Vapourware The definitive, authoritative, and probably non-exhaustive list of non-(IBM) PC cRPGs

[Rincewind]

"Riamel (Black Prophecy)" (1994) (No full edition has been found, keep an eye on HERE.)

No longer lost.
https://www.gamesthatwerent.com/2022/06/riamel-black-prophecy/

Has anyone played the game? Is it any good? I'm reluctant to add it to the list of 600+ games that I intend to (but most likely will never) play.

EDIT: All I could find is a short "review" at the EAB forum:

What an interesting game it is! Played it for around 30 mins I managed to get into the dungeon, escape the castle, kill some vector enemies, walk through a forest... but looking into the manual, there is much much more. Cities! Spells! Ships! And the game saves to RAM disk!

The outer environment is HUGE. Also there is day / night change and when night, you can find inhabitants of the cities sleeping in their beds.

Well, that sounds intriguing, at least!

 

[rusty_shackleford]

To make the data easier to browse I was considering moving it to a spreadsheet and replacing the current content with a table that would look like such(spreadsheet would be available too):

Game Name​

Original Release Year​

Info​

Curator recommendation​

Amiga​

Antstream​

Amstrad CPC​

Apple II​

Apple IIGS​

Atari 8-bit​

Atari ST​

BBC Micro​

Commodore 64​

Commodore 128​

Commodore PET​

CP/M​

Dragon 32/64​

Macintosh​

TI-99​

TRS-80​

VIC 20​

ZX Spectrum​

Abandoned Places 2​

1993​

DC CA​

​

✓​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Centauri Alliance​

1990​

​

​

​

​

​

✓​

​

​

​

​

✓​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

OrbQuest​

1981​

CA​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

✓​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Is this more readable or less readable?

 

[Rincewind]

To make the data easier to browse I was considering moving it to a spreadsheet and replacing the current content with a table that would look like such(spreadsheet would be available too):

Game Name​

Original Release Year​

Info​

Curator recommendation​

Amiga​

Antstream​

Amstrad CPC​

Apple II​

Apple IIGS​

Atari 8-bit​

Atari ST​

BBC Micro​

Commodore 64​

Commodore 128​

Commodore PET​

CP/M​

Dragon 32/64​

Macintosh​

TI-99​

TRS-80​

VIC 20​

ZX Spectrum​

Abandoned Places 2​

1993​

DC CA​

​

✓​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Centauri Alliance​

1990​

​

​

​

​

​

✓​

​

​

​

​

✓​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

OrbQuest​

1981​

CA​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

✓​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Is this more readable or less readable?

The current format is fine; you can view the list of games per platform, and I assume that's what most people are interested in (e.g. list of Amiga exlusives one might have missed).

But publishing the spreadsheet on Google Sheets or something would be cool because then you can apply your own filter criteria (e.g. list all Commodore exclusives, or games that were only released for a single specific platform and no others).

Another problem with this tabular view is that you cannot lock the header row, so once it's no longer visible, it's quite hard to follow which tick means what exactly.

 

[kangaxx]

Should Panzer Dragoon Saga feature under the Saturn tab? Seem to remember that being quite RPG-ish.

 

[kangaxx]

There are probably a few I can suggest for the Acorn and BBC Micro as well. We had a lot of them at school when I was a kid, being a Brit.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

There are also some pretty interesting RPGs for Texas Instruments calculators. Stuff like Joltima, The Verdante Forest (both for the TI-83/84), War of the Arthropods (for the TI-89) or the more recent Elimination (Ti-84 CE) to name just a few.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

I often see Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge described as mixture between wargame and RPG. There is no character progression for sure, but it certainly has RPG elements to it (emphasis on exploration, characters with different stats and traits, the possibility to solve the game roleplaying style by destroying the Ice Crown as Morkin and gathering a party to do so - preferably with the powerful dragon Farflame...). On the other hand there have been remakes for Windows in 2013/2014 for both games so I'm not sure if it even counts...
There is also Legend of Eshan, kind of a LoM/DDR-clone for the obscure SAM Coupé. Same gameplay elements, also described as a "roleplaying simulation". I think it's the only game that's at least similar to an RPG on this platform.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Atari 2600 appears to have had one "true" roleplaying game.


Notably, it featured multiple ways to go about tasks.

There were multiple ways to solve problems. One could descend to the dragon's lair on a rope or simply jump down (and absorb some damage).

 

[Narushima]

Is this more readable or less readable?

An actual Google doc would probably be ideal. That would allow sorting by platform, game, year or whatever.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Space Gamer #48

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Should games like SwordThrust be listed singularly or each adventure listed individually?
https://eamon.wiki/SwordThrust

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Altered the release date for Galactic Adventures, CRPGAddict claimed 1983 but it was in fact 1982.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

ADDED: Demon Venture #1: Reign of the Red Dragon, TRS-80, 1982

This is frequently referred to without the 'Demon Venture #1', but the author himself added it:
https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getgame=reddragon
Therefore, so did I.

There may exist a sequel somewhere?

Nice cover art:

An example of one of the oldest multiplayer computer RPGs that exists, wonder which ones predate it.

 

[wishbonetail]

I would add Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday to SEGA.
Genesis version has isometric exploration

contrary to DOS' fpp exploration. It may as well be a different game.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I would add Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday to SEGA.
Genesis version has isometric exploration

contrary to DOS' fpp exploration. It may as well be a different game.

Didn't include these sorts of things because I'm going to make a thread about platform differences for games one day. Eventually.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I would add Buck Rogers Countdown to Doomsday to SEGA.
Genesis version has isometric exploration

contrary to DOS' fpp exploration. It may as well be a different game.

Didn't include these sorts of things because I'm going to make a thread about platform differences for games one day. Eventually.

Add Eye of the Beholder (GBA) to that list, if you haven't already.

 

[Narushima]

Altered the release date for Galactic Adventures, CRPGAddict claimed 1983 but it was in fact 1982.

The copyright date is not necessarily the release date, especially if the project was delayed, or released at the very beginning of the following year.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Altered the release date for Galactic Adventures, CRPGAddict claimed 1983 but it was in fact 1982.

The copyright date is not necessarily the release date, especially if the project was delayed, or released at the very beginning of the following year.

Unless someone can find me a copy of SSI's Fall & Winter 1982 catalogs, it's staying as 1982.

 

[Narushima]

Unless someone can find me a copy of SSI's Fall & Winter 1982 catalogs, it's staying as 1982.

OK, I thought you were just going by the copyright date.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

ADDED: Apventure to Atlantis (1982), Apple II

Not sure why that was missing. You guys are supposed to be checking the entire list for me

 

[Nifft Batuff]

A fresh RPG for the ZX Spectrum: Wycheweald


It's a blobber! With TB combat! Released in 2023!