The Upper Memory Block

Welcome to episode 54 where we'll be discussing the 1987 Microprose action/adventure/strategy title Sid Meier's Pirates! Now this is when I usually have the news, I've decided for the time being to drop the news section from the show and see how that goes. If you think I should put the news back in, let me know at podcast@umbcast.com. We then get to the main event, Pirates! As always we discuss the genre, story, gameplay, tech focus and dev story. Also, a bit of a recommendation: Friend of the show Chris was recently on the DOS Nostalgia Podcast and did an AMAZING rundown of DOS-era flight sims. If you have any fond memories of flight sims, you should check out episode 9 of the show (in addition to other shows on other topics). Find it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdzAxtVRVNc Buy Pirates! Gold Plus on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/pirates_gold_plus?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f Buy Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004) on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/ Buy Sid Meier's Pirates iPad on the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/sid-meiers-pirates!/id499794670?mt=8 Next time, we'll be racing into 1989 with Papyrus' Indianapolis 500: The Simulation. Enjoy!

In episode 53 we discuss the 1991 Dynamix adventure game, The Adventures of Willy Beamish. Not much in the news this week. It appears Star Citizen's pre-alpha multiplayer functionality has just gone live. Also, both the Steam and GoG.com summer sales have ended. I hope everyone had a good haul. We then get into the main topic, Willy Beamish where we discuss the story, unique gameplay, technology and development. Watch me play at: http://youtu.be/urfBHlGbyQo Also, don't forget about the Telltale Sam & Max giveaway! Email me with the subject line "Sam & Max Giveaway" for a chance to win! Next time I'll be covering my second Sid Meier game, Sid Meier's Pirates! See you then!

It's episode 52 where I discuss the 1993 Lucasarts rail shooter, Rebel Assault. Only a bit of news this week: Star Citizen's Arena Commander has launched for backers! Sony, Lucasarts and DoubleFine are working on a remastering of Grim Fandango for PS4 and Vita. Listener Carlos sent a link to his 8-bit album, Mount Analog: http://carlocarosi.bandcamp.com/ We then discuss Rebel Assault. Genre, story, gameplay, tech focus, dev story, emails and the rest! Next time, I'll be covering the 1991 Dynamix adventure game, the Adventures of Willy Beamish.

Heya Blockers! It's time for episode 51! This time around I'm changing things up a bit and covering a new game, Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure which came out back on May 7th, 2014. In the news: More accusations in the Zenimax/Oculus VR lawsuit. Levar Burton has launched a kickstarter to bring Reading Rainbow to the web. We then get to the main topic, Tesla Effect. Despite this being a new game, we cover some Tex history and then talk gameplay, tech stuff, dev story read some emails and give the final verdict. Buy Tesla Effect on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/tesla_effect_a_tex_murphy_adventure?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f Buy the soundtrack: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tex-murphy-tesla-effect-soundtrack/id854785997 For more Tex Murphy info, check out UMBCast 038 Next time, I'll be hitting some Star Wars with Rebel Assault.

Lok'tar Ogar Blockers! For episode 50, I cover the hugely popular 1994 RTS (and eventually MMO and TCG) series, Warcraft. In the news: Carmack is being sued by id. The launch trailer for Wolfenstein: The New Order is out and the game releases next week. A kickstarter for The Way, a game in the spirit of Another World and Flashback can use your support! We then get on to Warcraft. I get into a big focus on lore, gameplay and development story. Sadly, there's nowhere to buy the games digitally! Next time, I'll be discussing the newly released Tex Murphy kickstarter game, Tesla Effect.

It's time for episode 49 where I'll be discussing the 1994 Adeline Software action-adventure, Little Big Adventure. News: I've been playing the crap out of Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls lately. At PAX East, Star Citizen held an event where they previewed their new dogfighting module. Abandoned E.T. cartridges found in New Mexico landfill! In Star Wars news: Disney has announced what they will be doing with the Star Wars EU. We then get to the main event, Little Big Adventure. Genre, story, gameplay, tech and dev story are all discussed as usual. Buy Little Big Adventure on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/little_big_adventure?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f Buy Little Big Adventure 2 on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/little_big_adventure_2?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f Next time, I'll be covering a big one, the quintessential Blizzard Entertainment series, Warcraft. Thanks and enjoy!

Matsuba Blockers! It's time for episode 48 where I'll be discussing The 1991 Delphine Software cinematic adventure, Another World. News: We've just found out Dave Cummins, writer of Beneath a Steel Sky, passed away in 2008. GoG.com will be releasing more games with Linux support. Julian Gollop of X-COM fame has launched a kickstarter called Chaos Reborn. Microsoft has released the source code for MS DOS 1.1 and Word for Windows. It's the 25th anniversary of Space Quest 3! We then get into the meat of the show, Another World. Story, gameplay, dev story and LOTS of emails! Buy Another World on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/another_world_20th_anniversary_edition?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f Buy Another World on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/233550/ YouTube play session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ekfc0Pz6YA Next time, I'll be covering the 1994 adventure game, Little Big Adventure. Enjoy! Stream the show live: [audio src="http://umbcast.com/podcast/048-UMBCast-Another-World.mp3"] Direct download: http://umbcast.com/podcast/048-UMBCast-Another-World.mp3

Be vigilant, Blockers! Welcome to episode 47 where we discuss the 1994 Revolution Studios adventure, Beneath A Steel Sky. First though, the news: Thief 4 has released to mixed reviews. Jane Jensen's Moebius: Empire Rising now has a release date and it's soon! The BBC has released a free remake of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy text adventure in celebration of its 30th anniversary. Play it for free online! Peter Molyneux and 22 Cans have released a big update to Godus in light of some negative feedback. We then get on to the main event, Beneath a Steel Sky. We talk about all the usual suspects and a few listener emails. Get Beneath a Steel Sky for FREE on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/beneath_a_steel_sky Get Beneath a Steel Sky from SCUMMVM: http://scummvm.org/games/#sky Beneath a Steel Sky Enhanced Soundtrack Project: http://www.jameswoodcock.co.uk/2011/11/21/my-beneath-a-steel-sky-enhanced-soundtrack-version-1-0-released-for-scummvm/ Next time, I'll be talking about the 1991 platformer, Another World.

For this show, something a bit different. I'm away so won't have time to put out a proper show. Instead, I'll be bookending a Treks in Sci Fi show I did back in September of 2012 where I talk about the great Interplay games Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgement Rites. Still though, there's some news: Tim Schafer has stated that the second part of Broken Age has funded and can now begin development. Next, it appears that Descent 1 & 2 are now available on Steam. We then get into the TrekSF episode. It's slightly truncated from the original which ca be found here: http://treksinscifi.com/podcast_notes/?p=2564 Next time, I'll be covering the 1994 Revolution Software adventure, Beneath a Steel Sky. Hope you enjoy the show!

Time for episode 45, the second part of our Dune coverage! A bit of news: A runthrough of the Steam game streaming beta. The new mobile version of Dungeon Keeper is somewhat disappointing. Then we get to the second half of our Dune coverage, covering the Westwood group of Dune games, starting with Dune 2. Enjoy! Play Dune 2 free online at: http://play-dune.com/ Play Dune 2000 and more with OpenRA: http://openra.res0l.net/

Welcome to episode 44 where we're talking about the 1992 Virgin Interactive series, Dune. In this first part we'll discuss the first game by Cryo Interactive. First though, the news: It appears a remake of the 1989 open-world RPG, Midwinter is in the works. SimCity is getting an online mode, despite assurances it wasn't possible. Some changes to the design to the Steam controller are coming. Next, some email links: Sierra Gamers: www.sierragamers.com SierraHelp: www.sierrahelp.com Quest Studios: www.queststudios.com Sierra Music Central: www.sierramusiccentral.com Game Center CX: http://www.sa-gccx.com We then get to the main event, Dune by Cryo Interactive. Next time, we'll be discussing Dune II and its descendants. Enjoy!

Time for episode 43 where I'll be talking about a group of WWII flight sims from Lucasarts, Battlehawks 1942, Their Finest Hour: Battle of Britain and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. As always though, the news: 7th Guest 3: The Collector has restarted a new crowd funding campaign with a more reasonable goal. Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics have been removed from both GoG and Steam due to rights transfer. Wired.co.uk did a great interview with the managing director of GoG.com. Stardock has announced they are actively working on a new Star Control game. We then get to the main topic, the Lucasarts flight sims. We have a great discussion of the history of these three games plus one more I hadn't heard of. Next time, I'll be talking RTS with Dune. Enjoy!

It's time for episode 42, all about Sierra's 1987 adventure series, Police Quest. As always, though, some news: Wasteland 2 is available for purchase via Steam Early Access. The gog.com winter sale is ending and the Steam winter sale will soon begin. A new trailer has released for the new Tex Murphy game, Tesla Effect. A new Star Wars game, Attack Squadron has been teased. We don't have a ton of info, but we do have a trailer. We then get on to the main topic, Police Quest. We discuss the first four games of the series. Buy Police Quest 1-4 on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/police_quest_1_2_3_4?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f YouTube playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2whCuUnKwYDHG4T5Yn6AdAunPkM6q9-P Next time, we'll be covering the series of LucasArts WWII flight sims, Battlehawks 1942, Their Finest Hour and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. I'm excited to get back into some combat flight sims.

For episode 41, we're talking about the 1993 Trilobyte interactive movie game, The 7th Guest. In the news: John Carmack officially leaves Id Software. thesurvivor2299.com launches, may be a Fallout 4 teaser site. We'll know soon enough! Steam is introducing user reviews. Steam's Autumn (or Spring, depending where you live) sale is on! Star Citizen has hit 33 million in funding and unlocked more stretch goals. We then get into the 7th Guest and the 11th Hour. We get into all the usual topics. Buy the 7th Guest on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/the_7th_guest?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f Buy the 11th Hour on GoG: http://www.gog.com/game/the_11th_hour?pp=1106a1dda2d680438ecfb0bb70fd479c55a1791f Buy the 7th Guest and the 11th Hour on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/32847/ Next time, we're covering the Sierra procedural adventure series, Police Quest.

It's time for episode 40, where I am covering the 1995 LucasArts FPS series, Dark Forces/Jedi Knight. Before that though, the news: Damon Slye has launched and retracted a Red Baron Kickstarter. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has done an interesting compare/contrast review of Dungeon Keeper vs. War for the Overworld. Trilobyte Games has launched a kickstarter to develop the third game in the 7th Guest series. From Blizcon 2013, Blizzard has a team working on bringing the original two Warcraft RTS games to modern PCs. We then discuss the four games in Dark Forces / Jedi Knight series. All the usual suspects and a ton of your emails! Buy the Jedi Knight collection on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/2103/?snr=1_7_15__13 Next time, we'll be covering the 1993 horror adventure, the 7th Guest.