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Ten Computer RPGs You’ve Never Heard Of

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
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Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Well, that RPG I thought I thought was lost in the mists of time?

Not so lost, after all. :Flash: had brought it up when felipepepe original blog post was discussed here on the Codex.

And yeah, it looked like arse once you weren't looking at still photos. Even the box cover is cringe-worthy.
 

:Flash:

Arcane
Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
6,454
Well, that RPG I thought I thought was lost in the mists of time?

Not so lost, after all. :Flash: had brought it up when felipepepe original blog post was discussed here on the Codex.

And yeah, it looked like arse once you weren't looking at still photos. Even the box cover is cringe-worthy.
Well, which game was it? Because, if you are talking about felipepepe's list of cancelled games, I can't think of talking about a game that had a box.
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
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Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
Oh, right. I was getting tired last night when I made that post, so I was bound to forget something.

It's Forgotten Castle. The box art (or what appears to be it anyway) can be found at the end of the YouTube video you linked.

 

Ladonna

Arcane
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
10,639
Nobody talks about Aethra Chronicles anymore...possibly because there was only one chronicle out of the planned three, but still...I enjoyed playing through that game and cursed the developer for never completing the planned sequels.
 

tuluse

Arcane
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Jul 20, 2008
Messages
11,400
Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong
This is a nice list of obscurity. I knew of (and have briefly played) Swords and Sorcery: Underworld.

Also had a vague recollection of Omega Syndrome (could never remember the name, knew it was a 50s alien conspiracy game made by Davaris).

Would have liked to see Prelude to Darkness get a mention.
 

Trash

Pointing and laughing.
Joined
Dec 12, 2002
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About 8 meters beneath sea level.
I remember the Omega Syndrome, it was a game people discussed here on the Codex back in 2007. The developer seemed to have a "crazy modder" mentality as in not listening to feedback and just doing the thing he thinks is the proper way to play, and then just removing his game from sale when he got fed up with people NOT UNDERSTANDING.

At least that's how I remember it. My memory is hazy because it's so long ago.
The game was supposed to have a structure like classic late 90s RPGs, such as Baldur's Gate and Fallout. And it was ironman. And people got annoyed by a game where you have a plot structure and semi-linear progression... and permadeath. It meant failing once forced you to restart and do all the shit you did before yet again. Imagine starting out at Candlekeep again because Sarevok just killed you in the final fight. HAHAHA RAGEQUIT FOREVER

Of course, the dev claimed the people crying over permadeath being a horribly shit decision were just not hardcore enough for his game.

Sounds dramalicious. Links to old threads, anybody?

Drama dev came back and is posting here. He's into the whole anti-gubbermint, magic negro western decline bullshit thing. Say hi to Davaris
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
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Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
While digging through old game mags, I found a section on shareware titles and found a roguelike there that I hadn't heard about before: Majik (1991).

Digging around led me to Quick Majik Adventure on MobyGames, which has more info on it.
 

Cthulhu_is_love

Guest
I never heard of Fallout 3, Ultima 9 and Gothic 4.

really
Untermensch!!!:flamesaw:
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Guest
Putting Devil Whiskey on that list is a bit dubious or at the least the most "known" of those "unknown" titles. I knew of half of those (Devil, Omega, Underworld, Anaria and Vampyr) but not the others so it might be fun to dig them up. However, I imagine some are obscure for a very simple reason... they weren't very good to begin with.
Well, as long as they're better than Zenfar, they deserve some attention. :lol:
 

upwardlymobile

forum posting consultant
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PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
#1 – Dungeons of Death / Dungeons of Magdarr (1983, Commodore 64): This title was only available as a mail-order from a regular multi-game ad in magazines like Compute! I remember digging through the BASIC code and discovering the dungeon maps defined as character strings, and thinking that was a pretty clever way to store it. It was a 3D first-person perspective title… and not a very good one. The odd thing is that I ordered it from this ad to the right. But I understand this game (Dungeons of Death) was a 2D, top-down game on the VIC-20 and other systems. Yet the game I received was a 3D, three-level dungeon (I remember it had 3 levels because, again, I spent about as much time looking through the code as I did playing it.)

I wish I still had the original packaging with the (Tape? Floppy? I can’t remember) and the manual (was it a single page?) Anyway, it was my very first computer RPG, and while it wasn’t the greatest experience evar, it was a taste of things to come.

this one looks an awful lot like the very first vidya I ever played, The Standing Stones, also for C=64. it was a proto-RPG, kind of, with unreasonable (even for the time) difficulty and permadeath.

here's a video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbWgV_T1jXo
 

mondblut

Arcane
Joined
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Ingrija
Nobody talks about Aethra Chronicles anymore...possibly because there was only one chronicle out of the planned three, but still...I enjoyed playing through that game and cursed the developer for never completing the planned sequels.

Au contraire, Aethra gets loving mentions on the codex all the time. We're the fucking Mensa of computer roleplaying, after all. A game should never leave the basement of its creator to be the one we've never heard of. And even that sometimes isn't enough, Grimoire can attest :smug:
 

Deuce Traveler

2012 Newfag
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Okinawa, Japan
Grab the Codex by the pussy Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
I've played Aethra Chronicles, but didn't get too far in it. There's a Let's Play here on the Codex, too, so I agree that Aethra Chronicles isn't all that obscure on this website.
 

KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,874
#1 – Dungeons of Death / Dungeons of Magdarr (1983, Commodore 64): This title was only available as a mail-order from a regular multi-game ad in magazines like Compute! I remember digging through the BASIC code and discovering the dungeon maps defined as character strings, and thinking that was a pretty clever way to store it. It was a 3D first-person perspective title… and not a very good one. The odd thing is that I ordered it from this ad to the right. But I understand this game (Dungeons of Death) was a 2D, top-down game on the VIC-20 and other systems. Yet the game I received was a 3D, three-level dungeon (I remember it had 3 levels because, again, I spent about as much time looking through the code as I did playing it.)

I wish I still had the original packaging with the (Tape? Floppy? I can’t remember) and the manual (was it a single page?) Anyway, it was my very first computer RPG, and while it wasn’t the greatest experience evar, it was a taste of things to come.

this one looks an awful lot like the very first vidya I ever played, The Standing Stones, also for C=64. it was a proto-RPG, kind of, with unreasonable (even for the time) difficulty and permadeath.

here's a video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbWgV_T1jXo
Ah, Standing Stones. The appleII version has everything including the trip out ofthe dungeon. The c64 cuts the trip and you just win. I was annoyed at that. Yes you answer the guardian's questions, yes you fight the dragon.

Funny thing about the elusive but now available Dungeon of Death from Aardvark; it is Vi20 tape. I haven't played the emulation of it much as i can't figure out the display screen. Now Dungeons of Magdarr and the sequel Seatch for Magdarr I have played and mapped. I even tried to update the manual to use easier. At the early days of gamebase they only had DOM so I submitted SOM to them. Subtle differences in monsters per levels but generally the same. I hated the character passwords but its helluva improved over DOD. This game could yse a slight modern facelift nixing the passwords and utilizing a save feature. Definitely use save states with the latter two; not because of death but because retyping the damn everchanging passwords is annoying.
scan-dungeons-of-death-cover.png

scan-dungeons-of-death.gif


Blogger on the games.

Bah i'll fix it later as phone is being a fag. (Don't quote me yet i'll fix when i hit up a terminal)
Crpg addict

GameBase64 Madgarr DLs

Archogaming blog DOD DLs

The version on the pet computer looks interesting compared to the vic.
PET Download
Funny that this Dungeon of death may have inspired the Standing Stones with the Grail and a dragon to kill. Hmmmm....

Videos



The unrelated pet game with same damn name:

There are no videos of Magdarr I can find so maybe I'll play some and vid it or not...
 
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KeighnMcDeath

RPG Codex Boomer
Joined
Nov 23, 2016
Messages
12,874
Hey! I'm not that old!!







NOW GET THE FUCK OFF MY LAWN!!!!


Time to feed my cat swarm..
 

Turjan

Arcane
Joined
Mar 31, 2008
Messages
5,047
Out of that list in the opening post, Devil Whiskey was sold in a bundle in 2012. Same bundle as Kenshi, for what it's worth.
 

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