History VideoGame / DarkSun

* MonsterShapedMountain: Wyrm, where Magera leave. The entrance is a skull of a giant reptile, which opens into a sinuous snake-like corridor. The rest is pretty boring rectangular rooms, though.

* AndIMustScream: There are hints that Dagolar turned somebody into a living tapestry depicting an animated screaming face.

* ObviousBeta: Besides the {{Game Breaking Bug}}s listed above, there are a few non-critical, but glaring problems. ''Wake of the Ravager'' was reputed to be buggier.
** Synchronization of screen updates isn't working quite right. If you move too fast, pieces of sprites like doors and walking [=NPCs=] stay hanging in the air.
** Killed [=NPCs=] would occasionally start talking to you. Sometimes, from another location. It may be possible to rerun an old dialog or explore other branches, yet nothing changes: no XP, no items change hands, no enemies appear.
** Some quests are broken in ways that allow completing them, but cause weird consequences, if you return. One ''Shattered Lands'' LetsPlay [[https://lparchive.org/ADD-Dark-Sun-Shattered-Lands/Update%2035/ reports]] that if you save Jasmine, kill the GodGuise defiler and let her captors escape, leave the area and [[https://lparchive.org/ADD-Dark-Sun-Shattered-Lands/Update%2050/ come back later]], the captors attack you for ''killing their sacrifice''.
** Map may not work in ''Wake of the Ravager''. When it works, the dots representing characters are displaced a bit, occasionally putting them inside walls.

* AllInARow: By default, the game works on PartyInMyPocket, but if you'd rather see your entire group walking around, there's the "Collapse Party" option, which shows your part in diamond formation, to be precise. If your group gets caught in a surprise attack, some characters may get stuck behind, but besides that, it doesn't have any advantages or disadvantages. As a nice touch, the leader walking through another party member causes them to swap.

* CobwebJungle[=/=]ExtremelyDustyHome: Abandoned buildings. Sometimes abandoned rooms in still-used buildings -- this usually indicates something nasty lying in ambush.

* PartyInMyPocket[=/=]AllInARow: The former is the default state after combat, the latter can be toggled manually (diamond formation, to be precise). PartyInMyPocket gurantees that any sudden attack would be met by a compact formation, while with AllInARow characters may get stuck behind. Besides that, neither gives any advantages. A leader walking through another party member causes them to swap -- at least this part was done right.

* ReadTheFreakingManual[=/=]AllThereInTheManual: In an attempt to avert that, the games contain an extensive on-line help (unsurpassed until ''Baldur's Gate'' and ''Fallout 1'') and enough story background in dialogues. ''Wake of the Ravager'' even boasted a "MANUAL-FREE ZONE, FULL ON-LINE DOCUMENTATION" sign on its [[http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/dark-sun-wake-of-the-ravager/cover-art/gameCoverId,192993/ box]]. Still, floppy versions needed the manuals for CopyProtection.

* RestingRecovery[=/=]TraumaInn: You recover from all wounds and status ailments after resting at a "fire pit".

Three video games set on [[TabletopGame/DarkSun Athas]] were released by SSI in the 1990s:

* KillEmAll: According to the official strategy guide, this is a possible solution to problems of other villages.

* ThreeQuartersView: Very similar to contemporary VideoGame/AlQadimTheGeniesCurse. But see SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty below.

** Multiclass characters: See MagikarpPower below.
** Multiclass Preservers: Can cast spells while wearing armor.

* MagikarpPower: As usual for SSI adaptations (and unlike ''VideoGame/BaldursGate''), the game didn't have an XP {{Cap}}, but a ''level'' {{Cap}} instead — which meant that the game greatly incentivized players to create characters with triple class combinations instead of single-classed ones: since you can't get above level 9 (Shattered Lands) and 15 (Wake of the Ravager), any XP gained after that are essentially wasted, so multiclassing becomes a lot more attractive than in the tabletop version of the game (where single class characters would simply continue progressing further). While this makes leveling up a lot more tedious, with the party being comparatively weaker at lower levels than a group of "pure" characters (who have access to the better mid or high level abilities a lot sooner), about halfway through the game the scales start to tip in your favor, and in the endgame your group will consist of a hardcore platoon of guys who can fight like warriors, heal like druids and cast spells like preservers.

half-giants ultimately turn out to be considerably less attractive than they would be otherwise since they can only pick two classes and are fairly weak as anything else but a warrior class.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the ''Dark Sun'' setting, half-giants are walking tanks, but their massive physical advantages are heavily offset by their heavy resource requirements in a post-apocalyptic setting where food, water and metal are scarce and valuable commodities. Because these two computer games have no Survival Gameplay elements, with a half-giant fighter or gladiator you get all the combat advantages (up to STR 24 and twice the HP) with none of the roleplay drawbacks. Their disadvantages are the highest (weakest) Armor Class and their fairly limited multiclassing options - however, with the latter being a far more severe drawback than in the tabletop version (see MagikarpPower below), half-giants ultimately turn out to be considerably less attractive than they would be otherwise since they can only pick two classes and are fairly weak as anything else but a warrior class.

* MagikarpPower: As usual for SSI adaptations (and unlike ''VideoGame/BaldursGate''), the game didn't have an XP {{Cap}}, but a ''level'' {{Cap}} instead — which meant that the game greatly incentivized players to create characters with triple class combinations instead of single-classed ones. And while this made leveling up a lot more tedious, with the party being comparatively weaker at lower levels than a group of "pure" characters (who have access to the better mid or high level abilities a lot sooner), about halfway through the game the scales start to tip in your favor, and in the endgame your group will consist of a hardcore platoon of guys who can fight like warriors, heal like druids and cast spells like preservers.

* WorldOfBadass: Instead of usual 3d6 for stats when rolling characters, the games give 4d6+2 plus racial bonuses and penalties.

* VendorTrash: You can sell near everything. While Gedron is BrainwashedAndCrazy, you can even sell broken pots there -- for ridiculously high price.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the ''Dark Sun'' setting, half-giants are walking tanks, but their massive physical advantages are heavily offset by their heavy resource requirements in a post-apocalyptic setting where food, water and metal are scarce and valuable commodities. Because these two computer games have no Survival Gameplay elements, with a half-giant fighter or gladiator you get all the combat advantages (up to STR 24 and twice the HP) with none of the roleplay drawbacks. Their disadvantages are the highest (weakest) Armor Class and their fairly limited multiclassing options - however, with the latter being a far more severe drawback than in the tabletop version, half-giants ultimately turn out to be considerably less attractive than they would be otherwise.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the ''Dark Sun'' setting, half-giants are walking tanks, but their massive physical advantages are heavily offset by their heavy resource requirements in a post-apocalyptic setting where food and water are scarce and valuable commodities. Because these two computer games have no Survival Gameplay elements, with a half-giant fighter or gladiator you get all the combat advantages with none of the roleplay drawbacks. Their disadvantages are the highest (weakest) Armor Class and their fairly limited multiclassing options.

* MonsterAllies: You can summon elementals and some other monsters, like dust deils.