thesheeep
Arcane
Since many, many years I had flashbacks from "that one game" I played on my 486 when I was about 9 years old.
I even remembered the name "Dr. Faustus" or "Faustus" or something like that... No amount of searching will yield anything. Trust me, I tried.
It took me 20 years to accidentally discover the dusty old remains of a shareware disk in its (broken) jewel box somewhere in my old room at my parent's place a few days ago.
So I fired up dosbox, installed Win 3.11, started the disk and there I saw it, in a shareware disk installer as ugly as only the 90s could make them.
I googled the name of the author and the other people written in the (both German and English) readmes, but nothing. Maybe some of you can come up with more - and maybe this is actually known already under a different name.
Of course, I played for a few minutes. To be honest, ancient games "like that" are simply not my taste any more, but it's not shit and I know this will hit a sweet spot for some of you (and I'll point a few abandonware sites to this as well), so there you go.
This is the very definition of forgotten, so you better pour a glass of ye olde whiskey you saved for rare occasions:
Faustus
(c) Copyright 1995 by Harald Buettner
Took a few screenshots for you (some don't even look bad, while some are butt ugly):
The eyes even glow yellow in an animation!
Ugh! My eyes!
hopw roewur ne
Before you ask: The characters are fixed.
Running around in the mountains. Not sure why, though.
Trading, too!
The inventory/char/ability screen - all at once!
Combat screen.
You can rest, too. Note how all eyes except for the char on guard are closed! Unlimited detail!
Can't say anything about the sound as I just don't hear it. Not sure if it's a problem with my dosbox or if the game simply doesn't have any sound. I tested with Descent and there all the sound works just fine so maybe there really isn't anything here.
I must say, the combat system is actually a rarely seen idea:
It is turn-based, but you do not have a turn per character.
Instead you have one turn for your whole party and can determine what each character will do (attack by default) until "ending" the turn. Then each character does his action and the enemies do the same.
Have some goodness from the readme, too (thank this forum for fucking up the formatting):
Is that or what?
And here is the full package (feel free to upload somewhere else, too):
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=49151902454917184457
or
http://www.filedropper.com/faustus
I even remembered the name "Dr. Faustus" or "Faustus" or something like that... No amount of searching will yield anything. Trust me, I tried.
It took me 20 years to accidentally discover the dusty old remains of a shareware disk in its (broken) jewel box somewhere in my old room at my parent's place a few days ago.
So I fired up dosbox, installed Win 3.11, started the disk and there I saw it, in a shareware disk installer as ugly as only the 90s could make them.
I googled the name of the author and the other people written in the (both German and English) readmes, but nothing. Maybe some of you can come up with more - and maybe this is actually known already under a different name.
Of course, I played for a few minutes. To be honest, ancient games "like that" are simply not my taste any more, but it's not shit and I know this will hit a sweet spot for some of you (and I'll point a few abandonware sites to this as well), so there you go.
This is the very definition of forgotten, so you better pour a glass of ye olde whiskey you saved for rare occasions:
Faustus
(c) Copyright 1995 by Harald Buettner
FAUSTUS is a DOS fantasy game that you start by typing > FSTART <.
These four characters belong to the group:
- the elf
- the mage
- the dwarf
- the warrior.
The elf and the mage have some special capabilities (mana).
You can only reach the final with all characters.
If you lose one, all of the others will give up.
You have to fulfill all jobs in order to reach the final.
The current hit and mana points are shown graphically and by worth under
each character. The screens you have already been on are shown on a map
by hitting F10. As far as you go away from the beginning the stronger
the enemies become. You can`t walk on mountains, walls, houses, and rivers.
To win a fight or forfill a job, raises your experience points and brings
you to higher levels. Higher levels will give you more hit points, mana,
courage, skill and so on. If you rest you become regenerated. To eat keeps
you alive. The value of your food is shown in hours at the bottom right
hand corner. Also level, score, used time and gold. But the time is the
most important factor for the highscore. The non registered version allows
you to play about 20% of the total map.
Have fun playing!!!
Took a few screenshots for you (some don't even look bad, while some are butt ugly):
The eyes even glow yellow in an animation!
Ugh! My eyes!
hopw roewur ne
Before you ask: The characters are fixed.
Running around in the mountains. Not sure why, though.
Trading, too!
The inventory/char/ability screen - all at once!
Combat screen.
You can rest, too. Note how all eyes except for the char on guard are closed! Unlimited detail!
Can't say anything about the sound as I just don't hear it. Not sure if it's a problem with my dosbox or if the game simply doesn't have any sound. I tested with Descent and there all the sound works just fine so maybe there really isn't anything here.
I must say, the combat system is actually a rarely seen idea:
It is turn-based, but you do not have a turn per character.
Instead you have one turn for your whole party and can determine what each character will do (attack by default) until "ending" the turn. Then each character does his action and the enemies do the same.
Have some goodness from the readme, too (thank this forum for fucking up the formatting):
!!! If you sell anything you'll get half the sales price !!!
WGT = Weight of the weapon
AT = Value that this weapon adds to your attack value
PA = Value that this weapon adds to your parry value
DAM = damage points of this weapon
? = You will find out
+--------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+-------------------------+---+
| W E A P O N |PRICE|WGT| | | | Who may use this weapon |TO |
| | | | AT | PA |DAM | ELF |MAGE |DWARF|WARRIOR|BUY|
+--------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-------+---+
| normal arrow | 30 | 5| 0 | 0 | 5 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| red arrow | 150 | 5| ? | ? | ? | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO|
| black arrow | 150 | 5| ? | ? | ? | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO|
| green arrow | 150 | 5| ? | ? | ? | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO|
| knife | 15 | 10| 0 | -5 | 0 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| mace | 60 | 20| 0 | -3 | 2 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| dagger | 180 | 40| 0 | 0 | 2 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| short bow | 195 | 20| 0 | -5 | 3 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| long bow | 600 | 30| 0 | -3 | 5 | YES | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| sword | 240 | 40| 0 | -1 | 3 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| sabre | 300 | 60| 0 | 0 | 3 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| spear | 360 |110| -1 | -1 | 4 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| ball and chain | 420 |150| 0 | -2 | 4 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| battle axe | 480 | 80| 0 | 0 | 4 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| long sword | 600 |120| 1 | 0 | 4 | YES | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| bastard sword | 600 |140| 1 | -3 | 5 | YES | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| war hammer | 660 |150| 1 | 1 | 6 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| 2-handed sword | 750 |160| 2 | -2 | 6 | YES | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| morningstar | 700 |150| 1 | -3 | 6 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| barbarian axe | 900 |150| 3 | -2 | 8 | NO | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| magic warrior sword|1400 |200| 2 | 0 | 14 | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO|
| dwarf axe |1000 |100| 3 | 1 | 11 | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO|
| large elf bow | 600 | 30| 0 | -2 | 11 | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO|
+--------------------+-----+----+---+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-------+---+
!!! If you sell anything you'll get half the sales price !!!
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+-------------------------+---+
| A R M O R |PRICE|WEIGHT|ARMOR| Who may wear this armor |TO |
| | | |CLASS| ELF | MAGE|DWARF|WARRIOR|BUY|
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+---+
| studded leather | 100| 40 | 2 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| hard leather armor | 200| 70 | 3 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| chain mail | 360| 100 | 4 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| full plate armor | 540| 150 | 5 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| mithril shirt | 2500| 50 | 8 | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO|
| red magic robe | 3000| 5 | 8 | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO|
| wooden shield | 90| 25 | 1 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| metal shield | 180| 50 | 2 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| large steel shield | 800| 75 | 4 | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO|
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+---+
WGT = Weight of the weapon
AT = Value that this weapon adds to your attack value
PA = Value that this weapon adds to your parry value
DAM = damage points of this weapon
? = You will find out
+--------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+-------------------------+---+
| W E A P O N |PRICE|WGT| | | | Who may use this weapon |TO |
| | | | AT | PA |DAM | ELF |MAGE |DWARF|WARRIOR|BUY|
+--------------------+-----+---+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-------+---+
| normal arrow | 30 | 5| 0 | 0 | 5 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| red arrow | 150 | 5| ? | ? | ? | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO|
| black arrow | 150 | 5| ? | ? | ? | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO|
| green arrow | 150 | 5| ? | ? | ? | YES | YES | YES | YES | NO|
| knife | 15 | 10| 0 | -5 | 0 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| mace | 60 | 20| 0 | -3 | 2 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| dagger | 180 | 40| 0 | 0 | 2 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| short bow | 195 | 20| 0 | -5 | 3 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| long bow | 600 | 30| 0 | -3 | 5 | YES | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| sword | 240 | 40| 0 | -1 | 3 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| sabre | 300 | 60| 0 | 0 | 3 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| spear | 360 |110| -1 | -1 | 4 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| ball and chain | 420 |150| 0 | -2 | 4 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| battle axe | 480 | 80| 0 | 0 | 4 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| long sword | 600 |120| 1 | 0 | 4 | YES | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| bastard sword | 600 |140| 1 | -3 | 5 | YES | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| war hammer | 660 |150| 1 | 1 | 6 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| 2-handed sword | 750 |160| 2 | -2 | 6 | YES | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| morningstar | 700 |150| 1 | -3 | 6 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| barbarian axe | 900 |150| 3 | -2 | 8 | NO | NO | NO | YES |YES|
| magic warrior sword|1400 |200| 2 | 0 | 14 | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO|
| dwarf axe |1000 |100| 3 | 1 | 11 | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO|
| large elf bow | 600 | 30| 0 | -2 | 11 | YES | NO | NO | NO | NO|
+--------------------+-----+----+---+----+----+-----+-----+-----+-------+---+
!!! If you sell anything you'll get half the sales price !!!
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+-------------------------+---+
| A R M O R |PRICE|WEIGHT|ARMOR| Who may wear this armor |TO |
| | | |CLASS| ELF | MAGE|DWARF|WARRIOR|BUY|
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+---+
| studded leather | 100| 40 | 2 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| hard leather armor | 200| 70 | 3 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| chain mail | 360| 100 | 4 | YES | YES | YES | YES |YES|
| full plate armor | 540| 150 | 5 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| mithril shirt | 2500| 50 | 8 | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO|
| red magic robe | 3000| 5 | 8 | NO | YES | NO | NO | NO|
| wooden shield | 90| 25 | 1 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| metal shield | 180| 50 | 2 | YES | NO | YES | YES |YES|
| large steel shield | 800| 75 | 4 | NO | NO | NO | YES | NO|
+--------------------+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------+---+
And here is the full package (feel free to upload somewhere else, too):
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=49151902454917184457
or
http://www.filedropper.com/faustus
Last edited: