''Dungeon Master'' is a
role-playing video game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
featuring a
pseudo-3D
2.5D (two-and-a-half dimensional) perspective refers to gameplay or movement in a video game or virtual reality environment that is restricted to a two-dimensional (2D) plane with little to no access to a third dimension in a space that otherwise ...
first-person perspective
A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller ...
. It was developed and published by
FTL Games
FTL Games (Faster Than Light) was the video game development division of Software Heaven Inc. FTL created several popular video games in the 1980s. Despite the company's small size, FTL products were consistently number-one sellers and received t ...
for the
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
in 1987,
almost identical
Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
and
PC (DOS) ports following in 1988 and 1992.
''Dungeon Master'' sold 40,000 copies in its year of release alone,
and went on to become the ST's best-selling game of all time. The game became the prototype for the genre of the 3D dungeon crawlers with notable
clones
Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to:
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* Clones, County Fermanagh
* Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland
Biology
* Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
like ''
Eye of the Beholder''.
Gameplay
In contrast to the traditional
turn-based
In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based.
Real-time
Real-time games have game time progress cont ...
approach that was, in 1987, most common, ''Dungeon Master'' added real-time combat elements (akin to
Active Time Battle
In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based.
Real-time
Real-time games have game time progress cont ...
). Other factors in immersion were the use of sound effects to indicate when a creature was nearby, and (primitive) dynamic lighting. Abstract ''
Dungeons and Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). ...
'' style experience points and levels were eschewed in favor of a system where the characters' skills were improved directly via using them. ''Dungeon Master'' was not the first game to introduce these features. ''
Dungeons of Daggorath
''Dungeons of Daggorath'' is one of the first real-time, first-person perspective role-playing video games. It was produced by DynaMicro for the TRS-80 Color Computer in 1983. A sequel, ''Castle of Tharoggad'', was released in 1988.
Gameplay
' ...
'' for the
TRS-80 Color Computer
The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer and sometimes nicknamed the CoCo, is a line of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Co ...
first employed them in 1982. ''Dungeon Master'' was, however, responsible for popularizing these elements. Other features of ''Dungeon Master'' included allowing players to directly manipulate objects and the environment by clicking the mouse in the enlarged first-person view.
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.
While many previous games such as ''
Alternate Reality: The Dungeon'', ''
The Bard's Tale
''The Bard's Tale'' is a fantasy role-playing video game franchise created by Michael Cranford and developed by Brian Fargo's Interplay Productions (1985–1992) and inXile Entertainment (2004–present).
The initial title of the series was ''T ...
'', ''
Ultima,'' and ''
Wizardry
''Wizardry'' is a series of role-playing video games, developed by Sir-Tech, that were highly influential in the evolution of modern role-playing video games. The original ''Wizardry'' was a significant influence on early console role-playing g ...
'' offered ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
''-style role-playing, ''Dungeon Master'' established several new standards for
role-playing video game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
s and first-person video games in general,
such as the
paper doll
Paper dolls are figures cut out of paper or thin card, with separate clothes, also made of paper, that are usually held onto the dolls by paper folding tabs. They may be a figure of a person, animal or inanimate object. Paper dolls have been inex ...
interface.
As Theron, the player cannot progress past the first section of the game until they have selected at least one and up to four champions from a small dungeon containing 24 mirrors, each containing a frozen champion. The frozen champions are based upon a variety of fantasy archetypes to allow diversity within the player's party.
Plot
Many champions have been sent into the dungeon with the quest to recover Librasulus' (the Grey Lord) firestaff. With the firestaff, Librasulus can take physical form again and defeat Lord Chaos. The player is Theron, the apprentice of the Grey Lord, that goes into the dungeon with the task to resurrect four champions, and guide them through the dungeon, to find the firestaff and defeat Lord Chaos.
If the player finds the firestaff and uses it to defeat Lord Chaos, this will be the real ending of the game. But there is also an alternative ending if the player finds the firestaff and then leaves the dungeon without destroying Lord Chaos.
Development
Originally, Dungeon Master was started with the name ''Crystal Dragon'' coded in
Pascal
Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to:
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* Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
** Blaise Pascal, Fren ...
, and targeted the Apple II platform. Doug Bell and Andy Jaros (Artwork) began development in their development studio ''PVC Dragon'', before they joined in 1983 ''FTL Games''.
[ It was finished there in ]C programming language
''The C Programming Language'' (sometimes termed ''K&R'', after its authors' initials) is a computer programming book written by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, the latter of whom originally designed and implemented the language, as well as ...
and published in 1987 for the Atari ST
The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
first. A slightly updated Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
version was released the following year, which was the first video game to use 3D sound effects.
''Dungeon Master'' was ported
In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...
later to many platforms like PC, Apple IIGS
The Apple IIGS (styled as II), the fifth and most powerful of the Apple II family, is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Computer. While featuring the Macintosh look and feel, and resolution and color similar to the Amiga and Atari ST ...
, TurboGrafx-CD
The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...
, SNES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...
, Sharp X68000
The is a home computer created by Sharp Corporation. It was first released in 1987 and sold only in Japan.
The initial model has a 10 MHz Motorola 68000 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, and lacks a hard drive. The final model was released in 1993 wit ...
, PC-9801
The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more th ...
and FM Towns
The is a Japanese personal computer, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. ...
. The game was also translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
from English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
into German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, French, Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
, Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
and Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
.
According to "The Definitive CDTV Retrospective: Part II" 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.
There exists a prototype for the Atari Lynx
The Atari Lynx is a hybrid 8/16-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Atari Corporation in September 1989 in North America and 1990 in Europe and Japan. It was the first handheld game console with a color liquid-crystal disp ...
under the name ''Dungeon Slayers''.
The packaging cover art was designed and illustrated by David R. Darrow, for which Andy Jaros posed as the leftmost character pulling on the torch. The woman in the scene was Darrow's wife, Andrea, and the muscular man in the background is unknown, but hired by Darrow from a local fitness club. The painting itself is 25 to 30 inches high and doesn’t contain the word "Master". Darrow’s painting portrays a scene from the prologue in the manual for ''Dungeon Master''. It shows the three (or four) main characters' last few minutes alive, and is a portrayal of the player’s challenge to defeat the antagonist, Lord Chaos. The heroes in the painting are Halk the Barbarian, Syra Child of Nature, Alex Ander – and Nabi the Prophet who’s been reduced to a bunch of skulls.
A soundtrack album, titled ''Dungeon Master: The Album'', was released later. This album featured music composed by Darrell Harvey, Rex Baca, and Kip Martin. The original ST version and its faithful Amiga and PC ports contain no music. The album features music composed for the FM Towns
The is a Japanese personal computer, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. ...
game, as well as FM Towns version of '' Chaos Strikes Back'', and some original tracks that were inspired by the games.
Reception
''Dungeon Master'' debuted on 15 December 1987 on the Atari ST, and by early 1988 was a strong seller, becoming the best-selling game for the computer of all time; Bell estimated that at one point more than half of all Atari ST owners had purchased the game. Because of FTL's sophisticated copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media.
Copy protection is most commonly found on ...
, many who otherwise pirated their software had to purchase ''Dungeon Master'' to play the game. The Amiga version was the first prominent game to require 1 MB of RAM, likely causing many to purchase additional memory; at least one manufacturer of Amiga memory bundled ''Dungeon Master'' with its memory-expansion kit. As with ''Wizardry'', many others offered for sale strategy guides, game trainer
Game trainers are programs made to modify memory of a computer game thereby modifying its behavior using addresses and values, in order to allow cheating. It can "freeze" a memory address disallowing the game from lowering or changing the informat ...
s, and map editor
In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, stage, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively-increasing difficulty t ...
s, competing with FTL's own hint book.
Hosea Battles Jr. of ''Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
'' in 1988 praised the attention to detail in the dungeons' graphics, allowing players to "practically feel the damp chill of the dungeons portrayed", as well as those of the monsters, including the multiple facial expressions on the ogres. He said the control system works "extremely well" and "one's adrenaline really flows because the game is in real-time." Battles also praised the extensive use of sound effects, uncommon to RPGs. He complained that the manual does not describe monsters or their attributes, of a "frustrating" shortage of food and water replenishments and that the lack of a map makes the game "extremely difficult". Battles called the game "fantastic" and said "It is a welcome addition to any fantasy player's library. Those who want a good fantasy/role-playing game will love this one." Scorpia stated in the magazine in 1992 that the newly released IBM PC version's graphics "are surprisingly good, all things considered" despite the game's age, but wrote that "No endgame has ever given me so much trouble or frustration". Although she believed that the game "is still eminently worth playing, even years later andstill has something to offer the seasoned adventurer", because of the endgame Scorpia "can't give it a blanket recommendation". In 1993 she stated that "the game still holds up well after seven years, even graphically, and is worth playing today", but because of the ending was "not for the easily-frustrated".
''Computer and Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
'' in 1988 called the story a "cliché" but praised the graphics, sound and controls. The reviewer said ''Dungeon Master'' is an example of a title which "changes the way we think about games" and a "must for all roleplayers".[April 1988, '']Computer and Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
'' (issue 78), p. 92 ''Antic
Alphanumeric Television Interface Controller (ANTIC) is an LSI ASIC dedicated to generating 2D computer graphics to be shown on a television screen or computer display. Under the direction of Jay Miner, the chip was designed in 1977-1978 by ...
'' called the game as "revolutionary" as ''Zork
''Zork'' is a text-based adventure game first released in 1977 by developers Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling for the PDP-10 mainframe computer. The original developers and others, as the company Infocom, expanded and ...
'' and '' Flight Simulator II'', citing "spectacular" graphics and stating that the game was "almost worth buying for the sound-effects alone". Despite the "commonplace" story "where once again, an Evil Wizard has taken over control of the world", the magazine advised readers to "buy this game". '' Advanced Computing Entertainment'' said the graphics are "largely repetitive" but "wonderfully drawn" and wrote the "Sound is sparse but the effects are great." The reviewer called it a "thrilling game with plenty in it to keep you searching, fighting and pondering for a long time." He summarised the game as a "huge, immensely playable and very atmospheric mixture of role-playing and adventure. If you've been looking for a real-time role-playing game that manages to keep you interested for long periods of time, then your prayers have been answered." ''The Games Machine
''The Games Machine'' is a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published ''CRASH'', ''Zzap!64'', ''Amtix!'' and other magazines.
History
The magazine ran head to head with ...
'' wrote: "the innovative character selection system and icon display are both neatly implemented and quick to use", praised the "superb" atmosphere - enhanced by the spare but apt sound effects - and called the game universe "believable because of its details". The magazine praised the color and clarity of the monster graphics and the shading of the surroundings. It called the story and setting a "wholly engrossing scenario hich
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
creates a complete world which can be manipulated at will: its depth fully reflects the two years it took to program it. The presentation - an interesting and evocative novella neither too involved to prove turbid not too short to be unhelpful - is superb." The reviewer summarised: "Dungeon Master is a role-player's dream, but capable of providing a good deal of enjoyment for any ST owner." ''STart
Start can refer to multiple topics:
*Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air
* Starting lineup in sports
*Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race
Acronyms
*St ...
'' told readers to "be prepared to shed every preconception you ever had about computer games. This is Dungeon Master". Noting the strong sales, the reviewer called it "a true video game phenomenon" and reported that "not talking to my boyfriend for a week because he lost our master spell list was certainly not an overreaction".
Kati Hamza of ''Zzap!64
''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact.
The magazine ...
'' said of the Amiga version: "The first-person perspective ensures an incredibly realistic atmosphere - you just can't help really getting into the feeling of walking through damp echoing caverns looking for ghosts." The reviewer also said: "The puzzles are incredibly devious, the spell system is really flexible and the need to practise magic and spells gives the whole thing that extra-special depth." The reviewer asserted: "This has to be the most amazing game of all-time, anywhere, ever". In the same issue Gordon Houghton said: "This is just about the most incredible game I've ever seen. When you pick it up you find you lose whole days of your life." He said: "The best time to play it is late at night in a room by yourself - it's guaranteed to scare the life out of you. It's like '' Gauntlet'' in 3D, but about a hundred times better. If you enjoy arcade adventures, RPGs or combat games, but it: it's the perfect combination of all three." Reviewer Maff Evans professed to be little enthused by RPGs generally but said "I know a brilliant game when I see one and this is a brilliant game." He praised the scares delivered by ambushing monsters and said "you'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to be affected by the atmosphere". The magazine complained that saving games is "a bit laboured" but praised the "extremely detailed and accessible" controls, "interactive, detailed and extremely atmospheric" scenery and said the clarity of the graphics made the game an unusually accessible RPG. It summarized: "you'll be playing for months" and said ''Dungeon Master'' was "The best game we've ever seen".
Also reviewing the Amiga version, Graham Kinsey of ''Amazing Computing
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* ''Amazin'' (Tri ...
'' wrote that ''Dungeon Master'' "completely blows away any other RPG on the Amiga market today, and may do for some time". Dave Eriksson of ''Amiga Computing
''Amiga Computing'' was a monthly computer magazine of a serious nature, published by Europress and IDG in both the UK and USA. A total of 117 issues came out. The games section was called Gamer, although later ''Amiga Action'' was incorporated i ...
'' praised the "brilliant" graphics, sound effects and replay-value and said "''Dungeon Master'' is the most stunning role-playing game I have seen on the Amiga". '' Antic's Amiga Plus'' felt the game "captures the essence of Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games". The reviewer praised the "dazzling" graphics, called the user-friendly controls "a real joy" and said the game was the "best graphics adventure for the Amiga to date." ''Your Amiga
In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers.
History
''You'' comes from the Proto- ...
'' called the sound "extremely well done" and said the "most striking feature of the game is the attention to detail". The reviewer called the game "amazing" and recommended: "If you never buy another game, by icthis one."
Andy Smith of ''Advanced Computing Entertainment'' several months after its release called ''Dungeon Master'' "one of the all time classics" and said "What makes ''Dungeon Master'' really special (apart from the marvellous 3D graphics and eerie sound effects) are the puzzles". The game was reviewed in 1988 in ''Dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
'' #136 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4½ out of 5 stars. The Lessers reviewed the PC/MS-DOS version in 1993 in ''Dragon'' #195, giving this version 5 stars. In 1997, ten years after release, ''Dungeon Master'' got again a 5 out of 5 stars score in a review.
Awards
''Dungeon Master'' received the ''Special Award for Artistic Achievement'' from ''Computer Gaming World'' in 1988. It achieved the top place in the magazine's game rankings system, and was entered into its hall of fame in November 1989. In 1990 the game received the second-highest number of votes in a survey of ''Computer Gaming World'' readers' "All-Time Favorites". In 1996, the magazine named ''Dungeon Master'' the 49th best game ever. In 1996, GamesMaster listed the game 42nd in their Top 100 Games of All Time.
The following is a comprehensive list of other awards received by the game.
* ''Special Award for Artistic Achievement'' awarded in 1988 by ''Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
''
* ''Adventure Game of the Year, 1988'' — UK Software Industry Awards
* ''Best Selling Atari ST Title, 1988'' — UK Software Industry Awards
* ''Best Role Playing Game, 1988'' — ''PowerPlay Magazine
Power play or powerplay or their plurals may refer to:
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* Power play (sporting term), a sporting term used in various games
* Powerplay (cricket), a rule concerning fielding restrictions in one-day international cricket
* Power play (cur ...
'' (German)
* ''Best Role Playing Game, 1988'' — ''Tilt Magazine
Tilt may refer to:
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* Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992
* Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993
* Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979
Albums
* ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981
* ...
''
* ''Best Sound Effects, 1988'' — ''Tilt Magazine''
* ''Game of the Year
Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a video game that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year.
Events and ceremonies
British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards)
...
, 1988'' — ''Computer Play Magazine
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These pro ...
''
* ''Best Atari ST Game, 1988'' — ''Computer Play Magazine''
* ''Game of the Year, 1988'' — ''4th Generation Magazine
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
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* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
'' (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", 1988'' — ''Dragon Magazine
Dragon Magazine may refer to:
* ''Dragon'' (magazine), an American magazine for ''Dungeons & Dragons'' players
* ''Dragon Magazine'' (Fujimi Shobo), a Japanese light novel magazine
{{disambig ...
''
* ''Best Atari ST Title, 1988'' — ''Dragon Magazine''
* ''Best Game, 1989'' — '' Amiga World Magazine''
* ''Best Role Playing Game, 1989'' — ''Amiga World Magazine''
* ''Best Amiga Game, 1989'' — '' Game Player's Magazine''
* ''Best Amiga Game, 1989'' — '' Datormagazin'' (Swedish)
* ''"Beastie Award" Best Apple //GS Title, 1989'' — ''Dragon Magazine''
* ''Best Game, 1989'' — '' Info Magazine''
* ''Best of the Amiga, 1989'' — '' Compute 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, January 1990)
* 16th best game of all time in ''Amiga Power
''Amiga Power'' (''AP'') was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future plc, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996.
Philosophy
''Amiga Power'' had several principles which com ...
'' (May 1991)
Sequels and legacy
While ''Dungeon Master'' itself was inspired by early ''Ultima'' games,[ it amazed ''Ultima'' developer ]Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert Garriott, Robert. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres ...
's employees; Origin founder Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born July 4, 1961) is an American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Although both his parents were American, he maintains dual British and American citizenship by birth. ...
said that he was "ecstatic" at discovering the "neat new things I could do" in the game. It influenced ''Ultima VI
''Ultima VI: The False Prophet'', released by Origin Systems in 1990, is the sixth part in the role-playing video game series of '' Ultima''. It is the third and final game in the "Age of Enlightenment" trilogy. ''Ultima VI'' sees the player retu ...
''s graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
and seamless map, and the later ''Ultima Underworld
''Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss'' is a first-person role-playing video game developed by Blue Sky Productions (later Looking Glass Studios) and published by Origin Systems. Released in March 1992, the game is set in the fantasy world of ...
''. Game journalist Niko Nirvi
Niko Nirvi (born 16 February 1961 in Jokioinen, FinlandMalin, AarnoNiko Nirvi on suomalaisen pelijournalismin pioneeri, jonka olemassaoloa moni ehti epäillä – kameran karttamisesta tuli pakkomielle ''Suomen Kuvalehti'' 16 February 2021. Acce ...
wrote that no 3D role-playing title before ''Ultima Underworld'' (1992) could challenge ''Dungeon Master'' as a game.
In 1989, FTL Games released a ''Dungeon Master'' sequel, Chaos Strikes Back.
To date, ''Dungeon Master'' retains a small but faithful following online, with several fan-made
Fan labor, also called fan works, are the creative activities engaged in by fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups. These activities can include creation of written works (fiction, fan fiction and review literature), ...
ports and remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
s available or in development. Notable reception received a faithful reconstruction of the Atari ST
The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
version, called ''"CSBWin"'', which was released in 2001. Reverse engineered
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
in six months work from the original by Paul R. Stevens, the available source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
of CSBwin led to many ports for modern platforms like Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
. In 2014, Christophe Fontanel released another reverse engineering project which tries to recreate all existing versions and ports.
The villagers in the sandbox game Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...
were inspired by the shopkeepers from ''Dungeon Master 2''.
Reviews
* ''Casus Belli
A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...
'' #44 (April 1988)
See also
* ''Legend of Grimrock
''Legend of Grimrock'' is an action role-playing game video game developed and published by Almost Human. The title is a 3D grid-based, real-time dungeon crawler based on the 1987 game '' Dungeon Master''. It was originally released for Microsof ...
''
References
External links
*
''Dungeon Master''
at Atari Mania
''Dungeon Master''
at the Hall of Light
''Tribute to Dungeon Master: A Video Reference''
at Retro Dream
{{Authority control
1987 video games
Amiga games
Apple IIGS games
Atari ST games
Cancelled Atari Lynx games
DOS games
Fantasy video games
First-person party-based dungeon crawler video games
FM Towns games
NEC PC-9801 games
Role-playing video games
Sharp X68000 games
Single-player video games
Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
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Video games developed in the United States
Video games scored by Tsukasa Tawada
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