[Weyland-Yutani]

I am aware of a few Dungeon Master fans among us here at MacNN. I stumbled upon this thing today, the Dungeon Master Java - a standalone java app and a remake of the original game. I am a hardcore fan and I don't like it when people mess around with a good thing, but I have nothing but praise for this game!

It is a worthy upgrade of the Dungeon Master engine and the plot is a continuance of where Chaos Strikes Back would have ended I presume. It all happens after the first game anyway.

This is a one man project, but it is already at version 2.0 for the Macintosh! Since the project started before 2001, everybody has probably heard about it, but in case you haven't or had forgotten about it here it is again. (and it is free of charge)

http://www.cs.pitt.edu/~alandale/dmjava/

It has the feeling of the old Dungeon Master and captures all the elements that made it a great game. It runs very well on the Mac and is as damn difficult as Chaos Strikes Back. I ran out of food after the first level!

It's a 16 MB dmg by the way and a must see/have for Dungeon Master fans and RPG fans. (sorry, I just totally love FTL games)



cheers

W-Y

[Chicacredes]

sweet... i'll check it out

[hcorf]

downloading it now, i never played dungeon master, hope its not too complex.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by hcorf

downloading it now, i never played dungeon master, hope its not too complex.

It is a bit involving but in a fun intuative way. For instance you can choose between one and four characters to take on your team. Each member can be resurrected or re-incarnated when you choose him. I'll explain:

Characters gain levels in the different skill classes depending on how much they use abilities belonging to those classes. For instance if a character uses a weapon a lot he becomes a better fighter. If one makes a lot of potions he becomes a better priest. All characters can gain all abilities but some will be better than others at certain things.

Characters with much strength to begin with will become better fighters and ninjas, characters with better dexterity will become better ninjas, characters with better intelligence and mana will become better wizards and characters with better wisdom and mana better priests. When one gain a level one gets better stats in the appropriate ability. i.e. if one goes up a wizard level one gets more intelligence and mana.

When you resurrect a character you get all the levels that are already included in that character. If you reincarnate a character you get just the basic stats and no levels and you get to rename the character.

Potions can only be made if you have an empty flask to make it in, but you get one very early in the game and some characters you can choose have one in their equipment. There are no ingredients for potions, just spell runes like for wizard spells.

The spells are of different level of difficulty and power. The first rune you choose indicates the power of the spell you are making and then the second to fifth are the spell itself. More power = more difficult and more runes = more difficult.

There are all sorts of tips and tricks, but this is a game I learned to play when I was 9 and without any manual or spell list. Just by experimenting. It is a very intuative game. You'll have no problems if you give it some time and it is bound to be fun.

Everything happens in realtime and remember to sleep and feed. There are altars of VI (life) around the game where a dead character can be brought to life if you bring his bones there. There is also a very handy automapping feature in this game that would have been amazingly convenient to have in the original. I just learned the dungeons by heart

For more involved info about the game and a complete spell list check this page out:
http://dmweb.free.fr/

It covers the first two games, Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back, but everything that applies to those games applies to this one as well.

cheers

W-Y

[videian28]

wow, I played this YEARS ago on my dads amiga 1000

YEARS AGO =p

[segovius]

Just discovered DM Java and searched here for posts. Have been a hardcore fan since DM first came out on the Amiga.

This port is very hard imo - which is good! And very faithful to the original, much better than Chaos Strikes Back imo.

Has anyone completed the Java version yet? It seems much harder than the original so far.

[Weyland-Yutani]

Sheesh, no I have not completed DM Java yet. It is hard. I keep running out of food. It is a very good game and faithful to the original. The independant movement of monsters irritates me a bit though. Other than that

cheers

W-Y

[segovius]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

Sheesh, no I have not completed DM Java yet. It is hard. I keep running out of food. It is a very good game and faithful to the original. The independant movement of monsters irritates me a bit though. Other than that

cheers

W-Y

Yes - it's much tougher. I think a lot of the food seems to be hidden or otherwise unobtainable without great sacrifice. Some of the monsters are very tough.

Were you tempted to cheat using the editor?

[demibob]

il give it a try but im not realy a fan of this type of game

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by segovius

Yes - it's much tougher. I think a lot of the food seems to be hidden or otherwise unobtainable without great sacrifice. Some of the monsters are very tough.

Were you tempted to cheat using the editor?

At one time I had to, in order to feed the characters. In the original DM there was a problem with food on some levels, but only at the deeper levels and there were ways to obtain food with some effort. Here it just runs out and relatively early in the game. It is the only element in the gameplay which feels out of balance compared to the original.

I started by reincarnating all the characters - which is a big mistake in this game. Almost hopeless.

However the puzzles are very fun and pleasing. DM is one of the three best games ever created IMO. But in this game using the editor may be the only way out in some cases, unfortunately.

One thing I notice in this game is that the monsters are tougher than the original and don't seem to have the same weaknesses. e.g. the mummies are damn tough and not at all sensitive to fire like in the original.

cheers

W-Y

[segovius]

Originally Posted by Weyland-Yutani

At one time I had to, in order to feed the characters. In the original DM there was a problem with food on some levels, but only at the deeper levels and there were ways to obtain food with some effort. Here it just runs out and relatively early in the game. It is the only element in the gameplay which feels out of balance compared to the original.

I started by reincarnating all the characters - which is a big mistake in this game. Almost hopeless.

However the puzzles are very fun and pleasing. DM is one of the three best games ever created IMO. But in this game using the editor may be the only way out in some cases, unfortunately.

One thing I notice in this game is that the monsters are tougher than the original and don't seem to have the same weaknesses. e.g. the mummies are damn tough and not at all sensitive to fire like in the original.

cheers

W-Y

Yes, reincarnating is a mistake. Best to create some of all classes in the editor and give them some food!

What are your other two best games? Also RPGs?

[Weyland-Yutani]

Originally Posted by segovius

Yes, reincarnating is a mistake. Best to create some of all classes in the editor and give them some food!

What are your other two best games? Also RPGs?

My three favs of all time:





The other two are Sundog: The Frozen Legacy - also by FTL on the Atari ST and then there is Starglider on the Amstrad PCW. The Atari ST version was way more limited.

Back in the 80s the same games were rather different on different platforms. Ah, those were the days

cheers

W-Y

[2Four]

Kool!
While posting an unrelated post, I noticed Dungeon Master Java Post.
I was and still am a fan BIG time of this game. I used to own an Atari 1040STF
It still rocks and has playability.

There are OS X clones of The original DM & Chaos Strikes Back available on the http://dmweb.free.fr/ site(although it seems to be down at the moment)...another kool link, is a discussion board...I visit it more often, as it has current stuff on it, about ongoing projects.
http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/
Check it out.
I tried the Java version myself, and well to be honest I don't like it much.
It is an awesome effort, and I give 10/10 for the guy who developed it, but it's just not for me.
DM Lives!! :-)

[Amorya]

http://www.atari.st/view.php?id=941



Whenever I think of this genre, Knightmare is the game that springs to mind. Did anyone else play it?

Amorya