Depths Of Darkness - Eric Draves - Destructosoft Info??

[DarkStar]

Wow! It's been 14 years since the game Depths Of Darkness V1.1 came out. Crazy but I'm still playing this. I'm trying to locate Eric Draves of Destructosoft. Is Eric still active in the community? Anyone have his contact info? I want to see if he will finally release the source code. Really love the game and have been playing it for 14 years. It would be fun to see how it works. Maybe try to fix all the bugs that never got fixed. Thanks!

[SMC]

I found this and tried it out. It is pretty cool. Best of luck.

[ngocnhungplaza]

That's awesome to hear someone’s still playing Depths Of Darkness after all these years! I’ve also wondered what happened to Eric Draves — haven’t seen any recent activity from him either. You might have better luck reaching out via old contact emails if any still work, or checking platforms like GitHub or itch.io just in case he resurfaced under a different handle. Would love to see the source too if it ever gets released!

[DarkStar]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have checked GitHub and also Itch. The only contact info I had was his Facebook page. That seems dead for hasn't been updated in a LONG time.

I used to talk to Eric once in awhile and he said he would release the source. At that time he said he didn't want to because his code had in his mind programming 'tricks' and 'secrets'. He didn't want others to know because it took him a long time to figure them out.

Later after I kept bugging him he said he would release code after 5 years or something. When I reached out then he still didn't want to release it. I think that was the last time I talked with him. I think this will be another game lost to time. It's a shame and why I think Open Source is important.

[paul doe]

...
I used to talk to Eric once in awhile and he said he would release the source. At that time he said he didn't want to because his code had in his mind programming 'tricks' and 'secrets'. He didn't want others to know because it took him a long time to figure them out.
...

'In his mind', well put. Judging from what I've played, he's no Carmack so whatever...

If you like it so much, why don't you remake it, so you can share the code? Doesn't need to be a faithful recreation, just something in the same 'vein'. Can't take you more than a weekend or two...

[angros47]

There is also a game on Steam with the same title

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2712 ... _Darkness/

[Berkeley]

Can't take you more than a weekend or two...

This would be a programming world record... Better expect 500 hours...

[DarkStar]

I'm not the greatest programmer. Given enough time I might be able make something like it. Even if I could make it what I made wouldn't be the same. Who knows what all the internal numbers and stats are or how thing works. In the game there are switches you pull. These give effects and cause misc things to happen. Even after playing all these years I couldn't tell you what many of them do or don't do.

The game has tons of bugs and things that don't work correctly. So I agree with what you said about him not being Carmack level. In the text file included he talks about all the issues he had with sound and music. I wrote up a ton of bugs and also suggestion. A few others did as well. He never did any of them and I think he said some he couldn't figure out how to fix.

I not sure. Maybe he wasn't that skilled. I just know I really love the game he made. I'm happy that it still plays on modern computers. Just would love to fix all the issues and bugs. Add mine and other people's suggestions. Those forum thread still exist with the lists and ideas. It would be fun and interesting to me to be able to update the game. Too bad you can't somehow reverse engineer the game from the .EXE

Thanks for all the replies!

[paul doe]

I'm not the greatest programmer. Given enough time I might be able make something like it. Even if I could make it what I made wouldn't be the same.

Yeah but you don't have to replicate it to a tee, no? You can make something similar in spirit; a sort of 'homage', if you will. All that matters is that the mechanics are similar and that you will be able to enjoy playing your own game...

I not sure. Maybe he wasn't that skilled.

Oh you bet.

For now, I'll share one of his 'secrets' with you: see all those .ejd files on the files folder? Those are just BMPs with a different extension (save the last two, file20.ejd and file21.ejd, which contain data such as saved games), so you can open them in any BMP editor (such as GIMP), and edit/use them:

So, at least you have something to start working with, no?

[adeyblue]

Oh you bet.

Did this guy Πss in your cornflakes or something? You seem rather abnormally determined to assassinate this guy because 14 years ago he had the temerity to make a game people like

[BasicCoder2]

@DarkStar

Those forum thread still exist with the lists and ideas. It would be fun and interesting to me to be able to update the game. Too bad you can't somehow reverse engineer the game from the .EXE

You can however duplicate the behavior of the game. As I understand it there would be a game engine to code and the rest is nothing but data that you can add to your hearts content nothing to do with coding. It is all this data (stories, graphics) that takes time to create not the actual game engine.

What makes the game enjoyable compared with similiar games?

I am not inclined to download an .exe to see its actual behaviors I am paronoid about getting a virus or malware.

[paul doe]

You can however duplicate the behavior of the game. As I understand it there would be a game engine to code and the rest is nothing but data that you can add to your hearts content nothing to do with coding. It is all this data (stories, graphics) that takes time to create not the actual game engine.

Indeed. The fact the assets are also available makes it possible to use them to create an enhanced version/port/sequel.

What makes the game enjoyable compared with similiar games?

It is kind of like a mixture between Gauntlet and a more 'traditional' roguelike. Semi-real-time (if you don't move, eventually a turn will pass).

It has simple and unpretentious gameplay, but is quite entertaining and oozes that 'just one more run!' vibe that many roguelikes lack. You play for scoring, but it has simple roguelike mechanics in place: you level up by killing enemies and destroying their generators (which spawn enemies regularly until you destroy them), and in each level there is a sword, a shield, and armor that raise your stats to be able to keep up with the increasingly powerful monsters.

You can collect items such as gold (for scoring), keys (to open locked doors), health potions (which restore health) and scrolls (which work sort of like a room-clearing bomb), and the map (which reveals the layout and the 'interesting' rooms, although all of them might contain something useful)

The screen is divided in 4 quadrants: game view, map, status and messages. The 'X' marks where you are, and the big colored squares are 'interesting' rooms (rooms that contain treasure, or switches, or generators). The map is toroidal so you wrap around it.

Once a floor is cleared (they are self-contained), you get bonus gold for not using potions, not using scrolls, and others. The design is really simple, but purposeful and entertaining.

I am not inclined to download an .exe to see its actual behaviors I am paronoid about getting a virus or malware.

For what is worth: I tested it, works fine and has no virus/malware. You might have to fiddle with the DPI settings to be able to see anything, though (the image above was cropped; the game runs fullscreen)

[DarkStar]

Yeah. I did see that some of the files were .BMP graphic files. Some of the others are the save data. Thanks for looking into it and posting that. You are correct that a version could be made that would be the same type of game or maybe an enhanced version or something like that. I guess it doesn't have to be exactly the same. At first I was thinking of just trying to fix all the bugs and add features to the old version. Stuff like some of the font and text color choices make it very hard to read and play. Sometimes to color choices are also wacky and it makes it hard to see items or monsters on the tile floors.

Thanks Paul Doe. That is a perfect write up and pretty much explains the gameplay and how it works. There is also switches that do random things. The other interesting thing to be is the map gets larger and larger as you advance levels. There are more rooms and it ends up taking longer to complete. I don't know how many levels there are. I have never won the game. It's actually a pretty tough game.

I don't know what it is about this game. I just have always liked it. There are other games that are like it even you talked about Gauntlet which I for sure see that here. With the monster generators and all that. I believe he talks about some of the influences in the read me that comes with the game.
There is something interesting about about how all the gameplay works together. Even if it's a pretty simple game at it's core.

Anyways really appreciate everyone taking the time to post and to try to help.

[Imortis]

Did this guy Πss in your cornflakes or something? You seem rather abnormally determined to assassinate this guy because 14 years ago he had the temerity to make a game people like

Saying "he's not that skilled" and "he's no Carmack" hardly counts as assassination. The same could be said for just about all of us, me included. It seems to me to have nothing to do with "the temerity to make a game people like". This read, to me, as more of a attempt to spur people into action to make their own.
There is no reason it can't be done, and I for one, would love to see more games, programs, projects, etc. I don't care what the quality is. Improvement is always possible.

Now, back on the bigger topic at larger: I would love to see a remake, redo, new take, or what ever on this game. I suck at roguelike games, but I still like to play them from time to time.

@DarkStar: If you decide to take up the project, I will do what I can to help, should you need it.

[DarkStar]

Yes I wasn't trying to belittle him in any way. He has more skill than I do. Since he was able to make this game. My point was there were tons of bugs and other things that would I love to change. Some he couldn't fix himself like he had tons of music and sound problems. Where something will happen and it could be 30 seconds later before it play the sound that goes with it. Another big one is you stop when hitting traps and they are not removed. They can keep hitting you over and over. Stuff like that seems pretty easy to track down and fix.

@Imortis Thank you! It does seem like a remake or a new version is going to be the way to go. Others (like Paul Doe) have expressed some interest in helping to do this. I can help offer suggestions and play test it for bugs. I think if I had the original game's source I could fix the bugs and add some new features. I don't think I have the skill to remake the whole game.