| Ken's Labyrinth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Ken Silverman |
| Publisher(s) | Epic MegaGames |
| Designer(s) | Ken Silverman |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS |
| Release |
|
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Ken's Labyrinth is afirst-person shooter forMS-DOS published in 1993 byEpic MegaGames. It was programmed byKen Silverman, who later designed theBuild engine used for rendering in3D Realms'sDuke Nukem 3D (1996).Ken's Labyrinth consists of three episodes, the first of which was released asshareware. An earlier version was self-published by Silverman. In the game, the player assumes the role of a dog named Sparky trying to escape a labyrinth.
Ken's Labyrinth is graphically similar toid Software'sWolfenstein 3D in that the levels were designed using agrid-basedplane, resulting inperpendicular walls andtextureless floors and ceilings. Arguably its most astounding feature was the existence of interactivesprites and textures, like slot and vending machines. This move towardsengines allowing greater interactivity was later elaborated upon by Silverman's Build engine.
Ken's Labyrinth was released asfreeware on November 16, 1999. Several different versions were released and are available for download from the official website. Thesource code followed on July 1, 2001.[1]
The first version is known asWalken, the version which Ken Silverman sent to companies for evaluation. This was the first version created, and therefore it had very few features. There was almost no interactivity, and the code was mostly a test.
The first version to be released was a modified version ofWalken calledKen's Labyrinth. Many changes were made, including interactivity, an early money system and music. It was sold by Ken directly, using theAdvanced Systems company name, a company that Ken's older brother Alan Silverman was involved with.
Following that was version 1.1, which featured 27 levels and an alternate final boss. New enemies, textures and music were added, as well as a money system with which the player could locate money and use it to purchase a random item from avending machine. Slot machines were also implemented. The game was then submitted to fifteen different software companies, including Silverman's later employerApogee Software, which appreciated the engine but requested considerable changes to the game.[2]
Released in March 1993 byEpic MegaGames, the final version (2.01) featured 30 levels, and many new features that older versions of the game lacked, such as the ability to choose the item purchased from the vending machines, a difficulty option (on "easy" mode, or "Don't hurt me", enemies do not usemelee attacks, while on "hard" mode, or "Ouch!" they do), an episode select, and also new enemies, textures and music with additional artwork made byMisko Iho ofFuture Crew.
AKen's Labyrinth port to modern operating systems such asWindows andLinux usingSimple DirectMedia Layer calledLAB3D/SDL was created by Jan Lönnberg and released in 2002.[3] A version of the port which includes new higher resolution textures and later adapted for SDL 2 was also created by Katie Stafford.[4] A fork of that version also exists supportingNintendo Switch.[5] A modern level editor for the game by Kai E. Froland has also been produced, called KKIT/SDL.[6]
The game was reviewed in 1993 inDragon #199 bySandy Petersen in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.[7]