Dungeon Lords MMXII - D.W. Bradley Returns

Still one of the most fun co-op experiences I ever had… although I DESPISED Dreamweaver for making me buy it twice. Other than the obvious bugs, the thing that really killed the game for me was just the extreme lack of content. If they can remedy that and kick up the resolution, I may consider buying on the cheap.

I`ll buy it. It is not one of the greatest games but I enjoyed it. I only played Collectors patched edition and it is not nearly as bad as some of you think.

Originally Posted by getter77
How surprising——this would be like if Etrom got a second chance at life from those few years back when the devs were hoping for an investor to manifest so they could take a giant whack at things left undone or poorly done.

Difference is that somehow dungeon lords sold over a million copies

I am dissapointed that they are not offering this enhanced patch of DL to existing customers, considering that Nordic games just worked with Piranha Bytes and the community to produce the 1.75 patch for Gothic 3 for free.

I had this game in my hands several time but never ended up buying it. Sounds like I made a good decision. I wonder if this will make it worth a purchase?

Originally Posted by txa1265
Difference is that somehow dungeon lords sold over a million copies

Probably most of them being cover mounts.

If this had sold 1M for real money we would have seen a sequel years ago.

I too was one of the few that kinda liked the game. Never hated it like probably most gamers I remember I was even called names for liking the game and one guy called me a spam bot. But the game was not involving enough for me to finish and I certainly had no interest when they re released it. And I too wonder if this remake is going to include furniture and NPCs. I guess someone is going to have to tell me.

Originally Posted by txa1265
Difference is that somehow dungeon lords sold over a million copies

this

I remember reading Steven Levy's book Hackers circa 1983 and his documenting how commercial interests "took over" software development (rather than it being free) and the key complaint it suggested was how much more important "'…marketing, marketing, marketing…'" was (would be).

It was easy to see why the game sold so well: first, it stood out at any Walmart. second was the name (note the number of games that have Dungeon and/or Dragon in the title; and finally how well did Conan reprints do when Frank Frazetta was first commissioned?

Originally Posted by Dhruin
And now we can buy it a third time! Yay!!

you bought it once?

Originally Posted by sakichop
I had this game in my hands several time but never ended up buying it. Sounds like I made a good decision. I wonder if this will make it worth a purchase?

You mean you had to borrow it from special websites in order to try it and see if it is worth purchasing?

Originally Posted by Igor
You mean you had to borrow it from special websites in order to try it and see if it is worth purchasing?

No, see in stores there are goods and you can physically touch those goods (usually sealed) without purchasing them. Often people will pick up things they are considering buying and, if they decide against it, put them back on the shelf. Back in 2005 most software purchased in these strange brick-and-mortar goods retailers and so "having it in your hand" is far more literal than one might expect it to be today.

I guess those were ancient times though so I can see why the younger generations might make that somewhat disparaging assumption.

I'm surprised that so many people blame DW. While I agree the product was incomplete, I've always assumed it was another case of the publisher pushing the product out the door before the development team was done. I'm excited to see what DL was meant to have been in the first place.

I would much prefer Wizards&Warriors HD to Dungeon Lords since W&W has serious graphical problems (Direct 3D not working) on modern systems.

I purchased the later updated version. It was fairly fun and had a skyrim like combat system.

I liked it.

Originally Posted by tornnight
I purchased the later updated version. It was fairly fun and had a skyrim like combat system.

I liked it.

Oh ok cool - so one of the patches/updates finished the game content like NPCs, furniture, etc. in the previously empty towns? Had they also made it so monsters don't constantly spawn (ie. mere seconds between respawns) inside towns?

Really that's why I never even gave it a try - the "unfinished" feeling so many people complained about with every town besides the first being near-empty placeholders and stuff like that. I can tolerate bugs to an extent, but I won't buy a game that feels like a pre-alpha test build rather than even a beta. So if that aspect is at least fixed, it might be worth pulling out of a bargain bin somewhere.

Originally Posted by jhwisner
No, see in stores there are goods and you can physically touch those goods (usually sealed) without purchasing them. Often people will pick up things they are considering buying and, if they decide against it, put them back on the shelf. Back in 2005 most software purchased in these strange brick-and-mortar goods retailers and so "having it in your hand" is far more literal than one might expect it to be today.

I guess those were ancient times though so I can see why the younger generations might make that somewhat disparaging assumption.

Did they ever fix the water in the game.

The water was rolling like the rolling hills of Ireland - I kid you not - just like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28270081@N04/3544915090/

Originally Posted by txa1265
Difference is that somehow dungeon lords sold over a million copies

So they said. Did I ever tell you Chris Avellone got the idea for The Nameless One from my life? True story.

Originally Posted by Bargeral
I'm surprised that so many people blame DW. While I agree the product was incomplete, I've always assumed it was another case of the publisher pushing the product out the door before the development team was done. I'm excited to see what DL was meant to have been in the first place.

I personally interviewed Bradley by phone in 2004. He told me at the time the content was complete and they were "testing, testing, testing" (<- direct quote). He described Arctic areas and other elements that just didn't exist. Clearly, a number of these claims were blatantly incorrect. I've been reporting RPG news for 10 years now and I realise things don't always work out as intended but he could have said "we're working hard to get everything finished" or similar.

He could have communicated when the game was released. txa1265 was a very visible member of the Dreamcatcher - I'm sure txa would agree the communication was terrible and Bradley said nothing.

But more specifically - and from a personal perspective - even if all of this was the fault of the publisher, there are design failings that are his alone. The story he talked so grandly about is the most cliched "evil wizard" trash - come on Chamr, you're a fan - are you going to defend the story? He talked about memorable characters, of which there are none. The character development system is a mess, with no clear vision other than throwing in every class he could possibly imagine.

Lastly, it's his name on the box. When you call something "Dungeon Lords - A fantasy RPG by D.W. Bradley", you take personal responsibility.

Descent to Undermountain is next.

Originally Posted by Dhruin
I personally interviewed Bradley by phone in 2004

(snip)

Lastly, it's his name on the box. When you call something "Dungeon Lords - A fantasy RPG by D.W. Bradley", you take personal responsibility.

Well, ya that does kind of change things.

I guess I'm still hopeful, probably because my impression of the game was based on low-expectations and a 10 dollar investment. So I wasn't as let down as others. It's going to depend on what they actually do

Screw you D.W. Bradley. Screw you with a rusty piece of iron wrought fencing.

I'm going to download this, burn it to a dvd, take a dump on it, and throw it away.
But not before taking a snapshot and sending it to the big guy himself.