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)

One Must Fall: 2097

In 2097 the World Aeronautics & Robotics corporation (W.A.R.) is looking for a suitable representative to watch over Ganymede, the Jupiter moon that will soon be colonised. The Board at WAR has decided that the applicants for the position, being equally qualified, should fight for it. Now, the ten applicants must choose which Human-Assisted Robot (H.A.R.) will be their weapon and beat the others in a one-on-one competition.

This is how the manual of One Must Fall: 2097 describes the backstory of this iconic DOS robot fighting shareware game that is the subject of this month's podcast. It was developed by Diversions Entertainment and published by Epic Mega Games in 1994.

Joining hosts Martijn & Florian are two first-time guests: Ben, who only found us recently, and Biran, who has been a long-time listener. Both have spent tons of time on this game back in the day, so they can tell us all about what makes One Must Fall: 2097 such a cool title.

[ download mp3 ] (150 mins, 172 MB)

Happy new year!

As 2022 is coming to a close, we wanted to thank you all for a great year for DOS Game Club, so we put together a little greetings card program that runs on MS-DOS for you to enjoy.

Happy new year!

>> Download dgc22.zip << (872 KB)

Shadow of the Comet

British photographer John T. Parker travels to the isolated New England town of Illsmouth in 1910, to take pictures of Halley's comet. During the previous passing 76 years before, Lord Boleskin had made some interesting discoveries, but he subsequently went insane. Parker has three days to finish Boleskin's research before the comet passes in the sky, and it quickly becomes clear the quiet town is not what it seems. A strange cult assembles at night in the forest, a mysterious lighthouse is kept closed off to strangers. What is going on here? Who can he trust?

This is the premise of Shadow of the Comet, a Lovecraftian horror/mystery game we played with the club this October. It was developed and released by French developer Infogrames in 1993, just one year after their previous Lovecraftian horror game Alone in the Dark. This title however is a more traditional 2D adventure game, that's not quite point & click.

We have two guests joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") to discuss this game. First there's Robin, an avid Lovecraft fan who used to write and make podcasts for the Swedish edition of PC Gamer, and now streams adventure games on Twitch under the name "RockyDennisTV". Also joining is returning DGC member Hannes, aka MrCreosote, who played both the floppy & CD-ROM editions of this game right when they came out and became an instant fan ever since.

We also got a voice message from Nick, which is very cool. If you also want to send a voice message and be part of the show, you can email them to club@dosgameclub.com

Enjoy!

[ download mp3 ] (166 mins, 190 MB)

SimAnt

Did you ever want to be in control of the entire hive mind of an ant colony? How about taking over the house of some jerk who doesn't even acknowledge your existence and runs you over with his stupid lawn mower? Still not enough? How about gruesome, explicit and very flowery descriptions of death?

In 1991, Maxis released "SimAnt", a genre defying and to this day unique gaming experience, packed with knowledge about ants. It's not an educational title and yet playing it, you somehow learn a lot about these little creatures.

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") to discuss this game is DOS Game Club member Phil ("PixelProphecy").

How does the game hold up today? Is it even a game? Or a toy? A simulation? But most importantly, is it fun? Let's find out together.

[ download mp3 ] (121 mins, 140 MB)