what's down in those dank musty catacombs.
Congrats to FTL for a superior piece of entertainment software. A "10."
Disclaimer: nope, I'm not.
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--->jac423@leah.Albany.Edu (Julius A Cisek) (12/04/88)
Having had an ST and Dungeon Master I share in your excitement. I'm exteremely excited about the Amiga version because it means FTL will be supporting this machine. FTL has put out only 3 titles to my knowledge, but all of them were THE best in their class. Sundog is by far the best science-fiction game for ANY computer, OIDS is the best arcade game, DM is the best fantasy. Watch for this young company. They are geniuses and masters of their... art! -- What about technology, computers, .------------------. J.A.Cisek nuclear fusion? I'm terrified of |Spectral Fantasies| jac423@leah.albany.edu radiation, I hate the television. `------------------' jac423@rachel.albany.edu