Reviving a Classic: The Solo Developer’s Journey to Transform a Timeless Alarm Game
Thirty-five years after the original point-and-click adventure title, Last Half of Darkness, was first launched, it is making a comeback, completely rebuilt from the ground up by the same solo developer who originally crafted it.
To celebrate the 35th anniversary (well, technically the 36th now) of the 1989 classic, Bill Fisher has reverted back to the beginning by remaking the initial Last Half of Darkness with brand-new visuals, an updated soundtrack, an “enhanced” narrative, and “even more” challenges. You can take a peek at the announcement teaser below:
“Your aunt certainly was an unusual character,” the synopsis teases. “She transformed into some kind of sorceress or something. A benevolent witch, nonetheless, engaging exclusively in pleasant spells and enchantments. In fact, she was working on a potion right before her untimely demise.”
“Now the mystery will be buried with her… unless you can uncover the missing components.”
“I created it on an XT PC with 64k RAM and a 10MB hard drive over a period of nine months, working only part-time on it,” Fisher explained. “I was just experimenting with some painting software to see if I could design some interesting rooms and locations. It ended up being quite captivating, so I decided to actually produce it. I hired an artist to finalize the production design and enlisted a field producer, among others. I managed to get it into a few local retail stores, and sold a handful at some conventions, but I wasn’t particularly well-known or had the right connections in the distribution side of things, so it never received an official commercial release.”
“However, around that time, shareware was beginning to really gain traction… and proved to be exceptionally lucrative.”
Last Half of Darkness is set to launch on Steam on February 7, 2025, although if you missed the original release, there’s no need to worry –