Darklands - Another Darklands Maybe

[Silver]

Arnold Hendrick posted this to the Darklands Yahoo group.

Hello, I'm Arnold Hendrick, designer and producer of the original Darklands game from MicroProse in 1992.

We're at the 25th anniversary of the game's publication, and there is STILL interest! Geesh! Now that I've retired from 50-70 hr weeks in the game industry, I actually have the opportunity to consider projects that would have been impossible earlier.

To be specific, I am looking into the possibility of using volunteer labor from game industry professionals to redo Darklands for current generation PCs. There are no Angel investors involved, so this is NOT a paying proposition. If you need a job, look elsewhere. I am also trying to contact current rights-holders to see what is and is not possible. Without legal rights to a rework or sequel, the project would need to morph into a different sandbox-style CRPG based somewhere else in late medieval Europe.

If you are a industry veteran computer programmer or artist, and interested in contributing work, contact me at ajhendrick@... . Again, this is NOT a job opportunity. I'm simply checking to see who might be available.

If you're simply a fan of the game, I'm happy to collect your email. If a project does materialize, and gets sufficiently far to start any promotions, I can get in touch with you.

This project is NOT a sure thing. I'm just making initial investigations.

More information.

 

[Dean]

Well this could be cool.

 

[Aerth]

THAT would be a great great great thing..

 

[Hurls]

Wow! One of my all time favourites

 

[Darkheart]

I would be happy with more convenient controls the rest could stay the same.

Some hints on the mechanism wouldn't hurt either.

Thumbs up! I hope this gets anywhere!

 

[joxer]

Is it so hard to make a completely new great game instead of beating the dead horse?

 

[fadedc]

Maybe they could fix all the bugs and missing content while they are at it.

Personally though I'd be much more interested in a spiritual successor then a remake. Something with the same backdrop and lore, but with a much better combat system and some actual decisions to be made during the choose your own adventure bits.

 

[wolfgrimdark]

I loved this game. I had to upgrade my PC when this game came out to run it. Something to do with higher memory that my existing one could not handle.

 

[Carnifex]

Do both! An upgrade/update to the old version and a new title would be just awesome, imo!

 

[Aerth]

Is it so hard to make a completely new great game instead of beating the dead horse?

The old game was huge, full of bugs and with plenty of shortcuts. Even for my very young self it looked as rushed and betrayed by the technical capabilities available at the time. Still it hit me like a train and it was the first game who made me think than RPG could be really played too on a computer.

That game really deserves to be done again with current technologies and closer from what probably its creators wanted but could not achieve at the time for many reasons.

 

[luj1]

Is it so hard to make a completely new great game instead of beating the dead horse?

Sick of that.

 

[Caddy]

Is it so hard to make a completely new great game instead of beating the dead horse?

That's not what this is about though. This is a side hobby project because others have expressed interest in restoring the original.

 

[rune_74]

And the usuals think this is bad, shame.

I think as a hobby project for him to go back and relook at this is cool personally.

 

[crpgnut]

I never played much of Darklands. I'd be interested in the remake just so I could revisit a classic that I mostly missed the first time around.

 

[NewDArt]

This is one of those games I couldn't play because I had an Amiga at the time. Always looked really cool.

Tried to get into it many years later - but it was just too dated.

 

[crpgnut]

Same here, Dart. I had an IBM, C64, Apple and Amiga but I rarely played games on the IBM. It was for homework. Of course, this was the early DOS days. I think my monitor was CGA.

 

[mercy]

Great game! Stopped playing, after I killed a great dragon. Wasn't much attraction to it afterward. Same happened in Wizards & Warriors.

I'm simply checking to see who might be available.

I'm already occupied with a similarly great project.

 

[beldurax]

I played the he** out of this all-time classic back when it was released, during my university days. Lost so much time to my studies due to this game lol It would be a dream come true if they reincarnated this awesome game. WOW. Dare to dream ...

 

[Ripper]

I played the he** out of this all-time classic back when it was released, during my university days. Lost so much time to my studies due to this game lol It would be a dream come true if they reincarnated this awesome game. WOW. Dare to dream …

If I recall, Darklands had Satan himself in it.