@The Digital Antiquarian, Jimmy Maher offers a thoughtful take about the history of Dungeon Master by FTL and its impact on rpgs as a genre. Part 1 focuses on the commercial history of the game with Part 2 focusing on the actual play experience.
[...]Like any cagey revolutionary, Dungeon Master doesn't lay all its cards on the table when we first meet it. When the curtain goes up - or, rather, when the iron gate opens - on its first level, we might think we're just in for a Wizardry with better graphics and the luxury of a mouse-driven interface. Because this first level is entirely deserted, it's not immediately obvious that the game is even running in real time, much less what a huge difference that quality is ultimately going to make to the experience. And because we can't do anything at this point other than move around, it's also not immediately obvious just what an interactive sort of dungeon we've just entered.'
More information.With our party formed, the bits and pieces of the user interface get filled in. Running along the top we now see each of the members of our party along with what he's carrying in his right and left hands, which doesn't amount to much of anything at the moment. Three bar graphs show each character's current hit points, stamina, and mana.
While the first of these is a very traditional metric, the second provides a good example of how Dungeon Master so often yet so subtly transcends the tabletop roots of previous CRPGs. When a character exerts himself - by fighting or by running about quickly, and especially by doing either whilst carrying a heavy load - his stamina drops, diminishing his effectiveness in combat and slowing him down. He can regain stamina only by resting or through magical means. Weaker characters naturally fatigue more quickly than stronger ones. This mechanic would be impossible to replicate on the tabletop; the amount of bookkeeping required would have defied even the most pedantic of human Dungeon Masters. On the computer, however, it works a treat.
