WolverineDK wrote:

DonutKing wrote:

Was DN2's engine coded completely from the ground up or is it based on the Keen engine?

http://www.shikadi.net/moddingwiki/Duke_Nukem_II

It is based on Cosmo's Cosmic Adventures engine.

ah that's the one I was thinking of!
Cool site too, thanks

That may explain why it behaves in this manner. Rather than recode the engine for full VGA support they can just swap the palette and fool the casual observer into thinking its VA 😀

VileRancour wrote:

A similar trick was used by a few PCjr-targeted games - Mineshaft, Alleycat and Sokoban come to mind.... 4 colors freely chosen out of 16. But by the time EGA rolled around (I guess), having dedicated 16-color graphic sets was preferrable.

The only catch was that when MCGA chipsets were introduced, they weren't EGA compatible, so a number of games, including two I've reviewed (Fire Hawk and Covert Action), would simply use EGA colours in MCGA mode without taking full advantage of the 256 colours supported. :P

SVGA wasn't much better. Before VESA there were tons of proprietary standards and everyone had to program specifically for them. :|

Gemini000 wrote:

The only catch was that when MCGA chipsets were introduced, they weren't EGA compatible, so a number of games, including two I've reviewed (Fire Hawk and Covert Action), would simply use EGA colours in MCGA mode without taking full advantage of the 256 colours supported. 😜

hey, it got worse than that - I remember watching my PS/2-equipped friend suffer, as a ton of EGA-capable games just weren't MCGA-aware, and fell back to 4-color CGA mode. Just like I suffered when the EGA arrived and many of my favorite CGA games (e.g. Windmill stuff) just didn't work at all anymore...

Ancient DOS Games Episode 73 - Catacomb is online!

...yeah, that's about all I have to say at the moment. Can't really think of anything else to mention...

*thinks harder*

...I suppose the only thing I didn't comment on is that I'm not sure if the "co" in the name is pronounced like in "comb" or like in "tomb". I've always said it the same way as in "tomb" and I've heard it both ways before, and I was way past recording the voiceover before I remembered I had forgot to check so I figured "oh well". :P

Oh yeah, the game has mouse support too but I seriously can't imagine playing this game that way and NOT getting slaughtered. x_x;;;

Gemini000: Good episode, but what ever happened to the "extra levels" and the editor they told about ?

I think it's weird that until RGB Classic Games had Catacomb on its website, it was much easier to find the sequel The Catacomb on the internet on various abandonware websites than this game, while this game is freeware and the sequel is a commercial game.

WolverineDK wrote:

Gemini000: Good episode, but what ever happened to the "extra levels" and the editor they told about ?

Those came about in the sequel titled: "The Catacomb", made even more confusing by the game itself simply going by the title "Catacomb" mid-game.

The original can thusly be considered more of a preview of the full game, even though AFAIK the levels are completely different.

---

Side Note to Everyone: I just got the new replacement cable for my headphones and they are once again working perfectly! X3

Ancient DOS Games Episode 74 - Crime Fighter is online!

I'm actually kinda surprised at the number of guesses sent in. I thought this game was obscure considering I had never heard of it until about a year ago, but apparently, several viewers sent in correct guesses! :o

Other than that, not too much else to say about it that I don't cover in the episode itself, or in the additional information below the video itself. Enjoy! :D

heh, maybe it was more popular this side of the Atlantic? It seems to be one of those games that stay memorable just because of their theme, not because they were particularly awesome, or because you've ever had the patience to get too far in them (at least in my case). Fun game though.

there's also the WTF factor of being an EGA-only game in 1993. I mean, it has that unmistakable "Borland BGI" look-'n'-feel, and as sucky as those libraries were, it couldn't have been too much work to adapt it to VGA. Even Apogee were giving up the ghost by then....
That said, it's always good to see aspect-corrected videos for games like this - despite your own stated preference for filling the screen. KEEPIN IT REAL 4LIFE an' all dat.

Just a quick note to everyone, my next ADG might be a few hours to a full day late. Not only did I fall behind on getting the voiceover done, but my right eye ended up in searing pain due to some kind of bump inside that is likely a "stye" but the doctors aren't 100% certain. They perscribed some eye drops and an ointment, and while the pain is reduced at the moment I'm now VERY far behind with my work on the next ADG. I'll try to get as much done as I can by the usual 10 PM EST upload time Friday evening, but no guarantees... >_>;

ADG will be delayed since Kris took an arrow to the eye

🤣

Hahaha! Get well soon Kris 😀

I never knew there was a word for that.

Thanks guys. :)

Yeah, still hurts a lot, but I did get the voiceover done (not perfect but as best as I could considering) and I'm about to start editing it. I don't think the episode's gonna be on-time but it's definitely not going to be a full day late. At worst, it won't be up until 8 AM EST Saturday. At best, 2 or 3 AM.

Ancient DOS Games Episode 75 - Excelsior Phase I: Lysandia is online!

...3:20 AM EST. Best case scenario considering! :D

Yeah, my eye is still bothering me, but it is very slowly getting better.

I'm glad next week's a filler. Filler episodes are usually easier for me to make than the regular episodes and I intend to spend the next three days chilling out and doing as little as possible so as to let my eye rest up. :)

BTW: How is it that no one even attempted to guess what this week's game would be? I thought this game was much more popular... or maybe... since the game does a very poor job of telling you about its dual wielding virtually no one realized it had that feature? XD

Actually, it has a lot of similarities to Skyrim, or rather, Skyrim has a lot of similarities to this game. Was interesting to notice all of them after having not played this game in over a decade. :O

CATACOMB!!!!!!! Are you gonna do any sequels? I remember when i played and BEAT Catacomb Abyss. I hardly beat any games.

EDIT: Also my left is recovering from a ankylosing spondylitis flare up.

cdoublejj wrote:

CATACOMB!!!!!!! Are you gonna do any sequels? I remember when i played and BEAT Catacomb Abyss. I hardly beat any games.

Getting copies of the sequels is the hard part. I enjoyed Catacomb Abyss, but considering it's part of a trilogy of games it makes no sense to review it and not the rest of them. And then there's Catacomb 3D as well...

cdoublejj wrote:

EDIT: Also my left is recovering from a ankylosing spondylitis flare up.

I... have no idea what to say to that, considering it's a chronic condition with no known cure... >_<;

I guess lots of us have chronic conditions. Yours involves your spine, mine involves my circadian rhythm. GO, US! ^_^;

Gemini000: I really like your episodes, but as you can read in another post, then I have been extremely busy with real life. But anyway is there an editor for Catacomb or has that never been officially released ? Cause I doubt it is the TED5 editor you would be using.

Gemini000 wrote:

BTW: How is it that no one even attempted to guess what this week's game would be? I thought this game was much more popular...

I've never heard of the game. Maybe I'm just not into RPGs as much as other genres. Is it really supposed to be that well known?

You mention turning off GUS support. The default value is gus=false. I think it's been that way since it was pointed out that GUS interferes with the SB music in Quake.