Dark Side

Dark Side
First release	1988
Also known as	N/A
Developed by	Incentive Software, Major Developments
Published by	Incentive Software
Distributed by	Incentive Software, Epyx, Cinemaware Corporation, MicroProse Ltd., Kixx
Platforms	DOS, Amiga, AtariST, Commodore64, ZX Spectrum, AmstradCPC
Resolution	320x200, 16 colors (DOS, EGA)
Engine	Freescape
Support	Since ScummVM 2.8.0
Available for Purchase	No

Dark Side is an action/adventure game featuring scaling and rotating polygon graphics. The game is set on the alien moon Tricuspid orbiting the planet Evath. Terrorists (the Ketars, the villains of the previous game Driller) hijacked the moon's facilities and built Zephyr One, an immense beam weapon on the moon's dark side with the purpose of destroying Evath. The player is a government agent, sent secretly to the moon's surface with the mission of deactivating the weapon before it becomes fully charged. This is accomplished by destroying a power network in the form of ECD (Energy Collection Device) columns, dotted around the moon and connected with power lines all the way to the beam weapon.

Installation

For more information on how ScummVM uses game data files, see the user documentation.

Dark Side was released in a number of platforms over the years. Depending on release you have, you need to extract and/or copy different files.

ZX Spectrum releases

If the ZX Spectrum release is from a tape, it should be saved first from the original cassette into a tzx file. Make sure you save the complete disk, not just a single program from it. Once the tape is saved, install tzxtools you will need to extract three files:

• The title screen image, which should be renamed as "darkside.zx.title" and has exactly 6912 bytes.
• The game data, which should be renamed as "darkside.zx.data" and is around 34 kbytes.
• The border image, which should be renamed as "darkside.zx.border" and has exactly 6912 bytes.

For instance, for the original Incentive release (1988), you can inspect their files using the tzxls command:

$ tzxls darkside.tzx

...

5 Turbo Speed Data Block 6912 bytes of bogus header

6 Turbo Speed Data Block 34460 bytes of bogus header

7 Turbo Speed Data Block 6912 bytes of bogus header

In order to extract these files, use the tzxcat command:

tzxcat darkside.tzx -b 5 > darkside.zx.title

tzxcat darkside.tzx -b 6 > darkside.zx.data

tzxcat darkside.tzx -b 7 > darkside.zx.border

Amstrad CPC releases

All the Amstrad CPC releases should be saved first from the original cassette/disk into a Extended dsk file.

Once the data is saved, use Disk Image Manager to open the image and extract the following files:

• dark1.scr

• dark2.scr

• darkcode.bin

Make sure the files are extracted with header.

DOS releases

For the DOS release, copy the following files:

• darkside.exe
• dside?.exe
• scn1?.dat

So far, only EGA and CGA rendering modes are supported.

AtariST/Amiga releases

For getting the files for playing the AtariST/Amiga releases, the files should be copied from the disk. One way to do it is to dump the disk and then use deark to extract them. Copy the following files:

• 0.drk
• 1.drk

Keep in mind that some releases are protected with Copylock, which is some kind of encryption. In that case, follow the instructions here to obtain decrypted versions of the games.

Other releases and demos

Other releases are unsupported right now (e.g. C64), but we are working to support all of them. Some demos are also supported, following the corresponding instructions. We collected all the supported Freescape demos, in case you want to test them. If you find an unsupported demo, please open an issue or contact us.

Bugs

This is an incomplete list of bugs in the original implementation, indicating if the bug is already fixed (✓) or not fixed (✗) in ScummVM:

✗ The player can stand up even if there is no room above it. This was fixed in the following Freescape games.

✗ Some indicators such as score or ECD percentage are not resetted when replaying the demo. To reproduce:

1. Start a new game

2. Collect some points, lower the ECD percentage.

3. End game

4. Wait for the demo to play. The score and ECD percentage are not restarted to the initial values.

Guides and Walkthroughs

Dark Side is not exactly the same in different platforms. While the areas are the same, they feature puzzles with different solutions. We compile a list of walkthroughs for different platforms:

• ZX Spectrum
• DOS
• AtariST
• List of hints from the manual

External links

• MobyGames entry for Dark Side
• Wikipedia article on Dark Side