I thought they were 2D, but the facing and directions were 3D … ish? Things came at you unless you did something. They were clearly trying to go in the direction of full roam 3D but I don’t remember if their titles ever did? After World of Xeen I get a little hazy remembering what the follow on games were like.
Did you play Eye of the Beholder? If so, how’d that go?
No, don’t believe I ever did. I played all the gold box games, but I read that the Eye of the Beholder games were very Dungeon Master-y and I wasn’t a big fan of that.
For me, EoB was one of the first RPG games where the play was actually 3D, and not just the mapping. It was pseudo turn-based, but unlike M&M and Bard’s Tale and such, the mobs were also in 3D space as were things like levers, rocks, and such. You’d see that bad ass monster guarding that room beyond the portcullis. In Bard’s Tale, things just popped up in front of you when it came down to a random encounter. I wouldn’t have described it as Dungeon Master-y, if memory serves on both of those franchises.
I loved EoB.
While we’re on the topic of gold box games, when am I going to get another Spelljammer or Buck Rogers game?!! I loved how they took that gold box engine and made everything and anything from it.
With Battletech risen from the ashes, I’m crossing my fingers for a Renegade Legion comeback. I’ll take Centurion or Interceptor.
My brothers and I got around the hefty game investment by frequenting those game rental stores. Remember those? You’d get a plastic bag with the disks, the manual, and usually some ridiculous copy protection scheme. Keep it over the weekend or whatever. I can’t remember how many different games we borrowed this way. And then every once in a while they’d sell off the old ones, that’s how I got my first copy of Darklands.
There were other ways to get around the hefty investment. I am not proud of this, but a big chunk of the games I played on my C64 in the 80s were pirates. I had a friend who would just get me all these games, all I had to give him were blank floppies. I’ve been trying to atone for this by supporting kickstarters for developers I appreciate wherever possible.
Hey, good memory Craig! You’re right, I went to school for archaeology to the point of bailing on a PhD program and leaving with a masters. So I’d definitely be interested in hearing more! My academic work was mostly in Greek, and some Egyptian, Religious architecture and festivals. Like you, I’ve actually worked in entirely different areas, but for me it’s Native American and American Revolutionary material.
I’ve recently - as in a couple weeks ago - left archaeology and have now landed in municipal planning. The new job hasn’t left me a lot of time to keep up with the forums, sadly. But when I get a chance I’ll put together a better hello post. One that actually mentions games.
I did the same but it was a different time for me and my understanding of the effects of things like that. C64 pirating was rampant. It was even fun! Sadly, I hope I didn’t contribute to the demise of some of my favorite game companies, but I know it surely affected things, even if only a tiny amount. If I could bring back Microprose especially, I would do so in a heartbeat.
I didn’t think too much about it until I read Phil Steinmeyer (Railroad Tycoon II, Tropico) explaining that he got out of the games business because of piracy. I’d been complaining for years that there wasn’t a good follow-up to Tropico, and suddenly I find out that it’s actually my fault. So now I try to make sure and support the people who make the kind of games I like. Even if the game itself isn’t that great, I don’t want someone who has potential to give up on making more in the future.
To be fair, I didn’t have enough money back then to have made much of a difference. Maybe it’s for the best that I was able to keep up an interest in games and get to the point I am now where I can actually afford to buy them.
Exactly what I was going to say.
Not sure if this statement came out like you intended, but Ultima Underworld didn’t have turn-based movement - it was the first game of any type to have free movement, with Wolfenstein 3D coming out around the same time.
I’ve been avoiding posting anything here because I don’t know what to write that isn’t boring. I think you’re stuck with boring. edit: I just went over what I wrote and I’m not sure I should leave it. It sounds like an introduction for some therapy session. But, I try to be honest and this is what came to my head so I guess I’ll leave it.
I’m 48 years old and my name is Rob. I grew up New York (Long Island). I was a pretty timid kid, but found out I was very good at baseball. This gave me some confidence, because while I could be a target to get picked on in elementary school - I could strike out those same people in little league. I threw hard too, so they were a bit afraid of me when I was on the mound. I’d never hit anyone intentionally, I’d much rather strike them out. One of the events I remember most was pitching to this fairly small kid who could barely swing the bat. He’d just stand there, or swing when the ball was past him. I was struggling with my control that day and I didn’t want to hit him. I was just trying to lob it over the plate and I hit him 2 times that game. His sister was screaming at me that I was trying to hit him. I felt horrible.
I also played soccer and was a pretty good goalie, making a local traveling team. I felt at home playing sports and loved to be the one playing in a high stakes situation. I wanted to be batting with bases loaded and 2 outs. I wanted to stop the team from scoring with the game on the line. I loved those situations where I could prove I was better and I could do the job. I still have the same sense of competition when playing in a local tennis league, or trying to beat someone’s high score in a video game. I think that’s why I sometimes play games after the point where I’m having fun - I hate feeling like I’m giving up.
I got my BS in computer science and started being a programmer. I did that for 10 years or so. I got very good evaluations, but for some reason I lost my confidence. Nobody ever complained about my work, but I kind of felt like a fraud. It compounded when I took a job working at home. I was always worried my boss would think I wasn’t getting enough done even though he said he was happy with my work. I started quitting jobs because I couldn’t find one I felt good about. After relocating with my wife, I finally found a job as a software developer where I could cope with those feelings, probably due to the fact that I had a great team leader. I still had anxiety but was able to keep it in check.
When my wife and I had our son 10 years ago I was ready to get out and became a house dad. We had our son in daycare and hated that he was always getting sick and the daycare people were spending more time with him than we were. So I started staying home and taking care of him. I felt fortunate that I could do that and teach him his colors, shapes, alphabet, etc… There were times I was bored of course, but I was lucky.
So today I am still a house dad. My son is in 5th grade. I like being available to attend his school things. But, all this free time has led me to spend too much time playing video games. I used to play a ton, but I always had other things I needed to do - like go to work. I wish I had the skills / drive / courage to come up with something I could do or create from home, on my own terms, that would be of value to make some money. I have trouble trying to start something that I don’t feel like I’d succeed at.
On a more positive note… I have a great wife that accepts me for all of my flaws. She is awesome, very intelligent, always tries to do the right things and laughs at my attempts at humor. I’m not sure how I got so lucky, but I did.
Video game stuff…
I’ve been fascinated by video games for as long as I can remember them existing. Like many here, Pong was my first home video game. When I was a kid hotels would frequently have a video game or two in the lobby and I’d bug my Dad to let me play. Many times he would since we were on vacation, so it was a special treat. We got an Atari 2600 sometime fairly close to its release in 1977 and I was hooked. I’d keep a loose leaf binder with my high scores. I’d compete with my Dad on the game he liked to play - Pinball, Frogger, Missle Command and PacMan. With some Activision games, they would send you a patch is you reached a specified score on a particular level, so I’d take a picture of my tv screen and mail it in so I could get the patch. I guess that was my first achievement! My the time we moved when I was 18, I had well over 100 Atari cartridges, many bought with my paper route money. I ended selling them for a dollar or two a piece.
When I was in junior high, we had TSR80s at school so I took a couple programming classes.My friend got one at home and we played a bunch of text and limited graphics games Trucker, President Elect, some crude baseball game, dungeon crawlers - they seemed amazing at the time. Eventually my Dad brought home an IBM PC Jr, which he soldered some extra memory into. That got me started on Kings Quest and led to the Sierra games being some of my favorites for many years. I also loved the D&D gold box series, Microleague Baseball, Empire, Xor Challenge football game and many more.
Nothing compared to the feeling I got when I saw Civilization in an Electronics Boutique store. I remember reading the box and thinking there is no way it could be as amazing as it sounded - and it was! I have easily put more hours into the Civilization series than any other.
These days I play almost every genre. I fell out of love with Adventure games and I am terrible at fighting games so I don’t really play those.
You are completely correct and I had forgotten this point. I’m not sure how I messed that up, but let’s blame early onset (alcohol induced) dementia.
I hope you leave the post, Rob. And congrats on the wonderful wife and plethora of Atari patches alike :)
Oh god yes. I miss them every day.
Some people here might not recognize their brand, but their games for sure. Though not all of these were under the Microprose brand, their group was responsible for a long list of titles.
Without them I’m wondering if Pirates, Civilization, XCOM, Master of Orion, Roller Coaster Tycoon or any number of others would have ever been a thing.
Possibly, but they wouldn’t have been as magical. Don’t also forget their amazing legacy of flight sims.
Which is what drove a lot of us into that addiction! Gunship and Falcon were my favs, but I played many.
F-19 was my first, but after that, I bought every sim they had.
Thanks Armando :-) She even plays Gloomhaven too!