| Dungeon Master | |
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Atari ST cover art |
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| Developer(s) | FTL Games |
| Publisher(s) | FTL Games |
| Designer(s) | Doug Bell, Dennis Walker, Michael Newton, Andy Jaros, Wayne Holder[1] |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Apple IIGS,[2] Atari ST, MS-DOS (x86), SNES, TurboGrafx-CD, Sharp X68000, PC-9801, FM Towns |
| Release date(s) | 1987 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing video game |
| Mode(s) | Single Player |
Dungeon Master is considered[3] to be the first 3D realtime action role-playing video game, published in 1987 for the Atari ST by FTL Games.[4] It reportedly sold 40,000 copies in its year of release alone,[5] and went on to become the ST's best selling product of all time, reaching an astounding market penetration of more than 50% of the Atari STs ever sold.
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While previous games such as Alternate Reality: The Dungeon, The Bard's Tale, Ultima and Wizardry offered Dungeons & Dragons-style role-playing, Dungeon Master established several new standards for role-playing video games and video games in general.[6] Dungeon Master was a realtime game, in contrast to the traditional turn-based approach that was prevalent until then. Instead of using text-based commands to interact with the environment, players directly manipulated objects and the environment by clicking the mouse in the enlarged first-person view. Abstract Dungeons and Dragons style experience points and levels were eschewed in favor of a system where the characters' skills were improved directly via using them. It also introduced some novel control methods including the spell casting system, which involved learning sequences of runes which represented the form and function of a spell's effect. For example, a fireball spell was created by mixing the fire symbol with the wing symbol. This kind of attention to detail and focus on the user interface was typical of the game and helped create an often captivating sense of craft and ingenuity. Other factors in immersiveness were the then-revolutionary use of sound effects to indicate when a creature was nearby, and (primitive) dynamic lighting.
Another factor in its popularity may have been the imaginative mythology, with players often reporting a nurturing identity with their chosen characters. Nancy Holder, wife of producer Wayne Holder, wrote the storyline in the manual (from a base scenario suggested by Michael Newton and the FTL team). She is a successful novelist, having written for series including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Smallville.
Many reviewers considered Dungeon Master as the best example of its genre, despite the many clones that arrived to challenge it. First of these was Bloodwych (1989), featuring similar gameplay but adding a mode allowing two simultaneous players on one machine. Other notable clones included Captive and Eye of the Beholder.
Originally, Dungeon Master was started with the name Crystal Dragon. Doug Bell and Andy Jaros began development in their development studio PVC Dragon, before they joined in 1983 FTL Games.[1] It was finished there and published in 1987 for the Atari ST first. An almost identical Amiga version was released the following year that was the first video game to use 3D sound effects. The game was also ported to PC, Apple IIGS, TurboGrafx-CD, SNES, Sharp X68000, PC-9801 and FM Towns and translated from English into German, French, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
While Dungeon Master itself was inspired by early Ultima games,[1] it was also itself the source of inspiration for the later Ultima Underworld game.[7] Game journalist Niko Nirvi wrote that no 3D role-playing title before Ultima Underworld (1992) could challenge Dungeon Master as a game.
To date Dungeon Master retains a small but faithful following online, with several fan ports and remakes available or in development.[8]
Dungeon Master received dozens of prestigious awards including the first ever Special Award for Artistic Achievement from Computer Gaming World (CGW) when it was initially released.[9] It was retired directly from the top spot in the CGW game ratings as one of the original members of the CGW Hall of Fame in November 1989 after having spent almost a year in the top spot with no serious challenger. There was some speculation by the game's developers that the CGW Hall of Fame was created for the purpose of removing Dungeon Master from the CGW ratings list since the game had achieved its sales records and domination of the rankings despite never buying any advertising for the game in the U.S. market.
The following list of awards is comprehensive,[10] but not complete. Notably, it does not include any of the awards that followed the game's release in Japan in 1990.
The game was reviewed in 1988 in Dragon #136 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4½ out of 5 stars.[13] The Lessers review the PC/MS-DOS version in 1993 in Dragon #195, giving this version 5 stars.[14] 1997, ten years after release, Dungeon Master got again a 5 from 5 stars score in a review.[15]
The packaging cover art was designed and illustrated by David R. Darrow,[16] for which Andy Jaros posed as the leftmost character pulling on the torch. The woman in the scene was Darrow's wife Andrea, and the muscular man in the background is unknown, but hired by Darrow from a local fitness club.
A soundtrack album, titled Dungeon Master: The Album, was released later. This album featured music composed by Darrell Harvey, Rex Baca, and Kip Martin.[17] The original ST version and its faithful Amiga and PC ports contain no music.
The game features music composed for the FM Towns game, as well as FM Towns version of Chaos Strikes Back, and some original tracks that were inspired by the games.[18]
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