Just played Dracula : The Undead and...wow!

[awbacon]

I hadn't even heard of the game until a few months ago, but I finally got around to picking it up and playing it, and I was pretty blown away at just how entertaining and atmospheric the story and game was. Awesome use of color as well to set the mood.

 

Def didnt love the climbing outside the castle section...so frusturating...but otherwise I was shocked I hadn't heard of this game sooner. Was it a rarer release?

 

Just wanted to chime in since it was the first Lynx game that seemed like a must play that ive encountered

[Rick Dangerous]

Heard it was pretty plodding and slow so haven't checked it out yet; but may have to do so this Halloween if you are vouching for it! 

[im_reg]

A great game, if a tad short. 

 

[awbacon]

29 minutes ago, travistouchdown said:

Heard it was pretty plodding and slow so haven't checked it out yet; but may have to do so this Halloween if you are vouching for it! 

It's basically a point and click adventure style game, but if you are into those its pretty legit. I vouch for it. Fair warning...its Sierra style and you can get yourself into an unwinnable state

[Jazzoff2000]

This game was everywhere in Aussie stores back in the day... great game. ☺️

[PFG 9000]

It was a fairly high-profile game when it came out, at least as Lynx games go.

 

I really enjoy it.  It is slow, but only in the same sense as other Point N Click games.  The graphics are quite pretty for the Lynx, and really showed off the Lynx's high color palette back in the day...especially that beautiful title screen.  And the music, though repetitive, is also well done.

 

Supposedly it was meant to be quite a bit longer, but development issues forced the creators to cut out the last third of the game.

[awbacon]

I do wish it was longer, but considering you have to beat it in one sitting they would have had to add in some sort of password feature to make it doable

[Shaggy the Atarian]

This is one of my favorite Lynx games. I discovered it back in '98 or so when my friend added it to his collection. I enjoyed the Sierra style games, but this one is a bit more atmospheric. If you really want to get a full experience out of it, I'd suggest playing it at night with the headphones on.  

 

As mentioned, there was a longer version of it that Atari made, but as I recall, all of that content was cut as it would have required one of the biggest ROM sizes to use on the system and of course that meant a higher cost that they didn't want to foot that bill (again, as I recall...could be wrong on a detail there, but I know for certain that there was a much bigger version and that ROM has never been found/released).

 

I also have seen Dracula mentioned as an unreleased Jaguar CD title for many years; It would have made for a great addition to the Jag library if it were the same thing, just complete and with enhanced graphics. 

 

 

[awbacon]

On 7/30/2019 at 2:46 PM, Shaggy the Atarian said:

This is one of my favorite Lynx games. I discovered it back in '98 or so when my friend added it to his collection. I enjoyed the Sierra style games, but this one is a bit more atmospheric. If you really want to get a full experience out of it, I'd suggest playing it at night with the headphones on.  

 

As mentioned, there was a longer version of it that Atari made, but as I recall, all of that content was cut as it would have required one of the biggest ROM sizes to use on the system and of course that meant a higher cost that they didn't want to foot that bill (again, as I recall...could be wrong on a detail there, but I know for certain that there was a much bigger version and that ROM has never been found/released).

 

I also have seen Dracula mentioned as an unreleased Jaguar CD title for many years; It would have made for a great addition to the Jag library if it were the same thing, just complete and with enhanced graphics. 

 

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if content was. Cut. The game does seem to end rather abruptly. Seems like the last third of the gameplay is rushed to completion

 

bummer the roms for a longer version have never come to light 

[+madman]

I remember playing this one BITD and not liking it, the feeling of playing a P&C game on a portable felt off. Maybe in my old age I might be able to get into it. I dug the art style though.

[+davidcalgary29]

13 hours ago, awbacon said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if content was. Cut. The game does seem to end rather abruptly. Seems like the last third of the gameplay is rushed to completion

 

bummer the roms for a longer version have never come to light 

It was supposedly much more than that. There’s an interview on another thread in which some of the planned content was discussed.

[Lost Dragon]

Regarding the cut content...

 

Jim Gregory of Hand Made Software was kind enough to answer that question:

 

Q: Do you have any information regarding claims that 50% of Dracula The Undead was cut from the Lynx game as Atari wanted to release it as a separate title and thus get extra revenue?

 

Jim Gregory: This is one of life's huge annoyances.  Dracula was originally a full interpretation of the book with ALL the story - right up to the end.  

 

It was designed to be in a larger cart and have a higher price.  A full time team of artists, musicians, and programmers had spent over a year honing a great adventure with many unique aspects. 

 

 When Atari started to feel the financial pinch, they insisted on us chopping it down to fit in the smallest cart size.  That meant stripping down the story to end as he escapes from the castle.  

 

The final cart only has about 10% of the game, because it still needed the overhead of the adventure engine that we had written.  There were loads of beautiful Victorian street scenes, animations, and interiors that had to be tossed.  It was so sad. 

 

 There were three other adventure games that we had pitched to use the same engine that were abandoned, too.  One was based upon zombies, but Atari told us that people were not going to be interested in zombies!  Remember, this was WAY before all the zombie stuff came out.

We developed many other games that never saw the light of day due to the cutbacks and a new manager that was hired, who was technically and commercially 'stupid'.

 

 

http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/interviews/jim_gregory/interview_jim_gregory.html

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Lost Dragon

[awbacon]

Damn that’s heartbreaking. Sounds like the game could have been something extra special 

[Lost Dragon]

18 hours ago, awbacon said:

Damn that’s heartbreaking. Sounds like the game could have been something extra special 

Tragic story and sadly the same whenever i chatted with Ex-Atari developers.

 

You always seemed to get a fleeting glimpse of what could of been, had the Tramiels not been so tight with resources etc

[KevinMos3]

I always loved this game and thought of it as a showcase title.  I appreciated it's length, since it didn't have a way to save the game and I typically played in a setting that didn't give me a whole lot of time (riding the bus, sitting in the airport, on a plane, etc.).

 

It's really disheartening to hear about all the cut content.  I wouldn't have guessed.  I really wish the sources of all the extra content existed, but I'd imagine all that is long gone.

[awbacon]

8 hours ago, KevinMos3 said:

I always loved this game and thought of it as a showcase title.  I appreciated it's length, since it didn't have a way to save the game and I typically played in a setting that didn't give me a whole lot of time (riding the bus, sitting in the airport, on a plane, etc.).

 

It's really disheartening to hear about all the cut content.  I wouldn't have guessed.  I really wish the sources of all the extra content existed, but I'd imagine all that is long gone.

 

Atari seemed to be King at cutting corners, keeping costs down at the detriment to their own software, etc etc. 

 

Jaguar could have been better had there not been such penny pinching.  I just opened up a Japanese Gamest EX mag today I got in and it had a full page article on AvP and how great it was. If Jaguar could hang in Japan it could have been extra awesome here (as I type in a Lynx subforum lol)

[+karri]

From a ganers point of view: quality is never out if style.

 

Too bad that penny pinching killed a great storyline. Modern games are like great novels today. Atari could have been better off by embracing quality over being cheap.

[awbacon]

8 hours ago, karri said:

From a ganers point of view: quality is never out if style.

 

Too bad that penny pinching killed a great storyline. Modern games are like great novels today. Atari could have been better off by embracing quality over being cheap.

Even back in the day we still got stuff like adventure games with amazing stories. Dracula The Undead could have been LucasArts level remembered had it been longer I feel

[Nop90]

Now I'm curious so I started playing it on my 3ds emulator.

 

The game is better than expected, but after talking with Dracula I'm blocked.

 

To cheat or not to cheat. That's the question ?.

 

About the story of its coding, since the engine was made with the idea to be reused It would be great to reverse the game engine and use it as a general purpose adventure engine.

 

But probably is easier to port something open source like scumm-8.

 

Have to try it in autumn.

[awbacon]

I cheated my second playthrough. Since you can get yourself into an unwinnable state I wanted to see more of the game. 

 

Then I screwed up and forgot to break a lock on a window and was stuck again

[Lost Dragon]

In the interests of full transparency,  it should be made clear the views expressed by Jim Gregory are of course his own.

 

Despite finding and sharing quotes from Rob Nicholson regarding further Panther appraisals etc..

 

I have been unable to reach any other staff from Handmade software, let alone Atari who worked on Dracula on the Lynx etc.

 

As those of us who have dabbled in contacting the industry figures learn only too well, you need multiple sources to even start trying to figure out what really happened to lost or releaseD software. 

 

People like Martin Hooley (Imagitec Design) have changed versions of events over the years and claim development work on titles for the Sega Game Gear and Master System , let alone Atari Panther which several other sources within Imagitec deny ever took place. 

 

The Saga of Jaguar Zero 5 has been strongly countered by Atari Uk's Darryl Still..

 

Jane Whittaker's various claims have been called into question of late. .

 

Ditto the 7800 Paperboy coders Sega work claims.

 

And Leonard Tramiel being held responsible for texture mapping Jaguar Supercross 3D has been countered by a supposed Ex-Tiertex coder of the game.

 

You just can't afford to take single source claims at face value, sadly. 

 

When I contact new sources, i always give a link to my old research and people read through the comments others they once worked with have made and sometimes said comments are called into doubt and any new information (that is not of a slanderous nature) I find, i tend to share and let people make their own minds up about.

 

Jim was kind enough to give his account. .who knows, maybe we might be lucky enough to have someone get Atari's side of things?.

 

Jenovi and Arcade Attack are doing great work these days.

 

Fancy looking into Lynx Dracula further still guys? .

[SwedenLynxer]

Even with much of it's original content cut out. it's still a great game. And beacuse of all horrors still in the game it's the only Lynx game (except for the last two Atari releases Battle Zone 2000 and Super Asteroids / Missile Command) that had an age rating on the box : "Age 14-up"  

[Clint Thompson]

On 8/8/2019 at 6:07 PM, Lost Dragon said:

And Leonard Tramiel being held responsible for texture mapping Jaguar Supercross 3D has been countered by a supposed Ex-Tiertex coder of the game.

I forget, did Leonard ever mention directly one way or the other that he pushed for textures? I know he was much more active on Facebook this past year in the groups but don't remember his claim, not that it matters I suppose since I still believe the title shipped completely unfinished -- no credits ,wrong title screen + holiday rush quick cash grab because going out of business sale soon!

[Lost Dragon]

I've never spoken to Leonard, nor have any desire to do so.

 

You know first hand what happened when I looked into claims Sam had made, when seeing if that Engineer Sam had hyped up could assist you with your Jag Duo project.

 

One Tramiel leading us up the proverbial garden path was plenty ta ?

 

It was Missile Command 3D coder Martin B. who made the claim Leonard was to blame for Supercross 3D textures , years ago in an interview on Atari Explorer online.

 

It was taken as fact, until recently when someone on social media claimed they had spoken to the Tiertex coder who claimed it was actually Tiertex management who wanted the textures.

 

Guy was a newbie to myself (social media person) and had no...ahem. .reputation or history of fabricating claims. 

 

But i never found out any more.

 

Given i have had material brought forward that call into doubt the accounts given by at least 2 industry sources i had spoken to over the years, I honestly could not tell you who is and who is not a reliable source these days, Atari work especially. 

 

Too many people want others to take the blame for a game not appearing or being so bloody awful if it did.

 

Devote my energies to playing games rather than looking into them these days.

 

Much more rewarding I have to admit.

 

☺

 

 

Sorry I could not be of more help on this one.

[Lost Dragon]

On 8/16/2019 at 5:20 PM, Clint Thompson said:

I forget, did Leonard ever mention directly one way or the other that he pushed for textures? I know he was much more active on Facebook this past year in the groups but don't remember his claim, not that it matters I suppose since I still believe the title shipped completely unfinished -- no credits ,wrong title screen + holiday rush quick cash grab because going out of business sale soon!

Looked into contacting a few other Ex-HMS software people, but there's a definite Anti-Tramiel vibe amongst a good few.

 

Found some comments, well, more of a rant, by a key coder from there.

 

Very much in vibe of Jim Gregory,  blame Atari for everything and apparently he had taken his frustrations out in the toilets at Atari Corp at the time.

 

When old wounds still fester and there was bad blood between teams internally and teams and Atari managers and the Tramiels themselves, it makes getting balanced reflection on what happened and why,very difficult.