Playing Old Computer Games - DOSBox

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father
(I put some effort into figuring out how to run this,
and DOSBox seems to be the best way to go about it.)

I just got DOSBox, an dos emulator for games too old to run under windows, working and it looks great. The installation was straight forward and contained nothing unusual and it was easy to use after reading a little bit about how to use it.

DOSBox works very much like DOS used to. You start up the program and a DOS window pops up. The main difference is that it only comes with the basic DOS environment and you must mount the cdrom/floppy/hard drive from your own computer. To mount drives you use the mount command. (Note the extra syntax for cdroms and floppys, the drive will be mounted either way, but you might encounter problems if it is not used). Other then that you pretty much just need a handle on basic DOS commands.

After you get your DOSBox installation up and running you can customize it quite easily. If you are running your desktop as at any modern resolution the DOSBox window will probably look too small for you; This can easily be change by running the "DOSBox x.xx Options" shortcut and changing the windowresolution variable to anything you want (for example "windowresolution=1280x800") and changing the output variable to anything other then surface (surface does not support other resolutions). Additionally, DOSBox can be told to mounts drives, start games, or do anything else automatically when it starts by entering the commands under the autoexec header.

Note: Done using DOSBox 0.74.

Memorable Games: Dungeon Keeper

Evil is Good

Dungeon Keeper is a series of innovative RTS PC games released over a decade ago. The series includes Dungeon Keeper, its expansion The Deeper Dungeons, and Dungeon Keeper 2. In addition to these released games, the series also includes the cancelled game Dungeon Keeper 3 and the currently pending MMORPG Dungeon Keeper Online.

The premise is that you are a evil dungeon overlord: You attract, care for, and train a horde of evil minions; You mine gold and create fortifications and traps;  And you wage war on and destroy the heroes and sometimes other dungeon keepers. Unlike most RTSes Dungeon Keeper focuses more on minion management and fortress creation then direct control over the battles or resource harvesting.

The game features many diverse and interesting creatures. From the kinky Dark Mistress through the industrious Bile Demon and studious Warlock to the likely core of your army Skeletons. Unlike all the other creatures Skeletons are not attracted to your dungeon, they are created from your fallen enemies. In addition to the few mentioned here their are loads more interesting and useful creatures used in the games.

Dungeon Keeper and Dark Mistress

Memorable Games

This blog post is dedicated to memorable games. I think we all have a few games we just cannot forget. Strangely enough, for me these are not even the best games I have ever played, they were very good but something made them particularly memorable. I think this memorable quality is best explained away by a combination of both quality and innovation.

This post was inspired by Ben304's recently post on Messiah (my all time most memorable game). In which he stated is was also a very memorable game for him. Also in my list of memorable games are Robot City and Dark Side of the Moon, both classical adventure titles I played sometime before attending high school.

Messiah:
I do not think I could do a better job then Ben304 in explaining Messiah, so I will not try and will just leave you a link to his article.





Robot City:
Robot City is a classical adventure game published for Windows 95 in 1995. It is based on a Isaac Asimov series of the same name. What makes it unique is the conversation puzzles. Many of the obstacles in the game are robotic in nature, for example you need a robot to do something or a robot in blocking your path. You must use the three laws of robotics to convince them to do what you want.




Dark Side of the Moon:
Dark Side of the Moon is very complex classical adventure game. It is a science fiction murder mystery, in which you play Jake Wright, who is out to figure out what happened to his uncle. I particularly like all the neat gadgets you use in game and for the interface.

The game environment is huge with many rooms and corridors to explore. The plot has lots of twists and turns, keeping it interesting. and the puzzles are challenging.

The Longest Journey and Sanitarium Review

While both of these games do fall under the same genre of point and click adventure at the core they are very different games. The Longest Journey is fantasy adventure filled with magic and wonder; while Sanitarium is a dark demented trek into the psyche of a tormented man. If this was back when they were released then I would not be combining these reviews, but now they share something unique in common. And that is that they have both weathered the test of time and come out completely unscathed.

Many old games, even very good personal favourites, who are played now seem disappointingly antiquated. But a few games manage to retain their magic and two of these games are The Longest Journey and Sanitarium. If released today I have confidence that many video game critics would rate both of these games with similar scores as they got over a decade ago.


The Longest Journey has been a favourite of mine for quite some time, and without a doubt is one of the best point and click adventure game of all time. It really does a fabulous job of telling an interesting story and drawing you into it.

In the game you play as April Ryan, a art student, who is teleported to a alternate world, a world of magic. Their she learns that her world is only one of two parallel worlds (one of technology and one of magic) and they are both in danger of destruction. So she embarks on her quest to save them both.




Sanitarium is also a very well though of adventure game, the main different being the story and general theme of the game. Where The Longest Journey is magical Sanitarium is demented, where The Longest Journey fills the player with wonder Sanitarium fills the player with foreboding and confusion.

In Sanitarium you play a mental patient "struggling with inner demons, wrestling with soul-wrenching torment, battling to regain even a slippery grip on reality"[Robert Coffey] and remember who he is and what has happened to him. The story is told like a mystery, where you slowly unfold what has happened to you, but with one key difference. At every step, after gaining just a little incite into yourself and your history, you question if what you have learned is true, or if it is just a representation of the truth, or if you are just completely insane. You play the game partly in the protagonists delusions and partly in what at least appears to be reality. In the delusions the protagonist takes on different personas, and this is not just a visual change these personas have unique powers and abilities that add some diversity to the gameplay.

Hero Core

I have just been playing Hero Core and I have to say it is pretty good.

Hero Core is a retro science fiction action adventure indie game, and while it is not much to look at it has some interesting game play that is very reminiscent of Metroid.

Some of the prominent gameplay elements:

• Lots of weapon and upgrades to find
• Backtracking when you finally get that new equipment allowing you to get though to a new area
• Unique, challenging, and fun bosses to fight

So if you enjoy retro gaming and action adventures check out Hero core.