Alternate Reality (series)

Lore & Background

The series was conceived by Philip Price, who founded Paradise Programming to develop it. The first game, Alternate Reality: The City, was released in 1985, followed by Alternate Reality: The Dungeon in 1987. The Dungeon was completed by Philip Price himself. Music for both games was created by Gary Gilbertson. The series was planned to include six games: The City, The Arena, The Palace, The Wilderness, Revelations, and Destiny, but only the first two were finished. No further installments were released.

The story involves aliens capturing the player from Earth; the player steps through a gate with rotating numbers that freeze, transforming them into a new person in an alternate reality. The intended conclusion would have revealed that all captured humans are cocooned on an alien ship, their minds fed images for the aliens' entertainment, leaving the player with choices about the ship, the aliens, or returning to Earth. During the late 1990s, Price attempted to create an MMORPG version called Alternate Reality Online with Monolith, but the deal ended due to lack of funds.

Reader's Guide

Alternate Reality is significant as an early example of a first-person 3D role-playing game that used a raycasting engine, predating Wolfenstein 3D by seven years. Its incremental movement system and dynamic palette changes (e.g., sunset) were innovative for the time. The series' planned seamless migration between games—where leaving The City would prompt insertion of a disk for The Wilderness—was never fully implemented, with only the Atari 8-bit version of The City supporting booting sequels. The anti-copying techniques in The City and The Dungeon were notable: unauthorized copies of The City caused the player's character to weaken and die, while The Dungeon featured unbeatable 'FBI agents' that killed the player. The series' legacy is tied to its ambitious but unrealized scope, including planned features like character-versus-character combat, land ownership, and a philosophical ending questioning reality. The failure to complete the series, despite Datasoft's denial of its end, left the narrative unresolved. The later attempt to revive it as an MMORPG with Monolith failed due to funding issues, but the concept of a simulated reality predated similar themes in later works.

Did You Know?

• The series was planned to include six games, but only The City and The Dungeon were completed.
• The Dungeon was completed by creator Philip Price himself.
• The planned ending would have revealed the player's body is actually in a cocoon on an alien ship, with the game world being a 'pleasure world' for aliens.