Darklands – Episode 226 – 8-22-2020

Darklands! The cult classic open-world RPG from 1992 that lets you adventure in the Holy Roman Empire during the 15th century… or rather, 15th Century Europe as people believed it to be at the time! Darklands broke a lot of CRPG ground, still has fans, and influenced games like Baldur’s Gate and the Elder Scrolls. Fellow fans Matt Wirkkala and Keith Hiorns join.

Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #226 – 8/22/2020

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SHOW NOTES

Podcast Zinger is from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Topic Notes:

Arnold Hendrick, creator of influential ’90s RPG Darklands, has died | PC Gamer https://www.pcgamer.com/arnold-hendrick-creator-of-influential-90s-rpg-darklands-has-died/ (Aged 69)

Darklands on GOG https://www.gog.com/game/darklands

Darklands on Steam https://store.steampowered.com/app/327930/Darklands/

Darklands FAQ 3.0 http://www.darklands.net/faq/faq.shtml

Matt Wirkkala’s Darklands Site http://darklands.net/index.shtml

Darklands Group on Groups.io https://groups.io/g/darklands

Matt Chat 77: Darklands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQLLW3ApIcY

Matt Chat 78: Arnold Hendrick Interview Pt. 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I30dzwiNxLk

Matt Chat 78: Interview with Arnold Hendrick Pt. 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZClSiClBuQ

Matt Chat 78: Interview with Arnold Hendrick Pt. 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIlsepGUW30

CRPG Addict’s List of Games Played (look for Darklands multi-part entry) http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_3.html

Todd Howard quote: “The main inspiration for The Elder Scrolls comes from games like Ultima Underworld, Darklands, and Legends of Valour. And of course, D&D.; The whole idea was to do a grand RPG, where you could do pretty much whatever you wanted.” Source: http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=159095 via Archive.org’s Wayback Machine https://web.archive.org/web/20120808185406/http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=159095

Darklands has a new publisher — Ziggurat? https://steamcommunity.com/app/327930/discussions/0/1754646299859536640/

BOMBSHELL: Original Darklands source material at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY https://groups.io/g/darklands/message/9724?p=,,,20,0,0,0::relevance,,ziggurat,20,2,0,72417865

Historia Ludens: The Playing Historian (academic book with some Darklands content, inspired in part by the game and the Darklands FAQ) https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429345616

Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games 2nd Edition Shane’s book! Co-authored with Matt Barton of Matt Chat https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Desktops-History-Computer-Role-Playing/dp/1138574643/