Calling all Sundog fans
Wayne Holder, founder of FTL Games and co-designer of Sundog: Frozen Legacy, is seriously contemplating bringing Sundog back to modern platforms. But he needs to get a sense of the level of interest for such a game. Drop me a line here and let me know:
- if you are interested in seeing Sundog available again
- what platform(s) you would like to see it on
- if you would like to be added to a mailing list for news of Sundog
In the meantime, I’ll be contacting those who have sent me e-mails in the past with the same questions. Look forward to hearing from you.
UPDATE [09/12/13]: Wayne has actually done work on Sundog, but I don’t know the current status. Feel free to continue to send feedback. ..bruce..
About the Author: bfwebster
Webster is Principal and Founder at at Bruce F. Webster & Associates, as well as an Adjunct Professor for the BYU Computer Science Department. He works with organizations to help them with troubled or failed information technology (IT) projects. He has also worked in several dozen legal cases as a consultant and as a testifying expert, both in the United States and Japan. He can be reached at 303.502.4141 or at bwebster@bfwa.com. Comments (160)
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Sites That Link to this Post
- Natural Born Reviewers | Sundog: Frozen Legacy | I Should Have Been A Blogger | September 12, 2013
I would absolutely play this game. I would donate greatly to Kickstarter to make it happen. Hell, I’d be happy just to play it with the original graphics, it was THAT good of a game! I would play it on a Mac, a PC, an iPad – basically, whatever platform it comes out in, I’ll get one!
I would love to see a modern update of this great game. Their just hasn’t been many games that allowed ship customization and the ability to trade/fight through a RPG strategy senario
Oh yes! I’ve been checking the progress of a possible re-appearance for a long time now. It was a game that kept us up late back then, glued to the ST monitor with notes about trading prices littering the table
It would be marvelous to see it on the Mac. I just hope this is not another false alarm. Plenty of beggars here, But no message from a certain Bruce in over a year. 😉
HEllo,
On ST : 1 Disk single face for this really rare and good game !
According to me : on Windows please, or why not on Tab ? 😉
Brgds,
R
Hi Bruce. I emailed you a few years ago about how this would be a great addition to the iPhone or iPad. I certainly still feel that way and would buy it in a hummingbird’s heartbeat the instant I knew it was available!
Dr Floyd from Gamopat (french forum)
Very interesting !!! For iPad of course !!!!
And I have a dream : SUNDOG II on XBOX 360 (or XBOX 720)
Note that i try to programm a Sundog-like game :
http://www.gamopat-forum.com/t31651-cosmos-the-secret-melody-elite-sundog-like
See you
Would LOVE to see SunDog on another platform. Android is a natural platform, even a port with minor upgrades would be a blast. I just found Another World which was another popular game on the ST around that era and thatgave me hope i would see Sundog again someday. Was surprised to find a dev ported it to android and increased the resolution.
a new sundog game would be awesome!
EI played Sundog incessantly when I was young! I freaking LOVE that game! The teaser about Old Scores to Settle drove me nuts. For years I hunted for the sequel… A few years ago I found this site but the lack of progress seemed discouraging. I am so happy to have checked in! An alpha is out! Woot! Can’t wait for beta! Did I mention
I’m excited?
YES! It has been decades, but I STILL think about this game. It was the perfect blend RPG adventure with arcade-like battles, and economic trading, and mystical storyline. Fixing your ship systems was priority #1, but you could logically use shunts. Getting information at a bar was thrilling, and I remember my first Scattergun when things went sour. Interstellar travel was dangerous, but the bounty for pirates lucrative. Discovering “untapped” markets for goods, long before online auction houses. And in the end you had to altruistically spend your money on Cryo-Citizens to start a colony. WAY ahead of its time!
Still have my original Atari 1040ST and original Sundog package. I bought the ST after a friend demo’d his version for me. Awesome game.
I think what killed the Resurrection effort was the same mistake I have often made. Attempting too much too soon. Much better to just make working ports to Win/Mac/Linux with the original graphics. (Linux users could use Wine, so just Win & Mac would be enough to start.) It would still be tremendously playable and enjoyable.
Then, upgrades could be attempted if enough talent was available.
As others have said, I would buy a copy today if it were available. Add me to the list.
Why not open up the project on Kickstarter for funding?
This might be a good way of gauging interest from a wider audience.
Elite, which is from the same era and has much in common with Sundog have just launched a kickstarter project for it’s release and seems to be gaining momentum:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1461411552/elite-dangerous?ref=live
I would happily pledge to Sundog (or invest privatley).
Sundog was one of my favorite games for the Apple IIe, along with Elite and Wasteland, both of which I recently pledged to on Kickstarter. I agree with the previous comment that this would be perfect timing for a Kickstarter project. There are still no games that let you walk around inside a ship as well as on a planet. Adding the ability to explore space stations or other ships would be great as well. I would prefer a Windows version, but I would gladly pay for an android version (phone or tablet).
I remember spending hours and hours, days and days, months and months playing Sundog: FL. I would love to be able to play it again on my Windows PC! Please, please, pleeeease give us a remake!
Would love to see this be developed for Iphone or android systems.
Dear Bruce,
As an old Sundog fan, I’d really like to see a remake. At the moment I think you have two choices,
1- Get a decent group together, gather your resources, make up a plan with milestones, start a Kickstarter project. This will require serious commitment (time and money both). And probably will not payback. It may payback if you can manage to churn out decent mobile versions. However, don’t underestimate mobile development. Android is Java, but still you have design the whole UI in a touch screen perspective, code the whole ui in android ui framework. It will not be easy. Same problem with iOS. You have to consider the mobile ports as seperate projects on their own. My suggestion would be to go for a decent / modest desktop version for Steam first. (windows/mac/linux) from there, you can consider the mobile version options. If you can manage to build a mmorpg style of gameplay on different platforms, it can be quite big. But it will require serious commitment and development time.
2- If you don’t have the motivation for managing a decent remake, open source the current code base and let folks derive an open project from it.
whatever you do, please don’t sit on your code. It doesn’t make any sense, it’s just going to turn obsolete and die, waste of time and effort.
Best regards and Good Luck !
Whenever I think of my gaming past, SunDog is always the pinnacle of my list. I played it on the Atari ST. FTL was my favorite developer during that era. The game was greatly immersive and fun. I would love to see a remake. I agree, not only desktop but a tablet version would be terrific. I personally prefer Android over iOS. Have you considered a Kickstart for funding?
No one need this…
Use an Atari ST emulator and the original disc image.
Have pfun…
KickStart the remake already!!! Then KickStart a Dungeon Master remake! You have NOTHING to lose except a few hours of your time to plan and set things up.
I’m in! Atari ST emulators are difficult to use… anyways, it’s surprising that something hasn’t been made similar to this already. Nothing to my knowledge shares the depth of gameplay this does. No doubt it could be expanded upon to brought into the new age of gaming, but this game kicks butt even now.
Doesn’t have to be but a tablet game or something… no need to overdo it… maybe?
Yes! I’d LOVE to see Sundog again!
Windows (preferred) or Android!
Please send me mail.
Sundog on ios still a possibility ever? Open up a crowdsource or kickstarter and I’d gladly contribute
Played this game as a kid. I would love to see it again!!!!
Where is it? Neither this nor the Resurrection project are out yet. What gives? I am dying to play this again!!! K
I would SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO play this game! I can’t begin to count the number of hours I spent playing this game!
What’s going on with this game? Nothing has happened with it in almost a year! I want to play it and I’m willing to pay good money for the finished product.
Have not heard anything in over a year. What going on?
What a bunch of nostalgia buffs we are! And yet, this was SUCH a good game that it deserves to live on, if only to show modern game developers what a great RPG looks like. Please bring it out!
I grew up loving this game, and have told many friends how great it was for its time. At least 20 of my friends will be all over this when it comes out. Is there an email list I can get on to get updates? Been quiet lately.
Determine if there is any interest for Rockstar to run with it. I think they could take this concept and make an unbelievable game.
I would love to play this game again. Love to see it on PC or anything Android, though I suppose I would tolerate Xbox. Kidding, I’d play it on anything I could, it was that good of a game. I would chip in for a kickstarter, I would buy it, I would be happy to do what ever I could to help it come back. How about a Steam Greenlighted project?
@James, wow, I could only imagine what Rockstar could do to take this concept and run with it, they could really breathe some life into it! You could actually walk the streets of Jondd!
Must. Get. To. Plepa! One of the greatest and most engaging games ever. So many facets of this game – so advanced for its time. I replayed it recently on an emulator, and it was so great to re-experience it. I’d love to see this game reborn. How can I help ?
-pete
It was always somewhat disappointing that when I played Sid Myers’ Civilization that I could build the Great Wall, or Pyramid of Giza, but I couldn’t build Sundog: Frozen Legacy.
I would donate to any kickstarter, even if it wasn’t a remake of the game, just to receive a tiny piece of a frozen colonist, I’d still donate.
Some of my fondest childhood memories were getting mugged in alleyways by small circles.
Please remake this game so that I may pirate.
Just saw the site. That was a KICK-BUTT game and I would happily purchase a version that ran on a modern Windows PC! I played it on the Atari ST and had a blast!
I would love to see Sundog and would love to see it on a PC/Windows platform. I loved it as a kid and would love it again as an adult.
Well here I go again, starting up an emulator to play through Sundog once again. Been doing this every other year to get my fix. I really need this remake and would give a handsome amount to this project if it were on Kickstarter. PC would be my platform of choice.
I don’t care if it’s an app for the palm pilot! Just get it done!! Wanna play!
I am a big fan of this game. I spent many hours playing this game. I miss how cool it was the liberty of this game. I thought getting mugged! and how to make money by selling parts in a café was awesome. I have not seen a game since that you have this freedom combined with the sleeping and eating feature.
I would like (if possible) a modernized or updated new music and better graphics. Yet keeping the original style. This would be a re-release of the original for hand held tablets or phones. A full blown new version with the first original game as the first part and explaining what happened to his uncle would be the climax of the game. The player would learn why humans are so hated and despised. The game play could be similar to grand theft auto combined with Jedi outcast. It depends what is the purpose of this for love or money. I imagine there are a lot of talented students that would love to intern on a project like this. Platform would be Apple, PC or PS4.
Let me know when it is available. I am doing a comic book of Brataccas (another game from the 80’s) I am using the Sundog as a ship that smuggles the hero from Brataccas away. Impling that this is why the uncle gets killed. It is a fan fiction. I am doing it for the love of the game and I will share a link to it when it is available.
played many hours of Sundog on my Atari. have been playing computer games since going to my dads office on base in the early 70’s. I have to date never played a better more thorough game. I know many try to recreate this similar feel with online gaming. But with this I didn’t need to play online.
WOuld certainly by it if some version became available. I am now looking for emulator. I use all macs
Sundog was a seminal game for me and I’d certainly contribute to a Kickstarter on it / buy a modern version. OS X or iPad is my preferred platform. Write it in Unity 3D and it’s easy to port to a number of platforms. It would probably make a perfect iPad/tablet game.
Quick and dirty port to android
like age of sail 2
dont change anything
Retro graphics same same
frequent crashing make games more exciting
I loved this game! My friend had it on his Atari and I couldn’t stop playing it. Never got the chance to finish it though. Would love to see this again on a modern platform. Whatever it may be!!
I will be pleased to purchase the game and would be even more pleased to support a crowd sourced funding effort. As for platforms, I would play it on whatever it’s released on. I use my Macbook Air the most. Followed by an iPad. I use PC (Windows) a lot. I own an X-Box 360 and PS-3.
Oh, man… So many goon memories! This was my favourite game from the Atari ST days. I never tired of playing it. Then, came the PC, life, and I forgot the game and even its name. From time to time it’s come into my mind as a sweet memory.
Recently, I came across the FTL game and I started playing it thinking that this was it due to the bird-eye view of the ship. Alas… My hopes were dashed. This FTL game just isn’t the same. Similar, but playability-wise… Not even close.
After that, I started my internet search. All I had to go by was ‘FTL’ and ‘Atari.” Eventually I saw SUNDOG somewhere and it all came back. Eventually, I found this site.
So. Count me in amongst those who are very interested in resurrecting SUNDOG. I’d also support a crown sourced project. I’d play on the PC or Linux.
Thanks for past enjoyment and any possible projects.
Sundog is, even today, one of the best games ever created.
I guess there are a lot of programmers (like me) interested in colaborate in a translation of the game to other platforms (windows, android, linux, IOs).
Many of us remember our first computer (an Atari ST) and this game is an icon of that era.
Sundog is a jewel and it must be preserved but it can not be preserved if it only runs in hardware that is disappearing and emulators that are also dying.
Bruce, please let us collaborate with you.
I used to play this game on my Apple 2c and loved it. Just spent about 2 hours trying to remember it’s name and immediately knew that I had found it.
Would love to play this game again. either iPad or PC format would be great!
Would love to see this game get a rerelease. so many good reviews above, can’t wait.
cheers