tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83653387463360197172024-03-12T17:43:48.486-07:00Dark Castle BlogBlog for the computer and video game 'Dark Castle' and news that goes along with it.Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-35811999389439506662013-08-10T08:30:00.005-07:002013-08-10T08:32:59.129-07:00The Level Editor is LIVE!!!!<br />
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http://z6.invisionfree.com/Dark_Castle_Forum/index.php?showtopic=1851<br />
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Not a hoax, so jump in, enjoy yourself, and try out the first levelset:<br />
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http://z6.invisionfree.com/Dark_Castle_Forum/index.php?showtopic=1853<br />
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<br />
Happy weekend!Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-61256149821415646322011-03-01T23:24:00.001-08:002011-03-01T23:25:18.763-08:00Dark Castle stays in top 50 on app store 2 days in a row<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(61, 25, 87); line-height: 16px; "><blockquote>Hey! Return to Dark Castle just got in the top 50 Top Paid Games on the Mac OS App store in it's 2nd day! Thanks everyone! - MSP</blockquote><blockquote><br /></blockquote>Taken from <a href="/">SHFF's Twitter</a> account.<blockquote></blockquote></span><blockquote></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(61, 25, 87); line-height: 16px; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(61, 25, 87); line-height: 16px; "><br /></span></div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-658347045256898172011-02-25T16:24:00.000-08:002011-02-25T16:26:24.583-08:00Return to Dark Castle 1.4 on app store!<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/return-to-dark-castle/id410703154?mt=12">LINK</a><div><br /></div><div>$4.99, too. Careful of the screenshots though, they contain spoilers.</div><div><br /></div><div>No sign of the level editor, PC version, or iOS port, but a step at a time.</div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-4779287109400760852011-02-12T15:53:00.000-08:002011-02-12T15:54:56.819-08:002009 article mentioning DC3 iPhone<a href="http://toucharcade.com/2009/06/15/snowboarding-tnt-big-buck-hunter-pro-and-eventually-dark-castle/">LINK</a><div><br /></div><div>This obviously didn't make it out in time for 2010, but who knows the status of it now.</div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-27929733699700472502011-02-08T00:43:00.000-08:002011-02-08T00:46:09.696-08:00And another tweet from MSP<a href="http://twitter.com/SHFF/status/34705935096233984">Tweet: Still waiting on Apple's review/release of DC3 for OSX. Hoping for a good response so we can start providing updates. Bunches of ideas.</a><div><br /></div><div>Release updates to us early adopters while you wait!</div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-74053337856549888502011-02-06T15:47:00.000-08:002011-02-06T15:52:12.838-08:002 More Tweets from SHFFFirst: <a href="http://twitter.com/SHFF/status/34147505306341376">Return to Dark Castle back @ Apple.</a><div><br /></div><div>Second: <a href="http://twitter.com/SHFF/status/34147799905861633">Cool news soon... are there other platforms ...</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The first one probably has to due with apple approving DC3 with the app store, the second is anyone's guess, it could not have anything to do with Dark Castle, though it is the 3rd tweet in a row, and the first two are Dark Castle related.</div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-25534558567001357772011-02-03T15:11:00.000-08:002011-02-03T15:13:53.390-08:00Return to Dark Castle heading to the App Store<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.xda-developers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/app_store1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 640px; height: 480px;" src="http://www.xda-developers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/app_store1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />So it's been confirmed that Return to Dark Castle will be heading to the app store via a tweet by SHFF which can be seen here: <div><br /></div><div><a href="http://twitter.com/SHFF/status/32975713971740673">http://twitter.com/SHFF/status/32975713971740673</a></div><div><br /></div><div>I am going to assume this is just the Mac version, and not a iOS version, though who knows, it could surprise me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Say goodbye to eSellerate!</div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-91628332236594483952010-10-17T16:21:00.000-07:002010-10-17T16:26:59.755-07:00Zack Black visits SHFF<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://zsculpt.com/website/news/mark_zack.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 368px; height: 566px;" src="http://zsculpt.com/website/news/mark_zack.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div>For the first time, Zack Black (Return to Dark Castle co-creator) meets Mark Steven Pierce (Dark Castle and Beyond Dark Castle co-creator) for the first time in person. Not sure on what exchange went on between them, other than it was positive. Here's to 2 decent men, and progress.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://zsculpt.com/website/news/index.php">Link to Zscuplt</a></div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-27969783354177332902010-08-31T16:33:00.000-07:002010-09-03T00:16:37.331-07:00Dark Castle Blog "WEEKLY!?? Update (9/3/10)<div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnX0c-VGSV99MGlcrKS31Oikyp_DGFAi_2rotc2noe780HotEyIr1bto1Wlb7_-vIsRYKjyZFmnYMq2dm68uujCr7_WwP7SwrGjcGsei6DzQO9BBiR5ZgDts-hlvdHXmQaMa2LeFuL1N4/s1600-h/DarkCastleBlog.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnX0c-VGSV99MGlcrKS31Oikyp_DGFAi_2rotc2noe780HotEyIr1bto1Wlb7_-vIsRYKjyZFmnYMq2dm68uujCr7_WwP7SwrGjcGsei6DzQO9BBiR5ZgDts-hlvdHXmQaMa2LeFuL1N4/s400/DarkCastleBlog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283182605205788290" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Welcome back, dear readers, I am guessing you didn't expect to hear from me again so soon. Well, this week, we will be chatting with someone from Super Happy Fun Fun, Bill LaCoste, the producer of Return to Dark Castle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Can you tell me when you first got involved with Return to Dark Castle?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: I got involved with Dark Castle way back in April of 2008.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Had you ever heard of, or played any of the original games before then?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: I had heard of Dark Castle before then, but never played it. My last Apple computer was an Apple IIe, which I had when I was in middle school and high school. After that it was straight PC gaming for me. I certainly loved it when I had it and was excited about games like Karateka, Wasteland, Haunted House, and many other text adventures. But that's not DC related, so feel free to do what you want with that info.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Jon God</span>: What is interesting having worked on cell phone games up till then, suddenly working on a computer game?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: Well, my career spans farther back than that. I began my career in 92 working at Origin on PC games and some Mac ones, then moved over to Iguana in 95 working on consoles, and then finally over to SHFF in late 2005 to work in mobile. To me, it was just another product on a different platform and I was perfectly comfortable in getting it developed and out to the market.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Jon God</span>: Is there anything specifically you had to do differently with this game over any previous games?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: In relation to my previous PC/Mac experience, no. I took the same approach in looking at the available operating systems, their specs, and made sure that we covered a good range of operating systems, graphics cards, and input devices. As you know, though, it's impossible to catch every single combination, so we do what we can and work with the developers to fix issues when they arise.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Jon God</span>: What is Super Happy Fun Fun's decision, as to when the Level Editor will be released?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: Right now, it's on hold until all of the issues and have been addressed. We realize this has been an ongoing issue and that people are excited about seeing it, but with a product like this it's very important that the UI is solid and informative, and that the game is not adversely effected by the creation of new levels. I also should mention that both SHFF and Z-Sculpt have had limited and resources to make this happen. I certainly hope that we'll be able to make this happen soon.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Jon God</span>: What is your opinion on porting Return to Dark Castle to other platforms, such as the Playstation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Playstation Portable, or Nintendo DS?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: I think in some ways, it would be a welcome product on the PSP and the DS, but a lot of design and prototype work would need to be done at the beginning, because you have to design for the device. The challenge is doing that and maintaining the same unique, challenging, and classic gameplay that the game is known for.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Jon God</span>: Have you ever visited the Dark Castle Forums?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: Yes, many times. I think it's important that we see feedback from our customers who have been so loyal to the product for many years.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Jon God</span>: Will there ever be a chance, for those who missed it, to play Dark Castle Mobile (The original cell phone Dark Castle by Super Happy Fun Fun)?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: Not unless you have one of those really old phones. For mobile devices, I feel the right way to go is forward with a new story/product built for modern devices.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Jon God</span>: Did you request any large changes to Return to Dark Castle after becoming the publisher?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: Nothing major because I understood the game and the market we were going after. Most of the changes were just aesthetic and under the hood.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: What made you suddenly go with a new type of DRM near the release of the game?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: DRM is always a nasty subject. A lot of customers hate it, but it's sometimes necessary for developers and publishers to implement a system so that the end user has to make a conscious decision of whether or not to steal the product or buy the product. It's that simple. Many people on forums will argue that it can be cracked easily, and I truly understand that, but we need that line to protect the product. The developers work VERY hard on these products and deserve to be paid for that work. The original DC titles had well over 1 million people play the game, but only a fraction of those people actually purchased it. I think that's sad and there's a lot of hypocrisy there.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: What is Mark Steven Pierce like as a (boss)Co-Worker?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: I enjoy working with Mark. I think he's passionate about making games, has a long history of successful titles, and cares about the people he works with.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Have you thought of sequels, or expansion packs to Return to Dark Castle?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: Absolutely. I think the product has a great community, following, and history. I would like to see it move forward as a whole, though. Advancements in graphics, technology, and gameplay, while still remaining true to the original titles. I think that can be done and we'll see what the future holds for DC.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Have you thought of rereleasing the original Dark Castle titles at some point?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: I think there has been some discussion here and there, but nothing in stone. The focus for Z-Sculpt has been on RtDC.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: What are the chances for a open, or closed beta for the level editor?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: Those chances are high, I just don't know when. I know a lot of people would like to help out with this and it would give us a much better chance of catching bugs and improving the editor before final release. Beta testing with the community has been discussed and I'm 100% in favor of it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Alright, thank you for your time, and work on Return to Dark Castle.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Bill LaCoste</i>: No problem, my pleasure.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 23px; font-family:'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><b>PUZZLE & ANSWER</b><span style="font-weight: bold; ">:</span><br /><br />Each week, I hope to have a puzzle for you to solve, which will somehow relate to Dark Castle. This week's puzzle is in the form of a description without the word it belongs to, relating to castles.<br /><br />Description: I am a tiny cell where prisoners were left to die.<br /><br /><br />Answer for last "week's" puzzle: <span style="font-style: italic; ">Bailey</span><br /><br /><br />--<br /><br />Feel free to send in feedback, what you did/didn't like, what you'd like to see, ect, as I would love to hear it.</span></div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-4076228812434086052010-08-27T17:02:00.000-07:002010-08-27T17:43:12.139-07:00Dark Castle Blog "WEEKLY!?" update<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnX0c-VGSV99MGlcrKS31Oikyp_DGFAi_2rotc2noe780HotEyIr1bto1Wlb7_-vIsRYKjyZFmnYMq2dm68uujCr7_WwP7SwrGjcGsei6DzQO9BBiR5ZgDts-hlvdHXmQaMa2LeFuL1N4/s1600-h/DarkCastleBlog.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnX0c-VGSV99MGlcrKS31Oikyp_DGFAi_2rotc2noe780HotEyIr1bto1Wlb7_-vIsRYKjyZFmnYMq2dm68uujCr7_WwP7SwrGjcGsei6DzQO9BBiR5ZgDts-hlvdHXmQaMa2LeFuL1N4/s400/DarkCastleBlog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283182605205788290" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Dear readers, it's been a while. Today I have a special treat for you though.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Joe Williams, CEO of <a href="http://deltatao.com/contact.html">Delta Tao</a>, one of the people that made the remake to the original Dark Castle, Color Dark Castle, in 1994.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Hey you got a moment?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Sure. What's up?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: I was curious on some dark castle history, if you have the time for a few questions.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Sure. I'm not the biggest expert, but I'm game.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: What made you originally want to port Dark Castle to Color?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: We just thought it was a great game, and it was a shame to see it go out of print. And black and white games weren't marketable in 1992 any more.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: In the manual to Color Dark Castle, you said that Color Beyond Dark Castle was planned. Did it ever get beyond planning?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Nope. Sales for CDC were disappointing, and it was more work than we expected. Return to Dark Castle includes all the BDC levels, though we gave it back to Mark before it was done.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Any figure you can cite for the sales?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>:<i> </i>I'd just be guessing. Maybe 10,000?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: The manual lists Howard Vives as credited to the artwork for Color Dark Castle, was he a part of Delta Tao or was he brought in to help?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: He was an employee. Our main artist for all our games.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: What made you go with different intro/main menu screens?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Were they different? My memory has them nearly the same. We worked pretty hard to be true to the original.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: <a href="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070911072823/darkcastle/images/e/ed/Picture2-2.png">Dark Castle</a>, <a href="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070914212715/darkcastle/images/2/2d/Splash_Screen.png">Color Dark Castle</a>, <a href="http://darkcastle.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Menu">Main Menus</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: I just let Howard go nuts on those, and do what he wanted.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Who's idea was it to include the new Secret Level?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Timmer's.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Was there a conscious decision on turning the Water from Fireball 2 and Fireball 3 into lava?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Yeah -- it seemed more dangerous that way.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: In Color Dark Castle it was added that you could hit command Q to return to the great hall. This made it easy to skip the dungeon. It also could be used to avoid losing lives, was that something done on purpose?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Yeah, I guess so. The whole "limited number of lives" thing was kind of dated by then.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Was there any other extras added to Color Dark Castle besides the Secret Level? There were rumors of another date easter egg.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Not that I remember, but it wouldn't surprise me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: What convinced you to let the relatively new software company Z Sculpt start working on a Dark Castle Sequel?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: We weren't doing anything with it, and they seemed pretty fanatical.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: How much involvement did you have with the development of Return to Dark Castle?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: I was pretty involved in the early days, but we pretty much canceled the project years before it released. Zack got married, and the project fell impossibly behind schedule. I'm glad it did eventually get released.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: What do you think about Return to Dark Castle, now that it has finally been released? Did you play it?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: A bit. It was way too hard for me. I've got old-guy slow fingers.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: How much did the rights to Dark Castle cost originally?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: No cash. Aldus had bought Silicon Beach for its graphics stuff, and didn't want to be in the games business. We swapped them some graphics technology we had developed for Zeus. It may have eventually found its way into Photoshop when Adobe bought them.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Small world. Dick Noel, who is he? In the Color Dark Castle manual, it says he voiced Fred Flintstone, but I've not been able to find out if it's true, or what. I asked Jonathan Gay, the original programer to Dark Castle, and Beyond Dark Castle, but he wasn't fully sure either.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Yeah, I've never been able to validate it, either. He's in the credits, and that was in the notes, but I don't know the details.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: It was a shame, I always wished there'd be a Beyond Dark Castle Color, I thought you guys did a great job on Color Dark Castle. I made <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/jongon/Forum%20Stuff/Color-Beyond-Dark-Castle-Ba.jpg">this</a> at one point, not sure if I ever E-Mailed it to you.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Did you like RTDC?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: I did indeed. Though, each game in the series has been a bit different than the previous in style. The first was mostly an arcade game, high scores, lives, ect. Beyond Dark Castle was more adventure-y, but still contained lives and high scores. RTDC is a straight up adventure game. I also would have loved to see Delta Tao's touch on BDC.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: My take on it would've been even more adventure-y. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: Aye, Color Dark Castle was more adventure-y than the original.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Was it? I don't remember changing that much.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: It had a saving system, and when you beat the game on advanced it scrolled credits, making you unable to continue playing indefinitely until you ran out of lives.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: Oh, yeah. Saving was a big change, I guess. Not difficult, but it meant you could do it in pieces. With the original, we had to leave our Mac on all night and not do anything else with it until we finished the game. Not to mention all the dungeon runs to pile up lives... I always thought the high score was backwards -- it was harder to get a low score when winning the game than a high score.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: There was someone on the Dark Castle forums who beat the original on advanced with 13 rocks.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Joe Williams</i>: LOL! Players can be amazing. I always thought of myself as an expert on Spaceward Ho!, but there are players who are much better than me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Jon God</b>: The same person beat all of BDC, starting on beginner and ending on Advanced, without dying or falling into the dungeon once.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Joe Williams</i>: I never beat either game on advanced.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jon God</b>: There was a special ending for Beyond Dark Castle on Advanced.</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wpxvlt_iC8">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wpxvlt_iC8</a></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Joe Williams</i>: I told you they were fanatics.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jon God</b>: Did you ever get a chance to try the RTDC level editor?</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Joe Williams</i>: Yeah -- it seemed great!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jon God</b>: Awesome. thanks for your time.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 23px; "><span style="font-weight: bold; ">PUZZLE & ANSWER:</span><br /><br />Each week, I hope to have a puzzle for you to solve, which will somehow relate to Dark Castle. This week's puzzle is in the form of a description without the word it belongs to, relating to castles.<br /><br />Description: I am the open area inclosed by the castle walls.<br /><br /><br />Answer for last "week's" puzzle: <span style="font-style: italic; ">Quarrel</span><br /><br /><br />--<br /><br />Feel free to send in feedback, what you did/didn't like, what you'd like to see, ect, as I would love to hear it.</span></div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-34518745827098945782010-03-29T14:24:00.000-07:002010-03-29T14:25:25.845-07:00Return to Dark Castle giveaway contest!Thanks to Izdale, there is a Return to Dark Castle giveaway, for rules and a chance to enter, click the below link!<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://macappdeals.com/?p=8289">LINK</a></div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-69141860851660362492010-03-29T14:01:00.000-07:002010-03-29T14:07:21.381-07:00Return to Dark Castle, 50% until April 1st!For those of you looking to pick up a second copy, or are thinking of buying it for the first time, Return to Dark Castle is currently on sale for the measly price of $9.95.<div><br /></div><div>This deal ends April 1st, so hop on!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.macgamestore.com/detail.php?ProductID=926">LINK</a></div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-10212378316273431792010-01-30T14:03:00.001-08:002010-01-30T14:09:44.501-08:00Stop to spamming commentsWhile this isn't Dark Castle news, this blog has been getting tons of spammer comments, so I disabled all comments except for registered users.Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-53255378828792910712009-10-22T17:18:00.001-07:002009-10-22T21:40:57.800-07:00Minor update, that could put a smile on your face. :)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/darkcastle/images/1/11/Markpiercetiltaworld2bc2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 131px;" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/darkcastle/images/1/11/Markpiercetiltaworld2bc2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Straight from the mouth of Mark Steven Pierce himself, from the facebook group:<div><br /></div><div><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message" ft="{"type":"msg"}" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-weight: normal; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; font-size:13px;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><blockquote>Hey, Been busy but trying to get the Zsculpt guys to get the level editor wrapped. Will get back with news as this develops.</blockquote><blockquote><br /></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:18px;">That's what I like to hear! Now that I have more time after finishing the <a href="http://vocaleyes.com/getdeadfall/deadfallnews.html">Myth II project I've been working on.</a></span></span></h3><div><span class="UIStory_Message"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="UIStory_Message"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:18px;">Keep your eyes on this space, as I will keep you updated on all Dark Castle related news</span></span></div></span></div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-32938788957823962482009-08-30T13:56:00.000-07:002009-08-30T13:59:03.342-07:00Snow Leopard - Confirmed!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.appleinsider.com/snow-leopard-080604.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 472px;" src="http://images.appleinsider.com/snow-leopard-080604.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div>Tested by Dark Castle Forum moderator La Porta, Return to Dark Castle seems to run perfectly fine under the mac operating system, Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can stop crossing your fingers. :)</div>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-2755343089895800792009-03-21T12:50:00.000-07:002009-03-21T12:55:02.363-07:00Return to Dark Castle producer talks DRM<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.borella.net/mike/blog/wp-content/2007/08/illustration-illustratie_drm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 222px;" src="http://www.borella.net/mike/blog/wp-content/2007/08/illustration-illustratie_drm.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Responding to a comment on the Dark Castle Facebook group, Return to Dark Castle producer Bill LaCoste talks DRM:<br /><br /><blockquote>Bill LaCoste (Austin, TX) wrote<br />at 7:36am<br />Hi,<br /><br />While I can't talk openly, or specifically, about how the API was designed and implemented, I can say that users who are seeing the activation every time they start should contact support@shff.com so that we can assist them. That certainly is not the expected functionality.<br /><br />I play DC myself, so for my own selfish reasons the activation would not have been designed or implemented in that way. =)</blockquote><br />Interesting, I see them getting quite a few E-Mails, and soon.Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-30932614099343688672009-03-12T20:23:00.000-07:002009-03-12T20:26:56.547-07:00Twitter quote<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.governor.state.tx.us/images/divisions/film/tilt_logo.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 113px;" src="http://www.governor.state.tx.us/images/divisions/film/tilt_logo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>I noticed a new post on the SuperHappyFunFun Twitter account:<br /><br /><blockquote>Yes I am playing that game but don't say the name in a public place</blockquote><br />Does this mean it's Dark Castle related? Probably not... But it could be, keep your hopes up, and wait till GDC.Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-41216725848234860352009-03-11T15:45:00.000-07:002009-03-11T16:20:42.837-07:00iPhone Dark Castle to debut at GDC?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mp4converter.net/images/upload/iphone_home.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 151px; height: 250px;" src="http://www.mp4converter.net/images/upload/iphone_home.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />A tiwtter message on SHFF's Twitter account suggests an iPhone game is almost finished, and perhaps will debut at Game Developer's Conference, perhaps we will get some new info on the iPhone version of Dark Castle then, who knows.<br /><br />Update: I checked the GDC website and it looks like it will be taking place from March 23rd to March 27th, Sweet!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.gdconf.com/">Link</a><br /><br />Update 2: I realized I juped the gun, as it's not a Dark Castle Twitter account, rather a SHFF twitter account, meaning it could just as easily be another iPhone game. Sorry to burst your bubbles!Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-89580030853423239792009-03-11T15:37:00.001-07:002009-03-11T15:48:52.133-07:00Jaw dropping Dark Castle 3D concept artWow, I didn't expect this, and certainly not so soon. Mark Steven Pierce has updated the Facebook group with some concept art for the <a href="http://darkcastlenews.blogspot.com/2009/03/msp-reveals-some-info-on-facebook-page.html">previously mentioned Dark Castle 3D</a>.<br /><br />Here are some small versions, for the full versions, I will host them down below.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2683/122/1/537524190/n537524190_1485607_5803049.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 317px;" src="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2683/122/1/537524190/n537524190_1485607_5803049.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2683/122/1/537524190/n537524190_1485608_2500035.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 247px;" src="http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2683/122/1/537524190/n537524190_1485608_2500035.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2683/122/1/537524190/n537524190_1485667_1239802.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 341px; height: 269px;" src="http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2683/122/1/537524190/n537524190_1485667_1239802.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/jongon/Dark%20Castle/n537524190_1485607_5803049.jpg">Duncan Picture</a><br /><br /><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/jongon/Dark%20Castle/n537524190_1485608_2500035.jpg">Black Knight</a><br /><br /><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/jongon/Dark%20Castle/n537524190_1485667_1239802.jpg">Potion</a><br /><br /><br />Well, this is most impressive, I must say. :)Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-81520044053731200642009-03-11T15:34:00.000-07:002009-03-11T15:37:14.688-07:00Mark Steven Pierce talks about gaming in the 80s, and gaming now<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1889.ca/pics/darkcastle.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 351px; height: 234px;" src="http://1889.ca/pics/darkcastle.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />He makes some good points too.<br /><br /><blockquote>Play almost anything from the 80's and it is a challenge. There was a macho competition between player and the game.<br /><br />When I played the original games (in RTDC) for the first time in a decade or so I couldn't believe how hard I had tuned the original game. As Chris states this has softened a bit with each game but the play mechanic is still very demmanding.<br /><br />Today's casual market is way simpler.<br /><br />After many discussions we agreed to keep the original format (which the Zack's) mastered in the new levels.<br /><br />After playing for a while I remembered how the game rides the edge of being just hard enough to make you want to come back until you clear a room.<br /><br />All the same I do think there should be some softening here and there but the core shouldl be kept faithful to the original because a.) that is what the game is about and b.) no other game out there today is similar.</blockquote><br /><br />Sounds about right to me.Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-41969300393594470872009-03-09T21:20:00.000-07:002009-03-09T21:27:58.881-07:00Some words on the Level Editor<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/darkcastle/images/e/e8/Editor2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 204px;" src="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/darkcastle/images/e/e8/Editor2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>NOTE: This is a screenshot of the level editor from 2002, not the current one.<br /><br />I know you are not used to so much news, and news on the level editor no less, anyways, straight from MSP:<br /><br /><br /><blockquote>Level Editor is in high demand. We are going to see what we can do to post this. Any thoughts on having a central depository for user generated levels would be welcome. Ideally these levels could also be played on the iPhone as well.</blockquote><br />Sounds good to me, now, about Princeduncan.com......Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-85394752620577030312009-03-09T21:09:00.000-07:002009-03-09T21:19:29.209-07:00Regarding DC3's DRM<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://developer.apple.com/business/images/img_box_titles/esellerate.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 157px;" src="http://developer.apple.com/business/images/img_box_titles/esellerate.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I know many have complained about the harsh DRM (Copy Protection) that Return to Dark Castle uses, and it seems that now SuperHappyFunFun may have heard you too. MSP has said that they are looking into the DRM, saying it "Should only need to connect to the internet once a month." Players know that it tries to connect every time the program launches, which is extremely harsh. So, this isn't a confirmation, but it could be leading to some good news.Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-76172049832708378162009-03-09T21:04:00.000-07:002009-03-09T21:08:58.373-07:00Finally changing the blog poll<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFKD2Vb7yE2gT81UnDqI85P8inZo5MsOzwiGZ_GjwNB3mUs5LpLrpaIjNArFc7SRFa7FfZ5G9nHZl8eHksY5EPwb1lsz-spV15eWr4zhbrYW2cx-tNIFgpcx57r9oO_tXpzjgsqd6mJE/s1600-h/Picture+2.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 74px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzFKD2Vb7yE2gT81UnDqI85P8inZo5MsOzwiGZ_GjwNB3mUs5LpLrpaIjNArFc7SRFa7FfZ5G9nHZl8eHksY5EPwb1lsz-spV15eWr4zhbrYW2cx-tNIFgpcx57r9oO_tXpzjgsqd6mJE/s200/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311405651653723282" border="0" /></a><br />Looks like most people think Return to Dark Castle was worth the hype, and wait. Props to Z Scuplt, and Zack Black!<br /><br />Be sure to vote in the new poll!Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-48646038642540373982009-03-09T21:00:00.000-07:002009-03-09T21:03:48.547-07:00SuperHappyFunFun starts twitter account<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/files/2009/01/twitter.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 361px; height: 133px;" src="http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/files/2009/01/twitter.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />SuperHappyFunFun has now opened a Twitter account, which should help the community stay in contact with what SHFF is doing, provided they keep it updated.<br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/SHFF">LINK</a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">How coincidental, I was just talking about this earlier today...</span>Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8365338746336019717.post-36177839138799163322009-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:002009-03-06T16:31:05.071-08:00Mark Steven Pierce talks again<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2008/02/rtdcopeningscreen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 225px;" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2008/02/rtdcopeningscreen.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Another quote from the Dark Castle Facebook group:<br /><br /><blockquote>Thanks for the interest.<br /><br />We are just know starting to begin to advertise more. I have begun with ads on Facebook and look to expand with other service.<br /><br />SHFF is mostly a developer and we have lots of projects that help keep the lights on and have limited resources for big ad campaigns.<br /><br />We were hoping to get the Zsculpt guys to get the PC version along with the level editor done but there have been some delays. The Zack's were not far off before X-mas so i am hopeful they can get back on it.<br /><br />Ideally we could get a Mac/PC with level editor DVD out there by the fall.<br /><br />The iPhone version woudl ideally be at the same time and then we could justify a bigger push.<br /><br />I am just happy to have got the rights back to a game I am proud to have made and to have folks like Zsculpt who have done the most faithful version one could hope for and folks like you ant the others here who appreciate it as well.<br /><br />MSP</blockquote><br />I believe he's talking Fall for a boxed release, hopefully the Level Editor will be out before then. Still, it gives us hoping for a boxed release something to look forward to. Here's hoping it has less strict copy protection!Jon Godhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489428845688762625noreply@blogger.com0