J.B. Harold is a series of Japanese adventure games that started in the mid 80’s with the game Murder Club. As you can guess, each game involves you playing as the detective J.B. Harold and you investigate murders. While some of the games have received official English translations, a lot have not. So I’m thrilled to see that the 1994 game Blue Chicago Blues has just received an English fan patch. This was one of the later entries in the series and most importantly, it’s a FMV game!
Screenshot taken from MobyGames
Most of the game is made up of interactive movies and making choices whenever the movie stops. Each choice advances the clock and it’s up to the player to solve the murder before time runs out. If you’d like to check the game out, the English fan patch is available here.
Even if the games industry has largely moved on to making games for other platforms, there’s still tons of games being made for DOS every year. I’ve previously made a post about the DOS Game Jam, which also includes some recommendations, but someone from the DOS Game Jam discord has put together this really good list of native DOS games that were submitted to the jams.
A screenshot from DZZEE
There’s also lots of DOS games outside of game jams on Itch such as The Aching, Hibernated 1, and many others with the DOS and msdos tags on their product pages. Some of the games with these tags are just (very good) games inspired by classic DOS games, but there’s plenty that run natively on DOS as well. If you’d like to find more DOS games, including ones outside of Itch, this site seems to have a good list of some of the games out there.
If you want to talk about DOS game development, find out about upcoming DOS game jams, just want to talk about DOS games in a welcoming and inclusive environment, consider joining the DOS Shareware Zone discord.
Here is a series of ads for a place called State Street Computer in Ann Arbor, Michigan showing the initial excitement for the Amiga, ads selling the computer, and then the final ad for the store showing their liquidation sale. I don’t have dates for all the ads because I saved these images a while ago and didn’t take notes then, but I can guess that it’s roughly from the mid 80’s to the very late 80’s or very early 90’s. These images came from looking through local newspapers and also from the Ann Arbor District Library website.
There’s a few other ads that I found as well. I’m guessing the freedom of the press one is aimed at college students looking to start their own zines or newspapers since this was right next to the University of Michigan.
Unfortunately I cannot find any images of the actual store. I looked up the location of the store on Google Maps and it would have been a high traffic spot near the University of Michigan.
If you have any photos of the store, I would love to see them posted somewhere.
Just finished watching Hyperland, a documentary about hypertext and other related computer technologies in 1990. It was created by Douglas Adams and stars Tom Baker (Doctor Who) as a software agent that shows Douglas the future of tv, Interactive Multimedia. I thought it was a fascinating time capsule of what Douglas thought the internet was going to be like in the future, even before people were using web browsers. The documentary talks to a variety of people like Ted Nelson and Robert Winter, but the highlight for me was Amanda Goodenough presenting Inigo Gets Out, an application for kids made with Hypercard. There’s even a fun little reference to Douglas Adams writing interactive fiction in the 80’s.
Hyperland gets some stuff wrong as anything like this is always going to but he was right about a surprising amount. Even less desirable elements like your fridge being connected to the internet are predicted here. If you have an interest in Douglas Adams or computer history I think it’s worth checking out. There’s a lot of interesting interviews about hypertext history, Tom Baker is a lot of fun to watch, and it’s only 50 minutes. You can watch it for free on the Internet Archive.
A weird but fun thing I like to do is post photos of old computer stores on Cohost and Mastodon, which means that I have found a ton of random things over the last couple of years. I’m going to start posting more organized collections here in case something happens to either place, since that account is now the only source of some photos after the sources have gone down (see my CompUSA post here).
One I’ve always loved finding more photos and documents of has been Egghead Software. If you’re feeling nostalgic for computers in the early 90’s, or specifically the Egghead Software store chain, check out their quarterly reports that have been archived here. For some reason it’s a chain that doesn’t have a ton of photos like other computer stores do, so it was fun finding these. I also thought it was interesting reading the reports in the later years and watching the slow decline they were going through.
I’ve also found a lot of random photos of now closed computer stores by checking out Facebook groups that former employees post in. I’ve only gone in public groups but there’s been a lot of interesting things that employees kept from the store like these items. Unfortunately the groups seem to randomly disappear, probably from Facebook constantly making changes, so there’s always a feeling I have to grab the photos before they’re gone forever.
I was a massive fan of the Atari 50 collection by Digital Eclipse so I was thrilled when they announced The Making of Karateka. I think people have been asking for decades for a Criterion Collection style rerelease of old games, where interviews and documents are packaged with the game. It follows the same format of the Atari 50 collection, where you are presented with multiple timelines, each documenting a different era, and scroll through the timelines to see various documents, interviews with people involved, and games to play. I wasn’t sure how much you could do for just one game but it’s the perfect rerelease to me, no complaints. It’s stunning how much was preserved by Jordan. I knew he had journals during the making of his games because I had read the one he released for Prince of Persia, but the collection also features playable prototypes for games that were never released and letters sent back and forth between him and Broderbund. The remakes created by Digital Eclipse for the games in the collection are a lot of fun too.
I’m hoping the collection is a big hit and we’ll see more of these. I don’t know how many are possible because it’s hard to imagine anyone preserving everything as well as Jordan Mechner has, but I’m sure Digital Eclipse has a few in the works if they announced this is the beginning of a Gold Master Series that “presents iconic games in an innovative “interactive documentary” format, putting the shared history of games and their creators into one comprehensive package.” I think my dream version of one of these that I think would actually be possible, meaning a game not owned by a giant company like Lucasarts or Sierra, would be something like Llamasoft. Seeing prototypes and interviews for anything they put out would be fantastic.
The Making of Karateka is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Steam, GOG, and the Epic Store. The links to all of these are available here.
This is a spoiler-free guide for people who wish to check out Beneath a Steel Sky, a point-and-click adventure game created by Revolution Software and released in 1994. This is not a walkthrough and is just meant as an intro to help people get into the game and a little background on it.
Why Should I Play It?
Even though it was released a few decades ago, it still holds up very well! It was an early game by Revolution Software, who would go on to create the Broken Sword series. The cyberpunk mystery was co-designed and features art by Dave Gibbons, most famously known as the artist for Watchmen, giving the game a distinct style. The game also has a charming mix of comedy and earnestness. The game became a cult hit and eventually led to a sequel, Beyond a Steel Sky, in 2021.
How Do I Get Started?
It’s very easy to start playing the game. The game was made freeware in 2003 and is available on the ScummVM website. If you haven’t used ScummVM and want everything configured for you, it’s all set up in a free download on GOG.
This next part is completely optional. The ScummVM Music Enhancement Project is a site containing alternate/enhanced versions of soundtracks for games that run in ScummVM, They’re all available for free and have instructions for how to replace the music. If you would like to see how the two soundtracks compare, you can check out this video here and see what you like more.
Tips for Playing Beneath a Steel Sky
For the most part, Beneath a Steel Sky is easy to get into if you’ve played other point-and-click adventures but here’s a couple things to keep in mind when playing.
Read the Comic Prequel Packaged with the game was a comic that sets up the game and explains the backstory. For the most part this comic also appears in the game’s intro but it’s still worth reading to see an extended version with more art by Dave Gibbons. You can read the comic here.
Save Often You will want to save regularly and rotate between a few save files. There are a few points in the game where you can die and the game does not automatically restore you to a safe point when it happens. It’s not in a ton of places but it’s still a good idea to save just in case. It’s also a good idea to rotate between a few save files. There aren’t really any softlocks except technically at the end where forgetting an item in a room may lead to a dead end scenario in the next room, but it’s nothing to be concerned about as long as you have a couple save files you are actively switching between.
Using Hints is Ok Compared to a lot of adventure games from the era, Beneath a Steel Sky isn’t on the more difficult end of the genre. But everyone finds different puzzles to be difficult and if being stuck is ruining your enjoyment of the game, feel free to look up a hint. I think the page for the game on UHS Hints does a good job of helping with puzzles without giving away too much.
I was thinking about the large amount of freeware remakes of classic adventure games earlier this week and started putting together a list for myself to see what was out there and just to have something to revisit when I want to replay some of these games. For a period in the early 00’s, a lot of these remakes were a big deal to me because I either didn’t own the original game or didn’t know how to get them working on machines at the time so this was the only way I could play these games. Here’s the list I made, with the games sorted in alphabetical order. Some of the remakes are a bit older but with ScummVM now supporting Adventure Game Studio, you should be able to load them into there without issues. Let me know if I’ve left any good remakes out. I’m not saying that these remakes are better than the original game but I think it’s interesting they exist and I like seeing how people think they can improve on a game and how. It’s an incredibly amount of effort for free projects.
The Abbey of Crime
(Taken from Wikipedia) La abadía del crimen (The Abbey of Crime) is a video game written by Paco Menéndez with graphics made by Juan Delcán and published in 1987 by Opera Soft. It was conceived as a version of Umberto Eco’s 1980 book The Name of the Rose. Paco Menéndez and Opera Soft were unable to secure the rights for the name, so the game was released as La abadía del crimen.
The Abbey of Crime Extensum is a remake that updates the visuals while maintaining the style of the original game.
Barahir Barahir’s Adventure: Askar’s Castle is a remake of the game Barahir, originally created for the Atari 8-bit in 1993 and was only available in Polish. This remake translates the game to English and makes it playable on Windows and Linux. The remake also features 40 different palettes for you to switch between.
The Beast This remake of the ZX Spectrum game from 1988, with the original designer’s permission, makes it playable on modern machines while making various small enhancements to make it more accessible.
The Black Cauldron The Black Cauldron is a game based off the Disney movie, designed by Al Lowe and published by Sierra in 1986. This remake is a straightforward one that converts the game from using a text parser interface to a point-and-click one.
Black Sect Black Sect is a 1993 first-person adventure game by Lankhor, which is sort of a remake of their 1990 game La secte noir. The remake translates the game to English and has a few enhancements that make the game easier such as (text from MobyGames): Timeflow is based on player actions. This prevents missing important events. Unlimited save slots. 2 action cursors instead of more than 20 in the original game. Smart cursor that lights up over interactive areas. Extra puzzles. Changed puzzles to suit the new interface. Updated hint system. New sounds and music
Black Sect 2 This is an English remake of the French graphic adventure game ‘La Crypte Des Maudits’, originally released for the Amstrad CPC in French language only by Lankhor. The remake also lets you choose from various palettes that you can switch between while playing.
Chaluul’s Curse A remake in Adventure Game Studio of a game originally released in 1995 for DOS and in German language only as a bonus game on the cover CD of the German games magazine “PC Spiel”, issue 11/1995. The remake is in English and features music, rewritten puzzles to make them more logical, and extra responses to player actions.
Enclosure
Enclosure 3-D is a remake of the 2004 freeware adventure game but puts the game in an impressive 3D engine that maintains the style of the original game.
Gateway This remake of Gateway by Legend Entertainment converts the text adventure into a point-and-click adventure in the style of their later games, while keeping the art and music of the original game.
Grandad and The Quest for The Holey Vest This is a remake of the original Atari ST game from 1992 that makes the game playable on Windows and Linux and makes some changes to make the game easier to play: -Point-and-click system instead of the original game’s keyboard-only system -Graphical inventory items instead of the original game’s text-only list -No more softlocks -Removes time limit
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy This was a remake of the Infocom text adventure created by the BBC in the mid 00s which adds some graphics and some features to make it a little easier to play like a hint system and compass.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis It’s only a demo but fans of this game may find the 3D remake interesting.
Invincible Island This remake of a ZX Spectrum text adventure converts the game to an interface that can be played by disabled folks by only having to press the space bar for actions.
King’s Quest 1
There are a couple of remakes of King’s Quest 1. The most famous one remakes the game in a VGA art style, has an option to remove the softlocks, and adds voice acting, including the voice of Josh Mandel who voiced King Graham in some of the original Sierra games. AGD Interactive did a few remakes of Sierra games that you’ll see on here and then went on to create some commercial adventure games so consider checking those out and supporting them.
The other remake, King’s Quest 1 Redux, maintains the style of the original game but builds upon it by adding new features and extra polish, while cleaning up numerous small issues.
King’s Quest 2 AGD Interactive’s remake of King’s Quest 2 is a looser remake than their remake of King’s Quest 1. Much like that remake, it features new art and voice acting but dramatically redesigns areas of the game and expands it.
King’s Quest 3 There are a couple of King’s Quest 3 out there. Just like with King’s Quest 1 and 2, AGD Interactive has created a remake. It adds new art and voice acting and redesigns parts of the game. It doesn’t change as much as their King’s Quest 2 remake but also isn’t a 1:1 remake like they did for King’s Quest 1.
Infamous Adventures also created a remake of the game that updates the art. This one is a more straightforward remake of the game that keeps the design of the original but it does add new cutscenes, a few new characters, expanded narration or dialogue, additions and changes to some of the plot, full speech, new or modified locations, and Easter eggs. After creating a couple of remakes, they went on to create a couple of commercial adventure games inspired by Sierra, so consider checking their games out.
King’s Quest 4 King’s Quest 4: The Perils of Rosella Retold is a remake that converts the game to a point-and-click interface, removes the softlocks in the original game, and adds some of the assets from the Amiga version which are considered to be an improvement.
Maniac Mansion Maniac Mansion Deluxe updates the game to look more like Lucasarts adventure games from the early 90’s.
There is also a 3D remake called Meteor Mess. While I prefer pixel art, the remake does feature a lot of nice quality of life features like hotspot highlighting, removal of dead ends, and a new solution path for Jeff.
While it’s not complete, someone did a port of the NES version of the game to the Game Boy as a test.
Megacorp Megacorp Redux is a remake of the 1987 adventure game that changes some puzzles, maps, and adds more story elements
Quest For Glory 2 AGD Interactive’s remake of Quest for Glory 2 updates the graphics to a VGA style and makes some minor enhancements. The game supports the character import/export feature so you can import your character from Sierra’s original Quest for Glory 1 and import them into Quest for Glory 3 once you’ve completed the game.
Space Quest 2 This remake by Infamous Adventures updates the game to a VGA art style, point-and-click interface, and adds voice acting, while sticking to the design of the original game.
Space Quest 3 Space Quest 3D recreates the game in 3D and features new music and voice acting as well.
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If you are a fan of classic graphic adventures that use a parser, such as the King’s Quest and Space Quest series, then you’ll want to check out the modern parser adventure scene, where people are building new games that look and play like games from that era but updated to have a more robust parser and avoiding problems like softlocks.
My favorite of these is Snail Trek. It’s a fairly short episodic series where you play as a group of snails checking out a planet to see if it can be a new homeworld for them. I loved how flexible the parser was and how it would offer word suggestions. The player is also encouraged to check out player deaths because they’re humorous and will reload you back to before you made your mistake. The first episode of four is free.
Most of the modern parser graphic adventures seem to be on Itch so I made a list of them. I recommend playing all of them. None of them are too long and they all have something unique to offer. The Aching is a new game for DOS that has a Dosbox wrapper so you don’t have to do any weird configuration to play it in Windows. The Crimson Diamond is a mystery inspired by the classic Sierra game The Colonel’s Bequest. It’s currently in development so the download on the Itch and Steam page is just a demo but you can watch dev streams for the game every Tuesday. The Tachyon Dreams trilogy and Spy Quest series are by developers of modern adventure games like Blood Nova. Enclosure 3D is a remake of an adventure game from 2004 but with a really snazzy 3D engine that I would love to see applied to more parser games.
There’s also games not on Itch like Betrayed Alliance and Fortune and Glory, a text parser rpg that is currently in development. I’m sure there’s plenty of games I’m missing but it’s exciting seeing so many developers revisiting ideas from games in the 80s and building upon them.
There’s a ton of books about adventure games and interactive fiction. Here are some of the ones I recommend:
Hardcoregaming101.net Presents: The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures
This is a collection of adventure game reviews from the site Hardcore Gaming 101. While it’s more focused on classic adventure games from the 80s and 90s, I think it’s a valuable resource for discovering old games and seeing how some people feel about some of the classic adventure games that everyone knows. If you bought the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality on Itch.io from a few years ago, you already own a copy.
What Is Your Quest?: From Adventure Games to Interactive Books
This book by Anastasia Salter is an excellent history of the interactive fiction and adventure game genres. One thing that really impressed me was the coverage of the fan game community that popped up during the 00’s. This is an era that’s rarely discussed in discussions of the adventure game genre, so it was a delight to discover games I was unaware of.
Jane Jensen: Gabriel Knight, Adventure Games, Hidden Objects
This is another book by Anastasia Salter that I really enjoyed. This one is a history of Jane Jensen’s career. While most discussions of her career only cover her time making adventure for Sierra during the 90’s, this also goes into great details of her time making more casual games in the 00’s, her games from her Kickstarter, and her career now writing gay romance novels. Jane Jensen is my favorite designer at Sierra so I loved hearing about her career in casual games and why she moved on to writing novels.
The Sierra Adventure
The Sierra Adventure is an incredibly detailed history of the game developer Sierra. While the book is written by a huge fan of the company, it isn’t afraid to cover games that were poorly received and mistakes the company made.
