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Dungeon Master (video game) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dungeon Master (video game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dungeon Master

Developer(s) FTL Games
Publisher(s) FTL Games
Designer(s) Wayne Holder, Doug Bell, Michael Newton, Dennis Walker and Andy Jaros
Platform(s) Amiga, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, PC, SNES, Sharp X68000, PC-9801, FM Towns
Release date 1987
Genre(s) Role-playing games
Mode(s) Single Player

Dungeon Master is widely considered[1] to be the first 3D realtime action computer role-playing game, published in 1987 for the Atari ST by FTL Games. It went on to become the ST's best selling product of all time, reaching an astounding market penetration of more than 50% of the Atari STs ever sold.

An almost identical Amiga version was released the following year that was the first computer game to use 3D sound effects. The game was also ported to PC, Apple IIGS, SNES, Sharp X68000, PC-9801 and FM Towns and translated from English into German, French, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

Contents

[edit] Description

The inventory system (Atari ST/Amiga)
The inventory system (Atari ST/Amiga)

While previous games such as Alternate Reality: The Dungeon, The Bard's Tale, Ultima and Wizardry offered Dungeons & Dragons-style role playing, Dungeon Master established several new standards for role playing and computer games in general. Dungeon Master was a realtime game instead of the traditional turn-based approach that was prevalent until then. Instead of using text-based commands to interact with the environment, players directly manipulated objects and the environment by clicking the mouse in the enlarged first-person view. Abstract Dungeons and Dragons style experience points and levels were eschewed in favor of a system where the characters' skills were improved directly via using them. It also introduced some novel control methods including the spell casting system, which involved learning sequences of runes which represented the form and function of a spell's effect. For example, a fireball spell was created by mixing the fire symbol with the wing symbol. This kind of attention to detail and focus on the user interface was typical of the game and helped create an often captivating sense of craft and ingenuity. Another factor in immersiveness was the then-revolutionary use of sound effects to indicate when a creature was nearby.

An in-game screenshot
An in-game screenshot

Another factor in its popularity may have been the imaginative mythology, with players often reporting a nurturing identity with their chosen characters. Nancy Holder, wife of producer Wayne Holder, wrote the storyline in the manual (from a base scenario suggested by Michael Newton and the FTL team). She is a successful novelist, having written for series including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Smallville.

Many reviewers considered Dungeon Master as the best exemplar of its genre, despite the many clones that arrived to challenge it. First of these was Bloodwych (1989), featuring similar game play but adding a mode allowing two simultaneous players on one machine. Other notable clones included Captive and Eye of the Beholder. While Dungeon Master itself was inspired by early Ultima games, it was also itself the source of inspiration for the later Ultima Underworld game. Game journalist Niko Nirvi wrote that no 3D role playing title before Ultima Underworld (1992) could challenge Dungeon Master as a game.

To date Dungeon Master retains a small but faithful following online, with several fan ports and remakes available or in development.

[edit] Awards

Dungeon Master received dozens of prestigious awards including the first ever Special Award for Artistic Achievement from Computer Gaming World (CGW) when it was initially released. It was retired directly from the top spot in the CGW game ratings as one of the original members of the CGW Hall of Fame in November 1989 after having spent almost a year in the top spot with no serious challenger. There was some speculation by the game's developers that the CGW Hall of Fame was created for the purpose of removing Dungeon Master from the CGW ratings list since the game had achieved its sales records and domination of the rankings despite never buying any advertising for the game in the U.S. market.

The following list of awards is comprehensive, but not complete. Notably, it does not include any of the many awards that followed the game's release in Japan in 1990.

  • Special Award for Artistic Achievement awarded in 1988 by Computer Gaming World
  • Adventure Game of the Year, 1988 — UK Software Industry Awards
  • Best Selling Atari ST Title, 1988 — UK Software Industry Awards
  • Best Role Playing Game, 1988PowerPlay Magazine (German)
  • Best Role Playing Game, 1988Tilt Magazine
  • Best Sound Effects, 1988Tilt Magazine
  • Game of the Year, 1988Computer Play Magazine
  • Best Atari ST Game, 1988Computer Play Magazine
  • Game of the Year, 19884th Generation Magazine (French)
  • "Golden Sword" Award ,1988 — The Adventurer's Club of the UK
  • Best Role Playing Game, 1988 — The Adventurer's Club of the UK
  • "Beastie Award", 1988Dragon Magazine
  • Best Atari ST Title, 1988Dragon Magazine
  • Best Game, 1989Amiga World Magazine
  • Best Role Playing Game, 1989Amiga World Magazine
  • Best Amiga Game, 1989Game Player's Magazine
  • Best Amiga Game, 1989Datormagazin (German)
  • "Beastie Award" Best Apple //GS Title, 1989Dragon Magazine
  • Best Game, 1989Info Magazine
  • Best of the Amiga, 1989Compute Magazine
  • Inducted as an original member in the Computer Gaming World Hall of Fame in 1989
  • Designated as one of the 100 Best Games by PowerPlay Magazine (German, date uncertain)

[edit] Soundtrack album

A soundtrack album, titled Dungeon Master: The Album, was released later. This album featured music composed by Darrell Harvey, Rex Baca, and Kip Martin.[2]

The game features music composed for the FM Towns game, as well as FM Towns version of Chaos Strikes Back, and some original tracks that were inspired by the games.[3]

[edit] Unreleased versions

According to "The Definitive CDTV Retrospective: Part II" [4] by Peter Olafson, Dungeon Master was ported to the Amiga CDTV but this version was never completed because FTL could not obtain reliable information from Commodore about saving games to memory cards.

Dungeon Master was also ported to Macintosh but never released.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links


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