SNEG Directors Talk About Bringing Old D&D Games to Modern Hardware

SNEG recently announced that they’re bringing eight classic Dungeons & Dragons video games to modern PCs. I was given the opportunity to email the team a number of questions and they were kind enough to respond. The responses came from the SNEG Directors, Oleg Kalapovskiy and Artem Shchuiko, and they briefly talk about media preservation, their favorite titles from the latest batch, and a bit more.

Many would say that these games are outdated and old and that there are better games out there. Why is it important to you and SNEG to bring these games to modern hardware?

OK: There are many reasons why we always wanted to bring these games back and make them playable, but the most important one is the ability to share the fun and joy we had back when these games were first released. We were all excited when Dungeons & Dragons was presented in Stranger Things. Lots of people felt super nostalgic about it. It’s a similar situation here; the Silver Box Classics games were the first video game adaptations of the D&D universe. That's how it all started and now we have tens of games covering these worlds.

These releases appear to be ports of classic games, why not give them the remaster or remake treatment like so many other companies tend to do?

OK: We believe it’s good to take one step at a time. First, we want to bring back the charm of the original versions of the games in all their glory. If the community is still excited about them, then we are happy to consider making proper remasters.

I know many gamers see a port of a game and instantly devalue it these days. Even remasters get a fair amount of that flack. Could you help explain what goes into porting a game from older hardware to newer hardware to help consumers better understand what kind of work is required for it?

AS: There is no simple answer here, as almost all the games that we make playable on modern hardware have their own story. The best case is when you have access to the original source code. This makes our work easier as we can replace different parts of it and make the game work. The worst case (and vast majority of them) is when you don't have the source code. In such a case you either need to use some kind of a wrapper (Dosbox or ScumVM for example) or reverse engineer part of — or even all of — the code.

Back in 2015, SNEG brought the Gold Box titles to modern hardware and now gamers are getting another go at 8 more D&D video games from the olden days. You've also worked on bringing non-D&D games to modern hardware. How did SNEG get the chance to bring these old games into the modern era? Was it simply a phone call to someone or was there more to it?

OK: Let's be humble here :). In 2015 it was the GOG team who brought the Gold Box titles back to gamers through their platform, and we had the honor of being part of that adventure. Trust me, each game we are bringing back has a long story behind it. Sometimes we need to talk to insurance companies, sometimes banks and estates, and, in the best cases, with actual game developers. This could definitely be a good documentary :).

Media preservation has become a passionate subject for many in recent years and SNEG seems to be doing some work in that area. Do you have advice or suggestions for how to generate a larger effort for media preservation? Is this a thing that just requires more publishers dedicated to it or are there other avenues that could and should be explored?

AS: I think the most important thing that should happen is that big companies allow passionate game developers to work on old IPs that are gathering dust and will never be a priority. But deep down I want to believe that soon we'll have universities and schools that will have lectures on the history of video games, and that's when it all might click.

Out of the eight D&D games releasing this month, which one is your favorite? Would you want it or any of the other games to be remastered or remade and anything specific you'd like to see in the remaster/remake?

OK: I have two favorites: Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, because it is so unique for D&D, and the second one is DragonStrike. That's the game I played a lot on NES and only years after I found out that the PC and Amiga versions of the game were kind of different :D. As for what I wish to see in the future, I’d love it if there were a new game in the Spelljammer setting. Fantasy outer space is great!