If you’ve read my blog for a while you will probably know that JA:DG counts to my absolute favorite games (together with JA1) so expect utmost nerdiness whenever I mention this game. For anyone who doesn’t know this pearl of a game yet, it’s a turn-based, tactical strategy game with role-playing game elements where you control a squad of mercenaries around wilderness areas of enemy territory to fulfill various foolhardy missions. The main difference of JA:DG to it’s prequel is that it doesn’t come with a particular story or campaign but with a collection of scenarios and an editor that can be used to create your own scenarios and campaigns. The biggest fun part of JA:DG are however the many characters that you can choose from to assemble your team, which all have their very own quirks and perks.

If I wouldn’t already own the original box of this game I’d probably be even more looking forward to this gift but as it stands I’m going to enjoy getting this game yet another time. There’s something to the first two JA’s that the later and newer Jagged Alliance 2 titles lost. Maybe it’s the story of JA2 that I didn’t like so much or it’s simply the cozily tootling MIDI music of the first two games in this series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3Q7M_X3S9w

If you’re interested in classic role-playing games I recommend to check out CRPGAddict’s blog! I don’t know how he manages to find the time but he already finished playing 26 games since he started last year. And not only that! He analyzed them, drew maps about them, and reviewed them in a very detailed way. On top of that he made a long list of CRPGs that he yet wants to play and review and it seems he’s serious about it. Determination is everything!

There’s also the whole write-down about Starflight, no less than nine blog posts!! Check it out! You will certainly have enough to read for a while!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MERLa33hY2k

I’ve mentioned before that it’s possible to run Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic in DOSBox with Tandy sound enabled but I couldn’t figure out how to get it working. Today I’m back with good news in that I can tell you how to get this fixed so the trillions of SWFM fans out there can enjoy this fantastic game with the excellent Tandy sound!

First you need of course DOSBox (v0.74 as of now), a copy of SWFM (you can find a pre-installed one here), and – the magic fix – my replacement files which you can get here …

Next, in the pre-installed version is a folder named FM, simply copy the files from my zip into that folder, overwriting the old ones (you might want to backup these first, but then, once you go Tandy you never go back! ).

Finally you need to tell DOSBox to use Tandy graphics and sound. I recommend using a frontend like D-Fend to configure those settings (and in all honesty I don’t know how to apply them to DOSBox without the frontend). So in D-Fend edit the profile of SWFM (wich you undoubtedly already created) and under ‘Graphics’ set ‘videocard’ to ‘tandy’ and under ‘Sound’ set ‘Tandy sound’ to ‘On’.

And, voila … you got SWFM with Tandy sound running. Note that any savegame that was saved with the non-Tandy version might get you scrambled graphics so you have to start a new game.

Listen Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic with Tandy sound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O48HgFio6wI

]]> http://blog.hexagonstar.com/swfm-with-tandy-sound/feed/ 2 http://blog.hexagonstar.com/moments-in-gaming-3/ http://blog.hexagonstar.com/moments-in-gaming-3/#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:04:05 +0000 sascha http://blog.hexagonstar.com/?p=1085 Back in the days when computer games still required you to use your imagination to play them there was a role-playing game pearl named Sentinel Worlds I: Future Magic, one of the many scifi-themed RPGs back then which today are only sparsely seeded in retailer shelves.

Future Magic was first released for DOS and a port for the C64 was published later which looked almost equally good as the DOS version with excellent graphics done by Michael Kosaka. At times the game is quite bizarre. For example there is a planet with ranchers and farms just like in an old western. Another planet has two very high towers that reach into the orbit and these are the only colonies on the otherwise untouched surface. On another, icy planet you scout an abandoned research base which is overrun by saber-toothed creatures … but this is how the games were made in the golden age of RPG. Despite the number in the title a follower was never developed for Future Magic but instead the acclaimed Hard Nova served as a spiritual sequel.

The game let’s you control a group of five space mercs who are send out on a mission to stop mysteriously appearing raiders which are attacking ships in the local system. Right after your ships drops out of hyperspeed you are being attacked by them. However while the other ships of the space convoy with that you came are trying to fight them you are able to take some distance and locate a yacht floating in nearby space. It’s the space yacht of a tycoon named Grager which turns out to be a luxurious vessel full with the newest technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_gGPgNAk0c

Realms of Arkania is classic hardcore role-playing, flip3D style intermezzed with isometric combat screens and you can get this for a ridiculous cheap price now.

So far gog.com is only releasing DOS or Windows based games. For some games I wish they’d add Amiga games to their line-up simply because many Amiga games were better than their DOS conversions, just take a look at highly regarded Hired Guns. in case of Hired Guns you feel that the developers were a team of Amiga enthusiasts. The DOS version feels bland and rushed compared to the shiny and atmosphere-oozing Amiga version.

Either way, for DOS games Good Old Games are packing their releases up with a copy of DOSBox pre-configured and ready to install and run. For Amiga versions they would probably have to pack up a copy of WinUAE to assure a hassle-free experience. Not sure how that would work out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zcjo1nTh-a0

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One of my very favorite games back on Amiga was the space RPG Hard Nova (to be reviewed in a while) which took me long cozy winter nights to solve. The predecessor of Hard Nova was a game called Sentinel Worlds 1: Future Magic which was released in 1988 by Electronic Arts and had it’s success under science fiction RPG videogamers. Me – PC-less – always looked enviously over to the PC crowd. But that only until decent DOS Emulators were developed, like DOSBox.

A cozy bedroom on a cozy yacht ... with a cozy surprise.

In the year 2996 the government of the Caldorre system is seriously concerned about tradeships who want to approach the four planets who are getting attacked by space pirates. A whole fleet of defense ships is being ordered to stop the pirates and you have to control five crew members to care for peace around the system. Sounds like a shoot’em’up but it’s actually a space roleplay game with neat EGA (16 colors) graphics and sound which isn’t too bad for an early DOS game. Until around this time generally only fantasy roleplay games were popular and solely. That had to be changed from now on with this great game!

Arnold, err, Bnold is also on the party.

Your crew consists of a pilot, a navigator, a communication officer, an engineer and a medic. Everyone of them has special skills which can be improved during the game. You can buy new equipment and weapons at shops and fight enemies on the planet surfaces or fight in space with your ship and it’s even possible to enter other ships. There are four planets which can be orbited and where you can land on and drive around with a special terrain vehicle. In many buildings you meet NPC’s to whom you can talk to. It’s also possible to search for minerals and sell them or to improve your ships systems. Shortly said you have to collect information and solve quests to get into the secret behind the space pirates.

With our ATV we meander over the planet surfaces.

While Future Magic’s graphics only really looked so colorful on PC’s with EGA cards, nowadays such hardware of course is long forgotten and most old DOS games even doesn’t run anymore in a DOS prompt on Win2k/XP. Therefore the more lucky it is to see some decent emulation developments recently that make playing abandonware DOS games no lesser fun on recent OS systems. As mentioned before one such DOS emulator is the highly praised DOSBox which in it’s most recent version now even supports XMS and EMS and thus games like Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games can be emulated.

After the DOS version another version of Future Magic was released for the good old C64 which doesn’t need to hide at all behind it’s DOS cognate. The C64 graphics looking almost as fresh as on the PC and the gameplay is still acceptable, well except for the floppy disk changing.

The C64 version ...

The games half title is Sentinel Worlds 1 which let’s one come to think there are more parts of the series but unfortunately for some reason the creators doesn’t developed a second part but published the famous Hard Nova which could be seen as the sequel to this game and though with a different story and improved graphics it has the similar engine and gameplay. I’m going to review Hard Nova later so check back in a while for it.

... looks nice as well.

As a conclusion I can say that playing this game now after a while it’s even more fun than many modern up-to-date RPG or adventure games and I can only recommend anyone who’s into such type of game to snoop into it. That means check your local dealer (abandonware sites like The Underdogs) for the game. I don’t think you will get the game anywhere now except for the second hand market or auctions. The C64 version fixed for emulators is here (with kind regards of the makers of Girls of 64).

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My big move has been delayed for a short time! I will leave here at the end of December and move to far east in middle January! I actually packed everything and made most preparations so I’m stuck with being bored now, counting every minute and hope that time passes faster.

So what to do? One good idea I had, was to keep up with writing some blog stuff that I already planned in my mind. One if it being about one of my favorite Abandonware DOS games Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games!

Over the last couple of decades this game kept me from being bored often! With it’s cozy winter evening fireplace warmth strategy gameplay atmosphere and quietly playing midi music it charms easily to take a session of round based war monging.

While the hi-res graphics are outdated since long now, it’s gameplay and atmosphere still sets measures and I would even claiming it’s actually more fun than the followers Jagged Alliance II and Unfinished Business! They surely have better graphics and sound and some other really well worked out things like improved weaponry but sometimes low-res gaming beats all state-of-the-art!

I even went far enough to create my own missions and campaign within JADG and the good news is, you can actually download them here!

After download you can unpack the scenario and campaign files to the folders in the JADG folder. There are ten missions within the campaign reaching from freeing organization members from a prison to very ridiculous things like raiding a cannibal camp in the south sea. All missions are set more or less within the VEB scenario however.

The difficulty level will raise mission by mission and at the end you have to raid a nuclear missle compound where the VEB head is hiding and it will get very hard to survive until then! So for all you lazy players who don’t want to approach the whole thing, the single missions are also included.

Check Underdogs excellent review on the game here. You might be able to get the game here. But I didn’t told you! If you want to play on a newer Windows system like 2k or XP you will find this and this tool useful!

Now stop reading here and get playing some excellent 16bit strategy. The Villains await you! But don’t forget to check back here from time to time as I’m going to introduce some other classic gaming stuff!