Dungeon Hack
Encyclopedia
Dungeon Hack is a computer role-playing game developed by DreamForge Intertainment
and produced by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
(SSI). It was first released for the DOS
platform in 1993. MobyGames
describes it as a "graphical version of Hack." Dungeon Hack is based in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons world of Forgotten Realms
.
Dungeon Hack features a pseudo-3D game screen based on SSI's own Eye of the Beholder
series. Like Rogue
, dungeons are randomly generated whenever a new game is started. As a result, virtually no two dungeons generated by the game are identical. SSI claimed that billions of different games are possible. That said, players can play identical dungeons by sharing "dungeon seed" codes that are generated by the game.
Dungeon Hack uses the rules mechanics of AD&D 2nd Edition. Most notable about this game is the option to have "real character death", unlike other such graphical AD&D games (such as Pool of Radiance
). When this option is turned on, restored saves are erased upon character death, just as with traditional roguelike
games.
Dungeon Hack won Computer Game Review
's "Most Replay Value of 1994" award.
#205 by Sandy Petersen
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
DreamForge Intertainment
DreamForge Intertainment, Inc. was an American computer game developer. It was founded as Event Horizon Software, Inc. by the computergame developers Thomas Holmes, Christopher Straka, and James Namestka. The company would later change to Dreamforge...
and produced by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
(SSI). It was first released for the DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
platform in 1993. MobyGames
MobyGames
-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
describes it as a "graphical version of Hack." Dungeon Hack is based in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons world of Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories...
.
Eye of the Beholder (computer game)
Eye of the Beholder is a role-playing video game for computers and video game consoles developed by Westwood Studios. It was published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1990 for the DOS operating system and later ported to the Amiga, the Sega CD, and the SNES...
series. Like Rogue
Rogue (computer game)
Rogue is a dungeon crawling video game first developed by Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman around 1980. It was a favorite on college Unix systems in the early to mid-1980s, in part due to the procedural generation of game content. Rogue popularized dungeon crawling as a video game trope, leading...
, dungeons are randomly generated whenever a new game is started. As a result, virtually no two dungeons generated by the game are identical. SSI claimed that billions of different games are possible. That said, players can play identical dungeons by sharing "dungeon seed" codes that are generated by the game.
Dungeon Hack uses the rules mechanics of AD&D 2nd Edition. Most notable about this game is the option to have "real character death", unlike other such graphical AD&D games (such as Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games...
). When this option is turned on, restored saves are erased upon character death, just as with traditional roguelike
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
games.
Dungeon Hack won Computer Game Review
Computer Game Review
Computer Game Review was a print magazine covering both computer gaming, and at the time upper end video gaming. Also known as Computer Game Review and 16-Bit Entertainment, and then later as Computer Game Review and CD-Rom Entertainment.Reviews typically consisted of a short, impartial synopsis of...
's "Most Replay Value of 1994" award.
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1994 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#205 by Sandy Petersen
Sandy Petersen
Carl Sanford Joslyn Petersen is a game designer.Petersen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended University of California, Berkeley, majoring in zoology....
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.