More than 28700 old games to download for free!

Dark Seed

DOS - 1992

Also available on: Amiga - SEGA Saturn

Alt names Darkseed, זרע האופל, ダークシード, 黑暗之蠱, Dark Seed 1
Year 1992
Platform DOS
Released in Spain, United Kingdom, United States (1992)
United Kingdom (1994)
Germany, United Kingdom (1995)
Genre Adventure
Theme Contemporary, Graphic Adventure, Horror, North America, Puzzle elements, Real-Time
Publisher Cyberdreams, Inc., Dro Soft
Developer Cyberdreams, Inc.
Perspectives 3rd-Person, Fixed / Flip-screen
4.25 / 5 - 97 votes

Description of Dark Seed

One of the most memorable (and few) science fiction- horror games ever released, Dark Seed is an interesting horror/scifi story based on the haunting artwork of H.R. Giger, creator of Aliens.

As writer Mike Dawson, you must travel in both the human and alien dimensions to thwart the aliens' evil plans. Interesting premise and outstanding graphics make for an interesting game that unfortunately gets bogged down with too many illogical (and timed) puzzles. A good first effort from Cyberdreams, and much better than its horrible successor Dark Seed 2.

Review By HOTUD

External links

Comments and reviews

anonyme-x22 2023-09-06 2 points DOS version

Good old horror classic game with svga 16 colrs graphics , with a strange color palette, or in black and with the style of the writer. The colors mode should not exist but it was for differentiating the two world. Overall graphics are good, sound and voice ok, music nothing to remember. One point are the digital sound too much loud over the midi music. frustration is on time, which i think is very short (perhaps my computer is too fast), but you have just the time to do all actions in days without loosing it examinating all possibilities or whatching the graphics. It's more a try again one, when you know what to do you do it straight. PS: no luck with 1.5p version, but cdrom 1.5 is OK.

Ivanix 2023-02-14 3 points

Ez a játék a kedvencem!

J.D. 2022-11-26 3 points DOS version

A classic point n click body horror, i got it to work via dosbox, but the setup took much longer to setup.

anyway the game itself is huge nostalgia ride for me however, because of it's old school approach to point-and-click, you can easily get lost, due to how the directios, item and clues can be vague at times, at the beginning of the game after walking around the house and the neighborhood, i can't seem to know where im suppose to go or what items i have to pickup do, after almost 2 hours of dead ends, i gave in the a simple walkthrough, and my reaction was "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!", it was here in plain site, blended in the background, no wonder i didn't spot it on my first try.

it's not the first game that did this to me but at least the puzzles are not stupidly difficult unlike "Monkey Island" or "Discworld" wIth it's BS logic puzzles that almost made me go insane. point and click games from the day 1 until maybe 2003 where unfair when it comes to directions, puzzles and clues. the sequel "Dark Seed II" i think is much better game, less confusing and more focused, however it's a Win3x game not dos.

The Boz 2022-10-19 2 points DOS version

At the time this was released I was a C64 owner, I was really envious of my PC owning mate, Richard with some of the games he could play. It was only a couple of years later I finally left school and treated myself to a Packard Bell PC and the one genre I really got sucked up into was graphic adventure point and clicks. Such was the popularity of the genre and number of games available, I never got to get a copy of Darkseed which was one of those games "one that got away". I finally tried this as abandonware in the 2010s and really loved the setting and mood given by this game. Definitely worth a look.

Professor Pan 2022-08-20 2 points

I played this game on a Mac and was so into it, but near the end the game would end with a FATAL ERROR message. Hoping to finally play it through to the end now!

RPA 2022-07-08 2 points

EDIT: Not the final season of S.T. ;-)
Also, to add ‘Dark Seed’ / ‘ST’: Victor Creel’s Victorian mansion & Vecna’s recurring image of grandfather clock.

RPA 2022-05-29 2 points DOS version

. . . (2022) fourth & final season of ‘Stranger Things’ —WHAT!?— Joyce Byers receives a doll packaged in a box and hand-delivered to her door by the mailman? . . . The Dark Seed parallels undeniable. ;-) lol, love these connections! —Rob P. Ackerman

MisterAdam92 2019-07-14 2 points DOS version

Finally, my little review and backstory how I found out about this game.

I played the Japanese PlayStation (PS1, PSX) version of the game (Never release in the west, only in Japan!) oddly, on an ("ehemm") hardmodded PS1 I picked up. (this was several years ago, I got my first PlayStation when I was younger more on that later.)

I burned nearly the whole library of games for the console (Mostly English games, several Japanese games.) via that rom site that was raided because of Big N, and tested each game for 10 mins. average and came across this and it perplexed me and its been on my mind ever since, so I've got it again now. (My modded PS1 Died on me when i tested all the burned games, ain't that something HAHA. Plus my PlayStation I got when I was younger eventually got modded and died on me as well. Hard mod chips are bad. AVOID THEM!)

But, Yeah that's how I found out about this game, I can't wait to play it.

Oh yeah, Enjoy people!

MisterAdam92 2019-07-14 4 points DOS version

AGJERDE and GIGERFAN pretty much near enough-ish said what I've said but just cleaned it up a bit and provided a more iron-clad solution for those who are struggling. (Sorry AGJERDE and GIGERFAN and others.)

Anyway, notes:

I've noticed when you run the game that the files START.EXE and TOS.EXE interchange while playing the game (It does it automatically when the game is booted with "ds", DOSBox tells you what file is running at the top of the window when actively playing in windowed mode.)

The game starts like it should, (Title, credit crawl, disturbing but funny dream cutscene at the beginning with the protagonist etc.) using the START.EXE but then (This is when most people trying, especially the ones who commented (And me earlier today.)), to get past the rainbow coloured static/pixels) it uses the TOC.EXE for the gameplay, the fix should remedy that error and play flawlessly between cutscenes and game.

I've only played up until you get the package/box when the courier ring the doorbell or knocks on the door followed by the cutscene with the baby/alien (Whatever it is!) and it indeed switches back to the PLAY.EXE for cutscenes and back to TOC.EXE for gameplay.

I tried to work around the floppy version from this site but to no avail, on the floppy version it asks for Disk 1 at the exact point where the CD version messes up pre fix, so I downloaded the floppy version somewhere else (Sorry MyAbandonware) and it worked perfectly!

I will play this game another time but follow the guide to my fix and it should be fine.

Though I'd let Y'all know in-depth why this was happening.

Enjoy!

MisterAdam92 2019-07-14 6 points DOS version

Here's the fix for the CD Version:

1. Instead of mounting the .cue from the .bin/.cue files via IMGMOUNT and using the INSTALL.EXE inside said .cue VIA DOSBox, Download ISOBuster (This will help you open said .bin/.cue files. Very handy program/app whatever you call 'em these days.)

2. After installing ISOBuster, run the program, click on FILE OPEN IMAGE FILE, locate the folder or whatever directory where the .bin/.cue files are and select the .cue file.

This will open the files as I previously mentioned, on the left pane is the path of the contents (CD SESSION 1 TRACK01 DARKSEED151) it should show the expanded path, LEFT-Click on DARKSEED151, (It has a red box with the letters ISO next to it.) in the right pane it shows a DARKSEED Folder, a INSTALL.EXE (as mentioned), a README Text File and a .WRI File.

RIGHT-Click on the DARKSEED FOLDER and RIGHT-Click Extract Folder, choose the destination (Just put it in the directory where your DOSBox game(s) etc. are.) and close, uninstall, whatever your preference with ISOBuster when finished.

3. Now we have the meat of the files to run the game, put the .bin/.cue files in your DOSBox game directory (or in your Dark Seed Folder for example.), then we just have to IMGMOUNT the .bin/.cue files with DOSBox for succession.

For those who don't know how to IMGMOUNT or forgot and are too lazy to check the DOSBox Wiki (I sometimes forget... It happens!)

(NOTE: Put in the full directory of the location of the .bin/.cue files when image mounting, to be on the safe side.)

IMGMOUNT (pick any available virtual drive letter A:-Y: (Z: is already in use with DOSBox and most people I'm guessing mount virtual drive with drive letter C: when booting games etc.)) "yourmounteddriveletter:" (e.g. A:-Y: not including your chosen IMGMOUNT virtual drive letter.) \"dosboxgamesdirectory" (where your games are located.) \"gamedirectory" (darkseed folder, 8 character limit (name of folder) for DOS, so it's perfect.) \"folderwith.bin.cuefiles" (optional but I prefer to put it in a folder to keep the files tidy, I'm weird like that (OCD), ha.) \"darkseed.cue" -T CDROM

For example it will look like this, (the DSCD folder is optional):

IMGMOUNT D: C:\DOSBOX\DARKSEED\DSCD\DARKSEED.CUE -T CDROM

4. When the .cue is mounted and you see the MSCDEX installed message, it's time to boot up the game, USE the DS.BAT file to boot so type "ds", (without quotes.) Simple.

5. ???=PROFIT.

6. My sincerest apologies for the wall of text, I'm just trying to help.

Fred 2019-07-07 1 point

@RPA yes! From day one. Stranger things show *lots* of “inspiration” from Darkseed.
A d now, in season 3, they add the comic book “the spread”

The Playen 2019-05-17 0 point DOS version

bonjour, je ne parviens pas a exécuter la version fr de dark seed,il ce fige et l'écran a plein de petit pixel multicolore qui apparaît juste après la cène d’implantation de l'alien serai t-il possible de m'aidé ?

Cordialement

RPA 2019-04-04 2 points

. . . and now this summer’s (2019) third season of ‘Stranger Things’ will feature a town carnival and climactic scene in a hall of mirrors. Uh-huh . . . The Dark Seed parallels continue. ;-)

gigerfan 2018-11-23 11 points

to anyone not wanting to go through the history of comments here to get the game up and running - the floppy version will work without too much fuss - just keep in mind that you're supposed to run 'ds.bat' instead of 'start.exe' to avoid the game hanging up.
The cd version has different sounding music and a lot more voice cues - still you use dosbox to run it, but since it's a cue/bin you'll need to mount it in dosbox and run the installer - if you don't do that, the game will mess up after the opening cut scene.
How to mount the cd
https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/IMGMOUNT
If you want to convert the bin to iso, use this tool
http://www.softwareok.com/?seite=Freeware/WinBin2Iso

RPA 2018-10-06 2 points DOS version

Glitch, When I played DS1 installed on my Win XP machine years ago, the haunting background music worked fine, but the voiced person-to-person conversations were garbled. I put it down to just my audio hardware/software limitations at the time. That being said, I do not believe Mike Dawson's thoughts are voiced in DS1.

Could you be recalling the sequel: Dark Seed II ? I can confirm that you will hear Dawson's reflective thoughts (and quite a few!) in that one. I hope this helps.

Glitch 2018-10-04 0 point DOS version

Running this from the browser, I noticed there are some missing sounds. I remember hearing him voice out what he was thinking, but now it's just text. I know it can seem quite arbitrary, but it's very immersive to me. I was wondering if anyone installing this with DosBox has this issue as well, or if the problem does not exists with installed version

agjerde 2018-07-23 6 points DOS version

To avoid avoid the crash at the alien implant scene in the intro, try mounting the disc in DosBox:
mount c c:\[your path]
imgmount d c:\[your path]\darkseed.cue -t iso
d:
install [wait for install, then type 'ds' to run]
Next time you wanna play, do the same mount and imgmount, then:
c:
cd darkseed
ds

Dawson 2018-06-12 2 points

Agree with the Stranger Things I thought the same! If they filmed a Darkseed movie would look cool with that background and ambiance.

RPA 2018-02-22 3 points

'Stranger Things' anyone? As soon as I started watching the brilliant Netflix series, I knew the Duffer brothers had to have played these Dark Seed games when they were younger. Even the menacing synth pace in the original game must be an influence on the TV show's sound during visits to the nether, 'Upside Down' world.

Thanks for offering this classic game series so we can - as adults! - again sojourn awhile among the surreal landscapes of the late Swiss master, H.R. Giger.

kyle 2017-04-25 2 points DOS version

Had trouble with this as well, Open up the game folder and navigate to the "readme" file. It details how to run It. Can't believe I never checked It until I read all these comments.

To run It don't run the "start.exe", instead run "ds.bat"
Need to re-configure your controls? type "ds /m"

There's more in the readme but that's probably your problem if your reading this.

Hope this helps.

Look She Glows 2017-04-15 1 point

Open DOSBOX

mount c c:/darkseed

C:/

ds

BoldFaceSeven 2015-01-06 1 point DOS version

IT wont start as a .bat file

F3 2015-01-05 1 point DOS version

I've tried EVERYTHING people have mentioned but I still can't get past the 'alien seed implant in the brains or whatever' cutscene... After the scene 'small rainbow dots' appear all over the screen. Any idea? Anyone?

m1keman5on 2014-11-04 1 point DOS version

when the game crashes (well in my version) hit enter, type darkseed and enter. I read in other places that you have to write "tos" instead of darkseed.
In the version that I have, there are two exe files in the game directory, start.exe and darkseed.exe

JAY DEE 2014-10-28 0 point DOS version

yep mine crashes at the same place

Dr CAtJail 2014-08-19 0 point DOS version

This game is going to Rock.

ReyalpCB4 2014-08-05 0 point DOS version

I tried changing the CDLETTER file to C but it still crashes after the alien implant scene. it just gets all scrambled and static covered and just sits there

gasher3 2014-08-01 1 point DOS version

This doesn't work for me as it is, crashed after the starting scene. The fix is to edit "CDLETTER" and change it from D to C. And also start the game using "ds.bat", not "start.exe". Everything works well so far including speech. Hope this helps if you are having problems running the game.

indstr 2014-02-11 0 point DOS version

Wow, I remember seeing this one time in Radio shack and thinking it looked incredible. I've still never really played it, but I still remember it from looking at the box. I should try it someday

UGC 2013-06-27 -1 point DOS version

Hey Guacho, try running it with the .bat file instead of just writing start.
Type: start.bat and it should'nt freeze! :D
I still have a problem, why is there no speech?

Guacho 2013-01-07 0 point DOS version

It freezes after Mike gets an alien fetus in his brain.

MENTD 2012-10-27 1 point DOS version

H.R. Giger didn't create ALIENS, he created ALIEN. James Cameron (ALIENS director) didn't involve Giger in ALIENS and the film suffered because of it. (Looked like plastic crappy sets as opposed to the awesome Giger sculpted sets and creature from the first film.)

tpgb12 2012-03-16 1 point DOS version

Crashes when tos.exe is loaded.

ScaryGamer 2011-11-01 -1 point DOS version

well no one would download this because its french please find english
so someone will download this :) updated

F0XX 2011-05-26 0 point DOS version

Not just cheap thrills

Jack Halftrack 2008-11-13 0 point DOS version

HR Giger art. Remember the movie Alien ?

Write a comment

Share your gamer memories, help others to run the game or comment anything you'd like. If you have trouble to run Dark Seed , read the abandonware guide first!

 

Download Dark Seed

We may have multiple downloads for few games when different versions are available. Also, we try to upload manuals and extra documentation when possible. If you have additional files to contribute or have the game in another language, please contact us!

DOS Version

DownloadFloppy version English version 6 MB DownloadISO CD Version English version 20 MB DownloadFrench version 15 MB DownloadCD Version Italian version 14 MB DownloadFloppy Disk Version Italian version 6 MB ManualEnglish version 3 MB

Game Extras

Various files to help you run Dark Seed, apply patches, fixes, maps or miscellaneous utilities.

RefcardEnglish version 1 MB

Amiga ROM

SEGA Saturn ROM

Similar games

Fellow retro gamers also downloaded these games:

Dark Seed II abandonware
Dark Seed IIWin 3.x, Mac, SEGA Saturn1995
Dark Side abandonware
Dark SideDOS, C64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST1988
Alone in the Dark 3 abandonware
Alone in the Dark 3DOS, Win, Mac1994
Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon abandonware
Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of DarkmoonDOS, Amiga, FM Towns1991
CyberMage: Darklight Awakening abandonware
CyberMage: Darklight AwakeningDOS1995
Veil of Darkness abandonware
Veil of DarknessDOS, FM Towns1993

Ad Consent Terms About Contact FAQ Useful links Contribute Taking screenshots How to play

MyAbandonware utopiaweb