DOS Games Archive Newsletter
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com
___________________________________________________________
Issue 20 - October 30, 2004
You receive this newsletter because you have signed up to
receive news about updates of DOSGamesArchive.com. It's a
long time ago since we sent out a newsletter.
This extensive newsletter contains the following parts:
+ 44 games added to the archive
+ New games in online shop
+ Interview with Ken Silverman
___________________________________________________________
News
+ 44 games added to the archive
Since our last newsletter we have added the following DOS
games to the archive:
01) Caesar (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/177
02) Tyrian (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/178
03) Hexxagon (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/179
04) Argo Checkers (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/180
05) Night Raid (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/181
06) Zone 66 (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/182
07) In Search of Dr. Riptide (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/183
08) Radix: Beyond the Void (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/184
09) Terminal Velocity (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/185
10) Ford Simulator (freeware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/186
11) Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/189
12) Mickey's Space Adventure (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/190
13) Troll's Tale (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/191
14) Donald Duck's Playground (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/192
15) ZZT (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/193
16) Mah Jongg Solitaire (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/194
17) Ms Pac PC (freeware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/195
18) CHAMP Kong (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/196
19) Titans of Steel (freeware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/197
20) Antarctic Adventure (freeware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/198
21) B-17 Flying Fortress (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/199
22) Beyond the Titanic (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/200
23) Supernova (full version)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/201
24) Supaplex (freeware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/202
25) Paratrooper (freeware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/203
26) Traffic Department 2192 (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/204
27) Clyde's Adventure (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/205
28) ElfLand: Gorgimer's Castle (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/206
29) Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/207
30) Death Rally (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/208
31) Math Rescue (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/209
32) Mystic Towers (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/210
33) Paganitzu (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/211
34) Shadow Warrior (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/212
35) Word Rescue (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/213
36) OverKill (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/214
37) Kiloblaster (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/215
38) Super Worms (shareware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/216
39) The Secret of Monkey Island (playable demo)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/217
40) IndyCar Racing II (playable demo)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/218
41) Command & Conquer (playable demo)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/219
42) The Simpsons Tetris 2 (freeware)
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/220
43) Pac Pc II
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/221
44) PC*Bert
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/222
We are sure all these new games will keep you busy for
hours ;)
___________________________________________________________
News
+ New games in online shop
We will provide the following games in the DOS Games
Archive Shop soon. All of these second-hand games are in
good shape.
The games are not available in the shop yet. As we have
just one version of every game, we would like to give the
subscribers of this newsletter (including you!) the chance
to take a first look: possibly the list includes a title
that you are interested in and which is not available in
stores anymore.
- The Lost Treasures of Infocom
PC and Mac | CD-ROM | Box and manual | 1,5 kg
- King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella
Atari ST | 3,5" floppy disk (4) | Box and manual | 275 g
- King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride
PC | CD-ROM | Jewel case | 60 g
- Wing Commander II
PC | 5,25" floppy disk (8) | Box and manual | 300 g
- Thunderscape
PC | CD-ROM | Box and manual | 230 g
- Wonderland
PC | 3,5" floppy disk (5) | Box and manual | 320 g
- Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge
PC | 3,5" floppy disk (2) | Box and manual | 180 g
- Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon
PC | 5,25" floppy disk (6) | Box and manual | 275 g
- Space Quest VI: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier
PC | CD-ROM | Jewel case and manual | 110 g
- Space Legends: Wing Commander, MegaTraveller 1 and Elite
Plus
PC | 3,5" floppy disk (3) | Box and manual | 690 g
- Strike Commander
PC | 3,5" floppy disk (8) | Box and manual | 485 g
- Jagged Alliance
PC | CD-ROM | Box and manual | 240 g
- Wing Commander
PC | 5,25" floppy disk (1) and 3,5" floppy disk (3) |
Box and manual | 340 g
- Terra Nova
PC | CD-ROM | Box and manual | 350 g
- Ravenloft: Stone Prophet
PC | CD-ROM | Box and manual | 300 g
- Archimedean Dynasty
PC | CD-ROM | Box and manual | 440 g
- Wings of Glory
PC | CD-ROM | Jewel case and manual | 200 g
- Star Wars: Behind the Magic
PC | CD-ROM | Jewel case | 100 g
- Alone in the Dark III
PC | CD-ROM | Jewel case and manual | 110 g
- Ultima Underworld 1 and 2
PC | CD-ROM | Jewel case and manual | 200 g
- Silent Hunter
PC | CD-ROM | Jewel case | 17,5 g
- Command and Conquer: Red Alert
PC | CD-ROM (2) | 40 g
- Road and Track: Grand Prix Unlimited
PC | CD-ROM | 18 g
- Themepark
PC | CD-ROM | 110 g
- Manual | Fleet Defender
- Manual | 1942: The Pacific Air War
If you are interested in one ore more product(s), please
send an e-mail to shop@dosgamesarchive.com. Also, feel
free to send an e-mail to ask about the prices and shipping
rates. For other (also unused) full version DOS games,
please take a look at this URL:
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/shop
___________________________________________________________
Interview
+ Interview with Ken Silverman
Ken Silverman is the creator of the well-known Build
Engine. He is also the developer of the first Wolfenstein
3D clone: Ken's Labyrinth.
Visit the following URL to read the 'rich' version of this
interview, including pictures and links:
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/interviews/kensilverman/index.php
- Could you tell something about yourself? And about your
game career?
"My name is Kenneth Silverman and I am the younger of two
brothers. According to my parents, I was born exactly at
midnight on the night of Halloween (November 1, 1975). I
was raised in Yorktown, NY until 1980 when my dad got a job
as a professor at Brown University. So our family of four
moved to a nice house in East Greenwich, Rhode Island,
about a week before I started Kindergarten.
My first computer was a TI-99/4A (Texas Instruments) which
my parents bought for $50 in December of 1983 during the
'after Christmas' sale. First my father successfully
resisted the stampede for the home computer: as one of the
founders and chief technical advisor at Sphere Technology
back then, a computer company, he said the last thing he
needed was a computer awaiting him at home at the end of a
long day. But Alan (11) and I (8) really wanted one. Ever
since then, I was hooked!
My parents refused to buy software, so we began programming
the computer ourselves. Back in those days we made a
Pac-Man-type game, a game called Sea Worm (1984) and
several others. My family got me started in programming,
but several years later I was beyond their help. In school,
I used to love study halls because I would spend the time
thinking about code. When my brother got shipped off to
college in 1990, my hobby started to get more serious. I
made games such as Kentris (2 player Tetris game), Sibros
(Super Silverbrothers - Super Mario Bros. clone), and Ken's
Labyrinth (my first game on the market). In 1993, just a
month before my first semester at college, I signed a
contract with Apogee Software to create a new 3D engine
called the Build engine. This engine, upon which Duke Nukem
3D and other famous games were constructed, went on to
become one of the most successful (if not the most
successful) engine in terms of number of games released
(according to Apogee/3D Realms).
My programming wasn't supposed to get in the way of
college, but that's not the way it happened - I didn't do
very well that first semester. When I found out I only
passed half my classes, my dad decided to let me take time
off to work full time for Apogee. So for 3 years I worked
on the Build engine. While I spent more than half my time
in Rhode Island, I ended up taking a total of 10 trips to
Dallas and Seattle to help the game teams work with my
code. After several games were released, things quieted
down a bit and eventually I decided (with a lot of help
from the parents) to return to college while I was still
young.
College was fun while it lasted, but now I'm a 27-year old
graduate (Yay!). Now I'm back to recreational programming
full time. When I show off demos, people often ask me which
'computer courses' I've taken. I have to tell them the
truth, which is "None!". Beyond the basics, I figured out
almost everything I know about programming on my own. By
starting young and being independent, I have the advantages
of a better understanding and more experience.
Everyone in my family works in a technical field. My dad
is a professor of electrical engineering at Brown and my
mom works at GTech programming character recognition for
lottery tickets. My brother is the head of his own small
company, called Advanced Systems. In the old days, he was
as much of a computer nut as I was. He still is, but we've
grown into separate fields of interest. For me, programming
is not just an interest or a hobby - it is my life.
Other hobbies of mine include:
* Collecting maps: I can draw the borders of all U.S.
states from memory. I used to draw maps for fun in
elementary school.
* Piano: I can play just about any song I've heard. People
say I have a good ear.
* Music: Besides my own, I like to collect TV theme songs
and anything by Weird Al Yankovic.
* Sports: Ping pong, volleyball."
- How many games/projects have you made or worked on?
"The most well-known games are:
* Kentris (1991): 2 player Tetris game
* Super Silverbrothers (1991): Super Mario Bros. clone
* Ken's Labyrinth (1993): first Wolfenstein 3D clone
* Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, and Blood: Build engine
(1993-1996) games that I worked on directly
I have literally hundreds of other home-made programs like
these, but for now they will remain on my hard drive. On my
website you can download some of my better ones."
- What was it like working for Epic MegaGames, a famous
game company, during the early years?
"Working for Epic MegaGames wasn't much different than what
I was doing already. They didn't have an office at the
time, and I did all my work at home. The main difference
was that I didn't have to go to the bank or post office
every few days (before Epic, I was selling Ken's Labyrinth
myself).
A long time ago (March 1993), Mark Rein of Epic Megagames
visited my house to help finish up the Epic version of
Ken's Labyrinth. He was looking around my house for
inspiration and this wooden dog caught his eye. It became
'Sparky' in episode 2 of Ken's Labyrinth."
- In the hint book of Extreme Rise of the Triad, I found
the following in an interview with Tom Hall (game
designer/producer of Triad): "We were working with the
Wolfenstein code, so we had to take out all the engine
code and make up our own. Mark Dochtermann, William
Scarboro, and Nolan Martin worked hard on it, and with
help from Ken Silverman, our engine guru, we got it back
on track." What was it like working for Apogee/3D Realms
back then, especially seeing you were very young compared
to the other staff?
"The age thing was most pronounced in 1994, when I was 18,
and I think the next youngest person was either Todd
Replogle or Allen Blum, who I think were both 26 at the
time. I got along fine with those guys - they were like
older brothers to me. I didn't know anyone else in the
area, so I pretty much spent all day and all night at the
office. Of course, I had no problem with that.
There was some friction with the Rise of the Triad team,
but I think that was more because they were working on a
competing project, and not because of my age. In 1996,
Apogee hired Billy Zelsnack along with his younger
brothers - that was the first time I wasn't the youngest
at the company.
My biggest problem with age was in car rental - most places
don't let you do that until you're 25. In 1994 and 1995,
Apogee rented an apartment and leased a car for me. In 1996
(when I was still too young to rent a car), they realized
I wasn't going to live there fulltime, so they sold the
apartment and turned the car into the company car. I got
really tired of asking people for rides."
- Apogee/3D Realms says the following about your engine on
their website: "The Build engine, upon which Duke Nukem
3D was constructed, went on to become one of the most
successful (if not the most successfull) engine in terms
of number of games released, with 12 published games.
Notable games developed using the Build engine include
Witchaven, TekWar, Shadow Warrior, Blood, PowerSlave and
Redneck Rampage." Could you tell how this great project
started and how it developed?
"Around March of 1993, id Software released a set of alpha
screenshots of DOOM. That's about when I started to work on
Build. I remember studying those early screenshots of DOOM
very well. It was a fun challenge and like most projects,
I knew it would impress people (if I could pull it off).
DOOM had an impressive list of features. I decided to start
with angled walls with a little prototype I wrote in
QuickBasic (named PICROT).
Here is a list of important highlights during the
development of the Build engine. The history includes
everything from business deals to important features that
were added to the engine. On my website you can find a
more extensive list.
05/05/1992: Wolfenstein 3D 1.0 released
06/09/1992: My brother, Alan, hogs the computer by playing
a new game titled Wolfenstein 3D.
06/16/1992: I decide I can win over his time by making my
own version, originally titled Walken (Walk + Ken).
10/03/1992: I change the name of the game to Ken's
Labyrinth and it is coming along well. My dad convinces me
to write to 6 software companies to ask them to sign an NDA
to review Ken's Labyrinth. I suggested we add Apogee
Software to the list even though they already had the
Wolfenstein engine.
10/10/1992: Scott Miller of Apogee Software signs an NDA
to evaluate Ken's Labyrinth.
10/27/1992: Not being satisfied with the responses from
the first round of letters, I send letters to 9 other
software companies.
01/01/1993: Ken's Labyrinth is released to the Internet
using my brother's Advanced Systems company name.
01/13/1993: Ken's dad signs a marketing agreement with
Epic MegaGames for Ken's Labyrinth.
03/29/1993: PICROT4.BAS: My first attempt at a new style
of 3D engine which supports angled walls like in DOOM.
Since I had no editor, the map was typed in manually in
the code. Ceilings & floors were a solid brown color.
04/13/1993: I decided I had enough 'new engine' related
files to create a new directory. I just needed to pick a
name. I remember using a thesaurus to find synonyms for
the word, 'construction' because it had too many syllables.
I decided to name the directory Build.
05/??/1993: Began my first original angled wall / varying
height ceiling and floor engine. Maps were still based
heavily on the grid concept. I had enough to show off quite
an impressive demo before graduating high school in June,
1993.
08/13/1993: On a family trip to Toronto, Mark Rein of Epic
Megagames makes a proposal for my new engine
(unsuccessfully).
08/24/1993: I sign an employment agreement with Apogee
Software. A special provision on the contract says that
Apogee cannot interfere with my education.
09/01/1993: I start my first year at Brown University.
11/??/1993: I impress my CS15 instructor, Andy van Dam
(also co-author of the popular book, Computer Graphics,
Principles and Practice), by offering him engine demos of
Ken's Labyrinth and the latest Build engine. He doesn't
get impressed easily!
12/03/1993: Duke Nukem II 1.0 released.
01/02/1994: I finally rewrite my engine using the 'sector'
idea after talking with John Carmack on the telephone.
01/25/1994: I file for a leave of absence from Brown (after
parents see my first report card).
04/24/1994: Added 'fake' looking up and down after
discovering that it wasn't too difficult to shift the
screen up and down. Three days later, the same effect
mysteriously appears in Apogee's other game that they were
working on at the time, Rise of the Triad. What a
coincidence!
07/02/1994: First test of a Build game over a modem.
02/01/1995: Made a DOOM to Build converter for the first
time.
12/31/1995: First tested player movement code with no lag
over a modem/network.
12/31/1995: I change working status from employee to
consultant at Apogee Software.
01/29/1996: Duke Nukem 3D 1.0 released.
12/31/1996: I terminate consulting services with Apogee
Software peacefully, and by mutual agreement.
01/19/1997: I return to Brown University after a 3-year
leave of absence.
03/07/1997: Blood released.
05/13/1997: Shadow Warrior 1.0 released.
06/20/2000: Complete Build engine source code released on
my web site.
During the development of the Build engine, I spent over
half my time in Rhode Island (my homeland!). I went on a
total of 10 'business' trips from 1994 to 1996. The
Apogee/3D Realms office (which is located in Garland,
Texas) was a destination to all of these flight paths. I
also visited Redmond, Washington a few times to help out
the Blood team (and also Lobotomy Software when they were
still working under the Apogee/3D Realms name)."
- You built all the tools for the Build engine games and
you have skills in music too. On the Ken's Labyrinth game
you touched everything (art, sounds, engine, etc.). How
did you do that - where did you get the time to be
multi-talented?
"That's easy: I had no social life. :) When other kids were
playing sports (or watching them on TV), I was working on
my computer. I could do that because it was entertaining to
me. I took piano lessons from age 6-11, so that's how my
musical skills developed. I noticed you were careful not
to put 'art' and 'skills' in the same sentence... that's
ok. :) I'll do art when I have to, but it's very time
consuming. Sometimes, I don't spend as much time as I
should on certain textures/models."
- Which applications did you use and how long did it take
to make a game?
"Other than operating system and compiler, I write all my
own tools. I've written world editors (Build), artwork
editors, sound editors, MIDI sequencers, text editors, and
I've been thinking about writing my own C compiler/
optimizer. I write most of these tools for just myself.
That's why I haven't put much effort into writing a fancy
GUI."
- What do you like most while creating a game?
"You mean other than playing... oops, I mean 'testing' it?
:) The best part is when somebody else makes a significant
contribution to the project, or the watching somebody else
drool over something I worked on."
- Do you have any regrets about leaving Apogee/3D Realms?
"Sure, I miss all the fun we used to have testing the game.
The reality of it is this: the only way I could have
maintained a future with Apogee/3D Realms is if I went into
direct competition with Quake. At the time I was far
behind, and I just wasn't interested in making a commitment
with Apogee for several more years (if you estimate the
release date of Duke Nukem Forever, that would have been
at least a 7 year commitment!). I thought it would be best
if I returned to school while I was still young."
- Do you still do any 3D programming?
"As long as I'm alive, I'll always be doing some kind of
programming. I have many programming interests besides 3D
graphics: 2D graphics, sound & music, utilities, games,
compression, and of course optimization. 3D graphics will
always be very high on my list.
Currently I'm playing around with a new voxel engine
(called Voxlap), but I don't know if I'll get anywhere with
it. Right now, it supports voxels placed anywhere (built-in
room over room), look anywhere (6 degrees of freedom), and
some basic editing functions. More information about this
project on my website."
- What is a voxel? Where does the name come from?
"Voxel = volume + pixel. You can think of a voxel as a
pixel with volume - a 3D pixel. It is an individual cube
inside a 3D array of cubes, just like a pixel is a square
inside a 2D array of squares. I actually got the name out
of an old computer graphics book."
- Do you have plans for Ken's Labyrinth 2? And do you like
to make other computer games in the future (if so, what
kind of game do you prefer to develop)?
"I would consider making a new game with the same type of
humor as Ken's Labyrinth (I still love those walking
holes), but not a sequel to Ken's Labyrinth. Maze games
just don't sell anymore. Another fun project might be a
game that makes fun of other games... sort of like what
Weird Al does to music. I just don't have the time to write
an entire game myself anymore. With Ken's Labyrinth, I had
Andy Cotter to design maps for me. Until I find a team of
talented artists and game designers, it's unlikely that
I'll produce any competitive games in the future."
- Do you want to achieve a specific goal in the gaming
business?
"Milestones are nice, but I do programming because it's a
hobby more than anything else. I get my kicks when I make
something work for the first time, when I optimize a piece
of code beyond recognition."
- Can you release a version of Duke Nukem 3D with features
that were in newer Build engine games?
"Some features wouldn't be difficult, such as voxels
because 99% of the code was part of my Build engine. Other
features like room over room were added by individual
developers - so that would take a lot longer for me. The
hardest part of any update (if I had to do it all myself)
would be to find the right places in Todd Replogle's code.
I haven't looked at his code in a long time. But all this
doesn't matter because I haven't been keeping in regular
contact with Todd. And even if I did get it working, I
would have to seek permission from 3D Realms."
- What's your favorite DOS and Windows game?
"DOS: Duke Nukem 3D, Windows: Quake 3 Arena (since
September 1999, I have been playing Q3TEST way too
much - I play under the name of 'Awesoken': Awesome+Ken)."
- By the way, if you want to add questions, please go
ahead.
"As you wish. I'm going to have fun with this..."
Hey Ken, why are you so great?
"Excellent question! If you're familiar with Duke's famous
book from the Duke Nukem II intro, I want to let you know
that my greatness far exceeds that. You see, it all started
when... oh, never mind. In reality, I'm quite a modest
person. I do like to kid around sometimes."
Ken Silverman: www.advsys.net/ken
___________________________________________________________
Thanks
That's it for this issue of our newsletter. See you next
time and thanks for reading!
webmaster@dosgamesarchive.com
http://www.dosgamesarchive.com
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DOS Games
