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Classic Games (Games)

Classic BBS 'Door Games' Reborn 51

Posted by simoniker from the 300-baud-is-fast dept.
digirave writes "Most multiplayer strategy/RPG 'door games' didn't survive the change from the BBS scene to the Internet. The few that did mostly stayed dialup and telnet only. Here are three BBS door games that were quite popular at the time, remade as open-source games for the Web using PHP and MySQL. First of all, there's the Tradewars 2002-inspired game Blacknova, and secondly the LORD (Legend Of The Red Dragon) remake, Legend Of The Green Dragon. Finally, there's a game similar to Solar Realms Elite, QM Promisance, which itself is a modified version of the original Promisance source."
Books

Developing Online Games 240

Posted by timothy from the step-one-buy-a-computer dept.
peterwayner writes "If you're a bit tired of programming books, API descriptions, tables of keywords, and arguments about which data structure is buzzword compliant, super-mega-efficient and intuitively easy to grasp, turn to Developing Online Games , a book that seems to have very little interest in many of the traditional challenges for programmers. The authors spend four lines discussing the best computer language for the job (C/C++), conclude that objects give "far more flexibility in design" and then move on to fun questions like how to make a online game compelling for achievers, socializers, killers and explorers. This book is a wonderful psychoanalysis of the gamer's mind and it should be the first and last book read by game developers about to start a quest to capture the hearts, minds and subscription fees of people on the Internet." Read on for the rest of Peter's review.
PlayStation (Games)

Square Enix Releases Final Fantasy Origins 5

Posted by CowboyNeal from the new-face-on-an-old-fave dept.
wyatt writes "The newly merged Square Enix has released updated versions of the seminal RPG classic Final Fantasy (now nearly 14 years old) and Final Fantasy II (never before released in North America) for the PlayStation. New features include "cinematic movies, opening theme songs, event scenes including updates of the original event sequences, enhanced graphics, improved sound quality and new game play modes"." If you're saying "But I played Final Fantasy II on my SNES!" that's because it was actually Final Fantasy IV given the import treatment.
Technology

Deus Ex Writer Discusses 'Dangerous Technology' 479

Posted by michael from the skynet dept.
Dan Weaver writes "One of the writers for the exceptionally good action RPG Deus Ex has authored a rather thought-provoking Salon article on the Bill-Joy theme of dangers posed by emergent technologies and the difficulties that police states (both pleasant and not-so-pleasant) encounter in dealing with them. In the light of revelations about China's tardiness and confusion in addressing the SARS epidemic, this article is particularly timely."
Games

Diablo II JavaScript Parser Automates D2 Gameplay 108

Posted by timothy from the no-one-can-tell-you're-a-dog dept.
mikegogulski writes "d2jsp is an embedded implementation of a JavaScript engine for executing user program code (scripts) inside Diablo II. d2jsp can be used to make Diablo II do almost anything that can be done in the game by a human player, and some things (such as knowing the immunities of monsters four screens away) that cannot. d2jsp has an installed base in the tens of thousands, an active user community of over 6500, and hundreds of active projects in its script database. Work progresses toward the Holy Grail of Diablo II hack development, the Complete Diablo Bot, which will eventually enable the entire game to be played automatically without human intervention. All Your RPG Are Belong To Us!"
Handhelds

RPG Sorcery PDA Reviewed 108

Posted by timothy from the distraction-all-the-time dept.
shiroi_kami writes "I finally received my long-awaited (and pre ordered) CD-ROM and immediately loaded the game up on my IPAQ (I didn't even look at the PC Extras)." shiroi_kami has written some other PC game reviews; here's his first of a Pocket PC game. Read on below for his thoughts on Sorcery PDA.
The Almighty Buck

Funding New Games 19

Posted by timothy from the willie-sutton-principle dept.
Reedo writes "RPG Vault has an interesting article about securing funding for new games. The article was put together by Doug Mealy, the President of Online Marketing and Public Relations. It covers points of view from investors, as well as game developers who have succeeded in landing funding. A good read if you're curious about what's involved when trying to get a game funded."
Java

Source Code To Dungeon Master Java Released 189

Posted by Hemos from the released-into-the-world dept.
Jonathan Jessup writes "This is an update to a story you reported on about two years ago. There were many requests for Alandale to release the source code to Dungeon Master Java and now he has released the source code on the Dungeon Master Java site. Dungeon Master was an all time classic RPG game first released in 1987 that made monumentous improvements in user interface design in gaming, and many other improvements. If you read the slashdot comments on the last article, there are a few good posts on what the game changed for the industry and its lasting legacy." I loved Dungeon Master.
Games

Free Repository for Tile Graphics? 24

Posted by Cliff from the resources-for-game-coders dept.
Hentai asks: "I want to make a game. Specifically, I want to make a good, open-source computer RPG, with the same artistic style of the early Squaresoft sprite-pushers, like Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger. I can code well enough, and I can get artists to provide character sprite graphics (which will be open-source, too), but I need background tile graphics on the same vein and caliber as those titles. Web searches invariably lead to commercial or shareware packages, or 'free to the public' tile sets that are, frankly, abysmal. I just need enough quality tiles to start with, and will happily add any new derivations to the repository. Anyone know of a good GPLed tile package that could get me started?"
Games

Sega Merges With Pachinko Company Sammy 239

Posted by timothy from the such-nice-names dept.
conform writes "The New York Times reported today that Sega Corporation (the Japanese parent company) has merged with Sammy Corp, a vendor of pachinko machines. The Sammy side of things are expected to dominate post-merger operations, and will likely shift Sega operational focuses back to the arcade market. Also, the end of the article notes in passing that SquareSoft has been aquired by rival RPG manufacturer Enix."
Games

RPG Codex - Articles On Video Game Design 309

Posted by chrisd from the writing-about-games dept.
chadeo writes "Ok all you arm chair game developers, listen up. Over at RPG Codex there are currently 4 articles, written by professionals in the industry, on RPG design. There is A Christmas lesson in CRPG design by Timothy Cain, Thoughts on RPG development by Leon Boyarsky, Hand of Gosh Darn Good Design by Chris Taylor, and Treatise on Combat to Pink Floyd by Gareth Davies. All of them are a great read, and you can join in the discussion with the authors and see how your ideas stack up. What do you think is the key to a great RPG?"
Games

Ultima 7 in Windows? 168

Posted by timothy from the backward-compatibility dept.
trotski writes "In its day, Ultima 7 was one of the most complex and detailed RPG's ever made. Lets put it this way, in 1992 it required 20 mb of hard drive space and a 386 processor; cutting edge equipment that at the time retailed at well over $2000. Unfortunatly, until now getting Utlima 7 to run properly under win9X or worse, win2K or XP was heart-breaking. Fortunatly, someone has designed a utility that allows you to run this program under all versions of Windows as well as Linux! Very exciting for people out there who want to play this classic." Actually, Linux support seems to be only hypothetical at this point; along with the link to download the code is a note that says "Anyone who wishes to study the source code, or to port it to Linux or any other OS, is welcome to download this file."
Games

Square To Merge With Enix 286

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i-cast-mergega dept.
SquareAMP writes "The makers of the 'Final Fantasy' video game series will be merging with the makers of the 'Dragon Quest' series to produce an RPG powerhouse to be re-named Enix Square Co. Reuters has all the details of the planned merger, that includes the dismantling of Square's assets and absorption into Enix. For Square fanboys fearing that this may ruin their favorite RPG company, Square's current CEO Yoichi Wada will be running the combined entity."
Games

Layoffs at WotC 286

Posted by michael from the failed-their-saving-throw dept.
Abies writes "During last year or so, quite a lot of people were fired from WotC - current owners of the D&D line. A few days ago, _most_ of big names out there had to quit - including Skip Williams and Jeff Grubb. Official WotC press info, Enworld news about that and a Monte Cook thread contain some more detailed info. Do you think it will spell an end to D&D ? After something which seemed to be a ressurection of old-time RPG, Hasbro seems to kill the biggest RPG company out there. Will OGL and the D20 license be enough to preserve the genre ?"
Games

Arianne ALPHA 2 Released 105

Posted by michael from the hack-and-slash dept.
Miguel Angel Blanch Lardin writes "Arianne is a Game Engine to build Internet games and applications. You can use it to create your own games, from RPG to Realtime strategy games, arcade or Turn based strategy ones." We noted Arianne two years ago.
Apple

MacPlay Re-Releases Fallout 17

Posted by chrisd from the fallout-is-the-best-game-ever-written dept.
BrotherhoodOfSteel writes " Accelerate your Mac reports that MacPlay is re-releasing Fallout as part of their value series. This is the original (good) version and the new release will be Mac OS X-compatible. MacGamer has a preview. And since it's news, there must be a press release." Those who have played Fallout and Fallout 2 can vouch for the quality of narrative in this single-player RPG. Now if someone would port Fallout 2, life would be complete for Macintosh users. Update: 06/21 16:24 GMT by J : Here's Omnigroup's page on the Mac OS X port.
Games

Neverwinter Nights is Gold 335

Posted by CmdrTaco from the gimme-some-of-that-action dept.
Urthpaw writes "Neverwinter Nights, the D&D based RPG from BioWare (Makers of Baldur's Gate among other titles), for Windows, MacOS and Linux has Gone gold. The game allows players to make their own "modules", or adventures, and DM them for up to 64 friends. Server-linking features allow the assembly of distributed MMORPGs."
Games

E3: Epic, US Army Develop Games as Recruitment Tool 820

Posted by michael from the army-of-one dept.
securitas writes "Reuters and AP tell us that Epic Games and the US Army have announced the America's Army series of games, jointly developed by the Department of Defense and Epic. The first two-part game in the five-year project includes an RPG called Soldier and a first-person shooter called Operations. The game will be free of charge and available for download in July or August, with 1.2 million CDs simultaneously released, attached to gaming magazines. Does this remind anyone else of the war-room scene from Toys or Ender's Game?" Future installments will include Sim Mess Duty, Sim Standing Guard in the Rain, Sim Blister, and Sim Invading Iraq to Keep Approval Ratings High.
Games

Square and Disney Team Up for Kingdom Hearts 152

Posted by CmdrTaco from the goofy-versus-tidus dept.
jaredcat writes "Ever wonder what would happen if the incredibly creative talents of Squaresoft and Disney got together? Well I never did, but that didn't seem to stop them. The first joint production of Square and Disney, Kingdom Hearts, was just released in Japan. Its an RPG with a Square CGI, a Square story, a Disney sense of humor, and Square and Disney charectars. If the opening movie is any indication of what's to come when Kingdom Hearts becomes available in the US, its going to be the best thing to hit the PS2 since, well, Final Fantasy X :)." Very positive review. Gotta admit, I'm intrigued. Update by J : Check out this review too, with a ton of screenshots, from the GIA: "By all rights [it] should be an awkward, conflated mess... instead, it's an epic piece of crossover fanfiction."
Programming

Looking for IBM 1401 software 15

Posted by michael from the swap-meet dept.
vand writes "Do you have, or know anybody who has, any IBM 1401 "system" software? We're looking for Autocoder, Cobol, Fortran, RPG, ... tapes. Sort 7 would be nice to have, too. We'd much rather have the tapes' or decks' contents than have them physically."

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