Deathlord
Encyclopedia
Deathlord is a 1987
role-playing video game
created by Al Escudero
and David Wong
. It was published by Electronic Arts
for the Apple II
and Commodore 64
computer systems. The game set itself apart by its Japan
ese flavor, immense game world and length of play.
Deathlord boasts a world of 16 continents, 128 unique monsters, and twenty dungeons, yet fits on only 2 double-density 5¼" floppy disks as it compresses blocks of identical squares on a map.
One of the game's unique characteristics is that there is only one savegame slot, and the game frequently autosaves, by design, if the party moves to another location, or a party member dies. A party, once killed, needs a new party to resurrect them. This makes for frustratingly difficult gameplay.
The plot is nonlinear and once the party fulfills the Emperor's initial quest of defeating the wizard beneath the castle, the party has no set activity. They must find items to protect themselves from acid, fire, darkness and magic walls, along with a special weapon that can defeat the Deathlord.
Sarinee Achavanuntakul calls the game "One of the best, largest, and most underrated RPGs ever made" and goes on to say it, "offers a unique gameworld inspired by Japanese myths, plenty of traditional exploration-based fun, and the largest map ever made for an Apple II and Commodore 64 game."
A review in Computer Gaming World
described the game as "A mediocre effort at best." Criticisms of the game included poor documentation, poor class balance, and meaningless character alignment. The game hid the townspeople with important pieces of information, making mapping necessary, and frequently the player had to search many squares in an area for an important item. One dungeon, described as "one of the most idiotic dungeons ever", featured a two-level maze of locked and fake doors, with a diagonal passage full of teleports and fake walls above. Without a lack of mapping aids, this was very difficult, especially in sixteen-level dungeons that did not contribute to the story. The game's setting was described as "a compendium of standard CRPG features glossed over with a tinge of pseudo-Orientalism by pasting Japanese names on as much as they could."
1987 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...
role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
created by Al Escudero
Al Escudero
Al Escudero is a game designer for computer games.-Career:Escudero is mostly self-taught in computers and gaming. He ran a bulletin board system, Castle Amber, beginning in 1986...
and David Wong
David Wong
David Wong may refer to:* David Wong Louie, American writer of novels and short stories * Dave Wong , Chinese singer* David Wong , philosophy professor at Duke University...
. It was published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
for the Apple II
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
and Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
computer systems. The game set itself apart by its Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese flavor, immense game world and length of play.
Deathlord boasts a world of 16 continents, 128 unique monsters, and twenty dungeons, yet fits on only 2 double-density 5¼" floppy disks as it compresses blocks of identical squares on a map.
One of the game's unique characteristics is that there is only one savegame slot, and the game frequently autosaves, by design, if the party moves to another location, or a party member dies. A party, once killed, needs a new party to resurrect them. This makes for frustratingly difficult gameplay.
Story
The Emperor's kingdom is under attack from the Deathlord's forces. The party must venture into Hell, defeat the Deathlord, and return. According to the box, seven words, six items, and the adventurers' incompetence stands in the way.The plot is nonlinear and once the party fulfills the Emperor's initial quest of defeating the wizard beneath the castle, the party has no set activity. They must find items to protect themselves from acid, fire, darkness and magic walls, along with a special weapon that can defeat the Deathlord.
Game credits
- Software Design and Programming: Al Escudero and David Wong
- Dungeon Design: Dirk Bester and Al Escudero
- Producer: Shelly Safir
- Assistant Producer: Roland Kippenhan, Mike Kawahara
- Testing Assistance: Sheila Rowen
- Technical Support: Steve Shaw
- Software Title and Final Screens: Mike Kosaka
- Documentation: Zina Yee
- Art Director: Nancy Fong
- Package Design and Lettering: Lance Anderson/Triad
- Package Illustration: David McMacken
- Package Copy: Steve Emerson
- Screen Photography: Frank Wing
Reception
Home of the UnderdogsHome of the Underdogs
Home of the Underdogs was an abandonware archive founded by Thai Sarinee Achavanuntakul , aka: Underdogs or Fringer on her own blog, in September 1998, and grew to be one of the most significant abandonware websites on the Internet, despite losing its domains to cybersquatters and then briefly...
Sarinee Achavanuntakul calls the game "One of the best, largest, and most underrated RPGs ever made" and goes on to say it, "offers a unique gameworld inspired by Japanese myths, plenty of traditional exploration-based fun, and the largest map ever made for an Apple II and Commodore 64 game."
A review in Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
described the game as "A mediocre effort at best." Criticisms of the game included poor documentation, poor class balance, and meaningless character alignment. The game hid the townspeople with important pieces of information, making mapping necessary, and frequently the player had to search many squares in an area for an important item. One dungeon, described as "one of the most idiotic dungeons ever", featured a two-level maze of locked and fake doors, with a diagonal passage full of teleports and fake walls above. Without a lack of mapping aids, this was very difficult, especially in sixteen-level dungeons that did not contribute to the story. The game's setting was described as "a compendium of standard CRPG features glossed over with a tinge of pseudo-Orientalism by pasting Japanese names on as much as they could."
External links
- Images of Deathlord package, manual and screenshots from C64Sets.com