DOS Game Club

Can you believe we're 90 episodes into this show and still haven't looked at Lemmings? Lemmings! What a classic! When Lemmings (by DMA Design, published by Psygnosis) arrived on the scene in the early 90s it was an instant hit. Everyone's played this game, apparently over 15 million copies were sold over the span of its life time. Amazing, let's check it out!

Joining Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") is Simon, from LemmingsForums.net. He's been active in the custom Lemmings levels scene for many years and is even responsible for his very own Lemmings game, called Lix. Please check out the links below to learn more.

We got voice messages for this one from DGC members Firefyte and Watchful. Thank you! Also big thanks to DGC member console for editing the episode!

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (129 mins, 148 MB)

* LemmingsForums.net is one of the oldest and biggest active Lemmings communities on the web

* Lix is a modern interpretation of Lemmings by our guest Simon

* NeoLemmix is the most popular modern Lemmings clone out there, with a focus on building & solving custom levels

* The History of Lemmings as laid out by Lemmings developer Mike Dailly

* Lemmings Universe is an old-school Lemmings fan site with many links to interesting Lemmings-related stuff

* Lemmings documentaries is a thread on our forums containing some links to documentaries and other interesting Lemmings stuff

* Custom levels is a thread on our forums where DGC member patric_wd posted the custom levels he made for the month we played Lemmings with the club. Sadly the links have expired now and Patrick couldn't make it onto the episode, but we very much hope he'll upload his levels later and share them with everyone.

* Some of the "stand out levels" discussed in the episode are: Just Dig!, Cascade and No added colours or Lemmings

* More DMA Design was discussed in DGC episode 11 (Grand Theft Auto)

We've done Prince of Persia, we've done The Last Express. So when The Making of Karateka was released in late 2023, we figured this was the perfect opportunity to have a look at Jordan Mechner's very first published game. Originally released in 1984 for the Apple II, the PC got a port of this game in 1986. So get ready for some CGA graphics, some PC beeper sounds and a game that runs way too fast at default Dosbox settings.

Joining Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") for this episode are DGC member DRS ("dr_st"), whose first time it is on the podcast, and Chris Kohler, editorial director at Digital Eclipse for The Making of Karateka. Chris picked up a lot of in-depth knowledge about this game while working on The Making Of, so we're very grateful for him to come on to our show and share his stories.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (107 mins, 123 MB)

* The Making of Karateka by Digital Eclipse

* Karateka rotoscoping raw footage

* Prince of Persia rotoscoping raw footage

* Karateka upside-down easter egg

* The 2012 Karateka remake

* More Jordan Mechner games on DOS Game Club: episode 20 (Prince of Persia) and episode 71 (The Last Express)

* Recent & in-depth interview with Jordan Mechner by Daniel Albu

For the Halloween season we try to pick suitably scary games, so back in October (welp) we took a look at Realms of the Haunting (1996, Gremlin/Interplay). This game ticks a lot of boxes: haunted mansion, ghosts, scary monsters, but also... Time travel? A psychic partner? Interdimensional portals? Building a bong?? It's no exaggeration to say this game covers a lot of ground, as well as genres, as Realms of the Haunting is best described as a, uh, first-person shooter full-motion video point & click adventure game. And despite this was a major production of British powerhouse of gaming Gremlin Interactive, it seems to be quite an obscure game nowadays. But we're here for it!

Joining Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") on this episode are DGC veteran Richard ("Pix"), who jumped onto this game right when it came out, and Ross (who you might know from his YouTube channel "Accursed Farms") who made a video on Realms of the Haunting for his "Ross's Game Dungeon" series.

We also got sent a voice message by Wesley ("Wesbat"), thank you! And last but not least many thanks to DGC member console for helping us edit this podcast.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (87 mins, 100 MB)

* Ross's Game Dungeon episode on Realms of the Haunting

* Adventure Game Club podcast episode on Realms of the Haunting on which Richard ("Pix") was also a guest

* UK magazine reviews scanned in by Richard ("Pix")

* YouTube documentary on Gremlins Interactive by Kim Justice

* realmsofthehaunting.com early 2000s fan site that's still online

* Digital Antiquarian on Realms of the Haunting

Everybody know The Secret of Monkey Island. But few people have ever heard of Donkey Island. This game was made by two Czech teenagers on their school computers in 1994 and ended up being the first commercial game to be developed and published in Czechia. Besides a sub-par and, frankly, weird German translation, this game has so far only been available in Czech language - until Emmy and sonneveld came along and decided to translate the game to English and make it available to everyone for free!

So join us on our journey to find out why being shipwrecked became a trope in the Czech game industry as host Martijn (Tijn) discusses The Secret of Donkey Island with returning participant Jozef ("yozy" - who was born in Czechoslovakia), as well as Emmy ("Emmxyzzy") & Sonneveld, the team who put the English translation together.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (84 mins, 96 MB)

* Get the game for free at: donkeyisland.zip

* Emmxyzzy's website with links to her YouTube and Twitch channels, among other things

* Sonneveld on Twitch

* AGIdev.com by Sonneveld, which hosts many resources on making AGI games

* Donkey Island UHS-style hint guide by Tijn

* Article (in Czech) about a possible sequel

* Website of Czech game historian Jaroslav Švelch

There is one game that showed everybody that the PC was starting to become as viable a gaming platform as any console on the market. While DOOM was an entirely new experience, Jazz Jackrabbit replicated the experience players had on their SNESes and Mega Drives. Its protagonist even became a mascot for PC gaming at large.

But how does this 1994 game by Epic MegaGames (now only Epic Games, apparently they're not Mega anymore) hold up today? Is it still good? Or do you need to put on your rose tinted nostalgia glasses? We played the game in August, trying to find out exactly that.

In this episode hosts Martijn (Tijn) and Florian (rnlf) are joined by three guests to discuss this game. First of all there's Tim (LunarLoony), returning from all the way back from our episode about Pinball games (May 2020!). We also have Patrick (patrick_wd), and Wietse (densy) joining for the first time. Wietse is a game historian currently working on an article covering Jazz Jackrabbit, which will be published on his website (see links below) next year when the game hits its 30th anniversary.

We also got a voice message by Wouter. Thanks for that, Wouter!

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (133 mins, 152 MB)

We once again got lots of help from DGC member console with editing this episode. Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

* Our guest Tim (LunarLoony) is on Twitch and YouTube

* www.gamegeschiedenis.nl is a Dutch game history website run by our guest Wietse (densy)

* Overview of Jazz 1 versions

* JJ1 version 1.3 community patch (now part of the GOG release)

* jazz2online.com Jazz Jackrabbit fan website

* Vector Demo (1991) by UltraForce on: Pouet and YouTube

* Control Freak: My Epic Adventure Making Video Games, by Cliff Bleszinski

* 1994 Usenet thread about Apogee vs Epic drama (through Google Groups)

* Epic MegaGames was discussed earlier on DGC in episodes 19 (Tyrian), 46 (Jill of the Jungle) and 75 (One Must Fall: 2097)

* New: we're now accepting donations through Ko-Fi

You're in some sort of cave. A red light eminates from the northern wall, while a green light pours in from the cave's exit. This is Azra, a strange far away world where many dangers loom. You are an acolyte of the Scarlet Lady's Red Court, and have no memory of how you ended up in this cave. But while the game's world and characters are mysterious, the presentation is instantly recognisable as that of a 1980s Sierra adventure game. However, this DOS game isn't 35 years old... it's brand new!

In July we took a look at The Aching, a parser-based graphic adventure game released in 2023 by Hadrosaurus Software. Don't be fooled by its release date however, this is an authentic DOS game that has no trouble running on a Tandy 1000. Definitely something we're interested in!

In this episode hosts Martijn (Tijn) and Florian (rnlf) are joined by two guests to discuss this game. First of all there's Shawn (DJ_HiP), returning from the Stunts episode, and who is completely new to the world of adventure games. Secondly we have Mike (Zerfall), who is a true veteran of the genre growing up on classic Sierra games, and has YouTube and Twitch channels where he looks at old games.

We also got a voice message by TheLobdegg, creator of The Aching, about other modern DOS games.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (116 mins, 132 MB)

We once again got lots of help from DGC member console with editing this episode. Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

* The Aching on itch.io and Steam

* DGC episode 84 is an interview with the Hadrosaurus Software devs

* YouTube video by Zerfall and MysteriousJG exploring the latest content patch for The Aching

* YouTube video by Martijn playing through The Aching before the content patch was released

* Day of the Tentacle comes up in the podcast, which we discussed in DGC episode 54

* Other modern DOS games that are mentioned: Gold Mine Run! by JJM/Reidrac and Barren Planet by Cyningstan

* New: we're now accepting donations through Ko-Fi

Making commercial games for DOS nowadays is not a good business model, right? Hadrosaurus Software is hard at work proving this claim to be totally wrong. Their games Acronia and The Aching (which we played in July) are getting a lot of attention from the DOS gaming community, and rightfully so, we think.

Company founder Clarissa and The Aching creator Tamsin were so kind to take the time to talk to us about DOS game development from a technical, business and personal perspective and shared some interesting and funny anecdotes.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (101 mins, 116 MB)

We got help from DGC member console, who helped us out with editing this episode. Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

* Hadrosaurus website

* The Aching content patch dev log

* DGC episode 41 on DOS Games Jam

* RetroTech Chris on YouTube

* RAD Tracker by 3eality

The late 80s and early 90s were filled with "true 3D" polygon-based first-person driving games. There was Hard Drivin' in the arcade by Atari, Geoff Crammond released Stunt Car Racer, Spectrum Holobyte published Stunt Driver, to name a few. But the one game that proved to capture the hearts of many and remains being played competitively to this very day is 1990's Stunts (aka 4D Sports Driving), developed by Distinctive Software ("DSi"), famous for making such games as Test Drive as well as Grand Prix Circuit, which we covered in episode 2 of this podcast.

We dove deep into the world of Stunts to see what sets it apart from the competition and why it still has an active following to this very day. That's why we're excited that hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") are not only joined by DGC club members Rob ("Spoonboy") and newcomer Shawn ("DJ_HiP"), but also by two members of the Stunts forum over at stunts.hu. Lucas ("Cas") is the organiser of the Race For Kicks competition and has developed several tools and utilities for the game. Mark ("KyLiE") keeps a detailed list of custom cars on his website, has worked on custom cars of his own and helps out with hosting several Stunts projects. They're both keen racers and have been active in the Stunts community for years.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (184 mins, 211 MB)

We got help from DGC member console, who edited the majority of this episode. Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

* DGC Stunts Leaderboard

* Our Mastodon racing games poll which was won by Stunts

* Marco Plays DOS Games is a great YouTube channel on which, well, Marco plays DOS games. He took our leaderboard by storm, dedicating several streams to it!

* stunts.hu acts as a Stunts community portal site, with links to many subsites and projects.

* stunts.kalpen.de is a very old Stunts fansite that's still online

* The forum at stunts.hu is one of the central places where the Stunts community gathers to discuss things.

* The wiki at stunts.hu is one of the central places where the Stunts community documents their knowledge and history.

* Some years ago members of the Stunts community managed to get a hold of Kevin Pickell, the main programmer of Stunts, for an interview: wiki.stunts.hu/wiki/Kevin_Pickell

* Mark's Stunts Custom Cars is one of the best curated lists of Stunts custom cars on the web.

* The Stunts Retro Game YouTube channel is host to the Stunts Driving Academy series, among other things.

* thread on our forums in which members have gathered articles and reviews

* DGC episode 2 on Grand Prix Circuit about another game developed by DSi

* twitch.tv/martijnf where host Martijn tries to stream DOS Game Club games about once a week, some of which are archived on YouTube.

The original Speedball from 1988 was already a highly acclaimed futuristic sports game, lauded for its action-packed arcade-style gameplay and superb audiovisual presentation. But when the Bitmap Brothers released the sequel in 1990 for Amiga and Atari ST they truly outdid themselves. Both horizontal and vertical scrolling at a blistering pace was an achievement rarely seen on home computers at the time, let alone combined with an excellent AI. It's still remembered as one of the Amiga's greatest games.

But less well-known perhaps is the 1991 PC port, also by Bitmap Brothers. How does the DOS version hold up to its famous Amiga counterpart? That's what we're here for to find out!

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") to talk about this game is DGC veteran Hannes ("MrCreosote") and DGC newcomer Jeremy ("ZorroBandito"), who both played tons of the Amiga version back in the day and know all the ins and outs of what makes this game great.

A big shout out to DGC member Niklas ("killershrew") who was previously on the Dark Forces episode and had planned to be on the Speedball episode as well. He's a big football games fan and we would have loved to have him on, but sadly he has suffered a sudden medical condition and is recovering from that for the foreseeable future. We all wish him the best and are thinking of him. We hope to see him back on for a future episode as soon as he his able. Take care, Niklas!

[ download mp3 ] (163 mins, 186 MB)

We got help from DGC member console editing this episode (again!). Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

* Chapter from the Bitmap Brothers book on the making of Speedball 2

* DGC episode 47 on Z in which we talk more about the history of the Bitmap Brothers

* Famous chiptune artist Master Boot Record did a cover of the Speedball 2 theme tune

* DGC episode 18 on Death Rally which was mentioned in passing as having a relatively similar gameplay loop as Speedball 2

* twitch.tv/martijnf where host Martijn streams DOS Game Club games about once a week

The official Terry Pratchett-approved Discworld point & click adventure game has been pinned on our forums for over two years, as April 2023 would have been his 75th birthday, had he lived to experience it.

Although Pratchett was initially apprehensive about the project, after been shown early demos he gave his approval and by 1995 the game was released to much fanfare. It was a big production, with famous British actors and comedians providing the voices, such as Eric Idle from Monty Python voicing Rincewind, the protagonist of the story.

All in all a very interesting game and a good moment for us to check it out!

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") we have DGC veterans Richard ("Pix") and Esko ("FireFyte"), as well as first-time guest Ben ("PS_Garak"), who is an avid adventure game streamer on Twitch.

On top of this we received two lovely voice messages: one from Ben Chandler, the game artist who was also on our Albion episode, and James Woodcock who is both an adventure game fan and music composer, and made an enhanced soundtrack for Discworld which is compatible with ScummVM (see the link in the list below the post).

[ download mp3 ] (154 mins, 176 MB)

We got help from DGC member console editing this episode (again!). Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

* DGC member Pix scanned 4 Discworld reviews from his UK magazine collection

* twitch.tv/ps_garak: Ben's Twitch channel, where he and his friends stream adventure games regularly

* Ben Chandler's art blog, a link to one of many posts in which Discworld is mentioned as an example

* Enhanced Discworld soundtrack by James Woodock

* DGC episode 69 about KKnD in which we talk about Melbourne House, which has some historic ties with the developers of Discworld

* twitch.tv/martijnf where host Martijn streams DOS Game Club games about once a week