Sorry, I meant to post these when I got up this morning, but have been trying to fix a problem I have with my Steam client; around a third of the games i've bought continually say "unable to play at this time", which is annoying. I bought F.E.A.R 2 the other day and that also wont play. Thankfully I've been given some fixes to work through, but it's been a time consuming practice, with no positive results yet.
Anyway, here’s a great bunch of games that any adventurer will enjoy. There’s enough games to keep you entertained all week if you have the time to play them. My favourite is the last one, called Ultima 8. There’s several games from this series available free from the same source. Just look to the bottom of the download page for some of the earlier ones. I thought I’d posted Ultima several weeks ago, but must have forgotten to include it with the games I was posting. Most will play in XP (I’ve not had time to test any in Vista so would appreciate feedback if anyone has time). Ultima 8 does require DOSBox to work. Enjoy this week. Wizard takes over for the week so you’ll see me again next Sunday.
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Afterlife 2: Rickards Journey (37.9Mb)
The Gates of Hell have been locked shut for centuries by the power of the Holy Cruciforms. These ancient artefacts are the only force separating the world of life from the Thirteen Realms of Hell... But someone has removed ten of the Cruciforms and unleashed the denizens of Hell upon the world!
The ten lost Cruciforms must be found and restored to their rightful place, but they have been hidden within the shadowy Realms of the Afterlife itself, and only one man is brave enough - or foolhardy enough! - to dare fly his balloon through the gates of the Underworld...
That man is a daring adventurer by the name of Rickard Bronson! Armed with an arsenal of dangerous hand-bombs and his Deadly Hunting Umbrella, can Rickard manage to overcome the forces of evil and find the hidden Cruciforms?
Afterlife: Rickard's Quest features more than a hundred levels, including secret levels and training missions; scores of hellish critters for you to blast with your incendiary bombs and Deadly Hunting Umbrella; bosses, unlockable hidden features and extra balloons with unique abilities; and a variety of challenging levels, from bloody open combat arenas to dastardly mazes and traps.
Reference: http://www.rjbsoftware.co.uk/afterlife2_intro.php accessed Aug 09
Images:
Download:
http://www.rjbsoftware.co.uk/afterlife2_download.php
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Afterlife: Rickards Quest (4.35Mb)
When heroic adventurer Rickard Bronson entered the Afterlife to recover and restore the ten stolen Cruciforms, and lock shut once more the Gates of Hell, he was successful in his most dangerous quest to date. But questions remained unanswered: who was responsible for the theft? And why?
Now, the ancient order of the Brotherhood of the Gatekeepers has again summoned Rickard's aid. Can the daredevil explorer finally unmask the identity of the culprit and put a stop to their schemes once and for all, or do further mysteries and revelations lie in wait for Rickard upon his return to the Afterlife?
Drawing inspiration from the classics of the genre, Afterlife 2: Rickard's Journey is an epic, narrative platformer, in which Rickard Bronson returns to the Thirteen Realms of Hell to complete the journey of discovery he began in Afterlife: Rickard's Quest. Armed with his trusty hand-bombs and Deadly Hunting Umbrella, and aided by an assortment of arcane treasures looted from the Realms of Hell, can he put a stop to his mysterious foe's dastardly plans?
Reference: http://www.rjbsoftware.co.uk/afterlife_intro.php accessed Aug 09
Images;
Download:
http://www.rjbsoftware.co.uk/afterlife_download.php
forums related to this game:
http://www.rjbsoftware.co.uk/forum/
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Biomenace (1.54Mb)
This is the full, registered version of BioMenace as released by Apogee Software (now 3D Realms) in glorious, glorious freeware. Although it still runs in DOS (or a DOS window).
Crash landing a plane in a city is normally a bad thing. It only gets worse when you are attacked by slime beasts, monsters and flaming red devils. On top of that your supplies - especially health - are limited and you must rescue kidnapped surviving humans in each level before you can continue on... Are you up to the challenge?
Fortunately in amongst the chunky pixels of the early '90's is the hero's visage emblazoned with both a mustache and mullet. The weapon he carries along with the various upgrades plus grenades are - I'm sure - only secondary to his intense hair styling’s on the alien decimation front.Throughout the dozen or so levels in each mission you will encounter many well drawn scenarios, such as an ant colony, space station and construction site - most inhabited by completely new artwork and monsters.
The game is a marvel - everything on screen was created by one man (Jim Norwood) and it still stands up today as a great game. Some weapons kill enemies faster while some weapons have no effect on others. Additionally some weapons can only harm monsters when said monster is in a certain state (for example the fire devil cannot be harmed while on fire, only when in a humanoid form).
Needless to say I am recommending this game highly to you and am strongly, strongly urging you to not only download, but to share with your friends (such are the glories of freeware). An excellent game through and through.
Review by community member:
Sigh... overrated, overrated. While Biomenace is a competent game, it's certainly not great. Despite being published by Apogee and using the Commander Keen engine, Biomence is in fact a one-man job that ultimately results in a flat-out mediocre experience.
Level-design is quite poor, and many of the stages consist of little more than floors and ladders, not unlike Loderunner. There are only a few levels that come close to the clever platforming tricks and amusing settings of other Apogee games like Duke Nukem and Keen.
The balance of the monsters and weapons is way off, with monsters usually taking way too much damage and your weapons being weak and uninteresting. Power-ups exist, but they wear off too quickly and are often wasted with misjudged shots.
In all, Biomenace is a stock-and-standard platform-shooter which didn't get much attention and deservingly so. Now it has gotten a second lease of life by being released as freeware, though frankly Apogee's other offerings are, in my opinion, more worth your time than this. Alien Carnage, also a freeware Apogee platformer, is considerably better, while even their shareware titles like Duke 1 and 2, Monster Bash, Cosmo and Commander Keen are still worth looking into.
Download
http://www.acid-play.com/download/biomenace/
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Necropolis rising (3Mb)
Long ago, a battle was fought between the armies of the living and the dead. The forces of good won like they always do. The leader of evil- a necromancer- was killed when his shriveled, blackened heart was impaled by his own blade by the King during the skirmish. Now, years later, thieves have plundered the final resting place of the necromancer, stealing his magical spellbooks for resale on the black market. Something goes horribly wrong when the last spellbook was lifted however. Now the necromancer has returned and is out for revenge on the King and his army of good. Weakened and lacking an army, he sets out to recover his magical spellbooks and find a way to regain control of his undead army. Only then can the King be defeated and a rule of darkness begin!
Reference: http://del_duio.sitesled.com/NECRO/NRinfo.html accessed Aug 09
Game Features:
-RPG Adventure where you play as the bad guy
-Control 14 magical spells to help you take over the kingdom
-6 Different interconnected levels and lots of secrets to be found
-Battle Knights, Horsemen, Archers, Templars, Wizards, and other forces of good
-Put rogue Skeletons, Zombies, and other evil creatures in their place
-Gain experience from killing enemies, opening treasure chests, burning down houses and more
-Discover rare magic runes that you can attach to your sword for even greater powers
-Amass Dark Power every time you play, regardless of play length
-Gain Dark Power Rewards that carry over into any new game you start,
including better starting stats, more money, faster leveling, better spells, or rare items!
ITEMS:
Gold Coin: Worth $1.
Gold Cup: Worth $5.
Cold Bag: Worth $10.
Green Bag: Worth $50.
Magic Runes: Rare and powerful runes to find. They have many beneficial effects.
Black Heart: Collect this to gain +2 max HP.
Blue Orb: Collect this to gain +5 max MP.
Sword: A finely crafted steel blade. You tried staves, you tried wands... swords are better!
Bile: Made from squishing swamp zombies into a putrid juice, this actually refills your heatlh to maximum.
Magic Elixir: A powerful tonic that can restore your magical power.
Castle Key: A golden key that can open the King's castle gates. Nobody knows where it is.
Death Horn: Your symbol of unholiness. Use this to call upon your undead legion and take on the King's army!
Underworld Key: A mysterious key that opens the gates to the underworld. A Dark Power reward exclusive.
Demon Ring: This artifact is bestowed only upon the most evil beings. It unleashes physical havoc upon your foes, making them weak. The Demon Ring is the top prize in the Dark Power rewards list.
SPELLS:
Command Bone: Raises 4 skeletal drones to do your bidding.
Do-Gooder: Most people fear masters of death. Use this to look like someone they'll talk to. Some people will leave you alone while lke this.
Bat Form: Turn into a bat to move faster and reach otherwise inaccessible areas.
Detect Traps: See where invisible ground spear traps have been placed.
Breaklock: A static field that smashes open treasure chests and knocks down doors.
Instant Torch: Summon magical torches that can burn down dead trees and dry houses.
Acid Rain: Summon a giant storm that kills every enemy on the screen. Careful, you'll get damaged by the spell too! Won't work indoors or underground.
Speedster: Run at triple your speed for a limited time.
Tomb Warp: Warp back to your starting tomb from anywhere on the map. Use it to get out of a jam.
Lightning Shot: Shoot 4 bolts of lightning from your sword. The bolts pass through enemies like nothing and can chain kill.
Skull Bombs: Place the exploding heads of your minons down on the ground to blow up gravestones and other obstacles.
Alchemy: Turn enemies into gold objects. Where could it be?
Ghost Missile: Summon and control a ghost drone to draw your enemies out of hiding and get them to follow it. It can also be used as a guided weapon.
Twister: Turn into a whirling vortex of death, killing all in your wake!
RUNES:
Bone Rune: +2 Max HP
Eye Rune: +2 Max MP
Power Rune: +1 Max HP and MP
Sand Rune: Immune to Desert Heat
Owl Rune: More experience gained during play
Mud Rune: Immune to acids
Safety Rune: Traps cause no damage
Gold Rune: Enemies drop coins and treasures more often
Time Rune: +1 Spell Durations
Armor Rune: All minor enemies do minimum damage
Mind Rune: -1 MP cost for magic spells
Hunter Rune: Faster base walkspeed
ENEMIES:
Skeleton: The weakest and slowest of the undead creatures. Usually used as frontline fodder, they have run amok since your death.
Zombie: This guy used to be a peasant, but now he's a slave to the necromancer. All undead need to be controlled with the Death Horn.
Archer: Scouts for the king, they advance into every territory looking for you. They attack with arrows and have trouble re-loading their bows.
Black Bat: Speedy bats that live underground. Since they fly over your head, you can't reach them with your sword. Kill them with spells.
Cat Mage: A strange being that can protect itself by turning into stone. It shoots lasers and is hard to defeat.
Knight: The King's main infantry force, the knight has sworn allegence to the crown and is heavily armored.
Ranger: A specialist with the long bow, they can move very swiftly through uneven terrain and are difficult to kill.
Horseman: A knight who has been trained to ride a horse into battle. Attack them and they'll fall off their mounts.
Templar: Holy men gifted with magical powers from the church. They are given the strongest armor and throw powerful magic crosses at you.
Wizard: The personal throne guardians that shoot homing magic. Be careful! Each wizard can shoot up to 3 projectiles for big damage!
Red Paladin: The King's second in command. He rides a mighty armored warhorse into battle and cannot be thrown from it. He's impervious to all forms of melee weapons like swords.
King: The leader of good and head of the enemy army. Recently, he has been out of the country with most of his troops. Let him know you have returned to do battle by finding and then blowing the Death Horn. This will send his army on a collision with yours for the final battle!
CONTROLS:
(Joystick)
Stick = move the necro around
button 1 = use spell / item, sift through inventory (while the screen is up)
button 2 = open / close inventory, cancel the ghost drone
(keyboard)
Arrow Keys = move the necro around
shift = use spell / item, sift through inventory (while the screen is up)
ctrl key = open / close inventory, cancel the ghost drone
(both)
"Q" key = quick exit
Images
see download page
Download:
http://del_duio.sitesled.com/NECRO/NRinfo.html
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Ultima 8 15.6Mb
ULTIMA 8: PAGAN is a adventure/role-playing game where you play the part of the Avatar. Avatar is the character you have been playing since Ultima I. This time, however, you are suddenly thrown into the evil Guardian's world. The Guardian's world is a desolated place where you are completely alone and have no idea as to where to go or what to do.
Ultima 8 is different from previous Ultimas due to real time combat and playing (such as in Diablo), "obstacle courses", climbing and jumping. You also cannot have a party like in earlier Ultima games. You are always alone.
The music in this game underlines the overall atmosphere, which is dark and mysterious. It is one of the best made music scores and backgrounds for the games of that time.
Controls are completely mouse driven, and need some practice, but it is not hard to master them after learning the basics.
To be able to play the game under Windows XP / 2000 you will need DosBox, and as for playing the game with sound and music, you also need VDMsound, which you can get here.
The chronicles of Pagan: Game booklet
http://www.abandonia.com/files/extras/23608_game_extra_1.pdf
The Complete guide to ultima 8:
<strongForum discussion:
http://www.abandonia.com/en/forum?url=showthread.php?t=350
download;
http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/135/Ultima+VIII+-+Pagan.html
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