Star Wars: Dark Forces

"It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, and space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet." - Sound familiar? Well, in our game of the month, you play Kyle Katarn for whom this theft of plans is such an easy task that he can do it as the first level!

But obviously, the Empire has other evil plans, or shall we say, "Dark" plans? They are working on a new type of battle droid and heavily armed storm trooper: The Dark Trooper. The Rebels cannot let that happen, so Kyle sets out to destroy this threat before it even becomes one.

This all sounds nice and well, but is Lucas Arts' 1995 hit game also a good game? Is it fun?

Discussing this game with host Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf"), we have returning member Björn ("TigerQuoll") and new member Niklas ("Killershrew") as well as a voice message by watchful, who has sent uncountable brilliant messages over the years.

[ download mp3 ] (99 mins, 113 MB)

We got help from DGC member console editing this episode (again!). Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

Alien Legacy

In 2119 the United Nations Seedship Calypso was launched. Headed for Beta Caeli, the farthest star yet attempted, this ark ship holds thousands of people in cryogenic sleep ready for colonising this remote system. Ever since the first interstellar war with the Centaurians broke out in 2043, the future of Earth and therefore the human race has been under threat. In 2135 the faster UNS Tantalus was launched with the same destination as the Calypso. Despite leaving years later, due to its faster engines it was projected to arrive 21 years before the Calypso would. But when the Calypso arrives and its crew is awakened, there is no sign the Tantalus was ever even here.

In Alien Legacy it's your job as head of the Calypso to find out what happened to the Tantalus, and more importantly ensure humanity's future by establishing a thriving colony far away from Earth. Developed by Ybarra Productions and published in 1994 by Sierra On-Line, this game offers a mix of management/strategy and narrative which is pretty unique.

Discussing this game with host Martijn ("Tijn") we have an interesting lineup of newcomers to the show for you! Sadly co-host Florian ("rnlf") couldn't make it, but he'll be back next time. First of all there's Tamsin ("TheLobdegg") who suggested we play this game. Then there's Chris, who's been a long-time fan of Alien Legacy and as Tamin's friend recommended it to them. And last but not least we have Brian ("SpaceGameJunkie") who got Alien Legacy on launch day back when it was originally released.

Tamsin is part of Hadrosaurus Software, who are working on Acronia, a newly made real DOS game we've talked about before in our episode about DOS Games Jam and modern DOS culture. They recently released The Aching, a Sierra AGI-style adventure game designed for Tandy 1000 computers and up. It's available on itch.io and Steam.

Brian has YouTube & Twitch channels dedicated to space games old & new and runs an active Discord community as well. Links can all be found in the list below.

[ download mp3 ] (115 mins, 132 MB)

We got help from DGC member console editing this episode. Many thanks to him and all who make this show possible!

B-17 Flying Fortress

Europe, 1943. World War II is in full rage, the United States joined the war effort and are now supporting the British air raids against German occupied western Europe with their legendary B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. Can your crew help end the war by successfully bombing strategically important targets while German fighters and Flaks turn the sky into a death trap?

Microprose's 1992 flight simulation is special in many ways. While other sims let you focus on one job and often on dogfights, a B-17 requires a much larger crew of ten soldiers - and you can take over each one of the important jobs they carry out: piloting, bombing, firing machine guns, navigating, first aid, repairs - you name it.

But is it also fun to let the AI do all the other jobs you're not currently involved with?

Our hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") are joined on this mission by experienced flyboys Rob ("Spoonboy") and David ("EvilCommieDictator").

[ download mp3 ] (164 mins, 187 MB)

Albion

In 1995 Blue Byte released Albion, an ambitious 2D/3D scifi/fantasy RPG, exclusively for MS-DOS PCs. It's made by some of the same people who previously, under the banner of Thalion Software, made Amberstar and Ambermoon, an ambitious series of RPGs that shares some cosmetic similarities with Albion. But despite this overlap, Albion is very much its own game and story.

The story revolves around Tom Driscoll and Rainar Hofstedt, who take a shuttle from the interstellar spaceship Toronto to the remote desert planet of Albion. It's the year 2227 and the DDT corporation is planning to stripmine the planet for its resources. A shuttle malfunction causes Tom and Rainar to crashland onto the planet surface where they are rescued and welcomed by the Iskai, an intelligent cat-like species with a rich history and culture. Tom & Rainar quickly find out the planet is far from the deserted wasteland they were lead to believe and it's up to them to save it from DDT's plans.

Sadly our regular co-host Florian ("rnlf") decided to skip this month because it's a very big game and he couldn't find the time to play it enough to do it justice. Helping out host Martijn ("Tijn") instead is veteran DGC member Jozef ("yozy"), who is a long-time fan of Albion and even suggested we play it. Our two guests also have a long history with Albion: first of all returning from a while ago we have David ("DavidN") back on to join us. And last but not least Ben Chandler delighted us with his presence, who you might know as the graphic artist from Wadjet Eye Games among other things.

We also got two voice messages, which we're always very happy to receive. Much thanks to Peter ("pointer") and Raphael ("Ninetongues") for sending them in!

[ download mp3 ] (141 mins, 162 MB)

Interviewing the Albion devs

This is a special extra bonus episode! In December we played Albion, the 1995 fantasy/scifi RPG by Blue Byte. We had the chance to speak to Erik Simon and Jurie Horneman, two of the creative forces behind the game.

We discuss everything from the early days at the German demoscene, Thalion software, developing Amberstar & Ambermoon, the move to Blue Byte as well as everything that went into Albion and the legacy it left.

Sadly Florian ("rnlf") wasn't able to get into the game and decided to skip this month, but host Martijn ("Tijn") is supported fantastically by veteran DGC member Jozef ("yozy"), who happens to be a long time fan of Albion.

We also got a lot of great questions from the community, so we would like to thank: DavidN, number_guro, IS4, HunterZ, sheldo86, Ninetongues and MrCreosote.

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (107 mins, 123 MB)