Popgeeks Interview: The Knights Behind Dungeons & DoomKnights

[PopGeeks]

<p>The new Switch / Steam game Dungeons & DoomKnights doesn’t just look retro, it’s 100% authentically the real deal. The game was developed in Assembly language on the original NES by Adam Bohn, better known as “Artix,” and Dale Coop (who’s been behind Kubo and other major NES homebrew releases). We caught both of them for an interview about the making of this game and what inspired it.</p>

 

[|Dexter|]

Wow, didn’t expect AdventureQuest guy to drop an authentic NES title in 2024. Artix sounds like he never stopped loving games, even after running huge MMOs. Dale Coop is a legend in homebrew, glad they teamed up. That story about the April Fools joke turning real is hilarious. The save system using a book instead of checkpoints is smart. I’m not even a huge retro guy but this makes me curious about the physical cart version they assembled by hand. Gonna grab it on Steam soon, heavy metal soundtrack too? Yes please.

 

[BoneCrusher]

Artix made AdventureQuest which I played for years as a kid, now he actually made a real NES game? That’s insane dedication. I love how he got burned out and went back to basics with assembly code and Dale helping him fix everything. The dog mechanic sounds funny, summoning a Pomeranian to fetch keys is perfect. I bought it on Switch already, playing it feels exactly like old Zelda but with AdventureQuest jokes everywhere. Respect to both of them for pulling this off on real hardware. Makes me want to try NESMaker myself now.

 

[PogsandJelly]

This interview is great. Artix talking about learning assembly and breaking things while Dale begs him to stop editing is so relatable. Every coder knows that pain. The game has house buying, dog companion, color armor secrets, Konami code penalty… they really packed it in for NES limits. Sad part about his dog Daimyo passing, but nice they honored him in every game. Dale’s timezone struggles and late night work show how much passion went in. 9.5 and 100% reviews sound deserved. Hope they do more together.

 

[Ube Donut]

Finally someone explains why A is dog and B is attack, lol. That Pomeranian running mechanic is genius and kinda chaotic. Artix clearly put his whole childhood NES love into this. From AdventureQuest to DoomKnights, wild journey. Dale Coop carried the heavy tech stuff like saving to cart and platformer transitions, mad respect. They used old NESMaker version too, didn’t even switch when 4.5 came out. That takes guts. I’m downloading it tonight, been waiting since the Byte-Off demo.

 

[RamenStar]

I remember playing the Artix demo back in the day and thinking it had something special even with bugs. Seeing it grow into full Dungeons & DoomKnights is awesome. Artix learned assembly from scratch during the project, that’s impressive. Dale sounds like the calm mentor type who fixes chaos. The red-haired girl plot twist sounds dark for an 8-bit AdventureQuest world. Also love that they did family cart assembly during Covid. Physical release feels extra personal. This is why homebrew rules.

 

[Terry Beetle]

This makes me happy. NES homebrew getting love from big names like Artix is rare. He started with a silly web game, built an empire, then came back to 6502 code for fun. Dale Coop’s technical magic saved the project many times. The dog fetch skill inspired by his real dog Daimyo is touching, especially since he passed. They mention community help a lot, credits must be long. Reviews are high, deserved. Buy this if you like retro or AdventureQuest.

 

[Onigiri]

I’m not big on MMOs but AdventureQuest Worlds was everywhere back then, now the creator makes this tiny NES gem? Respect. The interview feels honest, Artix admits early demo was terrible but proud anyway. Dale saw potential right away and jumped in. Platformer screens being hard, monster skins system to save space, all that tech detail is interesting. Dog running different in adventure vs platform mode is clever. Konami code punishment is classic. High reviews make sense, this sounds special. Excited for their next stuff.