von Gast » Di 2. Aug 2005, 00:21
I wish! It would be a dream come true for many fans if the other FIVE expansions were ever finished! See the next post for a list of them. Unfortunately, none of the other games were made for any computer. The 16 bit versions do have more features than the 8-bit version such as being able to join guilds and get jobs, but they do not seem to have the same "magic" or realism that the original Atari 8-bit The City has. I don't think there is any type of translator either. The game was first created on the A8 and then later designed or ported over to the other systems.
Here is some info on the completed versions from
http://www.eobet.com/alternate-reality/
The first Alternate Reality game was The City for the Atari 8-bit line of computers,
released early in 1985. It was a result from a joint effort by publisher company Datasoft
and Paradise Programming (Philip Price and Gary Gilbertson). But, it was under a company
named Marsten Systems, a year earlier, that Philip Price made his initial work on the game,
which featured The City and The Dungeon as one game. However, Marsten systems wanted a
game out fast, and had The City and The Dungeon split into two games. And, when The City
was not completed on schedule, Marsten turned it over to Datasoft.
However, the contract Philip Price signed with Datasoft allowed them to charge 100% of
conversion costs from his 7.5% of the net profits. Datasoft took longer time to convert
The City to each different platform than it took Philip Price to write the original game,
and so, he never saw any money (except small advances while writing his version) and was
forced to leave the business to seek an income elsewhere (in that process, a Philip Price
coded version of The Dungeon, which was about 50% complete, was lost).
Philip Price left his concept and ideas behind to Ken Jordan and Dan Pinal (employed by
Datasoft, which also by this time, went by the name Intellicreations). Using conceptual
documents and hand written notes by Gary Gilbertson taken during questioning sessions with
Philip Price, they were able to continue developing the series, and after 18 months release
Alternate Reality: The Dungeon for the Atari 8-bits (with music from Gary Gilbertson,
working from Hawaii, and graphics by Bonita Long-Hemsath, an inhouse Datasoft artist).
A C64 version of The Dungeon followed along with a conversion of The City (in the late 1985).
Plans for the third installment, Alternate Reality: Arena, which would deviate from the 3D
first person perspective and let you see your own character for the first time, were outlined,
but by now, the 8-bit market was declining and Datasoft were in financial trouble. Software
Toolworks then stepped in and bought Datasoft, and told Ken Jordan and Dan Pinal to work on
the 16-bit ports of The Dungeon from home. They got as far as a 70% complete version before
they both got layed off. Software Toolworks didn't have much faith in the CRPG market, and
decided to not wait any longer for The Dungeon to be finished.
Thus the only games that ever made it to the public of the original Alternate Reality
game series were the following:
Alternate Reality: The City for the Atari 8-bit computers
Commodore 64 port of The City
Apple II port of The City (?? version)
Machintosh port of The City (?? version)
Atari ST version of The City (16-bit version)
Amiga version of The City (16-bit version)
PC port by The City (not made by any of the original authors) (16-bit version)
Alternate Reality: The Dungeon for the Atari 8-bit computers
Commodore 64/128 port of The Dungeon
Apple II port of The Dungeon
Today, all copyrights for Alternate Reality has reverted back to Philip Price.
-INFORMATION COURTESY OF PHILIP PRICE, GARY GILBERTSON, KEN JORDAN AND DAN PINAL
