Alternate Reality: The Dungeon? (C64)

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Can anyone let me know how they rate it?

Anything similar to how this chap believes it to be? http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic. ... sc&start=0

Some large praise right there. Reading through the thread makes me think of firing up my copying software and porting some disk images to floppy and giving it a whirl.

Edit:

The manual http://www.marktaw.com/ar/Manual/index.htm

 

[Mortmal]

No idea how it is , never played it, the manual sounds nice at least, its always promising.Shouldnt take long to try on an emulator.

 

[MMXI]

I wrote a bit about Alternate Reality in some other thread. It's basically a game whose concept was way ahead of its time. If the whole game was actually completed back in the 80s I'm sure it would have been considered one of the best RPGs. Or if not, certainly one of the most ground breaking. It tried to be an "immersive" virtual world way before anyone else attempted it.

The Dungeon, specifically, is only really the second part of The City, released separately due to either technological or time constraints. You know how there isn't really anything to do in The City? That's because The Dungeon was supposed to be part of it. Is the game actually any fun to play? Sort of, though I wouldn't go into it with high expectations. I'd try it if I were you, though you may want to give The City a go first even though there's no real goals in it.

Someone (most likely one of the developers) wrote up a pretty detailed wikipedia entry for the game series. According to the entry The City and The Dungeon were only supposed to be the first parts of the series. They were supposed to be followed by The Arena, The Palace, The Wilderness, Revelations and Destiny, all of which can be travelled to and from using disk swapping (in other words, one huge game). The plot also seemed pretty interesting, especially for an 80s video game. It's a shame the series was never completed.

 

[dragonbait]

There is also an Alternate Reality Remake currently in the works.
Demo 0.4 Release - 16th August 2011
http://www.crpgdev.com/

 

[CorpseZeb]

But get an Atari 8-bit version of AR Dungeon (or AR City). Better looking, better sounding, way faster and more classy. Even Amiga version is somewhat... pale comparing to 8-bit Atari masterpiece of coding. Not to mention brownish and grayish C64 version... Nah. Atari rules!

 

[dragonbait]

Yes. Atari does rule.

 

[Luzur]

from what i remember The Dungeon is buggy.

also there was supposed to be a third part, which was to conclude the series.

 

[MMXI]

also there was supposed to be a third part, which was to conclude the series.

No.

 

[CorpseZeb]

from what i remember The Dungeon is buggy.

... but playable to the end.

also there was supposed to be a third part, which was to conclude the series.

There was much more planned - Arena, Palace, Wilderness - and also - Revelations and Destiny.

 

[Luzur]

actually, it has been said that they had a final, compressed desperate part planned when they ran out of cash had to go bankrupt.

thats what i heard from the collector sections of the net, i dont know the truth of it nor can i do much about it since they never made it anyway.

 

[Mortmal]

Wich emulator are you using ? I tried css64 and its way too fast, changing the speed settings of the emulator doesnt seem to apply.I also tried vice64 but then the intro start and it freeze.

 

[CorpseZeb]

No, seriously, Atari 8-bit version is better (Atari is faster in that kind of games – 3d – due almost 2x raw processor power – 0,9 Mhz C64 versus 1,79 Mhz Atari). No to mention about graphics and fast floppy access (the last one is sort of moot point on the emulators though). Get a proper emulator - http://www.virtualdub.org/altirra.html – and prepare to be amazed.

 

[CorpseZeb]

actually, it has been said that they had a final, compressed desperate part planned when they ran out of cash had to go bankrupt.

Yes, sounds reasonable. By the way, some of RPG aspects of the game are really ahead of its time - look here - for example - section - Metabolism - http://bringerp.free.fr/RE/Ar/characterMetabolism.php5

Now... Ages later and glorious games like Fallout 3 are not even close to AR character complexity (and we talk about an 8-bit game). Sigh.

Ps. Oh, yes - http://bringerp.free.fr/RE/ - is a great site for those interesting in How Stuff Works.

 

[MMXI]

http://bringerp.free.fr/RE/Ar/characterMetabolism.php5

 

[sirfink]

The Atari emulator crowd raves about this game. Most of those guys consider the Alternate Reality games to be the best RPGs made for the 8-bit Atari computers. I've tried them and never got into them.

There aren't many RPGs for the platform (especially compared to the C64) so I always figured that had something to do with it, because the AE games feel pretty empty to me.

 

[CorpseZeb]

Well, maybe because The City doesn’t has a “real goal” besides staying alive. The City is brutal game all about survival in the city streets (where bad weather can kill you for example, if you have inappropriate clothes, that aspect was dropped off in 16-bit ports – Amiga/Atari ST – as too much hardcore – IIRC). The Dungeon is simpler and more focused on the main quest/goal, but still being tough and difficult.

Many people just admire technological aspects of the game – 3D graphics, RPG character system, weather, guild system, economy – and so on - all cramped into 8-bit system. The City is more a proof of concept than a proper game – but if you look into inside working of game engine, you must admit - that thing is bloody awesome ambitious.

 

[MMXI]

Well, maybe because The City doesn’t has a “real goal” besides staying alive. The City is brutal game all about survival in the city streets (where bad weather can kill you for example, if you have inappropriate clothes, that aspect was dropped off in 16-bit ports – Amiga/Atari ST – as too much hardcore – IIRC). The Dungeon is simpler and more focused on the main quest/goal, but still being tough and difficult.

Many people just admire technological aspects of the game – 3D graphics, RPG character system, weather, guild system, economy – and so on - all cramped into 8-bit system. The City is more a proof of concept than a proper game – but if you look into inside working of game engine, you must admit - that thing is bloody awesome ambitious.

Like I said, apparently The Dungeon was supposed to be part of The City. That's why The City has no real goals while The Dungeon does. The Dungeon is supposed to be the dungeon part of The City.

 

[CorpseZeb]

Of course, in the Grand Scheme of Things, you're right.

 

[Beautiful Clown Painting]

"The dungeon" is an incredible game, it lacks an automap though, with it it would be perfect.

 

[Mortmal]

http://bringerp.free.fr/RE/Ar/characterMetabolism.php5
Good find, i am speechless when looking at that, nowadays even showing hp in mainstream games is considered too much , fable for example. Games really diddnt evolve the right way. I dont remember clothing mattering with bad weather in many games, realm of arcania , robinson requiem and its follow up deus ex machina ( the silmarils game). Thats about all... Make me realize how badly games declined.
About the atari version , i dont know if its superior , i think we all tend to prefer the computer we grew up with.But why not ill try your sugestion.

 

[BLOBERT]

BRO I POSTED ABOUT IT A LONG TIME AGO

http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=931259

ONE OF THE FIRST CRPGS I EVER PLAYED SOME STUFF I REMEMBER

THERE WAS AN ALIGNMENT SYSTEM THAT HELPED YOU JOIN GUILDS AND SHIT
THE GAME WAS REAL TIME
HUNGER DRUNKNESS DISEASE STATES ETC

JUST AN AWESOME DUNGEON CRAWL I GOT THROUGH THE END ONE TIME WITH EXPLOITS

I TRIED TO PLAY IT AGAIN WITH A C64 EMLATOR BUT LOADING TIMES WERE KILLER

 

[CorpseZeb]

Mr. Blobert, sir – why, why, why everyone tried C64 version of the game, while original was coded and developed on Atari. It's not about Atari is “better” just AR is better on Atari.

 

[BLOBERT]

BRO I WILL TRY IT ON THE ATARI

I PLAYED IT ON THE C64 ORIGINGALLY BECAUSE I HAD A C64 AND NOT AN ATARI