DOS Game Club

Who likes turn based strategy games? WE DO! But we think we're not alone in that.

Simtex' 1994 4X classic Master of Magic is seen by many as one of the hidden gems of the genre often compared to "Civilization with Magic", but does that hold up? Or is it actually more than that? We're discussing this and many more questions with a few veterans and a newcomer to the game.

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") for this episode are Oddvar ("dollarone") and HP ("HPLoveGames"). FatherBeast has sent such an extensive voice message, that we consider him the fifth participant in this episode, haha.

Now let's get ready to cast a Wall of Darkness and conquer Arcanus and Myrran together!

[ download mp3 ] (126 mins, 101 MB)

* DGC member Pix has provided us again with scans of reviews from his UK magazine collection

* Seravy's Sanctuary website of the creator of Caster of Magic, the official Master of Magic DLC released in 2019

* Realms Beyond forums hosting much of what's happening in the world of modding and community patching

* The Digital Antiquarian has a great article about the game and some of the background on how it came to be

How many Skiing games are there for DOS? We don't know for sure, but we believe the number is 13. And we tried them all!

There are some that probably everybody knows about, like The Games: Winter Challenge, even though people probably thought that game was actually called "Winter Games". Far from it though, that's an entirely different one! Crazy huh? Yeah, we thought the same. But there are also games, probably very few people ever heard about, like "ורדית בהרפתקאה חדשה באליפות הגלישה", a game advertising chocolates to Israeli kids using a skiing cow!

Joining hosts Florian ("rnlf") and Martijn ("Tijn") for this episode are Richard ("Pix"), and Björn ("TigerQuoll"). Also contributing is DGC member Watchful who sent a voice message.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (106 mins, 85 MB)

For reference, here's the full list of games we talk about in this episode:

In November we played STREET ROD, a quirky little racing game that's all about 1960s hot rods, released in 1989 by California Dreams.

Sounds pretty American, right? Turns out, this game was actually developed in Soviet-controlled Poland, behind the iron curtain!

Learn all about what makes this game interesting in this episode of the DOS Game Club podcast.

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") for this episode are Oddvar ("dollarone"), Rob ("Spoonboy") and Jonas ("bitblt"). Also contributing is Jozef ("yozy") who sent a voice message.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (121 mins, 97 MB)

* Street Rod manual (PDF)

* Forum thread by "rasz_pl" explaining some of the interesting background on how this game was developed in 1980s Poland

* More background on Lucjan Daniel Wencel and his business endeavours (in Polish)

* Street Rod Online offering downloads of the original games for free, among other things

* Street Rod 3 development blog, which seems a bit inactive now

Northern Europe, 928 AD. A thirsty traveler, a wolf howling in the distance, and a seemingly deserted village. Or is it?

Ečstatica is a 3D survival horror game with a very unique look: Instead of polygons, everything is made out of ellipsoids. Join us in our adventure to restore the village and defeat evil demons.

Martijn (Tijn) and Florian (rnlf) are accompanied on this journey through Psygnosis' 1994 game by returning guests Tyler (corgibuttz) and Nick (f2bnp).

[ download mp3 ] (101 mins, 81 MB)

* Some UK magazine reviews of Ečstatica scanned in by Richard

Thirty years ago, on 26 September 1990, Origin Systems released Wing Commander for MS-DOS, the first game in what would be a very long-running and expansive series of prominent videogames. Last September we played it with the club to see what it's all about and whether it holds up today.

Two DGC veterans join hosts Florian ("rnlf") and Martijn ("Tijn") for this one. First of all Richard ("Pix"), who is a long-time Wing Commander superfan and has even seen the Wing Commander feature film. And last but not least Esko ("Firefyte") for whom this was actually the first time playing a main series Wing Commander game, although he has spent plenty of time playing some of the many spin-offs, such as Academy and Privateer.

Also we received no less than three voice messages for this episode, one of them even being a small quiz! Thanks to John ("Shattered"), David ("EvilCommieDictator") and Rob ("Spoonboy") for sending them in. If you'd also like to contribute a voice message, you can email them to us at: [email protected]

The episode not only covers a discussion of the game itself, we also dive into the rich history of the wider franchise and talk about Chris Roberts' origins, his many endeavours with both games and films, and what he's up to now with Star Citizen.

[ download mp3 ] (144 mins, 116 MB)

* Some UK magazine reviews of Wing Commander scanned in by Richard

* wcnews.com is the premier resource for everything related to Wing Commander. One of the admins there is Ben Lesnick, who was a guest on DGC episode 5, about Strike Commander

In August we played Z, one of the hardest-to-google games on the planet. Unless you know it's from the Bitmap Brothers, which you now do!

But is the game also noteworthy for it's quality gameplay and fancy FMV cutscenes telling an exciting story? Well, find out!

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") in this mission are David ("EvilCommieDictator") and Nick ("f2bnp").

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (124 mins, 99 MB)

* The Zod Engine is an open-source reimplementation of Z for modern systems

* Video interview with Bitmap Brother Mike Montgomery in which he talks about how Z was delayed in order to have more content for a CD-ROM release

We spent our July playing Jill of the Jungle, one of the big milestones in PC gaming history for making Epic Megagames actually "mega" and allowing them to build all those future games we all so dearly love.

But is Jill itself a noteworthy game? Or do we need the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia to enjoy it? Opinions seem to differ and this episode surely doesn't lack controversy.

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") in this episode is our old and new record holder in episode appearances, David ("DavidXNewton"), who is a real connoisseur when it comes to Epic MegaGames, as he's made a video series in which he's played every single one of their earliest games, all the way up to Unreal. Also on the show is brand new member Felix ("KewlioMZX"), who also hosts a weekly radio show about video games and chiptune music over at Squarewave Symphony. Florian & Martijn were recently invited onto that show to talk about DOS Game Club, so it seems only fair to invite Felix on our show as well.

Also a shoutout to our other member David ("EvilCommieDictator"), who was so kind to send us a voice message. Thanks! If you also want to contribute a voice message, please send them to [email protected]

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (83 mins, 67 MB)

* Stumbling Tours: Epic Megagames, a video series in which David plays through all of Epic's earliest games

* The episode of Squarewave Symphony on which DGC hosts Florian & Martijn were invited, hosted by Felix ("Kewlio")

* Jill of the Jungle on shakadi.net, includes resources on the level editor and also the open-source implementation of Jill

* Museum of ZZT, a website dedicated to keeping ZZT alive and kicking

Hello everyone!

Last June we spent playing our first text adventure with the club. Incredible that we never did one before, so good thing we got that sorted. It's a genre that can be difficult to get into, so we decided to pick a very accessible game: Frederik Pohl's Gateway, by Legend Entertainment, released in June 1992.

Another first is that every single club member in the podcast actually managed to beat the whole game! Many of us finished the sequel as well. Amazing! Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") in this episode are returning members Esko ("Firefyte") and Richard ("Pix"), accompanied by brand new member John ("Shattered").

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (143 mins, 115 MB)

* Contemporary magazine reviews of Gateway, scanned by Richard ("Pix")

* Archived copy of Legend Entertainment's website, where they offered the first Gateway game as a free download since 1996

* A video review about Gateway, by DGC host Martijn

Greetings DOS fans,

Last May we featured not one, but many games. All of the same genre: PINBALL!

Helping Florian ("rnlf") and Martijn ("Tijn") out are two very knowledgeable experts. First of all DGC regular Tim ("Spacefarer"), who has made an elaborate video series covering the history of pinball videogames, from the very basic beginnings all the way up to the most sophisticated games. And last but not least Kris ("Gemini" / "Pixelmusement"), who you might know as the host of the Ancient DOS Games YouTube show, among other things. Apart from covering various pinball games on his show over the years, Kris is also an avid real-life pinball player and even competes in ranked tournaments.

Also thanks to DGC member Esko ("Firefyte") for sending in a voice message!

In the episode we cover all sorts of pinball-related subjects, but the main games we're diving into are:

[ download mp3 ] (122 mins, 98 MB)

Video mode: a history of pinball video games by Tim Scott ("spacefarer"):

* Part 1

* Part 2

* Part 3

Ancient DOS Games pinball episodes:

* Pinball Construction Set

* Macadam Bumper / Pinball Wizard

* Epic Pinball

* Star Trek Pinball

Welcome to my death machine, interloper!

My plans have come to fruition prematurely, quite to my satisfaction. You have my thanks, hacker. Let me show you the destruction podcast episode you I have brought upon the planet Earth.

Martijn and Florian are joined by David ("evilcommiedictator") and Jozef ("yozy") in their fight against SHODAN in Looking Glass' 1994 hit game System Shock.

Look at you, hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone. Panting and sweating as you run through my corridors listen to our podcast. How can you challenge a perfect immortal machine?

[ download mp3 ] (115 mins, 109 MB)

* The Communist Dogifesto a System Shock-inspired game by DGC member Joshua ("vede")

* System Shock on Mobygames

* Max Headroom on Wikipedia