Wednesday 20 January 2010

Cloud 109 - The Fourteenth Instalment

Back to the dungeons with Cary, Rabby and Gina and they've just encountered the first stumbling block. Drawing this sequence brought back so many memories of long nights playing the original, steam driven but nevertheless utterly captivating granddaddy of all R.P.G.'s (Role Playing Games O Unbeliever) that I was amazed at how so much of what unfolds is so like the original game. David still hasn't played Dungeon Master (I'm working on him), so it's a bit uncanny at how deftly he has managed to evoke the atmosphere of the original. The riddle sequence with the gaolers is just typical of how frustrating and compelling the original game is.

The whole Dungeon Master experience is available for free at Christophe Fontanel's amazing Dungeon Master Encyclopedia.

Give it a shot - you will find yourself quite quickly addicted.

3 comments:

  1. Back in the '80s, during the gamebook craze, I constructed many an adventure around puzzles like that. Many of them swiped from... er, I mean inspired by fabulous games like Dungeon Master. Ah, the nostalgia! In fact, I'm going to put some of those gamebooks up online - as soon as I can get around to PDFing them, as they were all written in the days before computers.

    Btw Peter, I love your use of widescreen panels. Leo always complains bitterly when I give him those to draw, so I'm sure they're not as easy as you make them look.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Btw here's a killer: say you have THREE guys. One always lies, one always tells the truth, one lies or tells the truth at random. There are the usual two doors and you get a single yes/no question. Warning: this one can really make your brain hurt :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! I'd love to see some of those gamebooks Dave!

    Let us know if you do put them as I'd be really intrigued to see them and many thanks for your kind words regarding the wide angle panels, which I thought in this sequence was sailing a bit close to the wind but delighted that you like like them.

    I'm still struggling my way through DM (though haven't touched it in months - last time I got through thirteen levels and then my hard drive died (18 month old IMac!!! - but let's not get into that suffice to say that as well as the external hard drive, I've also got a Time Capsule attached).

    Now look Dave as regards the killer teaser, my brain was hurting enough with the original puzzle - are you serious???

    ReplyDelete