D'India shareware titles - lost in time?

[keropi_666]

Hiya!
Anyone remember those old DOS shareware games by D'India software... ?Demos are found relatively easily, registered versions seems to have vanished :whops:

D'India produced games like Darkwolf, Zipman, Aro... check the following youtube vids if you like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkkhNKcvGY8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo4DX05cNUs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16ufKg1oyoI

in the last vid description the uploader states that D'India made these titles too:
Diamond Peter
Wibbles II
Aro II
Zipman I & II
Zipfire I & II
Zipgem
Teddyball
Hero I & II
Zipteam Super Pack

anyone have them? :whistling: I remember them, especially Darkwolf... it is not an uber-awesome game but it is nice .... it brings back lots of memories... I have searched for any sign of D'India, even searched the main author's name (John Paul D'India) and I have found.... nothing :omg:
Can anyone help in any way? Thanks!

[Scatty]

To be honest I never heard about either the company nor the games, though I knew quite a lot of shareware titles and companies back in the 90's.
The only mentioning of one game made by this company, Aro, can be found at Mobygames, here (http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/aro). Not much else can be found on Google about it.
Also have a look at this (http://www.abandonia.com/de/company/D%27India+Software) profile on Abandonia and here (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/pdp/profile/AIYEBW9M32SL2) on Amazon. Maybe you can contact him for any info.

Finally some quotes from a (removed now) review on John Paul India on Mobygames. Thanks Google for preserving a part of it.
John Paul D'India has been credited on games developed by the following companies: D'India Software, ZIPTEAM and Midnight Synergy

[keropi_666]

thanks Scatty, I have actually found the Amazon profile (forgot yo mention it) and even registered to Amazon in hopes that there is a way to send a message to John Paul... I have found to option whatsoever to send a message!!!??! either I am blind or there is no way... do you happen to know something about that?

[Scatty]

Unfortunately not, I never used Amazon for anything so not even registered there. But try through this link (http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AIYEBW9M32SL2/ref=cm_cr_rdp_pdp/186-5699076-0642532), maybe it helps more (use Add to Interesting People above).

[keropi_666]

I have no idea either :(
I have him already in my "friend list" and the "more actions" (yeah right... more useless it should be) only has those options:
* Unmark as Amazon Friend
* Remove from Interesting People

time to google more on the amazon matter me thinks..


edit: it appears he must accept my friendship request in order to contact him , since he chose not to be contacted by other means in amazon.com

also his amazon location ( San Francisco, CA United States) matches his address in his old games!!!! this really must be him! I hope I can contact him somehow...

[Scatty]

Here's few more sites (old entries I think) on what Google could spit out about him. Not much there is to find about him, unfortunately.
But you can try contacting him through his adress or the e-mail adress listed on one of those. Might be too old though, and not valid anymore.
Link 1 (ftp://ftp.lanet.lv/pub/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/contest95/Docs/game_by_team/4gen.txt)
Link 2 (http://cd.textfiles.com/gameempire2/ADVENTUR/DKWOLF/ORDER.FRM)

On that FTP, stuff that can be downloaded in case of interest.
Link (ftp://ftp.lanet.lv/pub/mirror/x2ftp/msdos/programming/contest95/)
Edit: and here a game from him, Dark Wolf (http://cd.textfiles.com/gameempire2/ADVENTUR/DKWOLF/). Shareware though, it seems.

[keropi_666]

tried the email and as expected:

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

dindia@netcom.com

Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 dindia@netcom.com...User unknown (state 14).

I am not sure about the address... write him a letter? LOL :)

btw, thanks a mil scatty for all your efforts, I really appreciate them!

[Scatty]

Well you could write him a letter. Worst thing that can happen is that it will be delivered back to you or gets lost if not being able to be delivered. Also be sure to browse the links above for more stuff of him like that 4Gen game (game_by_team folder) and maybe more.

[keropi_666]

I am considering the snail mail option ATM... I see no other chance for now :) maybe he still lives there

[The one who flew]

Pretty good music in those games. I would play almost anything that sounds like that, so nostalgic! Aro looks like pretty much the same game as Zipman though.

[BrainRain]

You guys are looking in the wrong direction. Check his facebook profile.
https://www.facebook.com/john.dindia.1
Also he made an iPhone game called Block the Laser, so all iPhone members check the AppStore and try getting in touch with him.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-the-Laser/186323334744289
Here's a proof that this is the real deal...
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=243310522378903&id=186323334744289
I can't find his email address, so this is all we have currently unfortunately.

[keropi_666]

You guys are looking in the wrong direction. Check his facebook profile.
https://www.facebook.com/john.dindia.1
Also he made an iPhone game called Block the Laser, so all iPhone members check the AppStore and try getting in touch with him.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Block-the-Laser/186323334744289
Here's a proof that this is the real deal...
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=243310522378903&id=186323334744289
I can't find his email address, so this is all we have currently unfortunately.


Amazing! Thank you kind sir!!! :smugulon:

[Dead Alien]

Well tell us what happens! Hope those games dont get lost in oblivion.

Thanks for sharing!

[Mr Nutt]

I know most sites don't like necroposting, but did this get anywhere?

[ebrummel]

Hi everyone,
I know I'm reviving a really old post, but I have some unfortunate news to share about John Paul D'India. He passed away about a year ago (August 10, 2017) from his battle with cancer.

We were good friends since my freshman year of high school in 1994. Even though he was out of high school at the time, he would still come by the school computer lab to hang out and play computer games with the students there. So much multiplayer DOOM back in those days...

Anyway, we hung out in our small circle of friends pretty often right up until a couple months before his passing. Needless to say, my friends and I were devastated.

I still search his name every now and then on Google and it's really touching to see that people still remember the games he made back in the 90s. I just wanted to share this, and hopefully provide closure to anyone it may concern.

[Cluseck]

Tragic news. I'm sad for your loss :(

[stud33heisman]

I am bringing up a very old post, but I hope it may help bring a happy conclusion to a long sought after game (for myself included). I have been to many sites over the years finding nothing but the trial version shareware copy of Dark Wolf. :(

I just happened to be digging through the net a few nights ago for kicks.. looking for possible trails to a full version of Dark Wolf (for archival purposes) and stumbled upon an unfamiliar site called "The Retro Spirit". :mhh: Apparently they have a Discord channel.

The site seemed rather vague about the game but I gave it a download for fun just out of curiosity. It turned out to be the full, registered version of Dark Wolf! :smile2:

I have not had a chance to play the game through much yet, but here is what I have gathered up to this point:

1: The intro now has an updated intro with a voice saying "C'mon!" as the music plays.

2: All the locations around the map seem to be open/available.

3: For further proof, upon exiting the game, it thanks you for purchasing the full version. :OK:

I am sharing this information for others who wish to have this game for archival purposes and to see this game live on.

Here is a link to the site: https://retro.gg/game/dark-wolf/483

I will also provide the zip file here as an attachment for extra sauce.

May this be a tribute to John Paul D'India and for the cherished memories his games brought to many of us. May he rest in peace.

[Smiling Spectre]

Wow. Great find. I'll get it for the eXoDOS... and maybe will find something else on this site. Thank you.