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showing 17 games

name	publisher(developer)	year	description
The Magic Candle	Mindcraft	1989
Commander Keen 2: The Earth Explodes	Apogee (id Software)	1990	2007-08-04 on Steam***Part of [i]Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons[/i]
Commander Keen: The Armageddon Machine	Apogee (id Software)	1991	Part of [i]Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy![/i]
Eye of the Beholder	SSI (Westwood Studios)	1991	[22]* [63]* [52]* [37]*You control a party of four heroes tasked by the lords of Waterdeep to investigate some foul stuff going on by entering the vast sewer system below the city. Saved games can be loaded into a new game in the sequel ([game=#40320]EOB2[/game]); minus the special items. [Zerothis]
Commander Keen: Secret of the Oracle	Apogee (id Software)	1991	Part of [i]Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy![/i]
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss	Origin (Blue Sky Productions)	1992	Historical note: This game was the first, first person 3D game (it preceded Wolfenstein 3D by two months). Also the engine is much more advanced than the Wolfenstein 3D engine was. Not just in the RPG elements but the 3D environment, dynamic lighting, curved surfaces, real bridges and tunnels, texture resolution and variation, and vertical variation in the terrain. However, the system requirements of UW are higher than Wolf 3D. [Zerothis]
Heirs to Skull Crag	SSI (MicroMagic;SSI)	1993	Heirs to Skull Crag is the game, exclusively available in no other package game, real game, actual game, existing game, playable game, completable that comes the the Unlimited Adventures game creator which is in every other videogam database with tools to create AD&D based adventures, or even other types of adventures based on the Gold Box Engine. The executable is "FRUA.EXE" and the letters stand for "Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures". But UA is by no means limited to the Forgotten Realms setting. Materials from other settings are included and players are free to create their own or download UGC from the aforementioned site.
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds	Origin (Looking Glass Technologies)	1993	Comes with five 3.5' and 5.25' disks.
Ancient Domains Of Mystery	author	1994	# averted tags/concepts # level scaling - only present in a cave northwest of Terinyo, the small village you encounter early on. Otherwise non-existant.***Latest version: 1.1.1 (as of 2002-11)
Superhero League of Hoboken	Legend Entertainment	1994
Doom II	id Software	1994	[22]*[media=youtube]tt3E7S8me2E[/media][b]boss battles[/b] - the Icon of Sin if nothing else.Let the Obsession begin. Again. This time, the entire forces of the netherworld have overrun Earth. To save her, you must descend into the stygian depths of Hell itself! Battle mightier, nastier, deadlier demons and monsters. Use more powerful weapons. Survive more mind-blowing explosions and more of the bloodiest, fiercest, most awesome blastfest ever! Play DOOM II solo, with two people over a modem, or with up to four players over a LAN (supporting IPX protocol). No matter which way you choose, get ready for adrenaline-pumping, action-packed excitement that's sure to give your heart a real workout. [?]*This game is one of the most popular games when 3D shoot-em's first became popular. It involves total carnage of evil demons, zombies and monsters with an arsenal of shotguns, chainguns, missiles, BFG, Plasma, Pistol, and Chainsaw.
Heretic	id Software;GT Interactive (Raven Software)	1994	[media=youtube]PvXDik3-XG0[/media]*1999-01-11 source code released under a restrictive license. 2008-09-04 source code was released under GPL compatible license.A [gametag=doom]Doom[/gametag]-like game with similar premise, demons from some outer realm invade the homeworld of Corvus, our elven hero and "heretic" for standing up against the absolute rule of [i]D'sparil[/i] after years of hiding. As the lone magical warrior to stand against the hordes of the Serpent Rider, you battle your way through monsters, undead, demons and the evil disciples to finally give D'sparil a final beating. Basically Heretic is for anyone who wanted fantasy-themed Doom as it doesn't really offer much more than Doom did, though Heretic started a [url=/groups/info/heretichexen]well-loved series[/url] telling the tales of D'sparil's brothers enslaving other worlds and how their indiviual heroes fought back and defeated the rest of the Serpent Riders. However, if you're just looking for a plain shooter of around the same era, you're better off with Doom.*[b]Episodes:[/b] City of the Damned * Hell's Maw * The Dome of D'sparil * The Ossuary * The Stagnant Demesne The shareware version only had three episodes compared to the retail release's five, but a later free patch updated the shareware version to have the two additional episodes.*Raven Software teamed up with Id Software for the second time in its creation of the hit fantasy action game Heretic. Based on a modified DooM engine, Heretic pioneered a revolutionary new inventory system for character item use that has become commonplace in the FPS genre. Id Software published the game under its flag and it was distributed by GT Interactive. Players took the role of Corvus, an Elven hero whose race was nearly eliminated by a horde of evil monsters from another dimension. The first episode of Heretic was released as Shareware as a precursor to the full version of the game, Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders. Heretic won several awards for excellence, appeared in such notable publications as USA Today and Playboy, and opened many new doors in the computer gaming software industry for Raven Software and its team of developers. Heretic was Raven Software's most popular, highest acclaimed, biggest selling game to that point. [Raven]*More than just another Doom clone, Heretic lets you battle it out as Corvus against the first of the serpent riders. New weapons, the ability to jump and fly, water that moves your char around etc. make this game stand apart from others of it's kind. Along with an inventory system, and the Tomb of Power, which gives all your weapons an added boost, perfect for when you're opponents are just a little better equiped than you. Heretics game-engine is the same as in "Doom" and "Doom 2". Gameplay is very similar with some extra-features and a fantasy-setting. In 1996 GT Interactive re-released the game as "Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders", which features 2 more episodes.
World of Aden: Thunderscape	Mindscape (SSI)	1995	Although the game allows you to create completely custom party of four individuals, the game can be started with a default party by skipping the party creation process. Somewhat different from older games where the game might at most have few premade characters if even that.**[b]Minimum:[/b] MS-DOS or DR-DOS 5.0 * 66 MHz 486 CPU * 8 MB RAM * 25 MB HD space * VGA GPU * 2X CD-ROM drive * MS-compatible mouse***[b]With a flash of lightning, the Age of Thunder is born. And with it a whole new game world from SSI![/b] SSI's all-new World of Aden is a big, brawny, boisterous realm! Driven by mechamagic - a crude marriage of steam-age technology and powerful sorcery - Aden is a huge world of unbridled imagination and limitless possibilities. [i]Thunderscape[/i] is your maiden voyage into the [i]World of Aden[/i]. It is the time of Darkfall, and all is not well. Of mysterious origins, this black blight stains the land with its spawn - mindless horrors known simply as nocturnals. Great warriors ride across the battered lands to battle these vile hordes. Clever rogues and ruthless inquisitors seek out the corrupted traitors hiding in cities and settlements. Powerful mechamages wield deadly contraptions of steam and magic, or fight the evil with iron sorcery. But for all this, no ground is gained. And there are many who openly fear that Aden will fall... unless a leader, a true hero, rises - and leads the way out of this time of darkness! A masterpiece of fantasy role-playing adventure, [i]Thunderscape[/i] features raucous combat. Brain-draining puzzles. Deadly traps. Killer graphics and sound. It's everything you'd expect in an SSI role-playing epic... and more! THUNDERSCAPE. A whole new world awaits! [Box blurb]
Zorro	Capstone Software	1995
Hexen	id Software;GT Interactive (Raven Software)	1995	Re-edited version with addons included [84]* [22]1999-01-11 source code released under a restrictive license. 2008-09-04 source code was released under GPL compatible license*Has rather unique difficulty levels, the number of enemies gets inflated as is to be expected, but better weapons are located later on, forcing you to fight with old and "less efficient" ones much longer. But since each character has only 4 weapons total, including the starting weapon, this isn't such a big thing but does prove additional challenge early on. There are some differences in encountered enemies between the characters, too (or they're randomized, but I haven't verified that). There are only two types of "ammo" (mana, really), where the second weapon consumes blue, third weapon green, and fourth weapon both. Unlike some other games of the time, magic was not simply dispensed from some magical weapons, but the character actually seemed to have proficiency in magical arts, as witnessed by the mage classes use of lightning and ice and cleric's use of fire. Hexen is also one of the first (if not [i]the[/i] first) first-person games to implement jumping, as well as falling damage which is ignored in great many games even today. [spoiler=Show weapons;Hide weapons]Baratus (Warrior): Spiked Gauntlets * Timon's Axe * Hammer of Retribution * Quietus Parias (Cleric): * Mace of Contrition * Serpent Staff * Firestorm * Wraithverge Daedolon (Mage): * Sapphire Wand * Frost Shards * Arc of Death (Lightning) * Bloodscourge[/spoiler]*Raven Software's HeXen actually began development as an expansion for Heretic that was originally slated to hit the shelves as "Heretic II." However, the game design so expanded beyond the original game that this proposed the expansion of the Heretic universe took on a bold new identity of its own...HeXen: Beyond Heretic. HeXen was developed over a period of 8 months, published by Id Software and distributed by GT Interactive in 1995. The game introduced the 3-D gaming world to the "hub system" of level progression, rotating polygonal brushes and multiple character classes that were available in both single player and multiplayer. All of this combined to help HeXen raise the bar for the first-person shooter genre. HeXen pushed Id Software's DooM engine to its absolute limits and surpassed Heretic as Raven Software's most popular, highly acclaimed title. The success of HeXen prompted a mission pack, Deathkings of the Dark Citadel, and several ports to home console gaming systems including the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 and the Sony PlayStation. HeXen also became the first Raven Software game made available for the Macintosh. [Raven][b]System requirements:[/b] 486 33 MHz CPU or better * MS-DOS 5.0 or higher. * 25 MB free HD space * 8 MB RAM * VGA graphics card * Sound Blaster or 100% compatible sound card Supports joystick and mouse.*~ Represeting a quantum leap in realism, bursting at the seams with playability and bulging interactivity, Hexen is a spellbinding and terrifying epic that pits its players as one of the three classes of hero and sets them on a nightmarish knife-edge quest to destroy the evil rulers who once controlled them. Every part of this colossal battle between horrific creatures is waged with one of the 12 death dealing weapons, either alone or in 'co-operative' or 'Deathmatch' networked play. Pretenders to the throne beware: - id Software and Raven have joined forces again to create this masterpiece of the 3D dynasty. [Box blurb]While you were battling the evil forces of D'Sparil, the other Serpent Riders were busy sowing the seeds of destruction in other dimensions. One such dimension is the decaying world where Hexen takes place. A world littered with the mangled corpses of nonbelievers and inhabited by the undead followers that executed them. Only three humans - a warrior, a mage and a cleric - have escaped the leaders' vicious spell. Now these brave souls have sworn to crush the evil regime that threatens to destroy the world forever. Separated upon entering the mystical portal, the three are forced to attempt on their own what they had hoped to do together: find Korax's stronghold, destroy him and restore order in the physical world. [id Software]**A sort of sequel of Heretic, Hexen takes you to a new world to take the place of one of three heroes (A Fighter, a Cleric and a Mage) to stop the second of the Serpent Riders. The use of a "hub" system to travel back and forth through the levels is a very innovative idea. This is one of my all time favorite games, however some are turned away by the running around, collecting of puzzle pieces.
Duke Nukem 3D	Apogee Software (3D Realms)	1996	About tech / gameplay innovation, to quote TV Tropes: [quote]First Person Shooters prior to Duke 3d didn't feature "realistic" real world locations. Things that Duke 3d did first include: televisions that show different programmes; closed circuit security cameras that let you see other areas of the level than the bit you're in; working subway trains that take you across "town"; strip bars/clubs; breakable glass/destroyable furniture/mirrors that you can see your own reflection in; triggered set pieces such as earthquakes that can destroy the architecture around the player; and working toilets that you can use to gain extra health. These things were quite revolutionary at the time, and the level design in later games of the genre (such as Half Life, Deus Ex, Soldier Of Fortune, and even aspects of Doom 3) show signs of its ground breaking influence. It could be argued that this organic approach to level design would have come about anyway as a direct result of increasingly better technology... but nevertheless, Duke 3d was there first.[/quote]*The source code for the 1.5 version was released under GPL license on 2003-04-01."Complete Version", the one I have, came on single CD-ROM. I'm pretty sure some older releases came on several 3½ disks.*[b]Minimum:[/b] 486 CPU * 8 MB RAM * VGA GPU * 30 MB free HD space [b]Recommended:[/b] * 486DX2 / 66 MHz CPU (Pentium for SVGA modes) * 16 MB RAM * VESA-compliant VGA or SVGA GPU [b]Supported sound cards:[/b] For music: Gravis UltraSound, Sound Blaster (all of them), SoundMan16, Pro Audio Spectrum, SoundScape, Waveblaster, Sound Canvas, Adlib, and General MIDI. For sound: Sound Blaster (all of them), Gravis UltraSound, SoundMan16, Pro Audio Spectrum, SoundScape, Disney/Tandy Sound Sources.**The third chapter in the series, and the first with a 3D perspective (the original Duke Nukem and the sequel, Duke Nukem II, are side scrolling platform games). This game, set sometime in the early 21st century, begins in a ravaged LA, which was overtaken by aliens while you were abducted during Duke Nukem II. Duke, upon returning to Earth, finds himself with another mess to clean up, and another alien race that needs exterminating. Duke is a can-do hero who realizes that sometimes innocent people have to die in order to save Earth, so accuracy of gun fire is not a real concern to him. :) This game has a long list of cool things that haven't been attempted in 3D action games, yet. The weapons, for example, kick-butt: There's a mine that can be placed on any wall and sends out a laser trip beam-- perfect for multiplayer games. * There's also a shrinker ray that reduces an opponent to the size of a G.I. Joe, at which point they are foot fodder--watch them splat! * As in Shadow Warrior, you can swim under water, and even shoot players who are standing outside the water, or vice versa. [3D Realms]
Avanor, The Land Of Mystery	?	2006

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