Planet Bob - Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep

RSS Bot · February 19, 2010

Hi there!

Interplaying Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep (1994):

http://home.arcor.de/cybergoth/xype/dungeonmasterii.gif

It sounds like a joke: Almost a full decade after the Dungeon Master revolutionized computer RPGs forever its developer "Faster Than Light" :ponder: almost released its sequel. Well, they did release a couple of versions for obscure japanese computers, but it was Interplay who finally brought it to PCs.

More than that actually, since Interplay also completely updated all graphics from 16 to 256 colors and added new music for the PC port. Other than those cosmetic enhancements nothing much has changed from the old days. Apart from a few minor engine updates it basically plays the same as Dungeon Master. I didn't need to consult the manual so far, even the few magic spells I remembered from Dungeon Master still work.

I never played Dungeon Master II before. In the late 80's I'd have immediately bought it, but it was released in 1994 - That was after the Eye of the Beholder Trilogy and after Ultima Underworld I & II already!

Yet another 15 years later now I was really looking forward to finally try it though. Dungeon Master is in my opinon still one of the greatest games ever made, so it was about time to finally fill that gap in my personal gaming history.

I had a very tough start with the game tonight. The difficulty level is insanely high, it almost seems to start where Chaos Strikes Back ended , but I'm biting through it so far, doing a good job of leveling up my party. BTW: I choose the characters by their looks only, in case you're wondering about my picks

I made it through a first few areas and spent the last two hours mostly with killing those dinosaur type monsters you see in the screenshot above. I think I probably should check in a walkthrough wether they respawn infinitly... :ponder:

Version Played: Abandonware, from "Abandonia".

How to Run: DOSBox. Had no SFX with Soundblaster, but selecting an "ARIA Chipset" worked.

IP Status: FTL/Software Heaven is defunct, so Dungeon Master is owned by Wayne Holder I think.

Greetings,

Manuel

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?app=blog&blogid=54&showentry=6854