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Friday 31 March 2017

DARK EARTH


When a pen and paper RPG gets adapted for a video game, you'd expect it to follow certain conventions such as a complex fighting mechanic, character stats and the like. Based on the short-lived French series, Dark Earth by Kalisto Entertainment doesn't do that. It was released in 1997, the same year as the first Fallout, but by contrast, it ignores its stat-heavy origins and follows the formula of another one of its contemporaries: Resident Evil.

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic future where a Great Cataclysm has engulfed most of the world in a thick black ash. Survivors have escaped the soot clouds and settled on higher ground and build a monastery/keep hybrid they've called Stallite Sparta after the Sun. A new mystical religion arose where magic is very much a reality. They worship the Sun and fear the Darkness and believe the day and night cycle are the two forces at war. Unlike Fallout, this post-apocalyptic depiction of Sparta is colourful and ordered. Only a rebel faction known as the Konkalites offer any kind of disruption and with this being a game, you know they will. Big time.

As Arkan, son of the Suneer Rhylsadar (think monk), you are enrolled as a Guardian of Light (think soldier). On your first day, the Konkalites sneak in and attack the Sunseers and infect you with a nasty poison called the Black Rot. It's no ordinary poison either. By using the power of the Darkness, it's slowly turning you into a monster. In this state, the game requires you to defeat the Konkalites, cure your illness and, naturally, save the world. A small task for a slowly dying man.

While you can play through most of the prologue before infection, the real game starts here. By now, you should've learned the rules of the land, and the basic mechanics but you'll now have to put them to good use. As you wake from your ordeal, you're told the illness is slowly taking you over. This is represented by an ever-increasing black bar next to your life bar. I really do hate timed sections in games, especially those that require a more thoughtful approach, but I had no issue with it here. There's a point where you come across a location that can reset the timer as many time as you want, but it was barely half full when I first found it.

You have three different stances or moods: light, dark and combat. The light mood is your regular polite self and is how you'll spend most of your game. Some situations require a more assertive demeanour so press TAB to embody your dark side. Your responses will be more aggressive and short-tempered and when searching for items, a kick or a punch will replace the gentle rummage. In this state doors can be kicked down 'cos turning knobs may be more than you can handle. It's rarely needed for plot progression, and for the longest time I forgot it was even an option, but it does embody one the game's most impressive features: multiple solutions.

Sometimes important answers can be wrangled out quicker when angry, which can be important if you're running out of time. Other times small side stories or character building will emerge. For example, you won't know the cause of the Great Cataclysm unless you punch things in a bunker. Other times your actions are just as important as your mood. Do you fight a guard blocking your path, or do you get him drunk? Maybe if you keep talking to him he'll budge, but maybe not. The entire middle section of the game even has two completely unique ways to get through it. And with the only way to die is by taking too long or fighting poorly, you'll be on the right track either way.

The last mood is combat. Press C to raise your fists ready for a punching. If you're holding a weapon at the same time, you'll fight with it. To attack, hold the Ctrl key and press one of the four directions to take a swing (or duck). The combat is mostly melee, although a small number of guns can be found later on. Guns are best suited if you're at a distance and with so few fights allowing for that they're not as useful as your axe or sword.

As you fight, your weapon will gradually break down until it's completely un-useable. Until you encounter an engineer later on in the game who'll be able to fix them, you'll have to keep switching blades so that none will be damaged beyond repair. Extra weapons are found on defeated enemies as well as hidden in various places in the game world. Considering how little you are required to fight, I never truly ran out.

Attack animations are slow and hits don't always register. The enemies are attuned to this way of fighting so it's not exactly unfair. It was perfectly fine for its time but with today's advances in controls, it's incredibly clunky. Even so, you can still adapt to it quite easily. If anything it's the camera angles that really screw everything up - a problem that most survival horrors suffered from. If you don't get your timing right, you can be pushed into another room, and at one point that did cost me a game over. There was one particularly hefty boss who managed to knock me through an arch. This was a point where the game needs to load the next area so instead of carrying on, I instantly died with 70% of my health. There is a fair amount of minor bugs in the game (mostly in some jerky animation) but this was the only one to affect both the gameplay as well as the immersion.

Thankfully, there's little opportunity to fight. The main focus is on the amazing story and average puzzles. Most are little more than fetch-quests or treasure hunts, yet they still mesh well with the world. None feel out of place. Except one - the one puzzle that all developers from a certain era seem compelled to include in their adventures. I'm talking out Reversi. Or Othello. Or Yong as it's called in Sparta. I call it the Game Satan Shat Out to Torture Mortals. No matter what you call it, it is without a doubt one of the worst puzzles to ever include in a game. The way the game is constructed means that a perfect algorithm will always beat the imperfect mind. Unless programmers are up for the difficult task of coding fallibility, the AI will always beat you. To get around this deliberately including winning scenarios is the easiest option (there's apparently only two ways of succeeding here). It's made worse in Dark Earth by forcing you to trade in a weapon to play. Sure, you can find weapons fairly frequently but they're not unlimited. I had to restore a previously saved game more times than I can count before I won. Then, I'm told if I win three times in a row I'll get a cool weapon. Fuck that. I'll be damned if I ever have to play Reversi again.

If you've played any survival horror of the era, you'll have an idea as to how the game will look and play. The pre-rendered backdrops are stunning, though objects may be a little too difficult to see at times. It's very atmospheric and does well in showing off this strange fantasy world, save for the odd weird camera angle. The ambient sounds and minimalist music also convey a palpable sense of wonder and menace that's rarely matched. The voice acting is above par too, though not without faults. The revelations of some characters' treachery will be spoiled by their obviously evil intonations and there's one character that sounds like a Monty Python cast member trying to act like a woman (even though the character is apparently a man). Beyond that, it's very well done, at least compared to Resident Evil.

As a result, I was fully engrossed from beginning to end. It's mainly an adventure with a small amount of action with any signs of its RPG origins nowhere to be found. It's a testament to the game's writers and designers that Dark Earth doesn't feel like a watered-down version of something bigger. What we have is an incredibly accomplished and absorbing game with a fantastic story that deserves far more recognition than it gets.


To download the game, follow the link below. This exclusive installer uses the DOSBox Daum build of DOSBox 0.74 running Windows '95. Manual included. Tested on Windows 10.

IMPORTANT - Run the PLAY shortcut withing the emulation to begin the game. Remember to shut down the emulated version of Windows before exiting DOSBox. This could potentially result in errors, lost saves and corrupt data. Press Ctrl-F9 when it is safe to do so.

File Size: 911 Mb.  Install Size: 1.4 Gb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ



Dark Earth is © Kalisto Entertainment
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

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65 comments:

  1. This is awesome. More games with Win95 emulation (hell, maybe even 3dfx) would be greatly appreciated. As always, thank you for your hard work on reviewing and packaging these jewels of retrogaming.

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  2. Thanks man this game is my childhood!

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  3. the wait is over! finaly, Biffman made it! until now, nowhere can be found this underrated gaming gem! (working under win 7 with combo dosbox and win95, that is!)

    highly appreciated, thank YOU very much, B-man!

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  4. Thanks everyone! I too got a tinge of excitement when I got it working. I had played the demo in my youth, but didn't complete it until fairly recently. Brilliant game.

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  5. How can I save in this game? There is only a Load icon.

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    1. Hello. This uses a console-style system using save points. There are sun symbols scattered around at specific locations that will let you save. Read the included manual for more details.

      You can also cheat a little and use the save state feature in DOSBox Daum (Alt-F5 save, Alt-F9 load).

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    2. Where are the savegames stored? I would like to play on another computer as well.

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    3. As it uses and emulated operating system, the save games are held with one of the .img (250.img to be precise). You'd have the get that file in an img viewer or rename it to 250.vhd to open it in Windows. Pay attention to what you're doing as you might screw up the virtual OS by accident. Within the img file, it's found in PROGRAM FILES\MICROPROSE\DARK EARTH\SAVE


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  6. I've been looking for this game for SO LONG! I first played it 20 years ago (I remember renting it), I can't belive I finally finished it!

    The ending felt a bit rushed, an epilogue would have been nice, but apart from that, still as great as I remembered.

    THANK YOU so much for this!

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  7. THANK YOU so much for this! but i need help.. How can i change the language to spanish? i tried to edit Dke.cfg but i didnt succeed. Thanks again

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    Replies
    1. Hello. All my releases support English only. The UK release of Dark Earth only had English as an option so there aren't any other language options. Sorry I can't help further.

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    2. Thanks for answering. I could solve it! Inside the "Earth" CD are the folders with the English, Spanish, French languages ... I just had to modify the CD image and replace the files inside the "Us" folder with the files in the "Sp" folder and it works great. ¡Thanks for this game! :D

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  8. Something wrong the game crashes to Windows 95 emulation desktop.

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    Replies
    1. Hello. Did the game install vorrectly? Try reading some of the points in the FAQ and reinstall to see if that helps.

      Collection Chamber FAQ

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    2. It was something wrong with opengl I changed output to direct3d and now it is ok :)

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  9. Hello. When I satrt the game I dont get to see any cinematics. I just get dropped right into the game. What could be the problem?

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    1. The intro doesn't play when you click New Game (although all other cinematics will correctly during gameplay). You can view it in the cinematics section from the main menu.

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  10. Peixoto created a launcher which makes it possible to run Dark Earth and some other games on a modern OS without having to resort to Dosbox or a VM.

    Just google:

    "Peixoto's patches for a few old games"

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    1. Hello, and sorry for late reply (day job took me away).

      I'm aware of Peixoto's patches and there was a reason why I haven't used them. While I've not tried it with Dark Earth, I did with Martian Gothic and there were some issues that I ran into. It was some time ago, though, so the reasons escape me but it was enough for me to not consider it for a Chamber release.

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  11. [EDIT]
    Thank you for this version! I hope you can help with a problem that I have.
    I run this installation on Windows 7 and I experience sound stuttering, distortion and sound artifacts during the game. This happens every 5 seconds on average. There are no framerate issues. Sound hiccups happen during videos, too. I tried to make changes on the setup but it didn't lead to any results, and also some changes in the settings seem to be forbidden (I can't change the sound card). Can you please give me suggestions what I can do? Thank you for your time!

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    Replies
    1. Hello, the primary reason for this is your PC isn't beefy enough to handle the emulation. Emulating Windows 95 takes up more resources than DOS and at the moment none of the emulators I use are optimised that well. Read the FAQ for more info.

      I have found a patch for those that use PCEm which I'm looking to add when I have the time, but as my PC is already pretty powerful and runs them well, I cannot guage how useful it would be.

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    2. What ultimately helped was using the program Game Booster to turn off all processes that were eating up the system resources before playing. After that the stuttering stopped.

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  12. Whevever I try and start the game all I get is a Screen with an image showing a CD with the number "1"

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    1. Did it install correctly? I sounds like one of the .img files didn't unpack properly so the game's not finding it. If the install size isn't consistant with the the info on this page, that's most likely the issue.

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    2. Yeah something must've went wrong.
      After A redownload everything worked fine.

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  13. it's possible change the subtitle language in italian like the old version?

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    1. I only support the English language version. Sorry.

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    2. I read now that another player ask for the language...thanks for answer and for add this amazing and wonderfull game (in 1997 i has buy it original, i loved) :)

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  14. Thanks for this game! Remembering my past. I'am also trying to change the language to portuguese, like on the ISO CDs version, but it's very hard to do it. If someone discover how to do it, please share with us.

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    1. Hi, I'm Italian and I tried to unzip the game's .img file to replace the us folder with the It folder (impossible to modify normal because the .img file is write protected) to have subtitles in Italian but I couldn't (file damaged), so unfortunately it is better to leave it in English. Note that even if you change the folder in another language the movies remain in English because the original installation version is in English ... I had the original game in 1997 and it was all in Italian because it has converted completely to my language!

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    2. So...we can play this amazing game in english too, because it's not difficult understand it. I love this game and i hope that some productions will make a remake or a movie about it :)

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    3. Yes, you`re right. The english is easy to play.

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  15. I have a question regarding controls. I read carefully through the whole PDF manual, but I didn't find instructions on reloading the Thunderbolt.
    I found both the Thunderbolt (after meeting Zed) and a lot of ammo for it (by playing with Armal)

    I emptied the Thunderbolt by shooting and still plenty of ammo remained. But if I press Enter on the gun OR on the ammo, nothing happens. I tried to drag them on each other (is combining invenory items possible?), but again, nothing happened. Pressing SPACE while the gun is in my hand doesn't work, either. I'm out of ideas.

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    Replies
    1. It's been a while since I played it but I thought reloading was automatic. Are you sure you have the correct ammo? I believe the Thunderbolt uses a different type.

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  16. How can I add files to this emulator?
    I want to insert Russian language

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  17. Replies
    1. Hello. Windows '95 and the game data are held in .img files in the HDD folder. Rename them to .vhd and you can view the contents in Windows 10. Remember to eject it before you renaming it back (right click in the drive under 'This PC').

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  18. As I see discussion here is quite alive indeed. So I hope I will get answer on following question: As I'm not fond of console save system that was implemented in game originally I would love to use DosBox save-state feature but it seems it don't work for me. Tell me is this feature working when one emulate Windows 95 or maybe I need to change something to enable it?

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    1. Due to the way DOSBox DAUM emulates Windows 95 (ie it emulates the DOS implementation of it rather than Windows itself), the save state feature will not work I'm afraid. From what I remember, there are few places where a save point is far away. Maybe check a FAQ for their locations as some are quite easy to miss.

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    2. Thank you.

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  19. Any way to make it work in widescreen?

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    1. This wasn't a widescreen game, so I'm afraid not. Other than changing your monitor's settings the only thing I can think of is to edit the dosbox.conf. Change fullresolution= to your desktop resolution and aspect= to false. I don't have the files as hand to check but I believe that should do the trick.

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    2. Yhea,changing the dosbox.conf didn't do anything,I tried changing the glide files with my own and still nothing,guess the game doesn't like widescreen.Still pretty amazing that you managed to make it work on windows 10,you are the only one I know of to do this.Amazing job

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    3. Also,have you heard of BHunter?An old game that refuses to work properly on modern OS,but really nice game,kinda like G-Police if you know that one.

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    4. I was gonna say I have that, but then I was thinking of Neo Hunter. Just googled it and it looks interesting. Reminds me of the flying car scenes in The Fifth Element. I've added it to my request list.

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    5. Sorry for being so late with the reply,thank you for adding it to the list.Neo Hunter looks nice,I really dig these futuristic type games with traffic scenes like the ones in The Fifth Element.

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    6. No probs! I love 5th Element. Been trying to get the PC game to run, but videos aren't playing at the moment. It's not as good as the movie though.

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  20. I think I got it to work by adding it to the DEP list on Windows,and messing about with Compatibility and Dgvoodoo,but yhea the game is pretty bad compared to the movie,the combat is just awful.You know any other games with similar vibes to 5th Element?

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    1. The only game that comes to mind at the moment is Crime Cities (https://www.gog.com/game/crime_cities). It looks a lot like BHunter and may play a lot like it too. Maybe Zone Raiders or the Quarantine games?

      My main issue with 5th Element is the portability. The videos only work with a CD mounted, so when I said they're not working, I meant they're not working without the CD present. A few games that otherwise work have had that crop up on me and I'm still searching for a solution. DxWnd has a fake CD option, but it's not really a virtual CD. I've only found it useful if a game needs to recognise the presence of a CD rather than run data from it. Perhaps that's its primary function, but it's no help in this regard.

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  21. Thanks for the release,
    It is quite pain to make original game work on modern PC's and OS'es
    Is it possible to upscale the game? like post-processing?

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    1. DAUM does have some pixel shaders, but I don't know how well they'll work. Open dosbox.conf in notepad for the options. You can change the fullscreen resolution (though it won't necessarily upscale) and change the pixelshader to one of the files in the SHADERS folder (eg: "pixelshader=Scale4x". It might slow everything down considerably though. I believe output must be direct3d to have them working.

      Just remember to back up the .conf file before making changes. Just in case.

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  22. I've been curious about this game for a while, thank you so much for making it available! Gonna give it a try on win7. Cheers.

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  23. Thanks for the download link! My only issue is the sound. It always sounds overblown, especially when the main menu comes on. Like the bass is too turned up too high or something. Is there a way to fix this? I know next to nothing about DosBox. Really looking forward to playing this if I can fix that.

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    1. I don't recall this being much of an issue in game at least, but I'll take a look at it when I can. It's one of my earliest attempts at Win95 emulation so I suspect it's need of an update. Not sure what the cause of the sound issue could be at the moment though.

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    2. I should clarify that it's not *constant* but it happens at like, sound transitions and impact sounds I guess? The best example is the impact when the main menu falls in place, like I mentioned. The sounds peaks and pops with that "clang". I wish I could just send a recording haha. But yeah, that'd be the best sound test. Thanks for responding though!

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  24. I downloaded the install but I get an error that says 1050.img is corrupt

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  25. Spent a little too long examining everything in Provost Dhorkan's room, he keeps threatening insubordination and to my surprise he actually starts swinging at me. Wow! I'm actually blown away by this game already. For something so old, it already feels like breath of fresh air.
    Thanks for putting this up.

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  26. Today I tried to download the game, but the mega link does not work anymore. Any chance of fixing it? Thank you.

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    1. It's still there! Try deleting your cache/cookies to see if that helps.

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  27. Really great work, I have this installed on several Windows machines. I just got an Intel iMac (2012) and I'd like to play it on that -- do you know the autoexec commands to get DOSBox working there? Or can you refer me to a source of more information of how to make the installer the same way you did? Thanks, Matt

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    1. http://dosbox95.darktraveler.com/index.html

      I followed the guide here to install Windows '95 using DOSBox DAUM. From there, I installed the game how you would've done on a real machine and made it launch automatically by editing WIN.INI from the emulated Windows folder. You can edit it yourself to remove the autostart, uninstall Dark Earth within W95 and try to install a game from your own ISO if you so choose. The ISO is the only real thing to change within the AUTOEXEC section of the DOSBox config. Bear in mind that not all games/programs
      work well.

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  28. This review offers a detailed exploration of the characteristics and charm of "Dark Earth," particularly in comparison to other games of its time. The author provides a thorough analysis of the game's story, gameplay mechanics, and audio-visual presentation, leaving a profound impression. Their assessment of the game's puzzles and gameplay is also insightful. Overall, this review demonstrates the author's deep understanding and insights into the game, making it a worthwhile read for those interested in game analysis.

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