So this is absolutely true:

When I was 14, I wrote the (as far as I can determine) first parser-driven BBS in the world, basically creating the first purpose-driven, "multi-player" online adventure game, with the following caveats:

- Unis had such games themselves, but their access was limited to other university students and not the general public.

- It's also possible that someone else might have done the same thing before me, but I have never found any record of a such a BBS or online game existing prior to 1981.

The name of the BBS was 'New House of Wrath' and it featured a house that you explored via simple verb-noun syntax. Each room in the house was a BBS function (various text games which I wrote myself / a message base / a philez repository / a graffiti wall) as well as a simple underlying adventure in the style of Zork. The whole thing was written in sloppy TRS-DOS BASIC on a TRS-80 Model III and resided within 48k of memory including a primitive DB engine that I wrote. I still have a 8-pin dot-maxtrix print out of the code.

Shortly after my BBS went "online", a couple of multi-line BBSs sprung up, but these were straight BBSs without an overlying structure like mine.

At the time, I thought nothing of writing the BBS other than it was a fun thing to do. 80 Micro, the magazine that covered all things TRS-related, was going to write a story about my BBS, but nothing ever came of it. I ran it until about 1986 when I finally gave up because everyone was going to online service like Compu$erve and Prodigy.

I know I'll never get a single bit of credit for what I did, but I know what I did and I'm proud of my little contribution to the online world; that'll have to be enough.

"I started "coding" at 8 by typing out programs from an adventure game programming book, in BASIC (think old Infocom games, like Wishbringer/Zork, etc). "

Me too! I remember typing out pages and pages of BASIC on my C64 from a magazine... ugh. Then I made my own adventure game (ripping off Aliens) with a whole bunch of gotos for each "room".... the horror!

"The challenge in today's programming environment is the rapid pace of change. It's so f'n hard to keep up with every new toolkit, platform, library, programming language enhancements, etc."

Pfsh... how hard can it possibly be?

This is so true...

Programming without the internet was tough. I remember my early years of programming in ASM and C/C++. The only internet access was via BBSes and Trumpet Winsock. Your only source of real help was from Usenet groups and questionable help files. There was no such thing as Intelli-sense (as we know it now) or auto-complete; you pretty much had to memorize the parameters for all Win32 API calls and the STL for C++ was brutal to use. Programming nowadays is relatively easy in comparison - pretty much anyone can code thanks to the internet and fantastic online resources. Heck, my 7 yr old daughter is learning to write code using a Scratch-derived visual programming language and Cosmo (look it up, it's awesome). I started "coding" at 8 by typing out programs from an adventure game programming book, in BASIC (think old Infocom games, like Wishbringer/Zork, etc).

The challenge in today's programming environment is the rapid pace of change. It's so f'n hard to keep up with every new toolkit, platform, library, programming language enhancements, etc.

I almost bought a PAS16. I ended up with a SB16(?) back then. I never got into KQ series since I wasn't an adventure game guy. However, CK games were fun. I liked 4-6 better than 1-3. Of course, Wolf3D and DOOM. Dang!

I could never get into these text adventure games.

I think I played Space Invaders on that machine in my parents' friends' house.

Looks cool, but what am I seeing? It has sort of an Another World vibe to it, but seems more point-and-clicky adventure game. I hope it's more Another Worldy.

You're just a different type of gamer than those of us who thrived during the early eras of gaming. My brother and I used to do speed runs through Full Throttle just for fun because we enjoyed adventure titles so much. It's like watching your favorite movie over and over again, except that you get to interact with the characters.

Especially Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, most of the modern Tex Murphy adventures, and the Monkey Islands. Mostly Lucas Arts and Sierra, but companies like Access also provided hours and hours of the tedious adventure game shlock we enjoy. Hell, there were days where an entire 24 hours was spent playing text adventures, some of those hours spent replaying a game we had played through 100 times or more.

I never got into adventure games, but that looked nice. *commercial

Have you played The Walking Dead, yet? I thought it was a brilliantly made series. Very easy to play and get immersed in. I found myself much more easily absorbed by it than I am finding with Bioshock: Infinite. Sometimes classic adventure games can be annoying with how puzzles are solved, does not happen in The Walking Dead, such a great, heartwrenchingly, fun, fluid game.

For me, it was Star Wars and Outlaws. I am not a fan of adventure games.

Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Full Throttle, The Dig, Loom, Dark Forces, Grim Fandango... Shit man. We have been missing LucasArts for a while. :~(

I remember being a little kid in 4th grade, I loved the Monkey Island soundtrack so much that I recorded the songs with my little boom box cassette recorder from the Tandy. That game was one of those magical sorts where as a little kid I fantasized about actually living in that game world.

Before Dark Forces came out I remember staring at previews in PC Gamer for months at a time. When it came out it was unbelievably AWESOME. Really special company, really special times. Will be forever in my mind with LOVE.

That said there is still hope. Telltale, which consists of former LucasArts employees has been doing a fantastic job of innovating upon adventure gaming; the future is still bright.

If you gave EA money for this abortion, you are part of the reason why some publishers (EA, Ubisoft, Activision...) want to treat PC games as $60 rentals, and you are most definitely part of the problem. There are an ABUNDANCE of better, cheaper PC games developed by companies who want your business and won't treat you as just an open wallet. Sim City was a great franchise once, but just like Diablo, Crysis, and anything from Bioware nowadays, it's been consolized, socialized, and/or monetized into crap that most PC gamers want nothing to do with.

This "real cities do not exist in a bubble" is just corporate blathering to justify the always-on DRM, as if fans of the series have forgotten it has always been, first and foremost, a single player game, and a very enjoyable one at that. It is ABSOLUTELY IDIOTIC to force such a drastic change in gameplay/genre into a game that has been so defined by it's gameplay/genre over the years. Same thing when EA remade Syndicate as a FPS. A FPS Syndicate ISN'T SYNDICATE! I don't want to play with anyone else. I don't want my fucking savegames on your shitty server, even if it was an awesome server. If I give you $60 for your game, it's now MY game, and you leave me the fuck alone!

AAARRG! It's like PC game developers are all being run by fucking console kiddies and greedy shitstain corporate types who never played NetQuake or DWANGO, or Heretic, or System Shock, or X-Com, or any of the Black Isle or pre-Dragon Age 2 Bioware stuff, or any Diablo without a "III" behind it, or Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, or the Ultimas, or the Roberta Williams adventure games, or Wing Commander, or Tie Fighter, or MechWarrior. Deus Ex! A full fucking Deus EX play-through would be required before I'd even THINK about hiring your ass to develop a new PC game! On second thought, play it three times, once for each ending!

uuuuugh... so... anyway... yeah, fuck EA.

Ok, fine. Rage.

I never got into adventure games, but that was amusing.

>> ^mindbrain:

@2:55
At this moment it always felt like Frank Dux had achieved a level up, SIERRA adventure game style.


I feel the same way. He got the nod of aproval.

@2:55

At this moment it always felt like Frank Dux had achieved a level up, SIERRA adventure game style.