Quote:
Originally posted by MasterGrazzt@Jan 7 2005, 03:30 PM
What's sad is that MicroProse were originally planning to make this a series, with sequels in Britain, France, Russia and the like. Oh well.
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Are you sure about this? The reason I ask is that Microprose's creator and first CEO, "Wild Bill" Stealey, was notorious for several things: very un-PC, undiplomatic behavior, and an unwililngness to followup blockbluster hits with successors. Even Microprose's best-selling title, Civilization, didn't get a successor for five years, until Stealey had left. I was also in touch with the original Project Director for Darklands several times after its release--Arnold Hendrick, a very nice guy--and he was quite bitter about the product. He said that Microprose had disposed of all his code, so that if they'd ever intended to do a followup it would have had to be done from scratch. -Not that this wouldn't have been a good idea in any case, given the lapse of time.
I do think this is one game that requires a new commerical revision, with no changes except maybe graphic enhancement (I don't know about you but I think the drawn graphics are lush and help give this game life, though) just to get it's name and the ideas into the minds of today's gamers. Also, an in-game record of your missions would've helped A LOT. You don't know how many reams of paper I've used writing down what I had to do.
Graphics would have to be the first thing to go. Personally, I'd like to see a greater variety of incident in the surrounding landscape, and more variety among the city services. Remember those useless Cloth Guild screens? They were intended to offer the possibility of high quality clothing for sale, which would boost your reception by nobility. It apparently didn't make the final cut. I'd like to see many different Guilds, and more variety among the quests.
Unfortunately, it doesn't tell you what to do with a big neon sign, which would turn off a lot of today's kids.
And it wouldn't provide swords that flare with electricity, or 120 varieties of unique monsters, all in AD&D books. Yep.
