DeadCold

DeadCold
Defunct Game
Developer	Joseph Hewitt
Theme	Science fiction
Influences
Released	2001 ({{{relver}}})
Updated	2002 Feb 16 ({{{updver}}})
Licensing	Open source, Freeware
P. Language	Free Pascal
Platforms	DOS, Windows
Interface	ASCII
Game Length	Open ended
Official site of DeadCold

DeadCold is a futuristic roguelike game. The player arrives to space station offering necrology services for his own reasons. Oddly, no response is sent to request of clearance. Space station seems to be completely abandoned and runned out by monsters. Unfortunately ship has been damaged during docking and there is no way back.

Game features three very large levels representing modules of DeadCold station. The complex is completely devoid of human life. Monters escaped from laboratories roam freely. Various bots and droids still function but are unresponsive. Player encounters vacuum worms - their presence is sign that hull integrity has been breached.

DeadCold has a plot coded in. Stuck on abandoned station player tries to guess what happened before his arrival. This can be done by examining found diaries and browsing information on terminals. Computers can be hacked to obtain additional information not available to unprivileged users.

Jobs available for player are:

• Explorer
• Star Pirate
• Marine
• Bounty Hunter
• Hacker
• Samurai
• Demon Hunter
• Astral Seer
• Navigator
• Zeomancer

Especially noteworthy are food items. Their names and description suit sci-fi setting very well. A few examples:

• NutriSnax - A bag of NutriSnax chips. According to the label, this snack is supposed to provide a balanced diet for most humanoid life forms.
• Trail Mix - A mixture of dried fruits, nuts, and other healthy foods in a convenient serving-size packet.
• Canned Ravioli - A self heating can of ravioli.
• Lentilsoy Steak - These rations represent the most palatable form of portable nutrition that the modern military has to offer. Expected shelf life is five thousand years.
• Spoiled - A label on the side claims that these rations should remain edible for five thousand solar years. The thriving colony of green slime growing inside argues otherwise.
• Crunchy Critters - The bag appears to be full of some kind of arthropod, dipped in batter and deep fried.
• Tubelunch Yams - A complete meal, in tube form. Portable nutrition for today's space traveller. Yams are the best product in the Tubelunch range.
• Dietary Supplement - This pill contains all the nutrients required for human life.

Note: this game is 'defunct' only due to lack of victory condition!

Resources

• Sources updated for newer compiler
• Archived website at Reocities