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)

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)