Advanced Dungeons And Dragons

Like Capcom's Saturn Dungeons & Dragons Games? You'll Dig Dragon's Crown

After seeing Dragon’s Crown, the old interview by Gamasutra with George Kamitani comes in my mind. Kamitani once said that he would like to create an online 2D beat-em-up game like the Korean MMO game Dungeon Fighter Online (which was actually inspired from Capcom’s Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom, a game Kamitani directed when he was still at Capcom):

“Gamasutra: Have you ever played Dungeon Fighter Online?

GK: I haven’t heard of that one. Is it recent?

Gamasutra: Two or three years old. It’s a Korean MMO similar to Capcom’s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons from the arcade. It’s very popular in Korea and it’s getting launched in America now. It’s a side-scrolling 2D MMO.

GK: Oh! You mean Arad Senki [the title in Japan]! Oh, yeah, I’ve played that. It’s pretty safe to say that if we did a net game, it might look something like that.

Gamasutra: It seems very natural for Vanillaware.

GK: Definitely. If I had a chance, I’d love to make something that surpassed that game.

”

Seeing Dragon’s Crown now, I think, they already did surpass not just Dungeon Figher but every side-scrolling beat-em-up games right now.

Here’s the link for the interview if you’re interested (it was published years ago but it was still a very good read):

After seeing Dragon’s Crown, the old interview by Gamasutra with George Kamitani comes in my mind. Kamitani once said that he would like to create an online 2D beat-em-up game like the Korean MMO game Dungeon Fighter Online (which was actually inspired from Capcom’s Dungeons and Dragons: Tower of Doom, a game Kamitani directed when he was still at Capcom):

“Gamasutra: Have you ever played Dungeon Fighter Online?

GK: I haven’t heard of that one. Is it recent?

Gamasutra: Two or three years old. It’s a Korean MMO similar to Capcom’s Advanced Dungeons & Dragons from the arcade. It’s very popular in Korea and it’s getting launched in America now. It’s a side-scrolling 2D MMO.

GK: Oh! You mean Arad Senki [the title in Japan]! Oh, yeah, I’ve played that. It’s pretty safe to say that if we did a net game, it might look something like that.

Gamasutra: It seems very natural for Vanillaware.

GK: Definitely. If I had a chance, I’d love to make something that surpassed that game.

Classic RPG Realms: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (First Edition--as ...

I've made some decisions. Yes, I had to eat some humble pie. But it wasn't all my doing, really. In a way I blame the Old School movement. But, whatever ... I certainly wouldn't want them to lose steam. Although I can't help but wonder if they are in a way, doomed. At least slightly. But more on that later perhaps. I don't want to dis the whole movement. I am part of it. What I've decided is to do is pull back from the epic, monumental and some might say impossible task of creating a clearinghouse for all things old school. I suppose that might be possible in and of itself, but it would be ugly, unwieldy and inelegant. For you see the old school movement is diffuse at best; and many old school resource sites give a token nod to old school and actually play something more like d20. Publishers can't really be called old school publishers if they have a few generic items that could maybe be used in an old school setting. But the bulk of their material is d20, SRD or blatantly catering to the new and *shudder* very different approach to gaming the modern gaming entails. And sadly, every powerhouse old school publisher is reinventing the wheel again and again and again. We have multiple 0e retro clones, basic retro clones advanced retro clones, house ruled retro clones, and on and on and well you get it, on. So who gets preference? Who gets dibs? Who do you support? If you leave anyone out, you are seen as making a political decision, and truthfully--you are. If you try and cater to everyone equally, your site becomes just as diffuse and wishy-washy as the movement itself. I suppose that in some ways this is unavoidable. But what it made me realize was that the goal of establishing a clearinghouse, let alone an "old school central" that could serve as a force of cohesion in the movement, was perhaps too big, and nigh unto impossible. Now, please note, that I'm not saying the movement is worthless or ineffective. Though I do think it is less effective than it could be. It is more like the free market of ideas as well as capitalistic economics. Everyone is producing their own bigger, better mousetrap and it's up to the consumers to choose what they like. Some might say this is good for consumers, and generally it is good in the real market. But in the marketplace of ideas, I'm not so sure. But I've already gone to far into these woods, and that wasn't the reason for this post. I tell enough now just to make it clear, I _won't_ be headed in that direction.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeon Master's Guide

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Castles

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Dragonlance Classics

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Player's Handbook for the Ad & D Game

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Legends and Lore