Dr. Dungeon's MADMAN! Released
Dr. Dungeon's MADMAN! Released
Game News - posted by Infinitron on Wed 16 September 2015, 17:04:58
Tags: Dr. Dungeon; Madman!One of the stranger episodes in the history of the RPG Codex was when back in 2012, a group of members including yours truly rediscovered the existence of an obscure series of Ultima and Zork-inspired indie RPGs called Ultizurk. Developed by Robert "Dr. Dungeon" Deutsch throughout the mid-1990s, the Ultizurk games were part of a shareware RPG renaissance that flowered during the notorious slump in commercial RPG development of that period (Jeff Vogel's Exile series is the most famous product of this era).
Our Internet archaeology also discovered that Dr. Dungeon had planned on producing a fourth Ultizurk game, entitled Ultizurk IV: Lord of the Cyclops, and indeed had announced its imminent release on multiple occasions throughout the 2000s. But much like one or two other games well-known to the Codex, it had never actually come out. Unwilling to let this mystery become lost to the ages, we reached out to the good Doctor. And to our surprise, he replied.
The interest that our community showed in his works reinvigorated Dr. Dungeon's spirit, and he set out to finally finish and release his magnum opus. However, this would not be Ultizurk IV, but Madman, a remake/reimagining of one of his last RPGs from the 1990s, using the engine he had developed for Ultizurk IV. By 2014, Madman's development had progressed far enough for the Doctor to release several gameplay trailers on his YouTube channel, and we were even able to get our hands on a preview copy.
Today, over three years since its rediscovery, Madman has finally been released. In the great vaporware contest between Ultima, Wizardry and Fallout, Ultima has emerged victorious - if only just. Here's the official trailer:
Sadly, Madman is not available on Steam, and GOG have rejected it. Right now, the only way to get it is directly from Dr. Dungeon's website, for the price of $15. A free demo is also available there. If you want to help bring Madman to a wider audience, I encourage you to go vote for it on Steam Greenlight. Yeah, it turns out you still need to do that these days.
Our Internet archaeology also discovered that Dr. Dungeon had planned on producing a fourth Ultizurk game, entitled Ultizurk IV: Lord of the Cyclops, and indeed had announced its imminent release on multiple occasions throughout the 2000s. But much like one or two other games well-known to the Codex, it had never actually come out. Unwilling to let this mystery become lost to the ages, we reached out to the good Doctor. And to our surprise, he replied.
The interest that our community showed in his works reinvigorated Dr. Dungeon's spirit, and he set out to finally finish and release his magnum opus. However, this would not be Ultizurk IV, but Madman, a remake/reimagining of one of his last RPGs from the 1990s, using the engine he had developed for Ultizurk IV. By 2014, Madman's development had progressed far enough for the Doctor to release several gameplay trailers on his YouTube channel, and we were even able to get our hands on a preview copy.
Today, over three years since its rediscovery, Madman has finally been released. In the great vaporware contest between Ultima, Wizardry and Fallout, Ultima has emerged victorious - if only just. Here's the official trailer:
Sadly, Madman is not available on Steam, and GOG have rejected it. Right now, the only way to get it is directly from Dr. Dungeon's website, for the price of $15. A free demo is also available there. If you want to help bring Madman to a wider audience, I encourage you to go vote for it on Steam Greenlight. Yeah, it turns out you still need to do that these days.
