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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:43 pm    Post subject: Searching For A Game... Reply with quote

Okay, so, bear with me on this.

I'm trying to find a game from my childhood. (Yeah, I know, nostalgic bullshit Very Happy )

It was on PC. I know that it was on a demo disc around the yea 1999 or 2000. But, not sure exactly when (I was about 8 years old so not great memory). I'm also not sure if it was ever completed, I just know it was on a demo disc in UK.

Anyway, about the game...

It was a fantasy game with different creatures like...
orcs, half-lings, dwarves, skeletons and so on (Not entirely sure what races of creatures there was, not a great help I know). You were able to make buildings, mines and such. Some creatures outside of what you had could be hired, whilst others would automatically attack you.

(Really struggling to remember)

I've been searching this game for I don't know how long.
I've tracked several other games from my childhood down.
But, I can't find this one. And not only am I eager to go back to those days by playing it. But, it infuriates me what I can't remember it.

Any assistance would be ever so gratefully received.
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drx



Joined: 15 Apr 2006
Posts: 150

PostPosted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heroes of Might and Magic maybe? Here's HoMM 1-4:






(from this article http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/arbitrarywater/blog/ruining-my-childhood-heroes-of-might-and-magic-iv/79238/)

Could be Dungeon Keeper too:

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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm... I don't think it's Heroes Of Might And Magic as
the graphics were much more up to date. Like, smoother and such.
From what I remember.

And it's not Dungeon Keeper.
Already have 1 and 2. So, I know it's not that for sure.

But, thank you for the suggestions Smile
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Shadowpriest



Joined: 11 Jul 2013
Posts: 1
Location: Atlanta, GA

PostPosted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 6:31 pm    Post subject: xD Reply with quote

man that game was fun in the day!
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Mustard Broach



Joined: 02 Feb 2010
Posts: 47

PostPosted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seems a little too obvious, but it's not Warcraft II, is it?
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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unfortunately it isn't.
The game I'm looking for looked more pristine and more 3D'ey.
Although, similar to another game I've been looking for.
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7HeroesForceBattle



Joined: 17 Feb 2010
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmm. 2000 is just about when you actually could consider a 3D strategy game to be pristine...

It would help to know if it was full, we-could-let-you-move-the-camera 3D or just Donkey Kong Country-style prerendered 3D.

Furthermore if you remember if it was real-time or turn-based, and if battles were fought on the same screen you performed non-combat activities...

A shame Mobygames is still suffering from that awful redesign.

What's the other game you're looking for?
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Corporal Ethane



Joined: 05 Oct 2012
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 2:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seeing as how there's a thread for this, here's a game I'm looking for:

It's a text adventure game for the Apple II, early 80's. The type where you're left with west, north, east, south, take _______, eat ____, etc types of commands to slog through. Here's the details that I remember:

* Every once in a while you'd come across an area with a graphic screen (which was a very long load time) and one of the screens was a blue troll looking creature. I think the troll asked six questions or maybe not (I'll get to that in a second)

* There was a field full of cabbages (or somesuch leafy plant) that you could find gold coins in.

* At some point in the game (where that troll was, maybe not) you're asked several questions. One of the questions was "other than Robin, who knows Batman's secret identity" (Alfred) and another one of the questions involved "dynamite" or "TNT" as the answer.

...and that's about all I could tell you. If there's an archive of old Apple II text games with descriptions, I'd go look but every adventure game archive I've ever ran across was either too obtuse or scattered to dig through.
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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I'm not entirely sure of the exact date.
My mum got her first computer around 1998.
So, I was about 7 years old then.
And somewhere around then my mum got a few demo discs
of games. on one of them was the game.

It was move the camera 3D. I think it as an actual 2D game.
But, they did the graphics in such a way as to make it look very well done 3D.

There was fog of war. Umm.. the game from what I remember.
Was semi-isometric. (But, not entirely sure).
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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Corporal Ethane wrote:
Seeing as how there's a thread for this, here's a game I'm looking for:

It's a text adventure game for the Apple II, early 80's. The type where you're left with west, north, east, south, take _______, eat ____, etc types of commands to slog through. Here's the details that I remember:

* Every once in a while you'd come across an area with a graphic screen (which was a very long load time) and one of the screens was a blue troll looking creature. I think the troll asked six questions or maybe not (I'll get to that in a second)

* There was a field full of cabbages (or somesuch leafy plant) that you could find gold coins in.

* At some point in the game (where that troll was, maybe not) you're asked several questions. One of the questions was "other than Robin, who knows Batman's secret identity" (Alfred) and another one of the questions involved "dynamite" or "TNT" as the answer.

...and that's about all I could tell you. If there's an archive of old Apple II text games with descriptions, I'd go look but every adventure game archive I've ever ran across was either too obtuse or scattered to dig through.



Have you tried looking in http://www.abandonia.com/en/game/all/Abandonware

Might have luck finding it there. Smile
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7HeroesForceBattle



Joined: 17 Feb 2010
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DemonsWrath wrote:
It was move the camera 3D. I think it as an actual 2D game.
But, they did the graphics in such a way as to make it look very well done 3D.

There was fog of war. Umm.. the game from what I remember.
Was semi-isometric. (But, not entirely sure).


I'm have a slightly hard time parsing what you mean here. I may not have made clear that when I said "move the camera 3D", I meant the ability to change the angle you are looking at the battlefield (as opposed to just moving on a simple x/y axis like Warcraft 2 or early HOMM). It's been a while since I played a Dungeon Keeper, but it fits under what I was describing, since you can switch to a first-person perspective of your dungeon from a minion's viewpoint.

It doesn't fit the other things you mentioned, but the way you describe the graphics reminds me strongly of Bungie's Myth (and Myth II). When you look at screenshots of those games, how do they compare to what you remember? Comparisons to the graphics of any other game would also be welcome.

Actually, now that I think about it, could it have been Sierra's Lords of Magic?
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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ahh, I misunderstood. No I don't think you could change the X and Y axis. I believe it was fixed. Although, I may be wrong.

It's possible it's a game that never made it to release. I'm just desperate to find out for sure. As then I'm not having to wonder "Can I get it someway or can I not".

The graphics were 2D I believe but, very strongly detailed to look 3D.
Unfortunately, I don't have much to remember of it. Just that you could kill/hire creatures. That there was a fog of war.
And some creatures in it, like centaurs, half-lings, dwarves and other such fantasy creatures.

I love Dungeon Keeper, but unfortunately I know that, that isn't the game I'm referring too. I'll check about.

Holy Shit... I think it's Lords Of Magic...
I certainly do recognise a couple of images from it.
I'll check a bit more and get back about it.
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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looked at a few more images.
Pretty sure that Lords Of Magic is the game I'm after.

I shall get it and play it.
Only $5.99 on GOG.com Very Happy

If it is the game... let's hope my childhood dreams
aren't destroyed haha
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Corporal Ethane



Joined: 05 Oct 2012
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DemonsWrath wrote:

Have you tried looking in http://www.abandonia.com/en/game/all/Abandonware

Might have luck finding it there. Smile


Considering how the game I'm looking for is definitely an Apple II game and this is a DOS archive, I doubt it.
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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 4:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, you never know ^^
Just have a look Smile
Might be on there.

I can have a look at some other
websites for you if I can think of some more. Smile
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7HeroesForceBattle



Joined: 17 Feb 2010
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, good. I also played the Lords of Magic demo back around when it came out, and while I don't remember my experience that clearly, it certainly seemed neat at the time. Hope you enjoy it.

Now, as for Corporal Ethane's mystery game...

As I'm sure you're aware, there were a ton of text adventures (pure and graphical) for 8-bit computer systems during the early 80s, and I've no doubt that quite a few remain undocumented online, though they might possibly still be found in the kind of barebones, unhelpful game archives you mentioned. I'm unfortunately not very familiar with the system or the period.

A few details might narrow it down among what I can search...

-Do you remember how sophisticated the text parser was? Really early games usually only accepted one or two word commands, but after a while there were engines which accepted more complex input.

-Can you narrow down "early 80s"? Does that mean, say, 1980-1984, or could it have been as late as '87 or '88? Furthermore, is this when you feel the game was released, or when you actually played it?

-Was the field of (presumed) vegetables graphically depicted, or do you believe you are recalling a purely text description?

-Do you recall where you played this game - at home, at school, at a library, or elsewhere?

anyway, speaking of Abandonia, while the site mainly concerns itself with DOS games, the forums have a pretty good board just for finding such forgotten games:
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/forumdisplay.php?f=79
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DemonsWrath



Joined: 12 Oct 2013
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, if you want it. I can give you the game? Smile
You can see if you still like it.
I bought it on GOG.com so it's DRM free.


I remember the graphics being better.
But... maybe I've played too many modern games since growing up.
But, it's still a pretty decent game.


I would help with the text game.
But, never really played one.
So I wouldn't know how to help Very Happy
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Corporal Ethane



Joined: 05 Oct 2012
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 5:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

7HeroesForceBattle wrote:


Now, as for Corporal Ethane's mystery game...

-Do you remember how sophisticated the text parser was? Really early games usually only accepted one or two word commands, but after a while there were engines which accepted more complex input.


I can't remember if the parser was limited to E W N S or go east or go west or etc for movement, but it did have "look" for its inspect command, "take", "open" (in the case of a door or a desk drawer) among others.

Quote:

-Can you narrow down "early 80s"? Does that mean, say, 1980-1984, or could it have been as late as '87 or '88? Furthermore, is this when you feel the game was released, or when you actually played it?


Somewhere between 1980 and 1986, and given what I remember about the quality of the game itself, I would would somewhere between 1980 and 1984. When I played it, it was around 1985 to 1987.

Quote:

-Was the field of (presumed) vegetables graphically depicted, or do you believe you are recalling a purely text description?


Purely text. The majority of the game was purely text with a few graphical screens that took forever to load from the disk.

Quote:

-Do you recall where you played this game - at home, at school, at a library, or elsewhere?


At school. However, the game had absolutely no educational value whatsoever, so it wasn't there by that virtue. I think that what happened was that they were given a budget to purchase a handful of Apple IIs and the money they had left over, they randomly purchased software with it. Of course, Lemonade Stand and everything MECC was represented but there were a few of those nebulous text adventures that more often than not showed up on a cheaply labeled floppy and you were left to figure out the rest. There was also Aztec, a game all of us older students found interesting as hell but was cursed with what deserves to be labeled as the most terribly implemented control scheme devised for a video game, ever.

If you can find out anything about this game or even a list of text-based Apple II games I would be grateful. Every once in a while I try hunting this game down through Google and I never get very far.
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Corporal Ethane



Joined: 05 Oct 2012
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

7HeroesForceBattle wrote:


Now, as for Corporal Ethane's mystery game...

-Do you remember how sophisticated the text parser was? Really early games usually only accepted one or two word commands, but after a while there were engines which accepted more complex input.


I can't remember if the parser was limited to E W N S or go east or go west or etc for movement, but it did have "look" for its inspect command, "take", "open" (in the case of a door or a desk drawer) among others.

Quote:

-Can you narrow down "early 80s"? Does that mean, say, 1980-1984, or could it have been as late as '87 or '88? Furthermore, is this when you feel the game was released, or when you actually played it?


Somewhere between 1980 and 1986, and given what I remember about the quality of the game itself, I would would somewhere between 1980 and 1984. When I played it, it was around 1985 to 1987.

Quote:

-Was the field of (presumed) vegetables graphically depicted, or do you believe you are recalling a purely text description?


Purely text. The majority of the game was purely text with a few graphical screens that took forever to load from the disk.

Quote:

-Do you recall where you played this game - at home, at school, at a library, or elsewhere?


At school. However, the game had absolutely no educational value whatsoever, so it wasn't there by that virtue. I think that what happened was that they were given a budget to purchase a handful of Apple IIs and the money they had left over, they randomly purchased software with it. Of course, Lemonade Stand and everything MECC was represented but there were a few of those nebulous text adventures that more often than not showed up on a cheaply labeled floppy and you were left to figure out the rest. There was also Aztec, a game all of us older students found interesting as hell but was cursed with what deserves to be labeled as the most terribly implemented control scheme devised for a video game, ever.

If you can find out anything about this game or even a list of text-based Apple II games I would be grateful. Every once in a while I try hunting this game down through Google and I never get very far.
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