Uninvited

Thy Flesh Consumed

I enjoy adventures but MacVentures are something I had yet to experience. I believe there are four and this caught my eye because of its horror theme. Seeing as I had a bucket load of fun with Ooze and Curse Of Rabenstein, I booted this up to see what it was all about. Initially, it appeared very good albeit with many agonising deaths! But, fun nonetheless.

Hold your horses, what's a MacVenture? That's the name given to the engine powering the point-and-click Mac adventure by Icom Simulations. This is just one game from a series of adventures, all of which have been ported to the Atari ST Shadowgate, Déjà Vu and Déjà Vu II - Lost in Las Vegas. We call them AtariVentures, which is much better!

The story starts with my brother and me experiencing firsthand what a nasty car crash looks like. I wake to find he's missing and the car is about to explode! This is the first puzzle - figuring out a way to open the car's door and scarper before it's too late. Afterwards, you find yourself outside a creepy old house and there is a sinister storm approaching. Thunder is booming and we have our brother to find. Dare we risk entering the scary-looking house to search for him?

Okey-dokey, let's take a peek at the road traffic accident where nobody rushed to our assistance...

Update: I've posted a new article for Uninvited. It's (not) a walkthrough! :)

Of course, we were gonna crash because somebody put the steering wheel on the wrong side...

Oh oh, looks like the crash happened right outside an intimidating haunted house. Let's go inside!

User Interface

The Uninvited uses GEM albeit with a few minor changes to its look and feel. Windows are resizable and used to display command options, what we're carrying, descriptions and also the current room as we view it. All commands are limited to eight options but these are direct and precise - examine, open, close, speak, operate, go, hit and consume.

For example, to inspect an object you would click it and then choose the examine button. Dead easy. The game employs this simple method of instruction throughout, but more "complex" actions like walking through a closed door require multiple commands: ie first opening it before attempting to walk through a closed door. Duh, obvious right?

Items you find can easily be carried in your inventory by drag & drop plus their contents can be sorted in order. The other window is for Exits - all of the possible ways to leave the current location. Being GEM'ish means we easily begin playing thanks to a functional and intuitive design but that efficiency comes at a price, ie I'm glad my ST has a Blitter!

Additionally, you can double-click on most things for a default option. Like the closed doors: double-click once to open it and again to walk through. The same goes for the Exits window, double-clicking in that is nifty.

The more observant may have noticed the "Self" button? Well, that's rarely used if I'm honest, but it may involve something that you need to do - such as drink a potion. Additionally, this is also another way in which the game shows its good sense of humour, try using the axe on yourself (save first). I love this freedom and the potential to be daft!!

Wanting to escape the oncoming storm, we head into the mansion for shelter. Oh, and two more screenshots...

The first room is a little weird, especially with that giant pentagram on the floor!

This is the room just off to the right (see previous image). Not much to see... Ahem, right?

Let's play!

As with any adventure, the Uninvited is all about exploration, study, investigation, and lots of trial and error. Well, with Uninvited, the trial and error parts are paramount with the earlier stages presenting a steep learning curve. This game takes no prisoners. Yes, I'm talking about you Scarlet O'Hara and that vicious temper of yours!

She is the lady lurking on the ground floor hallway and, no matter what you do, she will turn around and eat your face! Over and over I died. Too many times to count! The only way to safely pass her is via the stairwell to the first floor - but you need to come back downstairs at some point. Perhaps there is something up there we can use against her?

More or less everything that you see can be picked up and examined (it's now that I'm starting to realise there are a gazillion possible objects to inspect). Take a look upstairs; have a poke about and inspect each room for anything that might kill this Scarlet monster. It really is an obvious puzzle that you have probably overlooked several times.

Killing Scarlet is a big deal and opens up the game completely. I feel quite victorious and it's now the adventure really does begin as there is much work to do with many, many more rooms to plunder for anything that might help me find my brother. Oh, there are walkthroughs on the net which I won't be linking to as they'll only spoil the fun (although the maze section contradicts me entirely). Just play the game and enjoy everything that's on offer for the avid explorer.

Here are two more screenshots of the hallways that (embarrassingly) took me aeons to suss out...

Scarlet seems to be guarding each of the four doors. So why don't we sneak upstairs?

It's much safer upstairs and you can freely explore each room... for an item to combat Scarlet!

I love big tips!

* Go slow and don't rush as you will only miss what is obvious.

* Learn the user interface properly, it's dead easy but can be finicky.

* Just escaped the impending death of a car wreck? Snoop before entering the house...

* Inspect absolutely everything, even the smallest thing can get you out of trouble.

* Read the object descriptions carefully, subtle hints are usually given.

* Don't be a vandal, not until the time is right later...

* 90% of the items are useless so remember their locations rather than carrying everything.

* Make a map. I know, I know, but this is the time for pen and paper!!

* Install to hard drive - the experience is miles better with audio on cue.

* This next one is obvious but never more so for a game like this - save regularly!

Every so often, a little critter whisks across the screen! He's a little cookie he is!

A spider freely walks by, and then a winged eyeball appears. What is going on?!!

Aesthetics

The artwork is really good with each room well detailed to represent each scene nicely. Okay, it's not exactly The Pawn but I admire what they were trying to do and I thought it worked very well much of the time. The horror aspect is feeble, to say the least, but Scarlet is a babe and Romero would love to cast her I'm sure of it. The guy with the severed head is brilliantly drawn but what's even better is the glimpse we're given. That timing works really well for maximum effect.

As you progress, you'll realise just how many different monsters there are. Not to mention the different ways to die! Some of these monsters are really cool, I especially liked the zombies in the maze. However, some are rather lame - like the one that looks like a giant tomato. Yeah, the results are mixed but generally favourable with a comical twist.

I know some will disagree, but GEM works well for our version of AtariVenture. I think it's made great use of the windows, especially with the ease of issuing commands and the use of Exits and Inventory. But this also means it's slower than other similar games but a Blitter helps, as did my 16Mhz Mega STe.

As for audio, there is no music which is fine as that would have ruined the atmosphere, plus the sound effects are perfectly apt. Thankfully, these are made using crunchy samples and include everything from creaking doors to horrific screams. Amazing sound effects and, if I was playing this back in 1987, it would have blown my socks off!!

Death comes thick and fast throughout your entire adventure. I hate Scarlet so much!

Stuff that, I'm heading back downstairs! (probably the scariest moment in this 'horror' game)

The CryptO'pinion?

I found the Uninvited to be a challenging and intense adventure and one that I thoroughly enjoyed, especially considering this is my first frolic into the world of MacVentures, erm I mean AtariVentures. Like any of its ilk, you have to take your time and study all aspects of each and every location. That's the only way you're going to get anywhere.

However, it's not perfect with certain puzzles not making any sense whatsoever and therefore impossible to figure out without sneaking a glance at a walkthrough. Not only that, but I've never known any adventure with so many red herrings - either the many pointless items or dead ends (that often lead to your brutal demise!). That might sound fair in some respects but it's not when you're secretly restricted to a finite number of actions within the game at large.

Having said that, please believe me that I have thoroughly enjoyed playing Uninvited. Whilst certain parts of it made little sense, the Uninvited offers a richly rewarding experience and, if you fancy a different kind of adventure, then this is definitely it. Demanding, interesting, infuriating, and blummin' good fun for anyone looking for a challenge.

You can download the floppies but Uninvited is a dream when running off a hard drive / UltraSatan!

I love Uninvited. So I looked on eBay and there it was, going cheap as chips too. Excellent!!

Galdregon's Domain (part two)

I have returned from the land of Mezron

Finally, here we are with the second part of Galdregon's Domain and if you missed the first article - with the hand-drawn maps I found inside the box - then clickety-click to read all about it (the maps are quite superb!!). Anyhow, what an unexpected ride this has been over the Christmas holidays. But did it live up to my expectations for a deep RPG heavy in exploration, probing conversations, and lots of monster-mutilation? Well, umm, yes and no...

The good points are a sense of adventure throughout its beautifully crafted world of intrigue and strife. Independence to explore is paramount and that aspect goes hand in hand with the lack of a linear path. This freedom enhances the feeling of your experience and I loved it so much. This is a varied and rich experience for both discovery and the characters you will meet along the way - many of whom are only too happy to chat rather than actually help.

However, this impressive RPG came with more than a few disappointments. As in, it's not an RPG. There are elements, like gathering better armour, weapons, and helpful items but there are no character attributes, experience, or levelling. Forget the lore or learning from conversations. Also, fights aren't exactly sensational beyond mere mouse-clicking.

Okay, let's ignore Pandora's trickery and battle on because the king needs our help, remember...

What the king doesn't tell you is that his kingdom is a terrifying place full of psychos & monsters!

The Quest?

The land is in turmoil, the evil wizard Azazael has been resurrected and now searches for the five gems of Zator. If possessed, he will gain ultimate power over the entire kingdom. We don't want that! You have been chosen to battle against the minions of evil to recover all five gems and thus, save the lands of Mezron. Can you get them before Azazael?

There's much to do and it's gonna be tough! Can you destroy the evil Medusa whose merest gaze turns flesh to stone? Can you outwit the high priestess of Set who holds sway over a temple full of horrors? Dare you to venture into the dark catacombs of Castle Seenar and cross swords with the dead. Oooh, this is all sounding rather troublesome!

Fear, not brave warrior your fate awaits... (oh great...)

The kingdom is teeming with people but this is one of the few times you're alone in the dark!

You're thrown in at the deep end without any gradual progression. Beat these guys if you can!

This Viking warrior is someone you should seek out straight away. I call him Tom.

Play The Game

Galdregon's Domain is instantly playable and that's a strength I love. This is thanks to a concise user interface detailing health and providing easy ways to interact and do battle. It's a cinch to master thus, you are able to start travelling about the lands without much hassle. Mainly because the map design is great without being unnecessarily complex.

We begin with little more than a loincloth, a health potion, and a sword - surprisingly shortsighted but an effective start nonetheless. The only way to find new gear will be to win battles and search their rotting corpses for useful items. That's a lot harder than you might imagine as this game is rather tight when it comes to (quality) loot. Well, very tight actually.

In most rooms, there are many characters but few initially offer any useful information. Talk to whomever you come across and listen to their quaint but sometimes interesting chat. Most are a bore, especially within the castle so it can be a chore until later but, even then, it's hardly significant. Which is odd. As an initial priority, it's worthwhile finding the castle's exit as soon as possible to begin probing the outside world for other places, items, and people.

Enjoy reading! Let's check out the next run of screenshots...

I tried talking to the wolf. I just had to... And then I killed it. Yep, that's what I'm all about.

But talking can be fruitful and this nice chap had a stash of goodies he wanted to share!

One of the spells is a shield amongst the many others. Grab them all!!

Character

You play the same character for each game. The game always starts with the king who summoned you for the quest of saving his kingdom. There is no character configuration or any chance to alter skills or other attributes. Of course, this isn't what I originally expected but the simplicity of starting barebones means you can begin without delay.

His castle is bigger than you might imagine and most rooms have somebody lurking. Talk to them to see what pearls of wisdom they possess but you might be disappointed with earlier characters offering little beyond a greeting or compliment. However, the deeper you venture, the safety within the King's castle isn't guaranteed. /Hint

Once you exit the king's castle, the world is your oyster with great distances to explore in all directions. It's here that several distinct types of stages are accessible. Each can be attempted in any order and provides a different spin on the adventuring format. Within any part are dozens of people, creatures, and monsters just waiting to be found. Talk if you can, and make notes of their snippets of information because you may just need that later on and they are often very vague.

I think it's a good idea to see some of the folk you're likely to encounter...

These friendly four greet you at a tower entrance but won't allow you to leave!

Although strong and armed to the teeth, I got my ass handed to me by this fella!

Not everyone is out to kill you. Look, I found Robin Hood and his merry men!

Interaction

The characters are plentiful but a good chinwag isn't exactly an astounding experience. Conversations are limited by the 'talk' command which lacks options and produces only a short one-liner. Most of the talk is pointless but there are some characters who will subtly point you in the direction of the gems, people/clans or help provide tips.

This text zips across the screen in a similar fashion to Damocles but it feels rather unwarranted here. It's quite hard to read on my monitor compared to an older CRT... I guess that's more my fault than the game?

At times I didn't understand the context of a conversation. For example, entering the temple, I was greeted by a soldier who said "hello...". He didn't appear aggressive but, after a couple more Talk button clicks, he asked if I was going the right way - and then began attacking. I killed him but none of that made any sense! A polite aggressor.

Anyhow, it's often a good idea to stop for a yap with whoever pops onto the screen. Sometimes it's handy when information is freely given, however, most of the time it's rather fruitless. Yes, most of the time. Anyhow, I think 'talk' should have been heavily improved or replaced with more detailed location descriptions to read through.

Let's view some more screenshots, this time from gripping conversations...

I met this goblin after only a few minutes and he told me where a gem is. Dare I go?

This sounds like an invite I should refuse. Are they doggers? Yeah, I reckon they are!!

These guys were waiting for me outside a tavern and had absolutely nothing worthwhile to say!

Let's fight!

Battles are frequent in the lands of Mezron but that doesn't mean they're riveting. I failed to see any tactical element because the whole affair is little more than (quickly) choosing a weapon and then clicking on the mouse until your enemy drops. Sure, I can use any number of weapons but it's all rather predictable without depth or structure.

This is partly due to no detail being provided for your current weapon or the ghoul you may wish to engage in battle. This means I had no perspective or helpful details for all battles - because I knew nothing of my weaponry or how strong the enemy was. Also, most weapons break after a couple of battles and that leaves you fumbling through a sluggish user interface to source a replacement. All during a real-time battle and thus losing precious health!

I support the need to stand your ground but that doesn't mean you should fight every battle like a complete idiot. Consider hightailing it to safety using the 'run' command to quickly scurry off to a quieter place. If at the expense of possibly losing your bearings. Use with caution.

I'm not daft, for these screenshots, I am fighting three midgets like a big cowardly custard lol... 

Typical, and I thought I could sneak into the castle without being seen...

The three dwarfs were easy kills for me and my magical sword!

So now let's ransack their tiny corpses for valuables before scarpering off.

Inventory & Map

No RPG is worth its salt without a magical backpack to carry loot, spare weapons, and other useful items. Can you imagine how that would look in real life? Anyhow, Galdregon's Domain has a nice inventory screen which is basic but uses a concise design with ample slots to fill. It's also the screen used to protect our naked body with items of clothing.

Within the inventory screen are two tabs for backpack and location. The first is what you possess whilst the other represents what's in your current location. That's a good design and allows us to rummage through a corpse in the hope of finding lots of goodies. However, this is where I felt the Inventory showed its limitations - sure, basic functions are available to eat food for example but, there is no ability to select a weapon, potion, or scroll. This is done in-game.

Finally, pressing the right mouse button (for the second time) will display an overhead map of the entire kingdom. This is superb and helps navigate between each stage without getting lost when out in the sticks. Sadly, the game doesn't feature any auto-mapping within these individual stages - so grab that pen and paper (ala part one).

Right then, surely you're getting sick and tired of all this reading? Thought so. Screenshots are here...

Use your legs because not every place is shown on your map...

The map also doesn't display this walkway through the northeastern forest.

And the map also doesn't show fellow travellers walking about the land - so always explore!

The mission?

The game is based solely on the main objective of finding the five gems which is a problem. This means that there is nothing more to do other than fighting your way through the hoards during a walkabout to the places that have them. Okay, there are side-quests, but these aren't a necessity nor worthwhile. They're just there if you fancy extra leg work.

However, the quest for each gem is a crusade in itself. All will have you battling many, many different baddies before you eventually reach a 'boss'. To be honest, I would stay clear of this part - for as long as possible - whilst you instead look for clothing, weapons, potions, etc/etc. Take your time, be careful, and turn over every stone.

Look, just forget boss battles unless you're tooled up and that only comes after massive exploration.

Hey look, I've found a secret opening into the woodlands. Yes, so dense an opening is needed!

Let's be serious and play properly. I wonder if these two gentlemen have anything to offer?

Sometimes I enjoyed running around killing things but he's already dead!

Tips to get you started

* You aren't as tough as you think, start slow and don't be too cocky!
* Exploration and communication are always key factors so don't be too quick to rush off.
* Certain smaller buildings will help get you started with a sword, scrolls and potions.
* Don't get lost - use the map when roaming outside in the wild.
* Not everywhere is shown on the game's map...
* Why not seek refuge and friends in the Enchanted Woods?

Here are a few more

* Whenever a dungeon nasty appears, and you don't wanna fight, quickly walk on!
* Similary, why talk to a stranger when you can kill him and plunder his corpse?
* However, think twice before attacking a gang and watch that stamina.
* Forget about looking for gems until you're tooled up with weapons, items and clothing.

Ultimately...

* * * Save-your-game-regularly!!

This kind soul will freely hand over something rather special that helps get you out of trouble.

Eat this, man thing? How rude! Who's he calling man thing?

I want that gem but this boss dude wouldn't hand it over. And he killed me very, very easily.

Graphics & Sounds

Like Dungeon Master, Galdregon's Domain employs a similar pseudo-3D first-person perspective and each move is performed using 90° turns. Worried about getting lost in a dungeon that looks the same at every turn? Fear not, because it's stunning with fantastic attention to detail for each and every different type of location. I also adore how each character has been drawn with such careful precision. Some of the best artwork I've seen outside of Xenomorph.

Thankfully, there is no in-game music to spoil the atmosphere of this 'RPG' as I would have switched it off if there were. Instead, we have lots of sampled sound effects ranging from the chinks of your sword to excessive grunts and frightening howls emitting from distant places. I longed for footsteps otherwise the audio is spot-on perfect.

In other words, Galdregon's Domain looks and sounds superb which means more screenshots to view...

The hill with an eye! I wonder where it leads? (Wait, are you armed to the teeth?)

You have to admire the gorgeous details of most monsters, especially when they're killing you!

However, sometimes there are too many to fight at once. Or displayed properly (I count 5)

The CryptO'pinion?

It's hard to know where to begin... Okay, when I picked up the box, I was fooled into thinking this was an RPG or Dungeon Master wannabe. It's not. It might look the part but it's nothing at all like I had initially hoped. It's an adventure game - there is no progression or experience to be gained because this is deceivingly masquerading as an RPG.

The main hallmarks of Galdregon's Domain are an excellent adventure deep in exploration with many places and people. Sadly, it's let down by a severe lack of items and pointless combat that feels random and segregated. Don't get me started about the horror of replacing a broken weapon during the heat of battle. Ultimately, it's awkward and feels completely unbalanced with too many enemies and too few pickups to keep you replenished.

I sense I have moaned a lot about Galdregon's Domain? Well, there are lots that bugged me and much that didn't make any sense. It's not Dungeon Master but, as an action/adventure, I liked exploring an open world with beautiful graphics and convincing sound effects. This is an excellent place to lose yourself and I enjoyed it a bunch. Recommended.

You'll see this screen a lot. Fear not brave adventurer and simply reload your saved game.
Hang on, you are using that save game option regularly, right?

The Errand Boy

YANASTG

Thanks to AtariMania, I got wind of a new game available for the Atari ST by Dwalin. It was originally released last year for something called MSDOS... whatever that might be I don't know. Anyhow, it is a short conversational adventure ported to DAAD for a variety of home computers, one of which is our lovely Atari ST.

The Errand Boy is a graphical-style adventure and prequel to Rudolphine Rur. It's not too dissimilar to what we've seen before displaying both imagery and written text to describe our current location. We are Galdrin who appears to be at odds with Mr Eldrad because he thinks of us as nothing more than an errand boy. In a huff, we leave because that's no way to treat someone who's been in service for a thousand years so he's gonna pay!

(Hang on, how old am I? Erm, am I even human? What's going on?)

We begin in a grungy room somewhere in New York not too far from Central Park. The graphics are retro using a rough digitized style that I really like. Each room is detailed without large, overbearing paragraphs of text. Although some of its English has grammatical issues, nothing serious and it certainly isn't going to spoil the fun.

The parser interaction is excellent allowing exploration using the usual commands to look, examine, get, drop, open, etc along with the usual compass directions to get around. Each command can be shortened: 'L' to look, 'X' to examine something... In fact, examining everything is never a bad idea nor is asking for help.

The characters you meet along the way are few but full of... character! The butler appears to have spent his lifetime pottering about the house so you get little from him. Dorwinion isn't exactly and a nice guy by the looks of it but I liked Shadow's sense of humour. Oh, and there's a nasty cat. I don't like cats because they only use you to get food! And then there's the gnome, what a crazy tale he represents and he's nothing more than a lunatic.

This may very well be a short adventure but it's full of wonder, investigation and alternative humour. Yes, the story is insane, without any realism, and I loved that. Do not be too quick to dismiss this excellent adventure game.

In fact, I wish I would listen to my own advice! Make sure you look under every stone.

Let's have a little background

As I was enjoying the adventure, I message Dwalin about the game, its story and how it all came about...

"This is really a very short adventure, and that is why I chose it to be my first experience in translation. I am fond of text adventures since the 80s, where I played most of the commercially published adventures in Spain. I also had Gilsoft's PAWS, the program (or parser) that allowed you to create adventures for Spectrum, and I published a first homebrew adventure for that in 1993.

In Spain, fans of this type of game grouped together in various clubs, the most important of which one of them was CAAD, which published a bimonthly fanzine. Over time the clubs evolved into pages and internet forums, and the adventures of text as well, adapting to more modern computers. Contests were held on https://www.caad.es and players and adventure creators shared comments.

In 2005, using another adventure creation engine, Superglús, the evolution of the old PAWS, I published my second adventure: “The Adventures of Rudophine Rur”, and in 2015 using NgPAWS, another evolution of the engine. Rudolphine Rur tells the story of a little forest gnome who must enter the human world in search of his brother kidnapped by evil elves.

With the passage of time, the love for retrocomputing and old computers grew in Spain. I discovered this hobby in 2019. In Spain, the most important company that published text adventures in the 80s and 90s was AD Adventures. This company used as an adventure creation engine a parser called DAAD, also an evolution of the PAWS, but whose main feature was that it could port the games to most of the main systems of the time: Spectrum, Amstrad, MSX, Commodore 64, Amstrad PCW, PC MSDOS, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST.

Andrés Samudio, the director of Adventures AD released in 2014 the DAAD parser for use by the community of adventure creators. Until that moment DAAD had not been available to the general public, since it had been programmed exclusively for AD Adventures (it had a price of about € 12,000 in 1989!). The Spanish community of adventure creators began using DAAD to create cross-platform adventures for retro computers. In my case, I dedicated myself to porting my old Rudolphine Rur adventure to this system, and finally (2020) it was published (https://www.rudolphinerur.com) for most of the existing computers in the late 80s. I even published a small physical print run in cassette or floppy disk for Spectrum, Amstrad, MSX2 and Atari ST.

A year later I also wanted to try another parser, from the early 90s, SINTAC, another evolution of PAWS, which generated adventures for MSDOS. With him, I created a very short adventure, which I set in the same world as Rudolphine Rur: "The errand boy" being a prequel to it. The adventure was published in May 2021 in its PC version. Later I ended up porting it to DAAD so that I could release versions for Spectrum, Amstrad and MSX2.

Until now all my adventures were only available in Spanish. I considered that "The errand boy", being a short adventure, could be a good candidate to be translated into English. My level of English is not very good, and I have mainly used the google translator. So I hope native English people can forgive if they see something "weird". Finally, shortly after finishing the translation, I ended up porting the adventure also to Atari ST and well, that's the one you're playing :-) "

I think Dorwinion deserves a slap for how he treats poor Galdrin!

The CryptO'pinion?

It's always great to see new Atari ST games released. (Yet Another New Atari ST Game, just in case you were wondering about the header). I loved its story and really enjoyed playing through to the end. Okay, I wish it was a much bigger adventure, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the ST version of Rudolphone Rur being translated into English someday soon.

My thanks to Dwalin for taking time out of his busy day to chat about his adventure game. Very enjoyable!

You can download the ST disk image from Dwalin's website, AtariMania or by clicking this link.

This last image is Rudolphine Rur running on the Atari ST (Spanish). Maybe in English, soon?