.

.

From the link below you can download my two Interactive fiction games "House of the midnight sun" and "Ghost train." If you are after a Horror IF game this link is for you. If your looking for a little nostalgia, read on.

Dracula Prince of Darkness

The 2002 game "House of the midnight Sun" was based on an earlier game of mine "Castle Dracula." Written in 1983 the game was sold up until 1986 through mail order adverts.

There is a brief history of the "Castle Dracula" game in the menu to"House of the midnight sun." As a result I have been asked if the original is still available. Until recently I thought the game was lost. However, having made some enquires I have found a couple of final Beta copies.

Simon Hardy from the international Dragon Users Group:

http://www.dragon-archive.co.uk/

kindly worked on the 17 year old tape and managed to produce a game file which can be used with a "Dragon computer" or "Co Co" emulator on a PC.

Thanks go to Robert Boyd in Canada who has worked hard to produce a game file for the "Texas 994a" emulator. From the links below please find both game files.

.

.

The game was not available in the shops and sold only through mail order here in the UK. Adverts appeared in the computer press of the time such as 'Dragon User' and 'Computer & Video Games.' Above is a copy of the advert from 'Computer Games Magazine.' I sold copies of the game all over the world including Japan.

Please remember this game is practically an antique. If you want to play an IF game with a modern phraser complete with a save and restore commands - try one of my other games. In "Castle Dracula" death is never very far away. To make matters worse there was no way to save your game.

The main problem for these early programs was lack of computer memory. The computers of the day had such small memories 32k for the Dragon, and the Texas 994a only had 16k. This is why the game uses such a simple phraser. The unusual use of the 'E' or 'L', and 'R' buttons allowed most of the memory to be used to provide a more detailed and atmospheric location description than were available in other games of the time. To help with the games longevity some of the puzzles were as tough as old boots. Non of your - 'need a brass lamp to explore a darkened room' - These puzzles were mean!

Instructions

This release of the game is a "final beta." A beta release is a release of a program to a tester prior to a final commercial release. The tester would double check for any unfound problems with the game. As far as I can tell it is almost identical to the final release. Because the game is a beta release after the Dragon version of the game has loaded into the emulator you must type 'run' to start the program. The Texas version will auto load, and play.

"Examining objects" as in a traditional adventure game does not work. Here you can examine an entire location including all objects contained with a single key press. To examine a location just press the 'E' button. (In the Final release and the Texas game this is the 'L' button) This will give you a second detailed description of the current location. To read writing just press 'R' I have played the game all the way through. It did not crash, and it is winnable. Here is a list of verbs that can be used with the game. "dig, get, hit, give, enter, remove, drop, open, play, and say. N, S, U, D."

.

Download the Zipped game file for the Dragon computer by clicking the button below.

download zipped game file

The T3 Emulator Home Page. This page allows you to download the latest version of theDragon/CoCo emulator.

.

.

.

Download the Zipped game file for the Texas 994a computer by clicking the button below.

download zipped game file

V9T9 Runner A Texas994a emulator

.

.

home

Map

Email

28th September 2014.