Play D&D with your Amiga

[Frederic_Freakazoid]

So I have this software:



Anyone ever heard of it? The only reference I can find on the web is at the Hall of Light. It was rated *VERY* poorly because people thought it was a game. It is far from it. It's more like having a digital set of miniatures and notebooks for D&D or other fantasy games.

I'm not sure how it compares to the Dungeon Master's Assistant software from the late 80's but I'm sure it is comparable to modern things like Klooge Werks and Fantasy Grounds.

The sad thing is: I never really got to ever use it. My tolerance for disk swapping and my D&D playing happened at different times in life. It doesn't work on AGA machines from what I remember so even when I did get it installed I don't think it worked properly.

I'm not sure what to do with it at this point. I don't think I'll ever use it, but it may very well be the rarest piece of Amiga software I own. My biggest fear is no one will be able to try it because it hasn't been preserved in any other medium. I'm not sure my copy is free from errors either. Thankfully most of the disks are art which I would imagine is replaceable.

Thoughts?

 

[slk486]

Looks very interesting. Back then I recall looking for software like this, but it never registered on my radar.

My recommendation would be to first get hold of the guys over at http://www.tosecdev.org to make sure there are good dumps of the disks. After that you can let your fears go and do what you like with it

I can't check my TOSEC library now, to see if it's already in there, but hopefully I get to play with it in the future either way. Funny how one review gave it 1.5% out of a 100

 

[Frederic_Freakazoid]

Thanks for the tip. There is interest there in my version. They have the Skid Row version but not the original (I seriously can't contemplate why it would need to be pirated aside from wanting to slap their label on it...). As such they directed me to the Software Preservation Society. Looking to get their software and see what games/software of mine may need preserving.

 

[SkydivinGirl]

I remember trying out this program. It really seemed a bit cumbersome. Let me know if you need any help with the actual preservation. I have a Kryoflux and I'd be happy to help.

Heather

 

[Frederic_Freakazoid]

I may take you up on that. It sounds like the Kyroflux is the preferred method nowadays. I'm not sure I trust the drives I have to read things error-free.

 

[SkydivinGirl]

No problem! Just let me know if you need some help.

Heather

 

[Frederic_Freakazoid]

I finally got an email with a link to their testing software. Will see how that goes when I have a chance.

 

[Templar]

Nice find indeed, I'm very curious about this piece of software. Any luck at least with some screenshots? Is it possible to ADF the originals?

 

[slk486]

Do keep us updated. I'm quite interested in this piece of software

 

[NinjaRabbit]

What an interesting program. I never even knew such a thing existed. (A little too complex for me, though, most likely - I lean more towards the USR System, myself. )

Good to see that it's being preserved!

 

[Frederic_Freakazoid]

What an interesting program. I never even knew such a thing existed.

There are a few similar programs out there. The ones I am familiar with are:
http://www.kloogeinc.com/ (met these guys at Gen Con sometime around 2000 and bought a copy right away)
http://www.fantasygrounds.com/ (This has the best Dice Rolling I've seen outside of a phone app)
http://www.openrpg.com

All of these are basically a GUI chatroom for playing D&D etc inside of. The Amiga software, being much older without online connectivity, is used more to simulate a table full of miniatures. I bet it may be impressive depending on the resolution you can pump out and the screen you have. Thinking about it I hope you can use something other than 320x200 as that may be a bit painful in trying to manage a full battlefield..... The thought of gathering around the Amiga to play D&D gives a warm fuzzy feeling!


Sadly I think my floppy drives are all dead. I may have to send my disks to SkydivinGirl to get this preservation thing rolling.

 

[Frederic_Freakazoid]

I've just nixed my ability to preserve said software by sending away my beloved SX32. I think I did get an email form the tosec guys stating they had a non-original version, but never got around to doing their drive test. If anyone wants to do it I'd be glad to send the software. Preferably in the US though.

I did talk to a local friend, a day or so ago, who had actually tried using it for D&D, and he said it was REALLY difficult to use.

 

[SkydivinGirl]

I'll be happy to preserve this. Just drop me a PM with the details.

Heather

 

[Zetr0]

A friend of mine had this, it was fun, but awkward to really use for games like VtM, Chill and Hero's - So I wrote Dungeon / tile based mapper, character generator (PC and NPC) program for all the of the above.... I was an industrious coder at 16

 

[RetroGR]

Great find If any one wants free adf for this game here i found a site. *SNIP*

 

[Frederic_Freakazoid]

PM sent Heather