No. Darklands was a brilliant game, but it was developed at a time when Microprose's then-management wasn't into sequels. (It took several years before they decided to start work on an upgrade/remake to their alltime bestseller, Civilization.) In addition, the game went through a number of major patches; early copies had severe memory leaks, and that hampered sales.
A number of technologies developed before or in Darklands were introduced into subsequent titles. Randomized quests, terrain layouts, and object placement were all part of many later Microprose games, such as Magic: The Gathering and Civ 2. So was deteriorating arms/armor, and the pause-time system that permitted you to give each party member commands they explicitly carried out. (Unfortunately succeeded today by a system that allows you to give only one party member commands, while everybody else gets in the way of one another.)
The music of Darklands also showed up in games such as M:TG, and the composer subsequently became the founder of Firaxis Games.
Other elements, such as the remarkable character creation system, alchemy, and prayer, were never to my knowledge used again at such depth or with such originality. Darklands remains for me at least the #1 Microprose title awaiting a modern version (closely followed by Master of Magic), and I'm frankly surprised nobody has considered it. Perhaps the lack of necessary 3D graphics turns off large game companies who think 2D technology and menu systems are passe. But why Indie companies aren't looking at it, is beyond me. Unless they're unaware of the title.
|