Today I was reading the old pc games magazines again I keep in my shelf for over twenty years now. Especially the issues of 1996 and 1997 caught my attention. While doing this, I found out that there are some games everybody seems to have forgotten COMPLETELY. I found games I never heard of again but remember being psyched about when I read of them back in the days. Other games were bad as hell and I remember them being famous those days for that same reason.
Usually, everyone only speaks about games that are forgotten classics. Those you SHOULD remember but you don't, because they weren't just as important or successful as the real classics. This thread is not about those. It's about the true misfits, the obscure games, the games that really no one cares about anymore. How do you know no one does? Because you know of their existence and can't find ANYTHING on the internet about them.
Here are two of my favorite examples:
Subterrane
This 3D action-rpg was announced by New World Computing in 1997. It used the Labyrinth-Engine which later powered Might & Magic VI to VIII (together with the Horizon-Engine). Subterrane was developed by the two guys who created the Labyrinth-Engine. However, its title was subject to change which makes it especially hard to track it down. I remembered the screenshots in the magazine and that I liked those. So I looked on the internet for it today. But I couldn't find ANYTHING. Not even informations about the Labyrinth-Engine nor those two guys who developed it. Hell, I couldn't even find out whether or not this game was ever released at all!
Herzblut
Back in the days, 1997 or 1998, I played a demo of this very special vertical shooter. A friend of mine and I laughed our asses off while playing it. We just couldn't stop playing it! Herzblut was trying to be artsy and something unique. It was an colourful, chaotic mess that was just too crazy to believe. Every now and then I look it up on the Internet but I simply can't find ANY trace of it at all. This is especially frustrating, because I once played it myself.
If you know more about these games or have similar examples for games time has TRUELY forgot, join me here
EDIT: I couldn't stop searching for "Herzblut" and found something in one of the old magazines, PC Action, issue 8/96. Hold your breath. The Company Prosoft had an underground label back then called "Black Book" which allowed young game developers to market their ideas and projects without limitations. The first one in line was a team called "microMutterTor" who developed Herzblut. The article says (roughly translated from German): "This isn't really a game but a psychedelic artwork." It got a rating of 5%, one of the lowest ratings I've ever seen in a magazine back then. If I've ever get that scanner to work, I'll upload the small screenshot.
I looked for "microMutterTor" on Google and found an old google group (strangely dated 17.5.1996) where the guys were looking for a beta tester.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/de.rec.games.computer/5dv4XIbKO30
And here I found the old text of the article (you better use google translate):
http://archive.org/stream/pcaction_magazine-1996-08/PCAction_1996_08_djvu.txt
"Das Underground-Label ?Black Book" der Firma Prosoft bietet jungen Nachwuchstalenten die Chance, ihre kreativen Ergebnisse selbständig und ohne Einschränkung zu vermarkten. Den Anfang macht das Team ?microMutterTor" mit diesem schrillen Arcade-Shooter. Begleitet von einer nerven aufreiben den Mixtur aus Musik und einem wirrem Geräuschteppich, ballert man sich mit einem kleinen Raumschiff im Dauerfeuerbetrieb durch ein knallbuntes Meer aus Formen und Farben, das sich stets und unaufhaltsam durch ein Windows-Fenster scrollt. Auf der Jagd nach Scorepunkten und einigen ?Game in Game"-Sequenzen könnte man sich zwar beinahe endlos durch die zahlreichen Spielstufen winden, doch das menschliche Nervensystem ist dafür womöglich nicht geschaffen. Allerdings sollte die Meßlatte nicht zu hoch angelegt werden, denn der Name ?Herzblut" läßt erahnen, daß es sich hierbei wohl eher um ein kleines psychedelisches Kunstwerk handelt.
Leider birgt gerade die Pracht an Farben und Formen ein nicht unbedeutendes Hardwareproblem, denn die zahlreichen geänderten Elemente, die da über den Bildschirm flirren, drosseln die Geschwindigkeit. Zieht man das Aktionsfenster auf eine übersichtliche Größe, kommt der Rechner arg ins Schwitzen. Unter einem P133 ist Herzblut jedenfalls nicht vernünftig spielbar."
SECOND EDIT: Haha! I'm still playing Sherlock here. I looked up the names of the developers mentioned in the google group: Tobias Post and Martin Deckmann. Those two won a small award for their homepage www.odin4000.de when the internet was still young in 1998. Here's the link: http://internet.freepage.de/cgi-bin/feets/freepage_ext/41030x030A/rewrite/award/index1.htm
Of course, www.odin4000.de is down nowadays. But I checked "odin4000" on Google and thereby found a company called "odin4000 corp." based in Germany. http://www.b2b-navi.de/firm0/odin4000-corp-34830.htm
Guess who's in charge there? Tobias Post. I'll call the telephone number tomorrow to contact that guy and ask for a copy of Herzblut. Although nobody seems to reply to this post, I'll keep you updated about my progress anyway.
This actually is a lot of fun
Usually, everyone only speaks about games that are forgotten classics. Those you SHOULD remember but you don't, because they weren't just as important or successful as the real classics. This thread is not about those. It's about the true misfits, the obscure games, the games that really no one cares about anymore. How do you know no one does? Because you know of their existence and can't find ANYTHING on the internet about them.
Here are two of my favorite examples:
Subterrane
This 3D action-rpg was announced by New World Computing in 1997. It used the Labyrinth-Engine which later powered Might & Magic VI to VIII (together with the Horizon-Engine). Subterrane was developed by the two guys who created the Labyrinth-Engine. However, its title was subject to change which makes it especially hard to track it down. I remembered the screenshots in the magazine and that I liked those. So I looked on the internet for it today. But I couldn't find ANYTHING. Not even informations about the Labyrinth-Engine nor those two guys who developed it. Hell, I couldn't even find out whether or not this game was ever released at all!
Herzblut
Back in the days, 1997 or 1998, I played a demo of this very special vertical shooter. A friend of mine and I laughed our asses off while playing it. We just couldn't stop playing it! Herzblut was trying to be artsy and something unique. It was an colourful, chaotic mess that was just too crazy to believe. Every now and then I look it up on the Internet but I simply can't find ANY trace of it at all. This is especially frustrating, because I once played it myself.
If you know more about these games or have similar examples for games time has TRUELY forgot, join me here
EDIT: I couldn't stop searching for "Herzblut" and found something in one of the old magazines, PC Action, issue 8/96. Hold your breath. The Company Prosoft had an underground label back then called "Black Book" which allowed young game developers to market their ideas and projects without limitations. The first one in line was a team called "microMutterTor" who developed Herzblut. The article says (roughly translated from German): "This isn't really a game but a psychedelic artwork." It got a rating of 5%, one of the lowest ratings I've ever seen in a magazine back then. If I've ever get that scanner to work, I'll upload the small screenshot.
I looked for "microMutterTor" on Google and found an old google group (strangely dated 17.5.1996) where the guys were looking for a beta tester.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/de.rec.games.computer/5dv4XIbKO30
And here I found the old text of the article (you better use google translate):
http://archive.org/stream/pcaction_magazine-1996-08/PCAction_1996_08_djvu.txt
"Das Underground-Label ?Black Book" der Firma Prosoft bietet jungen Nachwuchstalenten die Chance, ihre kreativen Ergebnisse selbständig und ohne Einschränkung zu vermarkten. Den Anfang macht das Team ?microMutterTor" mit diesem schrillen Arcade-Shooter. Begleitet von einer nerven aufreiben den Mixtur aus Musik und einem wirrem Geräuschteppich, ballert man sich mit einem kleinen Raumschiff im Dauerfeuerbetrieb durch ein knallbuntes Meer aus Formen und Farben, das sich stets und unaufhaltsam durch ein Windows-Fenster scrollt. Auf der Jagd nach Scorepunkten und einigen ?Game in Game"-Sequenzen könnte man sich zwar beinahe endlos durch die zahlreichen Spielstufen winden, doch das menschliche Nervensystem ist dafür womöglich nicht geschaffen. Allerdings sollte die Meßlatte nicht zu hoch angelegt werden, denn der Name ?Herzblut" läßt erahnen, daß es sich hierbei wohl eher um ein kleines psychedelisches Kunstwerk handelt.
Leider birgt gerade die Pracht an Farben und Formen ein nicht unbedeutendes Hardwareproblem, denn die zahlreichen geänderten Elemente, die da über den Bildschirm flirren, drosseln die Geschwindigkeit. Zieht man das Aktionsfenster auf eine übersichtliche Größe, kommt der Rechner arg ins Schwitzen. Unter einem P133 ist Herzblut jedenfalls nicht vernünftig spielbar."
SECOND EDIT: Haha! I'm still playing Sherlock here. I looked up the names of the developers mentioned in the google group: Tobias Post and Martin Deckmann. Those two won a small award for their homepage www.odin4000.de when the internet was still young in 1998. Here's the link: http://internet.freepage.de/cgi-bin/feets/freepage_ext/41030x030A/rewrite/award/index1.htm
Of course, www.odin4000.de is down nowadays. But I checked "odin4000" on Google and thereby found a company called "odin4000 corp." based in Germany. http://www.b2b-navi.de/firm0/odin4000-corp-34830.htm
Guess who's in charge there? Tobias Post. I'll call the telephone number tomorrow to contact that guy and ask for a copy of Herzblut. Although nobody seems to reply to this post, I'll keep you updated about my progress anyway.
This actually is a lot of fun
