In this instance, ports would determine where the request goes, guiding a web server request through port 80 and an FTP server request through port 21. When the server gets an inbound request, the operating system has to decide whether to send the request to the FTP or web server. This is a normal and frequent combination. In practice, port use looks something like this: imagine a server is running an FTP server and a web server simultaneously. Ports are the solution to this issue, allowing multiple processes and activities to have access to a shared network interface. The issue with this is usually devices only have a single network interface. Your hardware is constantly managing multiple activities and tasks at once, and many of these will require network access. These gateways exist in the network and can be points of vulnerability. VDMSound can probably fix this, but since the background music is non-existent, you can probably have a good game without sound just select speaker sound so you'll hear when some enemy is hitting you! In DOSBox it works like charm off course.You might describe ports as gates into your hardware. If for some reason you want to try the game in a more modern jacket, you can play one of the many clones (some of which have been made using high-tech 3d engines) or the Java version which is an accurate copy of the original, only with better graphics and sound-effects. It was probably left out due to memory limitations back then, but still it's a shame.
Read the background story in the manual to get in the mood and the technical details about spell-casting and you're ready to go! The game 'only' gets a four, because I really missed some moody music in the background. This is a must-have for any RPG or dungeon crawler fan, but everyone else should give it a try as well. They're bright, nicely drawn and there's some animation as well. The graphics were, as said, pretty nifty for those days, and are still pretty appealing. A creaky door, a shrieking mummy, grunting hero's and a swords clash, but nothing fancy. On top of all the fights, there are lots of puzzles in the game, varying from long searches for hidden keys, to intricate puzzels using switches and traps. One of the other Champions has to carry your bones over there in order to make this happen. Watch your stats though, if you die, you have to be ressurected using a special device on the top floor of the dungeon. It takes a little getting used to, but works pretty well. You have to choose which Champion performs what combat action by selecting his or her weapon and an appropriate action.
Naturally, you'll encounter a lot of enemies which you have to fight.This fighting appears to be more or less turn-based. You can find food in many rooms, and in the remains of some enemies, and water from fountains all over the place. They need to eat, drink and sleep now and again to regain there powers. Each character has an inventory with plenty armor and equipment slots as well as a large enough packback. After you've chosen your Champions you start to search the dungeon, venturing deeper and deeper. Everything that's in a decent RPG nowadays is also found in Dungeon Master, only a bit more primitive. There's not much to explain about this game. They al have a lot of different starting skills, stats and equipment. There are magicians, priests, ninjas and fighters to choose from. In the 'Hall of Champions' you have to pick up to 4 Champions with which you're going to try an solve the quest. Luckily in one of the first rooms of the dungeon, the souls of many brave adventures can be ressurected.
The only problem is that you are yourself also touched by the accident and can not take a physcial form. His evil half, Lord Chaos, has taken control of the large dungeon and your task is to defeat him. Your master, a wizard, has been doomed to a life in limbo, due to an accident with a magical artifact. The sheer amount of ports for this game for every operating system and 3d engine you can imagine proves that Dungeon Master isn't forgotton at all! The fact that you'd have a team of 4 characters that you could each specialise and the huge dungeon to explore made it an instant hit.
The 3D first person perspective was still rather unheard of in those days, as most games were side- or topview. This 'mother of all rpg's' was certainly groundbreaking when it appeared, both in gameplay and graphics.
Even though the game was made in 1987 for the Atari ST (and a PC port was made two years later) the fanbase is quite big today.
Dungeon Master isn't just a game, it's a religion.