The Aching (prototype)

by the Lobdegg

In a dark world somewhere between dream and nightmare you find yourself alone, cold, and without memory of where you came from. A silver locket at your feet.

The Aching is a horror adventure game in an unsettling other world where you must find the answers to three burning questions:

• Who are you?
• Where are you?
• What is the significance of this locket?

Filled to the brim with gruesome scenes, creepy close-ups, and tricky puzzles that will make your skin crawl, the world of The Aching is beautifully rendered in 16-color graphics designed for Tandy 1000 series computers. Feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end as the sullen sounds of forgotten nightmares lap from the Tandy 3-voice sound chip!

Join us on a trip of discovery into the dark realms of The Aching.

Releasing sometime in 2023.

System specifications

The Aching runs well in DOSBox on any system (Linux/macOS/Windows). If running on real DOS hardware, the system requirements are:

• Any 8086 (or higher) IBM-compatible PC, running at 6 MHz or faster
• MS-DOS (or compatible operating system) or Windows 95/98
• 256KB of RAM
• Tandy 16-color (TGA), or EGA 16-color graphics
• Optional: Tandy 3-voice sound, Roland MT-32 MIDI modules

Controls

Arrow keys / Number Pad Keys - Move
Escape key - presents the menu
F1 - show version
F2 - restart (currently non functional)
F5 - save game
F6 - load game
F8 - toggle cycle limiter
F9 - quit

Additional comments from the author

The engine is nearly feature complete but the game itself is a prototype—only about 1/3rd made. Most of the work done so far has been establishing the scripting engine, which utilizes several resource file formats I've developed over the years for use in a variety of DOS/pre-Windows 2000 games. There are several screens currently included and a handful of game-specific text blurbs and parser commands.

—the Lobdegg

Contact

Mastodon:
Hadrosaurus Software (development studio)
the Lobdegg, author

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