Return to Dark Castle producer talks DRM

Responding to a comment on the Dark Castle Facebook group, Return to Dark Castle producer Bill LaCoste talks DRM:

Bill LaCoste (Austin, TX) wrote
at 7:36am
Hi,

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.

I play DC myself, so for my own selfish reasons the activation would not have been designed or implemented in that way. =)

Interesting, I see them getting quite a few E-Mails, and soon.

Twitter quote

I noticed a new post on the SuperHappyFunFun Twitter account:

Yes I am playing that game but don't say the name in a public place

Does this mean it's Dark Castle related? Probably not... But it could be, keep your hopes up, and wait till GDC.

iPhone Dark Castle to debut at GDC?

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.

Update: I checked the GDC website and it looks like it will be taking place from March 23rd to March 27th, Sweet!

Link

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!

Jaw dropping Dark Castle 3D concept art

Wow, I didn't expect this, and certainly not so soon. Mark Steven Pierce has updated the Facebook group with some concept art for the previously mentioned Dark Castle 3D.

Here are some small versions, for the full versions, I will host them down below.





Duncan Picture

Black Knight

Potion


Well, this is most impressive, I must say. :)

Mark Steven Pierce talks about gaming in the 80s, and gaming now

He makes some good points too.

Play almost anything from the 80's and it is a challenge. There was a macho competition between player and the game.

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.

Today's casual market is way simpler.

After many discussions we agreed to keep the original format (which the Zack's) mastered in the new levels.

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.

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.

Sounds about right to me.

Some words on the Level Editor

NOTE: This is a screenshot of the level editor from 2002, not the current one.

I know you are not used to so much news, and news on the level editor no less, anyways, straight from MSP:

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.

Sounds good to me, now, about Princeduncan.com......

Regarding DC3's DRM

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.