Matt Chat 77: Darklands

gilgamesh · 28 September 2010, 17:50

Hi all.

Matt takes us on a ride (literally) through the marches of the Holy Roman Empire. A land full of robber barons, plague, illiterate peasants and generally forks and torches. Enjoy!
[ Show youtube player ]

P.S.: A man's best friend is his dog.

TCD · 28 September 2010, 18:16

Wow, a good RPG I never considered playing yet. Completely escaped my radar. Should try to get that somewhere

Thanks for the review Matt and posting the link gilgamesh

cv643d · 28 September 2010, 20:22

Its ancient Germany I think..

Great game though.

mattbarton.exe · 28 September 2010, 23:28

As far as I can tell from the manual, it's 15th century in the area where Germany is today (Germany as we know it apparently didn't exist back then). That's why they refer to the "Holy Roman Empire." Of course, it isn't pure history, since they assume that imaginary/mythical creatures, miracles, and other things the people back then believed to be true really existed. The more I think about it, the more clever I think this project really was. It's a comparable conceit to Fallout, where they went back to 50s' visions of the future and built an alternative, er, present out of it. Man, now I'm confused.

laffer · 28 September 2010, 23:56

Are you saying miracles and Christian saints answering prayers AREN'T REAL!?!?!?

Anyway, the part about killing evil satanists is hilarious

TCD · 29 September 2010, 00:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattbarton.exe

As far as I can tell from the manual, it's 15th century in the area where Germany is today (Germany as we know it apparently didn't exist back then). That's why they refer to the "Holy Roman Empire."

Given that 'Germany' didn't existed before 1848/49. Which is kinda true of course, but you could state that it takes place in the 'late middle ages of the European continent'

At that time it's hard to distinguish nowadays nations/countries. Anyway, the setting is quite unique and very intersting

mattbarton.exe · 29 September 2010, 01:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

Given that 'Germany' didn't existed before 1848/49. Which is kinda true of course, but you could state that it takes place in the 'late middle ages of the European continent'

At that time it's hard to distinguish nowadays nations/countries. Anyway, the setting is quite unique and very intersting

That's why if you ever hear me claiming to be a cartographer or a geographer please strike me with a morning star.

I have directile dysfunction as you know!

cv643d · 29 September 2010, 08:53

Great review and interesting video IMHO, doing good videos on YouTube of games without becoming just another "Best game ewar"-kid crying over some old moldy game is difficult so it was nice to find some new games related material to watch.

I actually started a Darklands game a couple of years ago for the first time having read about it for years.

I think I left the city to fast, ended up at a fort where some guy ruling the fort tricked us to sleep over inside it. During the night they tried to rob our party, and they succeded. One of these days I am going to take out my 486 and try it again.

gilgamesh · 29 September 2010, 09:12

The complete title is "Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicæ". But the whole idea of nations was a bit different. So TCD is right, of course.

Great game btw, will play.

gimbal · 29 September 2010, 10:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattbarton.exe

I have directile dysfunction as you know!

You fail to pee into the pot?

laffer · 29 September 2010, 20:22

I actually had an original boxed copy of this game back in the day, a guy I knew didn't understand any of it and gave it to me. Been looking around for it but it seems to be gone

Really sucks as I never got to play the game... I tried it out once back then, couldn't be bothered to figure out how it worked and that was it. Would love to play it again now.

desiv · 29 September 2010, 20:28

The sad part was the bit about no Amiga port. :-(
And, it's all your fault you "overseas people!"!!! :-)

Here's a quote from an interview with the developer:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arnold-Micropose

The Amiga version of Darklands is under consideration, and has been for quite a while. The problem is, you've got to have a hard disk to play Darklands and our biggest Amiga market is overseas, where there are precious few hard disks. The people in charge of figuring out whether we can make any money on a conversion just for hard disk Amiga users haven't quite decided yet, as far as I know... I wish I could be more positive, but to my knowledge, this is the awful truth!

So, there weren't enough hard drive owners overseas (in their opinion) to warrant the port. :-(

desiv

laffer · 29 September 2010, 20:29

Well, it's a valid point though, right? The vast majority of Amiga users didn't have harddrives back in the day and I suspect this game would've been painful to play from floppies.

desiv · 29 September 2010, 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by laffer

Well, it's a valid point though, right? The vast majority of Amiga users didn't have harddrives back in the day and I suspect this game would've been painful to play from floppies.

Probably true.. No idea what the numbers were...

I know I had a HD for my A500 and for my A1200 BITD, so there's 1.

desiv

mattbarton.exe · 30 September 2010, 18:29

I had an Amiga 3000 around that time, so I could have played it. But, yeah, it seems that most people had stock Amiga 500s around here, though I eventually met some folks who had 1200s. Even on the 3000 I remember precious few games that would allow me to load them onto the hard drive. Usually the copy protection required it to be run from floppies.

desiv · 30 September 2010, 18:58

It's one of those chicken and egg conundrums..

Most gamers didn't buy hard drives for their Amiga's because there were few games that would install and they were expensive...
(I think I paid over/around $500 for the HD for my A500, which is about what I paid for the A500 when I got it..)

Software companies didn't want to write games with HD installers because it was a small market, and the copy protection issue..

Of course, it bit them (and us) when the games became larger...

If the majority of games for the Amiga could have been installed on a hard disks, then I'm betting more Amiga users would have stretched and picked one up..

Fact is, there possibly were some, but I can't remember a PC game that wouldn't install on a Hard Disk...

<sigh>

Just one of the reasons the Amiga didn't dominate as it should have..

desiv

p.s. An Amiga 3000? I'm jealous!!!!

laffer · 30 September 2010, 19:28

That's a good point. I always found the kind of copy protection that required you to load the games from floppies completely ridiculous.

Using copy protection that prevents you from making backups also annoyed me a great deal back then... floppies aren't reliable enough.

Locash · 02 October 2010, 23:55

These vids are so entertaining, a great slice of my gaming history is covered. Plus I get to find the odd game I missed the first time round.

Anyone got a copy of his book Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games?. I need a new book to flick though.

laffer · 03 October 2010, 00:07

I agree. MattChat has become my favourite game related channel on Youtube, it's fantastic stuff.

28 September 2010, 17:50	#1
gilgamesh Linux snob Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Monkey Island Posts: 997	Matt Chat 77: Darklands Hi all. Matt takes us on a ride (literally) through the marches of the Holy Roman Empire. A land full of robber barons, plague, illiterate peasants and generally forks and torches. Enjoy! [ Show youtube player ] P.S.: A man's best friend is his dog.

28 September 2010, 23:56	#5
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	Are you saying miracles and Christian saints answering prayers AREN'T REAL!?!?!? Anyway, the part about killing evil satanists is hilarious Last edited by laffer; 29 September 2010 at 00:01.

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28 September 2010, 18:16	#2
TCD HOL/FTP busy bee Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Germany Age: 46 Posts: 31,518	Wow, a good RPG I never considered playing yet. Completely escaped my radar. Should try to get that somewhere Thanks for the review Matt and posting the link gilgamesh

28 September 2010, 20:22	#3
cv643d Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 762	Its ancient Germany I think.. Great game though.

28 September 2010, 23:28	#4
mattbarton.exe Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: St Cloud, MN/USA Posts: 328	As far as I can tell from the manual, it's 15th century in the area where Germany is today (Germany as we know it apparently didn't exist back then). That's why they refer to the "Holy Roman Empire." Of course, it isn't pure history, since they assume that imaginary/mythical creatures, miracles, and other things the people back then believed to be true really existed. The more I think about it, the more clever I think this project really was. It's a comparable conceit to Fallout, where they went back to 50s' visions of the future and built an alternative, er, present out of it. Man, now I'm confused.

29 September 2010, 08:53	#8
cv643d Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 762	Great review and interesting video IMHO, doing good videos on YouTube of games without becoming just another "Best game ewar"-kid crying over some old moldy game is difficult so it was nice to find some new games related material to watch. I actually started a Darklands game a couple of years ago for the first time having read about it for years. I think I left the city to fast, ended up at a fort where some guy ruling the fort tricked us to sleep over inside it. During the night they tried to rob our party, and they succeded. One of these days I am going to take out my 486 and try it again.

29 September 2010, 09:12	#9
gilgamesh Linux snob Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Monkey Island Posts: 997	The complete title is "Sacrum Romanum Imperium Nationis Germanicæ". But the whole idea of nations was a bit different. So TCD is right, of course. Great game btw, will play.

29 September 2010, 20:22	#11
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	I actually had an original boxed copy of this game back in the day, a guy I knew didn't understand any of it and gave it to me. Been looking around for it but it seems to be gone Really sucks as I never got to play the game... I tried it out once back then, couldn't be bothered to figure out how it worked and that was it. Would love to play it again now.

29 September 2010, 20:29	#13
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	Well, it's a valid point though, right? The vast majority of Amiga users didn't have harddrives back in the day and I suspect this game would've been painful to play from floppies.

30 September 2010, 18:29	#15
mattbarton.exe Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: St Cloud, MN/USA Posts: 328	I had an Amiga 3000 around that time, so I could have played it. But, yeah, it seems that most people had stock Amiga 500s around here, though I eventually met some folks who had 1200s. Even on the 3000 I remember precious few games that would allow me to load them onto the hard drive. Usually the copy protection required it to be run from floppies.

30 September 2010, 18:58	#16
desiv Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Salem, OR Posts: 1,767	It's one of those chicken and egg conundrums.. Most gamers didn't buy hard drives for their Amiga's because there were few games that would install and they were expensive... (I think I paid over/around $500 for the HD for my A500, which is about what I paid for the A500 when I got it..) Software companies didn't want to write games with HD installers because it was a small market, and the copy protection issue.. Of course, it bit them (and us) when the games became larger... If the majority of games for the Amiga could have been installed on a hard disks, then I'm betting more Amiga users would have stretched and picked one up.. Fact is, there possibly were some, but I can't remember a PC game that wouldn't install on a Hard Disk... <sigh> Just one of the reasons the Amiga didn't dominate as it should have.. desiv p.s. An Amiga 3000? I'm jealous!!!!

30 September 2010, 19:28	#17
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	That's a good point. I always found the kind of copy protection that required you to load the games from floppies completely ridiculous. Using copy protection that prevents you from making backups also annoyed me a great deal back then... floppies aren't reliable enough.

02 October 2010, 23:55	#18
Locash Registered User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Sunny Wales Posts: 100	These vids are so entertaining, a great slice of my gaming history is covered. Plus I get to find the odd game I missed the first time round. Anyone got a copy of his book Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games?. I need a new book to flick though.

03 October 2010, 00:07	#19
laffer Zone Friend Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Norway Age: 43 Posts: 1,335	I agree. MattChat has become my favourite game related channel on Youtube, it's fantastic stuff.

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