You mean there are old games which don't have the usual widescreen mod + enhanced/redux titles + vastly increased price update? What is going on with the world?

The lore is more like an Elder scrolls game. You are a prisoner, IIRC and you and your prisoner companions are trying to earn freedom by clearing the dungeon.

In theory this could be good, but they should complete System Shock 1 properly, first.

Never played Dungeon Master, so would like to try it.

A bit like Eye of the Beholder, without any real back story. Just go to a dungeon, find your way to the lowest level killing monsters in the process, and then kill the bad boss.

I have to hand it though, the last fight against the boss was kinda well done. I mean, it was like a puzzle that you had to figure out. It wasn't that hard to figure out, but boy it did feel good when I finally figured it out all by myself. Kinda like "ok so if I do that, it does that, and when I do that, it does that... what if... I do that and that and that?"

There is backstory written by novelist Nancy Holder in the manuals.

1. Dungeon Master: http://dmweb.free.fr/files/DM-Scan-Manual-OriginalRelease-English.pdf
2. Chaos Strikes Back: http://dmweb.free.fr/files/CSB-Scan-Manual-OriginalRelease-English.pdf
3. The Legend Of Skullkeep: http://dmweb.free.fr/files/DMII-Scan-Manual-PC-English.pdf

Ah yes, maybe in the manual indeed (I recall the picture of the raven in the manual). In the actual game, I don't recall much of a story though.

That's one of the reasons Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back are so great. The background story is just an excuse for the dungeon to exist, while the exploration and mapping of the dungeon is the main focus, not some daft story line you have to follow.
And the dungeon in CSB is the best computer game dungeon ever created IMO.

Having said that the background story is well written, and it's obvious Mrs. Holder was a professional writer, and not just the designer's wife.

There are a few other things that set Dungeon Master apart from most of its later clones:
* Leveling up is handled in an interesting way. There are only 4 classes, but any character can level up in any of these classes; to do so, you need to perform actions relevant to that class. Fight with a weapon, and you'll get fighter XP. Try casting spells, and you'll get XP for the corresponding caster class. Leveling up one class doesn't hinder leveling up in other classes. Also, there are hidden sub-skills that are used for checks (and which level up through practice), so not everty novice priest is equally good with all priest spells.
* Spells use a system of runes. The first rune determines the power, and the other runes determine the effect. Not all rune combinations work; most are just meaningless spells, but if you find a valid one, the game will let you use it. (It's quite possible that many players will discover the Fireball spell by accident; one extra click and you might accidentally cast it.) A spell can then fail if your skill level is low, but the message is different from the meaningless spell, and even tells you if it's a priest or wizard spell. (Also, even if a spell is too difficult to cast consistently, you might (especially if you're wise) succeed anyway.)
* Potions: There is no healing spell. Instead, there is an easy priest spell (that the game teaches you on the first real level, in a scroll that appears with a few empty flasks) that will turn the empty flask in hand into a healing potion. Cast the spell, and you now have a potion. Drink the potion, and you now have an empty flask that can be used for another. (There are other potion making spells as well.)

Yeah, but game-mechanically EoB really was a step back. In DM you could (and should!) trap and kill monsters in doors. You have to sustain your party by killing and eating monsters (and drink from puddles... survival game mechanics ftw...)

When EoB came out many people complained it was "dumbed down"... Funny the same discussions for decades now... (I liked EoB, but I liked DM better TBH, also Black Crypt, Raven's debut, sadly only on Amiga)

If I'm being honest, no matter how much I love DM (and I love it really a lot), the game that really nailed the dungeon exploration experience was Ultima Underworld. And I mean the first one. The second one is better in almost every regard - but this "innocent" dungeon conquering feeling kind of got lost.

Fun fact: In Dungeon Master, even though it looks like it, you don't actually need to eat or drink to survive. Basically, the mechanics around this work something like this:
* Stamina will gradually decrease, and will decrease faster with heavier activity.
* If you have enough food and water, Stamina will gradually recover (especially while resting), but this happens at the expense of your food and water meters.
* If your Health or Mana is below the maximum, the stat will recover, but at the expense of Stamina.
* If you are starving or dehydrating, your Stamina will not recover above half. If you are both, your Stamina won't recover at all.
* If your Stamina runs out, your Health will decrease. This can actually happen even if you aren't starving, particularly if you have low Stamina, high Mana, and have been using a lot of magic.
* There is a spell to create a Stamina potion. Said spell is cheap to cast, and can therefore sustain yourself long enough to recover the Mana used to make it. (The spell is actually cheaper than the healing potion spell, but more difficult (and hence more XP) to cast.)

I actually find it interesting the way it's handled. Practicing your skills will tend to drain a lot of stamina, and will therefore cause you to risk starvation faster, for example. Of couare, you can survive despite starvation if you keep making Stamina potions, though you need to be careful if taking that approach. (It's still a lot more effort than just casting Create Food and Water in EotB.)

Only played Dungeon Master II back then but I loved it, never finished it though, just got too hard somewhere inside the keep. Still have the original box even.

Would like to see the series continued...

Yes, exactly that. It was the game that killed my interested to square-based dungeon games (like DM, EOB etc.). And there was an amazingly believable "culture" in the dark dungeons, not just monsters that you must kill.

Then again, if Nightdive or whatever would say they are going to produce more UUW games, I'd be similarly a bit puzzled what kind of games they would be and do we really "need" them. I usually prefer that companies make fresh starts, like after Ultima Underworld 2, they didn't make Ultima Underworld 3, but System Shock. Similar engine etc., but completely different setting and story.

Would any of you be interested in emulated versions or ports of Theron's Quest and Nexus?

https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/dungeon_master_therons_quest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efkmh8vefxA

https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/dungeon_master_nexus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSkajlspWMc

I have to agree with you. Underworld blew me away, when I first bought it (still have the disc version somewhere lying around). When I bought it here and installed and started it, I was quiet disappointed, because memories were much better. I only played a few minutes and removed the game. For me, it did not age well.
Maybe a remake with current tech would be a good idea. At least, I‘d be willing to try it.