Dungeons & Desktops Interview, Dungeons of Daggorath Retrospective

The inquisitive types at Gnome’s Lair have posted a Q&A with Matt Barton, the author of the well-regarded book Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-playing Games. The interview covers more ground than just the aforementioned book, but since that’s our primary interest, I’ll quote a bit about it:

Now, let’s focus a bit on the rather epic Dungeons and Desktops. Why CRPGs? Could you briefly describe the book? Has it sold to your expectations? Did you enjoy writing it?

It’s pretty much what it says; the history of computer role-playing games. I tried to talk about every important or even remotely influential game in the book, describing what makes them fun and how they fit into the grand history of the genre. I tried to show connections across eras and styles, so you could get a sense of the diversity. Someone may have heard of Baldur’s Gate, for instance, but be unaware of Planescape: Torment, Pool of Radiance, or Eye of the Beholder. I meet people who may know all about Zelda and Final Fantasy, but have never heard of Ultima or Lord British. That bothered me, so I thought it was time to write a book on the topic.

The book has sold well. Of course, something like this won’t be a bestseller. But I wrote this book for people like us, not the mainstream. By “us,” of course, I’m talking about people who love games like Wizardry and Fallout and enjoy nothing more than talking and thinking about them.

While browsing his Matt Chat channel on YouTube, I also noticed that he recently did a retrospective for Dyna Micro’s Dungeons of Daggorath. Along with Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, this was one of the first RPGs I ever played, and therefore is one of my all-time favorites:

Thanks, RPG Codex.

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