Death Taxi 3000 is now available on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1278110/Death_Taxi_3000/

This will now be the main place to support the project, while Itch.io remains where you can download the free Shareware version.

I wanted to take the time to modernize DT3K for current platforms and not make it seem like I am just selling a emulated or quickly rehashed DOS game. And while it was not simply just a DOS game from the start, the challenges of making it run on era-accurate hardware definitely cemented some of the hard limits I imposed to the engine and the creative workarounds I had to take that give the game some of its charm and novelty.

Very late into the project's wrap-up phase, I decided to push the release for another month so that I could (re)write a completely 3D-accelerated version of the game renderer. While it still respects most of the hard limits mentioned earlier -- the drawing distance is the same, buildings are all the same height, cars are still technically walls and not models -- it does give the game a completely different look and feel which I am proud of and I hope you guys will enjoy as well, especially the smooth and moody night lighting.

Therefore, this should give players who downloaded and enjoyed the shareware version a good value for your money. If you are a hardcore MS-DOS guy or gal and that is all that interests you, though, the next few paragraphs are aimed at you!

First, the Steam release includes the full DOS game, with CD-ROM soundtrack, that you can launch through a preconfigured DOSBox as an option.

Second, I am also selling custom-made CD-ROMs and floppy disks exclusively for the DOS version, which are absolutely the best way to enjoy DT3K on vintage hardware.

http://thiagomarqu.es/taxi/#order

If both are attractive to you, I recommend you get the CD-ROM from my Website. The physical game will take a little while to get shipped, but you will get a Steam key for the digital release via e-mail, in under 24 hours.

And finally, there are enough improvements to the DOS version that will also warrant a final shareware release. Here are a few notable changes:

1. The game's physics will run at 10 frames minimum. This will introduce slowdown to the game, depending on your hardware specs and specially in SVGA mode. You can still check the options to reduce resolution and graphical details to improve performance; however, this slowdown should make the game more playable overall and stop some of the issues some players had with getting stuck inside walls or oncoming traffic.

2. There have been several important bugfixes since the Shareware 1.1 release, including a crash that could happen if you were playing the floppy version in a machine with a CD-ROM drive detected.

3. Introduced new launcher options for 320x240 VGA ModeX and no sound device, disabling both Adlib and PC Speaker noises.

4. The game's user interface has been entirely revamped once again!

5. And thanks to the removal of a splash screen graphic in favor of a in-engine intro sequence, the game will now fit a single floppy disk and run out of it, uncompressed.

This new shareware version will be made available about a week after the initial Steam release.

Until next time, bye for now!