pixelmischief Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 AR Dungeon was the last game I played on the Atari 8-Bit before I started playing games on the PC platform. That was 1990, 1991. The game consumed me. My buddy and I used to pull 2 or 3 all-nighters per week playing the game, mapping the dungeons, etc. My favorite part of the Dungeon was the Temporal Fugue spell and the Doppledanger room, although the whole experience was incredible. I am ALWAYS playing at least one game commitedly. Right after AR Dungeon, I moved to an IBM PS/2 with VGA and SoundBlaster. The first game was Eye of the Beholder. It was fantastic, but not quite fantastic enough. I trudged through it, wishing it was more like AR. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
densonj Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 (edited) "Currently a guy (who looks like he ported the game to the zx back in the 80s) is selling an IOS version of AR City and Dungeon. When I confronted him through email saying stop, he said show me proof of your contract from thirty years ago and then I might share some of the money I am making. (i.e. my only recourse would be to get a lawyer and sue him, and I don't have the money for that, nor the time, [hopefully he is not making much]). Oh man. I bought that on the app store. If I had known this, I would not have purchased it. At any rate, it is a bush-league attempt at porting the game. It crashes often and also has no decent music to it. Very misleading. I don't believe the person made much on it and it has not been updated or patched/fixed at all, even after all the complaints in the reviews. Acrins version is far superior and adds extra graphic/sound options that are very nice and makes the game fun to play. Of course, the best feature of ARX is the merging of City & Dungeon. Way cool! (That's what initially gave me the idea to make the city/dungeon maps in Minecraft and join it all there as well.) Edited July 28, 2013 by densonj 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
densonj Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 First song was meant to be a orchestra tuning up in the background, prepping and playing fragments of songs they would play later. It is about 6 minutes long. The end is to sound a bit mysterious leading into whatever we planned gamewise at that point. Always loved Gary's work. Pulled this file down and am listening to it right now. Wow. Awesome! I don't know why my favorite song in the original game was always 'Thoreandan'. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
densonj Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Gary had lyrics to most of the songs he wrote(I don't have or cannot locate the lyrics) for Alternate Reality Online '97 (Not Track 1 of course, it was pure instrumental), but here is the second song (I don't have the lyrics) -Phil Just pulled this one down now and am listening to it. Gary hasn't lost his creative touch a bit. It's lovely. Very somber. I would love to know what type of scene it was meant for in ARO '97. I remember coming across the ARO website back then and could hardly contain my excitement. I was so disappointed when it fell through.. Ah, well.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverAR Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 (edited) Could Acrin maybe go for the IOS version of ARX? That would rock. I last checked the ARO'97 website and I think it has expired and some other company grabbed the domain. Too bad, I was always wondering what happened to ARO. I remember reading some blog or a log of the conversation (I think it was Philip and Gary) and there seemed to be much excitement about the project. And then what... never really heard what happened? I assumed daily jobs got in the way. Edited July 28, 2013 by SilverAR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Price Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I last checked the ARO'97 website and I think it has expired and some other company grabbed the domain. Too bad, I was always wondering what happened to ARO. I remember reading some blog or a log of the conversation (I think it was Philip and Gary) and there seemed to be much excitement about the project. And then what... never really heard what happened? I assumed daily jobs got in the way. SilverAR, Life got in the way. As for ARO, I had a multibillion dollar company go to World Intellectual Property Court while I was in(or prepping for) Iraq to try to take the domain, claiming the only reason I could have it was because I was trying to keep it from them (ARO division of Ingersoll-Rand) and that was the only thing it could mean. Fortunately for me the WIPO judge didn't see it that way (She said it could mean Army Research Organization or many other things [and we know I had it because it stood for Alternate Reality Online]. On counts she sided against Ingersoll-Rand. Years later someone who had an IT (I think) company in Washington State called me up and wanted to buy from me. I said no, but he finally came back with an offer that I said yes to. After taxes I actually made something . So it is his and his company for a number of years now with my best wishes. I kept it for sentimental reasons, but I always had said never say never. I still control another site that just isn't as popular as a three letter domain is, and that site (not updated) is still kept for private use and sentimental reasons as was the other. Phil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Price Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Oh man. I bought that on the app store. If I had known this, I would not have purchased it. At any rate, it is a bush-league attempt at porting the game. It crashes often and also has no decent music to it. Very misleading. I don't believe the person made much on it and it has not been updated or patched/fixed at all, even after all the complaints in the reviews. Acrins version is far superior and adds extra graphic/sound options that are very nice and makes the game fun to play. Of course, the best feature of ARX is the merging of City & Dungeon. Way cool! (That's what initially gave me the idea to make the city/dungeon maps in Minecraft and join it all there as well.) Densonj, Probably because Acrins did it from the heart, while the other people(i.e. the ones with an IOS version of the game now) are just trying to see how quickly they can suck people's money from retro games (and how many true copyright owners have the time, documents, and resources to stop him/them) Phil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Price Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 FYI, My life for the next four weeks 'may' get really, really busy. So if I am not responsive for some time, or do not reply for a while, it is because of that, not a loss of interest. Phil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Price Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I have not been on the AtariAge site in a very long time. But I originally joined back in 2005. I heard that Philip Price was posting on the forums and just had to visit. I have been a huge Atari nut for 30+ years. Still have a 1200XL, 800XL and 130XE in the basement along with all of my modded floppy drives, MIO, blah, blah, blah, the list goes on and on with me. Also have original Alternate Reality disks for the dungeon (but alas, I recently discovered that I seem to have lost my City disks somehow unless they are buried somewhere in a box.) I also purchased my copies of AR legitimately at the store. My brother-in-law and I spent months playing the city and mapping it out (and we also encountered the accursed death squares). Also, he had the C64 at the time and bought AR for that, but he would be coming to play on the Atari at my house all the time because the music was simply breathtaking at the time (and still is wonderful). Gary Gilbertson is a musical genius! Does everybody remember 'Passionately'? I bought the dungeon when it came out and we spent months playing all over again! Definitely my favorite game of all. I would purchase a special edition City/Dungeon from you Philip! Also, I am a fan of Acrin1 and have supported his endeavors with ARX. I hope that he will be allowed to continue. His project is really a labor of love and a true fan tribute to the best RPG of all time. I love AR so much I even replicated the City and Dungeon in full 3D in Minecraft recently. I borrowed a lot of the original 8bit art (Atari) as well as music and sounds. I hope you don't mind! Denson, I am so glad it has brought you happiness back then. I loved the 'original'(unhacked) version of Passionately too. Concerning originally purchasing vs pirating the game. Even though no real positive royalties made it to me from the game, I do think it was a good thing to have tried to support the industry. I understand people not always having the money and resorting to other means, but I appreciate those who did spend money on buying the game in the 1980s. Thank-you. I pretty much am okay people doing thing fan works as long as it is so stated and they are not making it for profit. Phil P.S. I am tied up in so much stuff for the next month or two it is unbelievable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Price Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 "For the 10 years I worked on the B2 Stealth Bomber".....Jaw drops and smashes off floor Seriously? I've just woken up and easily confused at my age.. Mclane, Yes I architected the software for the Mission control rooms for testing the B-2. When I went to the EAFB site back then it was fun, I could go outside, sit and eat a sandwich with a SR-71 parked in the grass next to me, a B-2 taxing on the grass past me, and a fighter jet with afterburners banking from the hard runway. (Though one of the fun things was playing chicken in my Honda Accord and a landing plane once [Though it wasn't really intense, it was just the concept of what was occurring was fun])) Phil 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Price Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Phil - by any chance did you write in Ada for your DoD work? I'd be interested in what you thought about that language if so. I wrote quite a bit for the Strategic Air Command planning systems back in the day. Dan, The Air Force mandate when I architected the Control Room was everything to be in Ada. I got them into something no one had hardly hear about in 1986/87, C++. Literally my corporate boss said, Phil it is your neck if this 'C++' language doesn't do the job. We got a sole source cost plus follow on. (There was a discussion between myself and the Government lead on using C++ instead of Ada, and we came up with a valid rational, but not really something to put on internet to be misconstrued) I did use ADA to help a DOD contractor later in life, but used C++ a lot more. I did not use Ada enough to give it a fair comparison. (Especially given I was later a voting member of the ANSI C++ committee) Phil Phil 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Price Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Mr. Price, I hope you realize what an icon you are to the computer role-playing community. To this day everyone I know who's ever played 8-bit RPG's speaks of Alternate Reality with reverence and awe. It goes far beyond the "hardcore" vintage gamers you'll find in this forum. A well-crafted collectors edition (or even not so well crafted) of AR would sell quite a few copies I think. I would certainly pony up $100 for a copy with your signature. Glowing Ghoul, You do realize that you saying that brings me happiness . Concerning crafted editions, I don't know...mostly I just know I am swamped in real life right now and can't even think about it seriously at this time. Phil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evidious Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) Hi Mr Price: Just wanted to say thanks for making some great games..I do pull out the dungeon now and then and still play it.its truly and awesome game. but the gold horn that summoned 8 berserkers was truly evil -Bobby please someone make a cart for it Edited July 31, 2013 by Evidious 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Mclane, Yes I architected the software for the Mission control rooms for testing the B-2. When I went to the EAFB site back then it was fun, I could go outside, sit and eat a sandwich with a SR-71 parked in the grass next to me, a B-2 taxing on the grass past me, and a fighter jet with afterburners banking from the hard runway. (Though one of the fun things was playing chicken in my Honda Accord and a landing plane once [Though it wasn't really intense, it was just the concept of what was occurring was fun])) Phil Did you ever go to Skunkworks or Area 51, did you see Bob Lazars 'sport model' Thanks for all the answers Phil, as you say you are a busy man so keep safe and enjoy the work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VladR Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I'm finding this ridiculous, how I could have missed a gem like this. This game was released in 1986 ? I've been an active member of a local Atari club with ~100 members till 1990 and no one ever mentioned any word about this game. Looking at the youtube videos of AR, I find it impossible that if anyone ever saw this then-next-gen game in motion, the word would not spread out. Was that an NTSC-only release perhaps or was this game widespread in Europe too (just not in our neck of the woods) ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbersan Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Played AR back on the old Atari 800 at a friend's house, and then played City on an ST of my own. Sucked up a lot of my time back in the 80s and early 90s. Would love to see a re-release of this game, but it would definitely have to be done right. Was definitely something about the feel of the game that made you want to keep playing and invested in your character. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin_Lunchbox Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I'll add my voice to the star-struck players of AR:CITY from back around the time it first came out. How great to have your comments here Mr. Price! Played it on an 800 and still have my copy, though the box was so beat up I cut it open and tucked it in one of those plastic shells with the transparent sleeve for the cover. Still have my original diskettes I think but I did write to disk some back-up copies much much later (2000s) from a rare set of ATR images that actually seemed to work. I also played AR:DUNGEON on a 65XE, and I would say it was more playable in that it was easier and perhaps less idiosyncratic, but to me it never had the charm of AR:CITY. There are a great number of TERRIFIC Atari 8bit games including quite a few from the retro-development era of the last 15 years. However for the longest time I always regarded AR:CITY and Utima IV as the absolute pinnacle of Atari 8bit gaming, and I still would say that there are no better games than those. Philip, if indeed you were going to consider a limited run of some sort of AR:CITY "director's cut" you could probably easily find an experienced retro-8bit-game publisher and developer or two to undertake the packaging and code tweaking. In other words you could just executive produce and quality control it. I personally would prefer the re-release be put on a flash cart, which I think various people have attempted over the years but no-one has managed to do yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilaskey Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I'm finding this ridiculous, how I could have missed a gem like this.This game was released in 1986 ? I've been an active member of a local Atari club with ~100 members till 1990 and no one ever mentioned any word about this game. Looking at the youtube videos of AR, I find it impossible that if anyone ever saw this then-next-gen game in motion, the word would not spread out. Was that an NTSC-only release perhaps or was this game widespread in Europe too (just not in our neck of the woods) ? Yes it was released in Europe and was a big seller and very well known. No idea how you missed it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 just in case... some of you forget... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Well... Phil... I thought the 3d... was like in Bard's tale... but it is really smooth.... I thought Dungeon had the first smooth engine... and I love the sound fx... and the rain.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 and still can not believe that you did all the gfx on graph paper man... we are talking about 1984.... not 90s with Deluxe Paint etc... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 http://bringerp.free.fr/RE/Ar/news.php5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fibrewire Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Finally I can ask the question I've always wanted to ask: Phil, did you hate Xebec drives or controllers? I've always wondered why you chose the name "City of Xebec's demise" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
densonj Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Finally I can ask the question I've always wanted to ask: Phil, did you hate Xebec drives or controllers? I've always wondered why you chose the name "City of Xebec's demise" I believe a 'xebec' was also an ancient sailing ship used as a trading vessel. I always thought that the name "City of Xebec's demise" was referring to some spaceship crash site or something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverAR Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 I believe a 'xebec' was also an ancient sailing ship used as a trading vessel. I always thought that the name "City of Xebec's demise" was referring to some spaceship crash site or something. Yes, same here. I've always played AR under the impression that the City was founded due to some spaceship crash. Xebec according to the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xebec 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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