Das Stundenglas
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| Das Stundenglas | |
|---|---|
 Das Stundenglas Amiga box art | |
| Developer | Weltenschmiede |
| Publisher | Software 2000 |
| Programmer | Andreas Niedermeier[1] |
| Writer | Harald Evers[1] |
| Platforms | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS |
| Release | 1990 |
| Genres | Fantasy, Text adventure |
| Mode | Single-player |
Das Stundenglas (English: The Hourglass) is a German text adventure game published in 1990 by Software 2000 and developed by Weltenschmiede, and released for Amiga, Atari ST and DOS. Das Stundenglas is part of a text adventure trilogy; it is succeeded by Die Kathedrale (1991) and Hexuma (1992). The trilogy lacks an overarching plot, and in each entry the setting, role of the protagonist, and goal differ between each game. Games in the trilogy do not require knowledge of the other entries and may be played as standalone games.
Das Stundenglas takes place in the year 2012, in a post-apocalyptic version of Earth which has been devastated by a man-made ecological disaster.[1] The game begins with the protagonist being chased by a group of bandits while in the ruins of a small town, but they escape into an abandoned toy store. The protagonist discovers a chest, opens it and climbs inside; they then are transported to another world: the town of Munterwassertal, which translates to lively water valley in English. Das Stundenglas includes fantasy creatures such as trolls, witches, dragons and a descendant of the Loch Ness Monster.
The residents of this world, both human and creature, have coins that the protagonist must collect.[2] The eponymous hourglass is missing along with half of the town's residents, and the protagonist must find twelve coins in order to bring everything and everyone back,[1] and fix the mistakes of the present post-apocalyptic world through actions in the past.[3] The twelve coins belong to the remaining townspeople, and the protagonist must perform quests for them to earn the coins.[2] Each of the coins are marked by a number, and these numbers correspond to archways marked around the town.[2]
The protagonist must find two wizards who possess special sand; the sand belongs to the hourglass, which controls the flow of time in the world.[2] The protagonist has twelve days to recover the sand and return it to the hourglass, or time is irreparable.[2][1]
In the short novel included alongside Das Stundenglas, it is revealed that eighty years prior to the game's setting, Sir Percival Glanfoss, while seeking a method of time travel, first discovered a time-travelling chest in a Tibetan monastery.[1] Before his death, Glanfoss discovered that a counterpart to the chest existed; this chest was used by the protagonist in the year 2012.[1] Glanfoss collected all the information he had regarding the chest, and sent it to where the second chest was presumed to be; this information was retrieved by the protagonist when they found the chest.[1] The chest in the Tibetan monastery was destroyed when the apocalypse struck.[1]
Gameplay
Time in Das Stundenglas passes by the player performing actions, which consumes time out of the twelve-day time limit.[1] Das Stundenglas has a day-night cycle, which determines the location and daily schedule of NPCs. The player must obtain twelve coins, the hourglass, and the special sand needed for the hourglass within the time limit.[1] The player is required to perform quests for NPCs, e.g. the player must find bagpipes for the descendant of the Loch Ness Monster in exchange for their coin.[2] Each coin is marked by a number and these numbers correspond to archways marked around the town.[2]
Common actions in Das Stundenglas can be performed using hotkeys,[2][1] and a transcript of the game's text, including dialogue and inputs, can be printed directly from the game.[1] Das Stundenglas has twenty NPCs, over one hundred rooms, and twenty-five graphics to accompany the text.[1]
Development
Das Stundenglas was developed by two people: Harald Evers (née Krüger) and Andreas Niedermeier. Weltenschmiede was formed as a result of Evers and Niedermeier creating Das Stundenglas together;[4] when Weltenschmiede sent Das Stundenglas to publisher Software 2000, they refused to publish the game without graphics.[5] Evers first created concept art for Das Stundenglas by drawing on the back of a receipt while riding home in a taxi.[5] Das Stundenglas's box art was created by Harald Evers on an Atari ST.
Das Stundenglas was released on three 5+1⁄4-inch floppy disks and also on two 3+1⁄2-inch floppy disks. The DOS version was released first, and the Amiga version was released two months later.[6] Software 2000 describes Das Stundenglas as an "Artventure" game due to the addition of graphics to the text adventure format - one of eight games in this range.[1] Das Stundenglas was bundled with feelies; a game manual, a map of the game world, a code wheel and a 40-page short novel.[1][6] As is the case with its sequel, Die Kathedrale, the feelies bundled with the game serve as a form of copy protection, as information from them is necessary to complete the game. Both the Amiga and DOS versions of Das Stundenglas cost 'around 100' Deutschmark in 1990.[1][2][7][3] The DOS version of Das Stundenglas uses EGA graphics.[7]
In a 1991 interview regarding Die Kathedrale, Das Stundenglas was stated to understand 2500 nouns, 300 verbs, and support many "unimportant" words, although what "unimportant" constitutes is not specified.[5]