The Upper Memory Block Podcast

Hi Blockers!

Welcome to episode 15! This week we talk about Bullfrog’s 1993 game, Syndicate.

Before we get to that though, lots of news this week:

Pledge Quest, the fan game supporting the Two Guys SpaceVenture released a second part. Give it a look!

X-Com: Enemy Unknown has released to great reviews!

In SimCity 5 News, it appears the game will not allow you to restore or delete your cities.

Wing Commander’s Chris Roberts launched a crowdfunding campaign to create an ambitious new space sim called Star Citizen / Squadron 42.

Finally, Mechwarrior Online is going to open beta, giving everyone a chance to give the game a try.

After all this news and an email, we get to the main topic of the show, 1993’s Syndicate. Lots of great info here.

Get Syndicate on GoG:
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/syndicate/?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f

Get Syndicate 2012 on Origin:
http://store.origin.com/store/ea/en_US/pd/productID.108004900

Next week, we take a look at another game from 1993, Star Control. Hope to see you then!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/015-UMBCast-Syndicate.mp3

Welcome Blockers!

A little late, but here I am with episode 14! This time around we chat about the great paranormal mystery adventure game series, Gabriel Knight.

As usual though, the news:

Project Eternity is a kickstarter RPG made in the vein of late 90’s PC RPG’s like Icewind Dale and Planetscape: Torment. If you like that style of game, check it out!

Sword of Fargoal 2 is an attempt (again on kickstarter) to bring back the Sword of Fargoal roguelike dungeon crawler from the Commodore 64. Again, if this type of game is your bag, give it a look!

Finally, in Steam news, the demo for the new X-COM: Enemy Unknown game is available for download. The full game is due to release on October 9th, 2012.

We then have two great listener emails where we go back and chat a bit about Command & Conquer.

Now, on to our main topic for the week, Sierra’s Gabriel Knight series. I go into great detail about the first game, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. We talk story, gameplay, tech focus and the rest. In dev story I go into the rest of the games in the series as well.

I end off with a live performance of some soundtrack music from the first game.

You can get all three GK games on GoG.com:

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers

The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery

Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned

Next time, we check out an interesting 1993 tactical strategy series, Syndicate. Hope to see you then!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/014-UMBCast-Gabriel_Knight.mp3

Hey there Blockers!

Time for episode 13! This week we delve into the world of Mechwarrior and Battletech.

Since I’m such a big fan of this series, I’ve got too much to say, so I forego the news except for one small item: Over the weekend I guest hosted Treks in Sci Fi episode 401. There I talk about two 90s Star Trek adventure games by Interplay. Check it out if you’d like!

Then we quickly get into things. I talk about both Mechwarrior and Mechwarrior 2. I cover quite a bit of Battletech backstory, how the games differ, gameplay, tech focus on each and a great development story.

In current Mechwarrior news, I discuss the upcoming game, Mechwarrior Online.

I discuss how to get these games running using the community-made source port, MechVM.

Finally, we listen to a great voicemail, I give my verdict as to whether or not Mechwarrior holds up today and close out the show.

Next week: The really cool Sierra adventure game series, Gabriel Knight.

Enjoy episode 13!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/013-UMBCast-Mechwarrior.mp3

Hey Blockers!

The time has come for episode 12! This time around, we look into our first game from the king of simulation, Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon.

Before we dive into the business simulation pool, some news:

Command & Conquer: Generals 2 will apparently not be a traditional retail boxed game. Initially, it will be released as a free to play multiplayer online game with a single player campaign to follow.

In Kickstarter news, the creator of the Broken Sword series has started a campaign with the goal of funding a new game in the Broken Sword series. There’s still quite a bit of time left so check it out!

Finally, Chris Pope of the Guys from Andromeda podcast recently interviewed Lori and Corey Cole, creators of the original Quest for Glory series. In the great audio interview they discuss memories of working at Sierra and also discuss their new project, The School for Heroes.

We then get on to the main topic, the very deep, detailed and challenging 1990 business simulation game, Railroad Tycoon. As usual we talk genre, gameplay, dev story and the rest.

Download Railroad Tycoon Deluxe for free

Get Railroad Tycoon 2 and 3 on Steam.

Next time, we join the clans with Mechwarrior! Hope to see you then!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/012-UMBCast-Railroad-Tycoon.mp3

Hello to all the Blockers!

Welcome to episode 11. This time around, we’re heading back to the adventure genre with a great LucasArts game from 1990, Loom.

First though, some news:

Shortly after the last show, strange rumours started popping up about a new Rise of the Triad game by Apogee software. Turns out they are true!

Some more info about the new X-COM: Enemy Unknown game has come out. We’re talking competitive multiplayer and a release date! You can also pre-order at their site.

Finally, some sad news: 3D modelling pioneer Paul Steed, who worked on games like Strike Commander and Quake, passed away suddenly this week.

After the news we read a few listener emails covering a few topics.

Business aside, I then start to delve into the fantastic and wonderful world of Loom. As usual we cover all the aspects of story, gameplay, development and more relating to this truly unique adventure game from Lucasfilm Games.

If you want to give Loom a go, it can be purchased on Steam.

Next week, we put on our conductor’s hat when we look at yet another game from 1990, Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon.

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/011-UMBCast-Loom.mp3

Hey hey Blockers!

Welcome to episode 10! This time around we go deep into the mines with Parallax Software’s amazing 1995 FPS, Descent.

As usual, before we get into that, a bit of news:

First of all, I joined the GoG.com affiliate program. So, if you were planning to pick up any of the games I talk about on the show, I’d really appreciate it if you went to GoG via the show site as it gives me a small kickback that I can use to cover some of the show’s expenses. You can get there by clicking the GoG banners in the right hand column!

Aside from that, last week’s Red Baron show led me to check out some current games in the flight sim genre and I came across Microsoft Flight. It’s free to play so I’ll definitely be giving it a whirl in the near future.

Finally, I blogged about a really cool article earlier in the week. In it, one of the original developers of Warcraft: Orcs vs. Humans talks about the very beginnings of that seminal game. It’s a great read!

I read an email from BJ, where he provides a bit of additional info on emulation, which I talked about back in episode 6.

Then, on to the main topic, 1995’s Descent. I cover the usual suspects and talk about some cool and different ways to play it today ending off with some listener voicemails.

Buy Descent from GoG.com

Descent source port downloads: DXX-Rebirth and D2X-XL.

Next time, I’ll be talking about the unique LucasArts adventure game from 1990, Loom. Hope to see you then!

Stream the show live:

Direct download:
http://umbcast.com/podcast/010-UMBCast-Descent.mp3