Shadowkeep is probably up there with the likes of Murder and Daffy Duck for titles that people desperately want to find. It is a game from way back in 1984 time and was a great graphic text adventure game from Trillium.
There are suggestions of people seeing the game running on a Commodore 64, but suggestions also that a conversion never existed.
One such person, David Stein, remembers clearly of visiting his local game store and seeing the game running on a Commodore 64. The shop keeper demonstrating would not allow anyone to play as it recorded the actions of the player onto the game disk. Apparently the game looked fantastic. David saved all his money up to buy the game, but sadly by the time he had enough the store had closed down.
An Apple II version was also mistaken to be the C64 version, causing hysteria at first.
A Trillium advert located by Gaz Spence seems to suggest that a series of their 5 games (including Shadowkeep) was to be available for both Apple II and Commodore 64 platforms – the other 4 games were certainly released anyway.
Max Mirni found details here which suggests the following happened:
“Ultrasoft was already in the process of fading quietly away by the time of Shadowkeep’s late 1984 release. They never managed to port the Ultra II engine beyond the Apple II, leaving Shadowkeep without that all-critical Commodore 64 version. Spinnaker toyed with doing the port themselves, even announcing it as coming soon on various occasions, but I see no reason to believe that ever happened. (A Commodore 64 version has been a semi-mythical White Whale in collecting circles for many years now, but, despite some anecdotal claims and remembrances, no one has ever produced an actual working version to my knowledge.) The lack of a Commodore 64 version and the underwhelming nature of the game itself combined to make Shadowkeep the least successful (and, today, rarest) of all the Telarium games. Alan Dean Foster’s book, while no bestseller itself, appears to have sold far more copies on the author’s name recognition and its $3 (as opposed to $35) price tag.”
It isn’t clear if anyone else had attempted a conversion, but this seems to explain why there was a lack of a Commodore 64 edition. Maybe someone at Spinnaker had made a start, but that seems unlikely. As a result, this could well be a title that never existed sadly and could be a case closed – unless something miraculous turns up.
Contributions: David Stein, Gaz Spence, Joe, Max Mirini
There never was a PC or C64 version of this game, despite rumors and false memories about both that were spread over the years. It was only ever released for the Apple IIe.
Hi Joe,
Many thanks for getting in touch. That’s interesting – has there been any confirmation from someone involved in the game, or any other sources that helped establish that?
Just some quick internet digging – in archive.org there is a Trillium newsletter from the Fall / Winter period of 1984. It references Shadowkeep alongside other releases but unfortunately there is just a general reference to disks being available for their games on the Apple ii and C64, and it doesn’t confirm one way or other what the specific status of Shadowkeep is. See https://archive.org/details/vgmuseum_spinnaker_trilliumnews-fall84/mode/2up
More interest perhaps is that Shadowkeep was reviewed much later in an RPG magazine called the The VIP of Gaming (Issue 3 – Apr 1986), Page 52, review by Robby Robberson. I can’t find a copy of this magazine online but it seems readily available in the original format for a few dollars. It’s possible that this review will clear the question up as to whether a C64 version was released commercially.
Thanks Gary for the info. It is a shame that they don’t have formats listed, though what is interesting is that the other 4 games were all released on the C64 and Apple II platforms. That could suggest that “Disks for Apple II series and Commodore 64” was suggesting that was meant to be the case for all 5 games.
Would be very interesting to see that magazine!
Hello,
Just read your blog post. Wanted to let you know that the world’s ONLY unopened factory sealed copy of Shadowkeep for the Apple II from 1984 is going up for auction on ebay starting this Thursday August 31, 2017 starting at 6 pm PST. Auction number will be: 263175454180.
Please feel free to share this information with all gamers and game collectors.
Best,
Jaime
from http://www.filfre.net/2013/10/shadowkeep/
Ultrasoft was already in the process of fading quietly away by the time of Shadowkeep’s late 1984 release. They never managed to port the Ultra II engine beyond the Apple II, leaving Shadowkeep without that all-critical Commodore 64 version. Spinnaker toyed with doing the port themselves, even announcing it as coming soon on various occasions, but I see no reason to believe that ever happened. (A Commodore 64 version has been a semi-mythical White Whale in collecting circles for many years now, but, despite some anecdotal claims and remembrances, no one has ever produced an actual working version to my knowledge.) The lack of a Commodore 64 version and the underwhelming nature of the game itself combined to make Shadowkeep the least successful (and, today, rarest) of all the Telarium games. Alan Dean Foster’s book, while no bestseller itself, appears to have sold far more copies on the author’s name recognition and its $3 (as opposed to $35) price tag.
Thanks Max, it seems like nothing will ever see the light of day. Perhaps at least there is something out there still that was started, but due to the amount of time that has passed now – its seeming more and more unlikely.
I used to be sure I owned this game years ago in that I had bought both the “Dragonworld” and “Shadowkeep” books that lay the foundation of both games (I love text adventure games re interactive fiction). I know I had the “Dragonworld” game and also thought I had bought the “Shadowkeep” game. Unfortunately, a large part of my collection was stolen (bastards) and after may years of thought I have become unsure now, as to whether I ever owned it … argh. I still come across the odd old piece of software every now and again so if I ever find it I will be sure to post the info, also, I’d make sure to back the darn thing up and post it online (plus scans re packaging etc). Oh well, maybe …. fingers crossed, cheers 8-)
As far as I know only an Apple II version of this game exists, and even that one does not surface very often (currently there is one copy for sale on eBay). All the collectors I know also can only come up with the Apple II release (the game is from 1984). Back then Telarium’s games were typically released for Apple II and C64. Later the games were released for MS-DOS, and after that came the forth platform, the Atari ST. Most Telarium games (Amazon, Fahrenheit 451, Dragonworld, Rendezvous with Rama, Nine Princes in Amber, Perry Mason and the Case of the Mandarin Murder) can be found on eBay from time to time. The PC and Atari ST versions are rarer, the more common auctions are for the Apple II and C64 versions.
Even the big game databases do not have a cover scan of a C64 or PC version. The C64 version apparently does not exist at all. And if they did not release the C64 version, the PC version is even more unlikely, not to mention an Atari ST release. Telarium ported all their other titles to C64, and later to PC and ST. If they did not release it for C64, they did not release it for PC or ST either.
I honestly think there is only an Apple II version. If an original copy is too difficult or too expensive to come by there is at least the choice of playing it on the Virtual Apple website.
I think I have a working copy of this game that I downloaded maybe 6 or so years ago. (Today is 7/21/13). If I do, its on a ‘retired’ W/XP pc that I’d need to drag out of the closet and resuscitate). Will check back ‘here’ yea or nay in a while. (It wont be “quick”…). Shadow Keep was a great game, and I’d love to be able to maybe actually “finish” it! And also help get it back out there a little bit. I’m also loving the replay of Wizardry V that I’m working on now…Be back when I find Shadow Keep! (hopefully…) – HP