KeeperFX keeps Dungeon Keeper alive by making it actually playable

In an interview about The Making of Karateka, a beautiful interactive documentary and game-about-a-game, Chris Kohler of Digital Eclipse notes that, primarily based on the corporate’s knowledge, folks do not truly play the video games inside “classics” collections. Possibly they spend 5 minutes inside a number of video games they keep in mind, however that is about it. Presenting basic video games, precisely as they had been after they arrived, could be traditionally essential however usually falls in need of actual engagement.

That is why it is a thrill to see (as first noticed by PC Gamer) a triumphant 1.0 release from KeeperFX, an open supply “remake and fan growth” of Dungeon Keeper, the 1997 Bullfrog technique recreation that had gamers tackle the opposite aspect of a dungeon crawl. The challenge had already, over 15 years, carried the sport fairly far, giving it fashionable Home windows assist, hi-res assist, and a great deal of bugfixes and quality-of-life enhancements. Now, says the team, all the unique code from the unique executable has been rewritten, releasing them as much as change no matter they need sooner or later. There could be greater than 2,048 “issues” on the map, maps can have greater than 85 sq. tiles, and scripting and mods can go a lot additional.

However take word: “Possession of the unique recreation continues to be and can all the time be required for copyright causes.” You may, like I did earlier in the present day, rectify that with a $6 GOG purchase, a minimum of whereas it is on sale in the present day. After downloading KeeperFX, you unpack it, run its launcher, level it to the place you have put in the unique Dungeon Keeper, and launch it. And then you definately get able to click on.

I distinctly keep in mind making an attempt to play Dungeon Keeper a number of years in the past after studying one retrospective or one other about the way it was, like many titles from Bullfrog and recreation designer Peter Molyneux, vastly influential on so many video games. I gave Dungeon Keeper greater than 5 minutes, however clicking over and over on sprites that regarded like graphical errors (whereas listening to audio samples from the Sound Blaster heyday) grew outdated earlier than an hour was out. Computer systems had modified, I had modified, and I not felt like beating my head in opposition to a closely pixelated wall.

Loading up KeeperFX felt as a substitute like I used to be taking part in an homage to Dungeon Keeper in the absolute best sense. I guessed about half the sport’s shortcuts, might simply configure the remaining, and wasn’t stunned by how any button or keyboard click on responded. The artwork model was the identical, however on a 4K monitor, the sport wasn’t painful to have a look at, and it ran at a tempo that did not really feel like a retro race automotive. The first marketing campaign and its tutorials are nonetheless a bit opaque, however the recreation feels smoothed out. The discharge notes for 1.0 and prior variations counsel numerous little tweaks to each enemy and drone conduct and maybe some extra honest conduct by the pc opponents. Nothing is spelled out, however in contrast to my first foray, studying as I’m going does not really feel fairly so cumbersome.

I solely meant to play one map of KeeperFX for the needs of this publish, however I ended up taking part in … a number of greater than that. Every degree within the main marketing campaign introduces a brand new mechanic, some new voiceovers, and a non-patronizing improve in problem. That is along with the little jolts of nostalgia for that late-90s Bullfrog mixture of darkish humor, deep programs, and deeply rewarding technique challenges.

Present IP holder Digital Arts hasn’t completed a lot with Dungeon Keeper, in addition to rework it into a micro-transaction sinkhole so unhealthy that regulators demanded it cease calling itself “free to play.” Molyneux said back in 2008 that, whereas he’d love an opportunity to take one other crack at Syndicate, Populous, or maybe Dungeon Keeper, he would not maintain his breath ready for EA to name. “I’ve bought no qualms of any person else doing it,” Molyneux told VideoGamer.com. “I would just like to see it up to date, the idea saved alive.”

KeeperFX, and tasks prefer it, are retaining foundational outdated video games alive past merely shoving their code awkwardly ahead into our period. It deserves reward, possibly a couple of bucks, and as few roadblocks as doable to doing so.

Itemizing picture by KeeperFX