Re: Humble Choice February 2025

On Tue, 4 Feb 2025 13:01:45 -0800, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
wrote:

* Naheulbeuk's Dungeon Master
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2005160/Naheulbeuks_Dungeon_Master/
     I guess this one is aiming to be a modern take on "Dungeon
     Master" (the classic Bullfrog games from the late 90s). Alas,
     unentertaining gameplay, unfunny humor and a heap of technical
     issues make this a game that you struggles to keep playing. It
     was shoved out the gate too early, and then abandoned by its
     publisher.

I think you mean Dungeon Keeper. 

Ooops, thank you, yes. I did mean "Dungeon Keeper". The title of the
new game caused a misrouting of the appropriate neurons. Either that,
or sunspots (you can never go wrong blaming sunspots).

This game looks more like it's about decorating or something by a quick
look.  Looks a bit complicated and got turned off after watching the
trailer for a minute.

I mean, in essence, "Dungeon Keeper" was mostly about 'decorating'
too, with both games having you place room furnishings designed to
appease your minions.  ;-)

They're the both of them essentially underground city-simulators, with
the player needing to satisfy the needs of the various monsters in the
dungeon, thereby attracting them to your cause and keeping them loyal.
The biggest difference I can see between the two (aside from the one
being good and the other not) is that in 1997's "Dungeon Keeper", you
paid for it all by mining gold dug up from unexplored portions of your
dungeon, whereas in "Naheulbeuk Dungeon Master"... well, I'm not sure
where your resources come from.

The core of both games are solid. It's just that the implementation of
"Naheulbeuk" doesn't seem to be as fun and well thought out. But of
course, I say this as having owned and played the original Bullfrog
games. I think that maybe if I were new to the genre, "Naheulbeuk"
might not look so bad. At least, conceptually.

I am tempted to reinstall "Dungeon Keeper 2" now. I have a love-hate
relation with that game, though. The game was a lot of fun, but it
used 32-bit color, and it was _the game_ that made me realize my 3DFX
card was no longer up to snuff anymore. (3DFX Voodoo cards were
limited to only 16-bit color in 3D rendering mode). You _could_ play
Dungeon Keeper 2 in 16-bit mode, but only with awful dithering that
ruined the visuals. More than any other game, "Dungeon Keeper 2"
pushed me towards leaving 3DFX for its competitors. Since I adored
3DFX, a little bit of my ire has permanently stained my affection for
"Dungeon Keeper 2". ;-)

Dungeon Master was a real time
corridor RPG, the first one I ever remember playing, by FTL Studios.
Loved both of them though.  (Apparently there's a "Dungeon Master" game
on Steam "Coming Soon" but doesn't look like it has anything to do with
the original.) It doesn't appear the original is available digitally
anywhere, which makes me sad.

Yeah, that surprised me too. I could have sworn I owned copies of the
game from GOG, but nope; all I have is images from the floppies I
bought years and years ago (and the manuals, stuck in a
box-in-the-closet). I can't say I'm disappointed by the lack --I was
never a fan of the series-- but I am somewhat taken aback that the
originals haven't been given a second chance on GOG or elsewhere.

(but feel free add your vote for them on the GOG wishlist
https://www.gog.com/dreamlist/game/dungeon-master. The more votes a
game gets, the more effort GOG puts to getting it back on sale ;-)