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2011-05-17T15:19:00.001-05:00

Nerd quiz score

2007-06-24T19:33:00.001-05:00

I raised my nerd score as well...

Geek score

2007-06-24T19:25:00.001-05:00

Wizard of Speed and Time

2007-01-23T11:18:00.000-06:00

OK, I know this isn't really about computer games, but it's interesting enough for me to post. Mike Jittlov has released his classic stop-motion film The Wizard of Speed and Time for free download via BitTorrent. I'm totally psyched about this, and have already burnt my own copy. Check out the details at the Evil Genius Chronicles blog.

The Spam

2006-10-30T14:21:00.000-06:00

with apologies to E. A. Poe

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious inbox of forgotten mail,
While I nodded, nearly sleeping, suddenly there came a beeping,
As of new mail, quietly creeping, creeping straight across my LAN.
” ‘Tis some friendly greeting,” I hoped, “creeping straight across my LAN;
Only this, and not more spam.”

Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,
With each separate link light blinking as the somber night began
Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books a way to block, to block, I say, the flow of spam,
And let the rare and useful message enter through the flow of spam
Creeping straight across my LAN.

And the strident blinking beeping of this email message creeping
Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt by man;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
” ‘’Tis some valid email creeping, seeking solace on my LAN,
Some late message creeping, seeking solace softly on my LAN.
This it is, and not more spam.”

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
“So,” said I, “let’s just see what missive comes across my LAN”;
But the fact is, I was sleeping, and so softly it came creeping
Into my inbox, that I didn’t notice how the words of subject ran,
I did not see, I tell you true, that the subject words were not of man;
Random words, they were — of spam.

Long into the message peering, long I sat there, wondering, fearing
Doubting, dreaming dreams that never should be dreamt by man:
“Grow it longer! Grow it straighter! Don’t be afraid! Don’t be a hater!”;
And the only words there spoken were the tortured ‘Not more spam!’
This I whispered, and in echo murmured back ‘Yes, it’s spam,
Creeping straight across my LAN.’

Back into the aether turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I mailed the spammer, saying ‘Send me no more spam.’
“Surely,” said I, “surely, this will keep my email inbox clear.
Let me see, then, what this mail is, creeping now onto my LAN.
Let my heart be still and see, just what’s this new mail on my LAN?
What the freak!? It’s just more spam.”

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an old condenser
Run by demons whose packets thudded on the network floor.
“Filth,” I cried, “may God have mercy on your soul for this!”
“But I will not!” I yelled. “And I will curse the name of all who spam!
And I will not rest until my inbox has been cleared of all this spam!”
I swore as I watched my LAN.

And the spam-mail, never ceasing, still is creeping, slowly creeping
To my email box, on my server, on my LAN;
And their words have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming.
And the link lights slowly blinking shine their light upon my floor;
And my inbox from out that shadow that comes creeping on my network
Shall be lifted—nevermore!

(cross-posted over at Vintage Computing & Gaming)

First games

2006-10-25T17:54:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, RedWolf posted a column about the first computer he ever used, and it started me thinking about my specialty: computer games. What was the first computer game, of any sort, that I played? I've spent some time thinking about it and sorting through the memories, and while I haven't quite arrived at a definite answer, the list can be narrowed down to a handful of titles. They may not be the absolute earliest games I ever touched, but these are the ones that drew me into the whole sordid world of being a computer geek.

I could take the easy way out, and claim that The Oregon Trail was it and end the discussion there. The Trail was introduced to my whole generation during the early years of elementary school, while we sat in a library full of Apple ]['s and had a teacher drone on about how to insert a floppy into the drive and close the door. Every school I attended seemed to love having students play it during the "pioneer" section of Social Studies class, but it honestly didn't make a great impression on me. It seemed boring, repetitious, and almost impossible to win. And while I, like all normal kids, enjoyed leaving my path westward littered with dead animals and broken limbs, it wasn't a title I sought out on my own for entertainment. It was too much a part of school work to ever be much of a game.

Continue reading this article at Vintage Computing and Gaming.

Trippy Games

2006-09-19T08:36:00.000-05:00

Back in the good old days of computer gaming (we’re talking late-80’s to mid-90’s here, folks), one thing that could be said about the games market is that it was a crap shoot. Before the advent of the Internet, the few dead-tree review magazines couldn’t keep up with the number of newly-released titles, and computer game companies didn’t seem to take advertising very seriously. This meant that the chances of knowing the details of a game before purchasing it were pretty slim. Usually, all a gamer had to go on was the box copy, and whatever word-of-mouth could be picked up while hanging out at the local Babbage’s.

Buying a game could be a gamble, pure and simple. Sure, Origin was a safe bet for action or role-playing, and Sierra was the uncontested king of the adventure genre, but so many smaller companies were trying to make it big that it was impossible to know exactly what would be on the shelf on any given day. Sometimes, a search though the $5 rack would reveal an unlikely-sounding game written by two guys in a smelly basement, only to be unmasked later as a true gem of programming skill. More often, a slick-looking box with beautiful images and promising descriptions would turn out, when unboxed at home, to fall somewhere between maddeningly dull and outright unplayable (I’m looking at you, Rocket Jockey). But rarely, very rarely, a game would crop up that would cause an immediate and almost-universal reaction among gamers: “What were those guys smoking, and where can I get some?”

Continue reading over at Vintage Computing and Gaming.

Political gaming?

2006-09-05T17:07:00.000-05:00

Turns out that a possible presidential candidate made an appearance in an online multi-player game. New World Notes (linky) reports that former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner in held a conference in the popular open-source online game Second Life. And while he hasn't announced any plans to run, the gossip is that he's been sending out feelers along those lines.

So what does it mean when a political candidate shows up in an MMO game? Is it just a gimmick, or is it for real? And what are the implications if it is for real?

For one, it means that at least one person on Capitol Hill has come around to the idea of a new form of media, and is reaching out to a demographic that is largely ignored in the political arena. Most often, the only politics these folks get involved in have to do with DRM fights against large corporations. Now, we have what appears to be a good-faith effort on behalf of the politicos to bring them into the fold. But will it be enough to turn these folks to change parties, or even to become merely interested in the process? Or will gamers view it with the cynicism they seem to be born with?

Beyond that, what does this say about a candidate who would use it? Is he outside the 'clique' of politicians? Too modern and new-fangled? Will he be able to maintain the support and respect of the veterans of his field, or will they view it as a simple gimmick as well? Will he be taken seriously by his peers?

One thing I feel is that it is a long-overdue shift. Perhaps the first step will be stumbling, but as a younger generation moves into office, their hobbies and interests will necessarily be reflected in the way they do business. If nothing else, this is a sign that a changing of the guard is in progress, even if it is a slow, step-by-baby-step process. And perhaps, if I put my own cynicism aside for a minute, it can be an effective way to get in touch with a whole demographic that has been raised on-line. Rather than watching TV or listening to the radio for our information, we now get a large percentage from the internet. And if a politician can take advantage of that, he will be well positioned to move forward with the growing young-adult population.

Recycled Game Ideas

2006-08-23T17:43:00.000-05:00

Breakthrough technology. Innovative gameplay. Revolutionary features. It seems that every new game claims to incorporate some aspect that players have never seen before. From a marketing standpoint, that’s understandable. We all want value for our money, and what better hook is there than offering a fresh experience? What better enticement is there than a style of game we’ve never seen before?

Wolfenstein 3D and Doom reshaped the gaming market almost overnight by giving players a chance to step into the skin of their character. When Diablo first hit the shelves, one of its biggest selling points was the nearly-unlimited replayability afforded by its randomly-generated maps and quests. And Neverwinter Nights boasts one of the strongest online communities around, due in part to the extremely powerful editing tools that allow users to create adventures every bit as polished as what the game shipped with.

These titles are all examples of truly unique, one-of-a-kind ideas dominating, and changing, the gaming world. Or at least, they would be, if the ideas behind them really were unique. But how many gamers remember titles like Ultima Underworld, Castle of the Winds, Mordor, and Shattered Light?

Read the full article at Vintage Computing and Gaming.

Today in the mail

2006-08-12T00:26:00.000-05:00

I received a copy of Doom 3 from Vsafanov, and a copy of The Movies from absolutebtch. Thanks for the great additions, guys!

Old-school copy protection

2006-08-09T08:04:00.000-05:00

Nothing seems to make headlines more these days than war and copyright infractions. Whether it has to do with movies, music, or games, “piracy” is now a household word, and media providers are searching for ways to reduce it and make money off of it at the same time. Hollywood’s Broadcast Flag. Sony’s rootkit debacle. Starforce. So much time, effort, and public goodwill has been wasted on the quest to prevent people from copying things.

All right. Did I scare off the casual passers-by yet? Because this isn’t a crusade to rail against the evils of modern copy-protection. No, I just needed a legitimate sounding opening to introduce what I really want to talk about: old-school copy protection. We’re talking “Don’t Copy That Floppy” here, folks — back in the days when men were men and boys had to learn how to handle boot floppies and extended memory.

Continue reading at Vintage Computing and Gaming.

Acknowledgements

2006-08-08T13:19:00.000-05:00

Here's the latest gathering of goodies and the people who supplied them:

From funstufftd comes a copy of the Diablo expansion, Hellfire, which is getting harder and harder to find these days. Atwog made me a great deal on Beyond Divinity, the somewhat-sequel to Divine Divinity. Unfortunately, it will never be installed on any of my PC's, because it uses Starforce copy protection, and I refuse to let that crapware on my systems. It's still nice to have the game to add to my collection, though.

A title I've been looking for for quite some time is Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. Thanks to shoppenqueen, I now have a copy. And from lornagdoon comes a great old strategy title, The Ancient Art of War in the Skies.

Last, but certainly not least, an old ebay favorite of mine, soul2spare, has sent another small collection of titles: Phantasie III -- The Wrath of Nikademus, Alien Rampage, and Ancient Empires. As always, it was a pleasure doing business.

And to add to all of that, my boss left a sack of games sitting on my desk today. Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe, its expansion pack P-38 Lightning, Fleet Defender Gold, Cart Racing, LHX Attack Chopper, The Terminator, and Strat-O-Matic Computer Baseball.

Frets on Fire: Thrash Your Keyboard

2006-08-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

I was checking out the last few news posts over at MobyGames, and ran across a link to Unreal Voodoo's Frets on Fire game. You've seen those DDR-style Flash games on various websites (like Flash Flash Revolution)? Well, FoF takes the concept one step further.

To start with, you have five notes or frets to worry about (by default, the F1-F5 keys), as well as your pick (the Enter key). You can hold down the frets as long as you want, but when the scrolling note indicators hit the bottom of the screen, you have to hit the pick at the right time -- otherwise you get some nice distorted slop instead of the proper note. The tutorial even recommends picking up your keyboard from the desk and holding it as a guitar, with your left hand wrapping around the upper edge to hit the fret keys, and your right had free to hit the pick. In practice, I found it just as easy to leave it lying on the desk, and with different keyboard sizes and shapes on the market, everybody will have to play around a bit to find the most comforatble position.

As for the tutorial, it's not as clear as it could be. It took me a couple of run-throughs to figure out just what was intended. For instance, holding down the frets is explained, but using the pick is never mentioned. After getting 0% a couple of times, I finally got the idea, but a bit more explanation in the tutorial would be nice.

The overall gameplay is great -- the graphics are simple and uncluttered, the controls are easy to pick up, and the difficulty for each song can be adjusted. More variety in songs would be nice, as FoF in its current form only offers three. There is a song editor utility included, but I would like to see more songs from the developers available for download, and possibly a genre-based sorting system within the game.

Overall, though, it's a great idea combined with great execution, and I'm very interested to see if development continues.

Oh yeah, and it's free. That never hurts.

[edit] You should be able to find some extra downloadable songs over at http://frets.freenerd.org/. [/edit]

And our guest tonight will be...

2006-08-01T13:31:00.000-05:00

Me, over at Vintage Computing and Gaming!

Linkylinkylinkylinkylinky.

Happyhappyhappyhappyhappy.

800!

2006-07-31T13:35:00.000-05:00

With the two games that arrived in the mail today, I have finally broken the 800 mark.

Thanks to jlong10187 for an old game, Navcom 6; and thanks to ferone70store for Postal: Classic and Uncut. Much appreciated.

And again with the acknowledgements

2006-07-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

Crap, I don't know if I'll be able to get them all in one post, but I'll try. Links may have to come later, but I just want to make sure credit's given today.

Rhctrading kindly sold me a copy of Drakan: Order of the Flame, while kimsgallery provided a bit of Normality. And I can't forget cewgifts, who supplied me with a beautiful copy of the old floppy version of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Krazylouie sent out three floppy games in wonderful shape: Heat Wave, Marble Madness, and Arcticfox; and vancetoepel sold me copies of Hocus Pocus, Creatures, and, arguably one of the worst PC games ever made (and thus one of the high points of my collection), Mad Dog McCree. (Mad Dog McCree received the worst-ever review at PC Gamer Magazine.)

Zfishman and soul2spare both made huge additions to my collection. From zfishman, I received Swift Classic Board Games for Windows, Swift Classic Card Games for Windows, Sports Car GT, Road Rash, Galaxy of Games, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000, NHL 2000, Madden 2000, NBA Live 2000, Superbike World Championship, Super Huey III, NASCAR Road Racing, 3-D Pinball Express, You Don't Know Jack Sports, Reader's Digest Multimedia Crosswords, Evel Knievel 3D Stunt Game, and Fox Sports Soccer 99. There was another title in the mix (Nascar Racing 99), but in an as-yet-unheard-of move, I passed that one on to another collector who needed it to finish the series. Soul2spare graciously supplied a huge collection of DOS games, including The Classic 5, Thunderhawk AH-73M, Merchant Colony, Budo: The Art of Ninja Combat!, 35 Great Games for Windows, Sim City: The City Simulator, Ancients II, Life & Death II: The Brain, Thexder, Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe, Monopoly, Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain, Fantasy Empires, Roadwar Europa, Roadwar 2000, Wargame Construction Set, Indianapolis 500: The Simulation, Red Baron, Red Baron Mission Builder, Flight of the Intruder, Gunship 2000, and Gunship 2000 Scenario Disk with Mission Builder.

And last but not least, some local friends donated to the cause this week. From Terry Riggs, I now have Battlefield Vietnam, Tzar: The Burden of the Crown, and Sudden Strike II; and Rebekah Layton kindly passed along a copy of 100 Great Educational Games Vol. 4.

I'll pop back in later and update the game titles with links, and talk about a couple of other interesting things I've received.
* Links added *

Even more acknowledgements

2006-07-22T09:35:00.000-05:00

The last couple of weeks I have been going crazy on Ebay, and I have quite a few people to recognize, so let's get started.

Kittywittyx helped me complete my Command & Conquer collection, with copies of Tiberian Sun, Firestorm, and Renegade.

Thanks to manxkity, I'm now the proud owner of an original, still-shrink-wrapped copy of Might and Magic II, from 1988. This one will have pride of place in my collection, a nice little display spot all its own.

Rblz made a big addition to the collection, with copies of NFL Pro League Football, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Mission Pack: Urban Operations, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000, NHL Hockey 95, Front Lines, Harley-Davidson: Race Across America, Superbike 2000, Zork: Grand Inquisitor, Test Drive 6, and Microsoft Golf.

Mrsthomason sold me a copy of Lucasarts' Full Throttle, one of their clasic adventure games, along with a copy of Tie Fighter.

From jasonhibbs I snagged a new-in-box copy of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Masterpiece Collection, and marctexas2003 supplied me with The Lucasarts Archives Volume 2.

hoosier_dad_46952 sent me a fully-registered version of an old Apogee game, Mystical Towers, and rhstuff4sale provided me with an old floppy copy of New World's Nuclear War.

I bought a new, sealed version of Evil Genius from factorydealz, a new-in-box copy of Thief: Deadly Shadows from renata5136, and an As-Seen-On-TV sealed box of 3D Games (with 3D glasses that connect to the monitor) by X3D from retsalbpihc.

I picked up copies of Sim Classics and Sim Theme Park from 4mejusbcus, and an old 5.25 floppy version of Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy text adventure from tevlee.

And finally (for today at least), the most recent games to arrive are two I've been wanting to add to my collection for a long time: Acclaim's Re-volt, sold to me by kappachino, and Star Wars: Yoda Stories, sold by amospotatohead.

Whew! What a list. But keep an eye out, there are more on their way. And hopefully, in the next week, I will have added the game that has the distinction of being the worst-revied game ever at PC Gamer Magazine.

Acknowledgements

2006-07-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

All right, let's recognize a couple generous souls who have added nicely to my library.

First off is a new personal acquaintance, Keith Reeves. He came over to take a tour of my new office and brought a nice set of house-warming gifts.

Empire Earth Gold Edition, Star Trek: Starship Creator, Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Civilization II: Test of Time, Civ II: Fantastic Worlds, Wargames, Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire, Diablo, Hearts of Iron, Age of Empires, and Death Gate.

Then today, as we came home from running errands, what should be on my doorstep but a package from ebayer jesum13, with a nice little treasure trove of games that I won in an auction at the end of last week. Talk about fast shipping! Everything was double-bubble-wrapped as well, guaranteeing that there was no shipping damage. Included were Might and Magic III (Slash redistro), Dragon's Lair CD-ROM Version, The Humans, Hell Cab, Primal Rage, Corridor 7: Alien Invasion, Tom Landry Startegy Football Deluxe Edition, and Evasive Action. Also included was a demo CD from CDMag with free versions of Zorks 1, 2, and The Undiscovered Underground text adventures. Thanks to a great ebayer for these cool additions!

Still alive

2006-07-03T14:28:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I know, after a couple of months you all probably gave up hope, but I'm back. Between moving and finishing up my spring semester, I haven't had much chance to update things lately. That should all be in the past now -- at least until fall semester starts.

There's a lot of stuff to talk about, too. Like my new office. I now have all 800+ games on display, all within easy reach of my desk. Several years of PC Gamer magazine are archived a few feet away, and I'm getting a nice 5 meg up to the local cable company, for faster internet access than I've ever had.

I have some belated acknowledgements to take care of too, as I've had plenty of new additions to my collection over the last few weeks. And maybe, just maybe, I'll finally have the time to sit down and get a couple of articles pounded out for Vintage COmputing and Gaming.

So, on with the show...

Back to the past... again

2006-05-23T23:19:00.000-05:00

Back in this post, I talked about what is possibly the earliest example of a computer game. Now, thanks to Martin Campbell-Kelly, an emulator is available at Edsac.net that will allow you to relive the glory days.

Well, maybe it's not quite that thrilling, but it is an interesting piece of history.

(via Gnome's Lair and boingboing)

Starforce boycott, Round 3

2006-04-17T08:44:00.000-05:00

Looks like Ubisoft has decided to avoid the whole Starforce tangle -- Heroes of Might and Magic V will use an alternative protection scheme. Way to go Ubi! Here's hoping other companies will follow suit and put Starforce out of business.

(via glop.org)

See the galaxy...

2006-04-11T08:19:00.000-05:00

Every morning, I make it a point to swing by Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary for my daily sci-fi fix. This webcomic is not only frequently updated, but is smart, funny, and engaging. A very 'grown-up' story, it never takes itself too seriously, and is always a thrill to read. When it comes to my favorite leisure web-reading, Schlock Mercenary and Sluggy Freelance are tied right up there at the top.

And now, one of my dreams has come true. 'Under New Management', the first Schlock Mercenary book, is available for pre-order. I just ordered mine.

If you aren't familiar with Schlock, go to Basic Training and start reading. You can thank me later. Or better yet, support a great artist and buy a copy of his book for yourself.

Worst video game covers

2006-04-03T11:28:00.000-05:00

It may be in Portuguese, but you can still enjoy the pictures. Or mock them. Whichever.

(via fosfor gadgets)

Home of the Underdogs seems to be under the weather

2006-04-03T10:59:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm a little slow on the uptake here, but in my own defense, I don't visit Home of the Underdogs terribly often. It's a wonderful reference for older PC games, and is invaluable when it comes to finding old, out-of-print titles from years gone by. Unfortunately, right now they seem to be having problems with their domain registration (see the Wikipedia article here). In the meantime, you should be able to reach them at their IP address, http://209.120.136.195/ -- if you actually want to download anything, read through the Wiki article and follow their link to the appropriate discussion.

Here's to a quick recovery. Get well soon, HOTU!

Vintagecomputing.com

2006-04-03T10:33:00.000-05:00

I just ran across Redwolf's site Vintagecomputing.com, which has some very cool articles on older computers and games. Make sure you take a look at 'How to Tell if You Have a Video Game Collecting Problem'. (Note to my wife: See how bad it could be? :) )

Star Wars or Web 2.0

2006-03-19T20:05:00.000-06:00

Courtesy of b3ta.com, test your Web2.0/Star Wars geek level:

Quiz

First try, I got 41 out of 43.

Please do not mock the blogger.

Starforce Boycott, Revisited

2006-03-13T20:35:00.000-06:00

A few posts back, I referenced a call among PC gamers to boycott games laced with Starforce protection, but was unsure whether it was time to jump on the bandwagon or not.

Now I'm sure.

(Via BoingBoing)

Turns out that Stardock (the makers of gaming and utility titles such as GalCiv, Astral Master, WindowBlinds, and ObjectDock) decided to release its recent title Galactic Civilizations 2: Dread Lords without copy protection. Rather than assuming that all of its cutomers are criminals, Stardock chose to place a little bit of trust in us and release this game free of crippling DRM {cough}Starforce{cough}. In their own words:

What we do is provide a serial # that users can choose to enter when they install and use that unique serial # to download free and frequent updates.

Our license allows you to install the game onto as many machines that you own that you want as long as only one copy is being used at once. How many sales are lost because people want to have a game on their laptop and desktop and don't want to drag CDs around so choose not to buy the game?

In response, a moderator of Starforce's message board posted a link to downloadable pirated torrents of the game.

So, one company does the right thing and stands by its customers... another promotes illegal methods in an attempt to punish them. Guess who joins my list of companies to avoid, and guess what game I'll be buying as soon as opportunity permits?

Until Starforce straightens up their act, no games protected by their DRM will be knowingly added to my collection. It's not much, but it's what I can do.

Stay tuned, I'm sure there will be more...

The Best Games You've Never Played, Vol. 2

2006-03-06T09:32:00.000-06:00

A couple of fun, free time-wasters that I have run across in my search for entertainment are from an understandably under-represented genre: computer hacking simulations.

The first was mentioned recently in Computer Gaming World (and on 1up.com) as one of their 101 Best Free Games. Chen Luu of X-K Security has produced a short series of text-based hacking simulations that, if nothing else, reinforce some basic networking ideas such as DNS lookup and telnet connections. Not completely intuitive, I had to read through the instructions a couple of times to get the general idea of what I needed to do. I found v 3.1 to be the most polished and easily approachable, and while no two games are identical, the overall approach to each quest is basically the same: look up the IP address, ping it, do a port scan, then telnet in and crack the password. Same steps every time; what differs is the payload -- you may be asked to copy a file, delete a file, or insert a virus. Other than that, though, gameplay is fairly limited. Being a network technician, though, I find it challenging to get in and out in as short a time as possible while still achieving the quest goals.

The second game is actually one I found a couple of years ago, most likely while I was searching for something else. Decker, by Shawn Overcash, isn't so much a hacker simulation as a cyberpunk hacker RPG. Playing as a mercenary, um, 'computer intrusion specialist', you pick and choose among contracts which pay greater or lesser amounts to achieve various goals -- changing database information, erasing critical files, inserting a virus -- but with the added bonus of getting to keep anything else you find while sneaking around inside the target's computer. Of course, the target systems don't sit around and let you have free run of their data -- you have to deal with (or avoid) countermeasures which may disconnect or even kill your character.

With the money gained from sucessfully completing missions and selling off odd bits of information you acquire, you can pay for hardware and software upgrades to your cyberdeck: attack, defence, concealment, regeneration, and decryption (plus many other stats) are affected by the quality of components you can afford and the distribution of skill points.

The only thing that threw me off when first playing was the graphics -- although you have a character sprite in the main window, you don't actually move it around. Think 'Legend of Zelda' -- yes the original one. When you were in a castle, you had a main screen that showed Link and the enemies in a given room, and an overhead map in one corner that showed the room's relative position in the castle. In Decker, your character sprite doesn't actually move around the inside of the room -- directional movement only occurs between rooms on the main map. A little disorienting at first, it does allow for fast and easy gameplay when you get used to it. Of course, Decker's source code is available under the GNU Public License, so if anybody feels like changing that, let me know.

All right folks, that's it. Nothing more to see here. Now go out there and get your hack on.

Acknowledgements

2006-03-05T23:29:00.001-06:00

More new games, courtesy of drevil361:

Vietnam: Black Ops
Beyond Time
Battlefield 1942
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Wipeout
Assault Rigs
Microsoft Soccer
Deer Avenger
and Deer Avenger 2

Some nice additions to the collection in there. Thanks for a great transaction, drevil361!

Dollar shop special, part 2

2006-03-05T23:16:00.000-06:00

So I stopped by the dollar store to see if they had anything new to pick up, and walked out of the store with multiple copies of Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich and Apocalyptica.

Apocalyptica might not have been worth the whole dollar, but FFvtTR more than made up for it. And according to the guy at the register, there should be some more big-name games on the shelf in the next day or two, but it sounds like they'll be more of what I picked up last time. Still, it's worth checking out.

Dollar shop special

2006-02-18T15:07:00.000-06:00

I decided to swing by the local dollar shop today while I was running my errands, and boy am I glad I did. Lionheart, No One Lives Forever 2, Tribes: Vengeance, and Icewind Dale II -- a dollar a piece! Deals like that don't happen every day, but it's the reason I try to stop by on a regular basis -- you never know what you'll find.

Acknowledgements

2006-02-18T00:42:00.000-06:00

More additions to the collection, courtesy of sftball_mom over on Ebay:

Flight Unlimited, Crazy Mini Golf, PGA Tour 96, Asteroids, Mig Alley, and Beast Wars Transformers (the one my son was thrilled to see).

Thanks for the great additions, sftball_mom.

Nothing to see, move along...

2006-02-17T17:04:00.000-06:00

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Warning - algebra ahead!

2006-02-17T14:57:00.000-06:00

The Presurfer brought to my attention an article on the Washington Post's website: What Is the Value of Algebra?. I started to post a comment on the Presurfer's blog, and then realized that it had grown into a full-blown blog entry on its own. Here it is:

Mr. Cohen, stop giving out bad advice.

Some people go through life without using a screwdriver, too, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't benefit from one. Perhaps they're just really good at getting butterknives to work instead. Perhaps they have a friend with a tool kit. It's just that a screwdriver is built for a particular job, is best-suited for certain things, and is a good thing to know how to use.

Have you ever gone to McDonald's with five dollars and figured out how many burgers and fries you can buy off of the value menu, including tax? That's algebra.

Have you ever paid bills, and tried to figure how much you need to pay toward the credit card in order to pay it off by the end of the year? That's algebra.

Have you ever tried to estimate how much farther you can drive before needing to fill your gas tank? That's algebra, too.

Algebra is nothing more than math. Remember the worksheets from grade school, with 1 + 1 = ___ ? That's the basis of algebra. That's it. It's that easy.

Some people see the word 'algebra' and start freaking out. They don't realize that in a commercial society, they've been brought up to use it every day of their lives. They just get hung up on the idea that numbers and letters don't mix, and assume that they'll never figure it out.

Maybe algebra isn't important in everybody's life. Maybe it shouldn't be a requirement. But maybe giving up on it is counterproductive. We need to recognize that every adult (who is responsible for their own life) will at some point use it, whether they realize it or not.

And we need to recognize that just because one person cannot see value in a concept, does not make the concept valueless. Shame on you, Mr. Cohen. If you wish to live your life in ignorance, that's fine. But please, don't advocate condemning our children to the same fate.

An old, tired convention?

2006-02-04T21:34:00.000-06:00

So what really happens when a wizard shows up on a street corner, ready to hand out a fate-of-the-universe quest to passing strangers?

Check out the story at The Escapist.

(via fark)

The Software Labs

2006-02-04T20:05:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I got the bug to sort through some of my packed-away boxes, in the hope that some of my long-missing floppy disk games would have magically reappeared. And what should I find, but 5 sets of 5.25" games that I had honestly thought I would never see again: Commander Keen 4, Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter, and Keen Dreams. Also in the box were two others that had been by dad's: Catacomb Abyss and Ken's Labyrinth.

While trying to dig up cataloging information on them, I ran into a snag: the publisher, The Software Labs, had been out of business for over a decade. The last mentions of the company I could find on the net were in archived documents from 1993. To add to the confusion, some of these games seemed to be credited to multiple developers and/or publishers, and I was having trouble coming up with a firm understanding of who was actually responsible for these games I had found.

Enter Mr. Dafydd Neal Dyar.

I ran across My. Dyar's website in my search for information on The Software Labs. It turned out that he used to work for TSL as a kind of modern renaissance man -- Senior Copy Editor, Software Reviewer and Developer, Telephone Support Technician & Troubleshooter. He was basically involved in every step of the process of publishing software titles like the ones I had found. I shot off an email, and we corresponded over a couple of weeks. He was kind enough to answer some questions for me about TSL in general, and about my games in particular.

* * * * *

ICG: I have 5 games from The Software Labs, all on 5.25" floppy: Catacomb Abyss, Ken's Labyrinth, Commander Keen 4, Commander Keen - Aliens Ate My Babysitter, and Keen Dreams. In general, anything you remember about these games would be helpful -- approximate release dates, copyright holders, anything like that.

DND: The Commander Keen games were from the creators of Wolfenstein 3D and Monster Bash. You'll some history on the games here:

http://www.3drealms.com/keenhistory/

And here:

http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/features/keen/index.php

And even here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander_Keen

These folks were also responsible for Catacomb Abyss, as noted here:

http://www.dosgamesarchive.com/download/game/3

Ken's Labyrinth was created by Ken Silverman, who went on to develop parts of Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior and Blood, and initially published by Advanced Systems before being picked up by Epic Megagames. An earlier incarnation was released under the name Walken. It was originally a clone of Wolfenstein 3D. (He got his start in 1991 with a Tetris clone called Kentris.) You'll find more on the game, including downloads of its various incarnations, here:

http://advsys.net/ken/klab.htm

ICG: More specifically, though, I was wondering about the publication process. Did The Software Labs work directly with the developers/programmers of these games? Were they commisioned pieces, or was The Software Labs a reseller of sorts, picking up titles that had previously been put out by other publishers? Was The Software Labs associated with Epic Megagames, Apogee, FormGen, or iD? The reason I ask is that some of these games show up on some websites with those companies as either the developer or producer, and I was wondering what sort of business relationship existed.

DND: The Software Labs was a repackager and distributor that harvested shareware from public FTP servers and dial-up "information utility" systems and, with a full knowledge and consent of the authors, made it available via mail-order on diskette and, toward the end, CD-ROM.

In return a distribution license from the author, TSL provided standardized installation and help files and first-tier customer phone support, freeing the author of the hassle of dealing with the consumer. TSL also added value to the consumer with a dual guarantee: no "crippleware" and no viruses, Trojan horses, logic bombs or time limits. Authors could disable advanced features or levels or insert nag screens, but everything had to work and continue to work, no matter what, in order get into our catalog.

We were, essentially, middlemen, providing a service to both author and
consumer.

ICG: Is there any remnant of The Software Labs around? Were they bought out by another company, or did they wind up closing their doors?

DND: The World Wide Web killed The Software Labs, which failed to adapt to the changing PC environment. I warned them that this would happen in 1994, back when Mosaic was still the only Web browser and required a third-party TCP/IP stack. Toward the end, I finally convinced them to start repackaging basic Internet tools, but the management thought it too complicated for their target audience and never believed that their position in the middle would be made obsolete by direct download from HTTP servers.

While I was urging the Powers That Be at TSL to begin setting up FTP and HTTP servers and staging downloadable packages that approximated our diskette offerings in self-extracting ZIP files, they instead were trying to craft a deal with IBM Prodigy similar to the one the Ziff-Davis had made with CompuServe. Had they followed my advice, TSL would've been where Tucows was when the "Information Superhighway" became a household word. Instead, it slowly withered from ever-decreasing sales as people discovered that they could get software directly from Internet via their Web browser, without a middleman or postman.

When the crunch finally came, I was among the first to be laid off, freight thrown off the sinking ship while it floundered waiting for a rescue from Prodigy that never came.

* * * * *

In addition, Mr. Dyar included his rewrites of the catalog entries for the titles I own. I'll post these at the end. Reading through them really took me back -- I remember seeing similar catalogs back in the day, and drooling over the software described.

First, though, I would like to let Mr. Dyar know how grateful I am for his assistance. It is often difficult -- nearly impossible -- to find first-hand information on titles as old as these. The fact that he not only has kept this information, but actually worked with the original distribution of the software, makes his help extremely valuable, and I am grateful that he took the time to share his experiences with me.

And now, the write-ups:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CATACOMB ABYSS (8160-8162) 3 disks

The Virtual Reality technology of Wolfenstein 3-D takes you to a subterranean world of wizardry in the CATACOMB ABYSS! Your sorcerous skills will be tested to the limit by skeletal warriors and vicious vampires and other undead beings who rise from their graves to destroy you. And these are but the minions of your true enemy, the evil necromancer Nemesis, with whom you must contest for ultimate mastery of this 3-D fantasy world. Requires a 286 or faster PC with 640K RAM, EGA/VGA graphics, DOS 3.3 or higher and a hard disk. Mouse/joystick recommended but not required. ASP
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEN'S LABYRINTH - Episode 1: Search For Sparky (8378-8380) 3 disks

Journey through a maze of passages in a sinister alien laboratory on the planet Zogar, fending off monsters at every turn. Your mission is to prove that Earth is more than just a mass of rocks, plants and animals before Zogar destroys it. But to do that, you have to navigate KEN'S LABYRINTH of warp zones and passages while surviving deadly deathtraps, arcane alien artifacts and continual combat. It's 10 levels of 3-D Virtual Reality labyrinth populated by SMART beasties, in the tradition of Wolfenstein 3-D! Each level has it's own original music - and it's own unique and nasty surprise! Requires 512K RAM and a hard drive. Sound Blaster optional (1MB RAM required for sound). 386 or faster PC recommended.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMANDER KEEN v1.31 (9332)

This 1992 Shareware Industry "Best Entertainment Program" and "Best Overall Program" Award-winner lives up to its legendary reputation! You're kid genius Billy Blaze, on what could be a one-way trip to Mars in your home-built space ship, which has been dismantled and hidden by the Vorticons. Now, as Billy's secret alter-ego COMMANDER KEEN, you must recover all the pieces and repel the Vorticon invasion of Earth. So power up your stun gun and polish up your pogo stick, because this is a job for COMMANDER KEEN! Requires an 8MHz or faster PC with 640K of RAM and EGA/VGA graphics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMANDER KEEN: KEEN DREAMS (7842,7843) 2 disks

The sequel to the 1992 Shareware Industry Award-winning hit is better than the original! KEEN DREAMS is every 8-year-old's worst nightmare: all those fruits and vegetables Billy Blaze turned up his nose at have conspired to take their revenge and spoil his night. Little do they know that they've kidnapped the intrepid COMMANDER KEEN, fresh from the Martian war and ripe for battle! Will he be beaned by broccoli, speared by asparagus and survive the sour grapes and tater troopers? Can he slice and dice the violent veggies before they cook up their recipe for destruction? The answers to these and several other culinary questions can only be found in this fun-filled graphic action adventure game. Requires 640K of RAM, EGA/VGA graphics and a 720K diskette or hard disk.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMANDER KEEN: ALIENS ATE MY BABY SITTER! Special Edition Demo (9187,9188) 2
disks

The third time's the charm in the continuing saga of COMMANDER KEEN. Don't be fooled by the word "Demo" in the title - there's plenty here to keep you busy a lo-o-ong, long time. Billy Blaze's baby sitter has been invited to dinner (as the main course!) by omnivorous aliens and his parents are due home soon! But Billy Blaze is COMMANDER KEEN, Scourge of the Spaceways, and no aliens are going to eat HIS baby sitter, no matter how much she may deserve it. 3 levels of difficulty on several levels of play, a musical soundtrack and a computer-game-within-a-computer-game (check out Commander Keen's wristwatch!) highlight this graphic action romp. Requires 640K RAM, EGA/VGA graphics and hard disk. Joystick and AdLib sound card are optional.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMANDER KEEN, PART FOUR: GOODBYE GALAXY! - Episode One: Secret Of The Oracle
(Order individually by Disk No. below)

While testing his new Photachyon Transceiver, Billy Blaze overhears a plot to blow up the galaxy. Sounds like a job for COMMANDER KEEN! Now it's off we go to rescue the Keepers of the Oracle, the only ones capable of telling him who the Shikadi are and why they plan to use our galaxy for target practice. With 14 deadly, hideous creatures to run from, jump over, stun or otherwise avoid, you may need the self-running Demo mode just to figure out the best next move. Requires 640K or RAM, CGA or EGA/VGA graphics and a hard disk.

(9183,9184) 2 disks - EGA/VGA version

(9185,9186) 2 disks - CGA version

Starforce Boycott

2006-01-31T09:48:00.000-06:00

Looks like I've found a list of games that I will be cautious about adding to my collection. These games all use the Starforce copy protection scheme, which it seems can open vulnerabilities in Windows (a la Sony's rootkit debacle?), as well as potentially cause hardware failures due to the short-sighted protection measures employed. Fortunately, it is easily detected and removed, but still...

Read more about it here.

Found via Boingboing.net, posted by Cory Doctorow, who has received a legal threat from Starforce's lawyers because of the criticism he has posted.

I want to read up a little more on it before I jump on the boycott bandwagon, but I'd definitely recommend caution at this point.

Is it the end of the world?

2006-01-30T23:27:00.000-06:00

E3 Bans Booth Babes.

My world just got a little bit smaller.

To boldly go...

2006-01-30T22:51:00.000-06:00

New Start Trek Games Planned.

How can this be a good thing? Hasn't almost every PC game released under the Star Trek license been a steaming pile? What is to convince us that they have learned from the past?

Now, in all fairness, the first Elite Force game was great, and reviews of the second weren't too shabby, either. And honestly, I rather enjoyed Away Team, regardless of the bugs. But overall, I bet poor old Gene rolls over in his grave every time a new game is announced in the franchise. The track record, to put it lightly, has not been stellar (scores are from PC Gamer):

Star Trek: Armada 69%
Star Trek: DS9 The Fallen 72%
Star Trek: Armada 2 69%
Star Trek: Away Team 49%
Star Trek: Bridge Commander 72%

Nothing better than a marginal 'Good' rating, and every one has caveats about extreme tedium, bugs, or both. Gamespot showcases quite a few 'Mediocre', 'Fair', and downright 'Poor' ratings within the franchise, as well. (Klingon Honor Guard, Starfleet Academy, Hidden Evil, Borg, DS9 Harbinger, New Worlds... Need I go on?) It has gotten to the point where it's a running joke in the press there is a curse inherent in the series, brought on by adding the fateful words 'Star Trek' to a title.

Okay, I guess 'steaming pile' may be a bit strong. Perhaps just 'crap' would have been better. But for as complex and potentially immersive a universe as has been created around the Star Trek saga, you would expect something better than the 'blah' that has come before. Here's hoping that the developers of the new games have learned something, and can produce games that can show off more than just a fancy logo and an expensive trademark. Mr. Roddenberry deserves it.

Acknowledgements

2006-01-30T22:40:00.000-06:00

Ok, it's taken me a few days to get around to posting, but I want to send a 'Thank You' out to johnnyboy1362 for a great ebay transaction. Thanks to him, I was able to add some great new games to my collection:

Snowmobile Championship 2000

Indoor Sports

And last, but definitely not least, Zax: The Alien Hunter. I've been looking for this one for years, since I first played the demo released by Reflexive. And for the last several days, it's been about the only thing I've been playing. Look for this one to be added to my 'Best Games You've Never Played' list sometime soon.

Acknowledgements

2006-01-21T20:42:00.000-06:00

Here's a 'Thank You' to 00hobby, for helping me add some new old games to my collection:

Powerhits Sci/Fi (composed of the classic titles Prophecy, Tongue of the Fatman, Deathtrack, Circuit's Edge, and Mines of Titan), Betrayal at Krondor, The Magic Candle, The Magic Candle II: The Four and Forty, and Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos. Some great classics from the golden age of CRPG's, as well as a few other fun ones -- Tongue of the Fatman was one of the most entertaining fighting games of its day, and DeathTrack fulfilled my fondest dreams of automotive carnage until the arrival of Carmageddon. Just seeing the screen shots takes me back to midnight television broadcasts of Death Race 2000.

Thanks again, 00hobby!

Worst games ever?

2006-01-18T19:20:00.000-06:00

As a followup to my previous post, I did a search on what other people consider to be the worst PC games ever. I found this list, and from what I've read and seen, it seems like a solid start.

Now how sad is it that I own at least 10% of those games?

And no, I won't tell you which ones. If you're that curious, head over to Gamerspouch and cross-reference to your heart's content.

The true collectibles

2006-01-18T18:52:00.000-06:00

I picked up a few games tonight for next to nothing -- aren't thrift stores and dollar shops wonderful? When I see those one or two dollar games sitting on the shelf, it no longer becomes a matter of 'if' I will buy them, just a matter of 'how' I will convince my wife that they were necessary.

So on the drive home, I'm going over the list of new acquisitions in my mind, and I start thinking, "How will I explain Pearl Harbor: Defend the Fleet?" If you haven't heard about it, this is arguably one of the worst games to grace the hard drives of gamers in the last few years. How could I actually justify spending a hard-earned dollar on it?

Then it hit me -- these types of games are the true collectibles. Consider the most popular games out there: The Sims, Neverwinter Nights, the Battlefield series, the Half-Life series, the Baldur's Gate series, and so many others I could name. These games have had expansion, on top of sequel, on top of mod, on top of collector's editions, etc. These games spawn so many offshoots that they will never die, and any true gamer feels almost obligated to have a copy at some point.

But what about the other end of the spectrum? What about the Pearl Harbors, the Extreme Bullriders, the Daikatanas, and the Extreme Paintbrawls? These are games which (hopefully) will never see an expansion or a sequel. These are games which most players in their right mind would never buy in the first place, and those who did would use them for target practice. These are the games that in 3 or 5 or 7 years' time will be found nowhere, except enshrined in my collection, the sole survivors of their kind.

They will become the Holy Grail of gaming, and only I will have them.

Or it could just be that I wasted a dollar.

More acknowledgements

2006-01-17T16:20:00.000-06:00

I recently had the pleasure of doing business with Ebay seller ozarkwk, and thanks to him I have some great new additions to my collection:

Maabus
Space Bunnies Must Die
Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty
Dark Seed
Motocross Madness
Brutal: Above the Claw
Fury3

Thanks for the great games!

Most wanted games

2006-01-15T08:22:00.000-06:00

These are the PC games currently on my 'most wanted' list:

Megatraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy
Battletech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception
Psychic War
And any of the original Wizardry and Phantasie Series

Do you have any of these lying unused in the basement or attic? If you would be interested in getting rid of them or know somebody who would, let me know.

The Secrets of Archon

2006-01-04T12:09:00.000-06:00

Over at Vintage Computing and Gaming, there is an excellent article about one of my favorite old-school games: Archon.

Archon remains, to this day, the most entertaining chess variation I have ever seen. I just wish I could find an updated version that would take full advantage of current technology.

(via Gamerspouch forums)

Finally broke 600!

2005-12-30T16:21:00.000-06:00

With the help of a wonderful, generous wife, I finally broke the 600 barrier over at Gamerspouch. I received not one, not two, but three new PC games from her for Christmas, and one from my little boy.

First off, the game that has sucked away all of my free time since Christmas morning: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (review here). This game has kept my interest like nothing else has recently, and if I weren't on here writing about it, I would probably be playing it.

Next: The Longest Journey, which is supposed to be one of the best graphical adventure games published in the last few years.

Third: Sentinel: Descendants in Time, one I admittedly hadn't heard much of until I received it, but the reviews in general seem to be positive.

And from my son: Knightmare, an action game that seems to be descended on one side from the old Lode-Runner games.

All in all, it was a loot-filled Christmas for my collection, and it pushed me over the top of my 600-game goal over at Gamerspouch.

And one other thing I should mention, even thought it's not strictly a game -- my brother evidently found just the right after-Thanksgiving sale this year, because I came home Christmas day the proud owner of a new Robosapien. My army of robot servants continues to grow! Bwahahahahah!

A sign you may have picked the wrong character class in your new RPG

2005-12-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

How do you know that the character class you chose may be unsuited to your play style? Try this on for size: When you leave town for the first time, you get killed by the first creature you encounter --

a rabbit.

My wife swears it was a kung-fu rabbit shooting arrows, but still... if it isn't a Monty Python skit, getting your butt kicked by a bunny is just a little embarrasing.

Still, it hasn't deterred her. She's bound and determined to make her Sacred mage perform up to snuff, and she hasn't given up.

The end of the world as we know it

2005-12-19T20:09:00.000-06:00

What happens when when an online world is faced with its own armageddon?

Not With a Bang but a Whimper.

(via fark)

Grow Ornament

2005-12-19T13:38:00.000-06:00

Eyezmaze has produced another addictive flash-based Grow game -- Grow Ornament. Try it out, and if you get stuck, highlight the following line for the solution:

SPOILER*Gift, Heart, Cloud, Lights, Ribbon, Star*SPOILER

Free gaming goodies

2005-12-15T10:00:00.000-06:00

I just ran across the BinaryZoo website, and found two new games to suck away my precious little free time: Mono and Duo. Gorgeous colors, fast action, and simple controls all add up to keep me well entertained, at least for short bursts of play. These games have an addictive, infectious quality to them that has already led me to proselytize them around the office. The downloads are aroun 5 MB each, and appear to be completely free - no nag screens, no shareware pitches, just rapid-fire gaming. Go give them a try, and don't blame me if they take over your life.

I'm gonna be dreaming in color tonight.

(found via Joystiq)

Video game history redux

2005-12-13T08:53:00.000-06:00

I just ran across a nifty flash-based timeline on PBS's website that offers an even earlier example of computer gaming than in my last history post: A. S. Douglas's Noughts and Crosses, from 1952.

The site where this animation is hosted, PBS's The Video Game Revolution, is mostly about arcade and console gaming, but it still has plenty of interesting articles, so browse around and see what you can find.

Tiny movies

2005-12-12T10:30:00.000-06:00

Not games, but they're still cool:

Star Wars: A New Hope in 168K

The Empire Strikes Back in 211K

Return of the Jedi in 211K

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark in 260K

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 220K

All courtesy of the good folks over at www.barbelith.co.uk.

Game creation revisited

2005-12-12T09:46:00.000-06:00

Thanks to a recent copy of Computer Gaming World, I had the opportunity to try out the demo version of a new utility that assists gamers in creating their own first-person-shooters -- the aptly-named FPS Creator.

Using a simple mouse-driven interface, any gamer can now drag-and-drop game elements (rooms or portions thereof, scenery, weapons, enemies, etc) onto a blank slate and create a new game in a matter of minutes. There's no need to know much about scripting, but each item has its own attributes which can be modified to your heart's content. Want to change the hit points on an enemy, or the weapon that it carries? Simply right-click and choose the appropriate option on the menu to the left. Did you place the table too close to the door? Pick it up and move it. Want to set up a multiplayer frag-fest? Just choose 'Multi-player' from the game preferences menu, place some starting points, and you're ready to go. The customization options seem pretty deep, but from what I saw are set to work fine with the default choices.

The game even comes with a couple of default graphics styles, so you don't have to be an artist to make things look good. Choose from the (sometimes-cliched) genres of sci-fi or WWII, and all of the textures are taken care of for you. Hang things on wall, add a few blood spatters, and you're ready to go. Supposedly, you can add in your own textures if you're so inclined, but my art skills are limited to basic geometric shapes and patterns. I was happy to stick with the basics the game provides, as everything looks much better out-of-the-box than I could do on my own with years of work.

When you're done creating the world you've always wanted to shoot up, save it and compile it into an executable file to share with your friends, and even set up a LAN or internet game. What could be better than setting up a deathmatch game with your buddies, where you already know all the secrets of the map? Sure, it might be a lame way to get kills, but oh well...

Playing through the demo, though, only allows access to certain items. A few standard rooms, weapons, and scenery devices are available, with the full library unlocked in the paid version. I also wasn't able to find much by way of online tutorials, but the basics are easy enough to pick up on your own, and the official website hosts a discussion forum for more complicated issues.

All in all, this seems to be a great program, especially for non-programmers. Home-brewed game-design made easy and approachable, with plenty of room for growth as your experience increases -- exactly what's needed to get more gamers interested in the craft of creation. I'll be playing around with this one for a while.

Video-game history

2005-12-04T14:22:00.000-06:00

The Brookhaven National Laboratory has an interesting article on what is most likely the first video game ever developed. Now according to 1up.com, Spacewar came about in 1962, and a commercial versin of Pong was available in 1972. Brookhaven's article claims that then-Instrumentation Department head William Higinbotham developed a tennis game that played on an oscilloscope in 1958, and so far no claims have come about to predate that. Reading through the article gives a good idea of just what sort of efforts went into making that little ball bounce around the screen using the technology of the day.

(via Fark)

Old school is in da house!

2005-12-03T18:38:00.000-06:00

Thanks to a wonderful ebayer by the name of soul2spare, I have some prized vintage games to add to my collection. These are some of the first PC games I remember playing, and I am absolutely thrilled to finally be able to own them.

First up: Duke Nukem II. Before the days of Duke Nukem 3D and Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, there was this little side-scrolling gem (and its predecessor, Duke Nukem) published by Apogee. Filled with hidden areas to explore (if you could time your jumps just right) and plenty of that well-known Duke Nukem attitude, I used to love playing through them when I needed a quick destruction fix. Satisfying explosions, quests to collect the letters of Duke's name, and destructible health-powerups added nice little tweaks to keep it all from getting boring.

Possibly the first enjoyable and easily approachable minigolf-game, I coveted my best friend's copy of Zany Golf. Well, no longer. I can now putt around the windmills and bouncing hamburgers to my heart's content. Well, if I can find a working 5.25" floppy drive, that is. Creatively-designed obstacles kept the game interesting without making it frustrating, which is more than I can say for some of the flash-based mini-golf games I've played lately.

My early love in computer gaming was role-playing. The early Wizardry and Phantasie games were part of my regular playing cycle, and Ultima 6 was the masterpiece that hooked me. Around the same time, my brother bought a copy of Might and Magic. I wasn't lucky enough to score a copy of it, but soul2spare was able to provide me with a copy of its sequel, Might and Magic 2: Gates to Another World. An early tile-based, first-person view allowed you to explore a map of twenty quadrants (plus cities and dungeons); each quadrant was 15 x 15 tiles. Since this was before the days of such handy things as automap features, New World Computing included a custom-sized pad of graph paper for keeping track of your progress. Many a night were spent sitting beside my father, pencil and graph paper in hand, as he played through these first two Might and Magic games. I had as much fun mapping as he did playing. My wife undoubtedly thought I was had lost my mind when I opened up the packeage tonight and gazed longingly at the map and graph paper, both in pristine condition.

Also among my new acquisitions was a slightly newer game: Darkstone. Released after Diablo, it improved on that groundbreaking game in several ways: full control of two separate characters, true 3-d environtments, movable and zoomable camera, and more character class options. I had a ball playing through my brother's copy, and I'm really looking forward to loading it up again now that I own it, even if it is 6 years old.

I'm keeping my eye on soul2spare. Plenty of gaming gems to be had at great prices, all backed up by a friendly seller. Can't beat that.

New acquisition

2005-12-01T17:02:00.000-06:00

I just received a copy of a game I have been wanting for quite a few years: LucasArts' Afterlife. Thanks to softgear_inc for a smooth transaction.

Why I haven't posted in over a week.

2005-12-01T16:53:00.000-06:00

I freaking HATE Colorado.

Or at least Denver. But I'm willing to spread the hate around to the full state.

Sunday afternoon we left my in-laws' place (near Grand Junction, on the west side of the state) heading for home (Kansas City). After about 3 1/2 hours or so, we pull into Denver, where they had closed I-70 eastbound -- all the way to Kansas. Some crap about high winds and blizzard-like conditions. It's about 6 PM so we eat dinner, but the freeway still isn't open, so we get a room for the night.

Monday we get up and put up with a 2-yr-old and a 5-yr-old in the cramped confines of a motel room until around noon. Then we try to go to the local public library to read some stories and stuff -- but of course the library in that neighborhood is closed on Mondays. So we go to the mall and let the kids run around the play area for an hour or so. We spend another hour-and-a-half at McDonald's, and by around 4 PM they still haven't opened the road, so we get another motel room.

About an hour or two later, my son (5) starts puking. At least he's old enough to head to the toilet on his own now. We put him to bed with some cartoons on, and put the girl (2) in the bath. Cue a bathtub full of puke. Greasy, slimy, Slim-Jim-laden puke. Rinse, put her to bed, and repeat. With both of them.

Then, sometime after the middle of the night, I decide to join the party. But I add a new twist to the dance. My previous day's meals are coming out liquefied not just from one orifice, but from two.

Tuesday, I spend the day in bed. Regardless of the fact that the bloody roads are finally open, I can't move. I have a fever most of the day, and when it finally breaks it's too late to go anywhere. I'm too worn out anyway. So we stay another night and leave Wednesday morning.

We get home Wednedsay night (last night) around 8:30 and fall into bed. Sometime in the middle of the night, my wife starts puking. I wake up this morning (Thursday) in no shape to go to work -- I can barely walk a straight line, I'm so exhausted. So I give the kids something to eat and something to watch on TV, and fall back into bed.

I tell you, if this is how trips to Colorado turn out, I'm never setting foot in that state again.

Games, crime, and CSI

2005-11-21T22:46:00.000-06:00

So did anybody see tonight's episode of CSI: Miami?

When a group of criminals play out a violent videogame in real-life, the CSIs must stop them before they strike again.

That's the story in a nutshell. Sure, the basic CSI stuff goes on, with some of the interpersonal development that they awkwardly stick into some of the episodes, but it pretty much revolves around the idea of kids playing a video game and copying it in real life.

Yes, I know the idea has been (and still is) fought over ad nauseum, that violent video games encourage violent behavior in children. And yes, I know there are people unbalanced enough out there who would try to act out game scenes for the thrill of it. I've probably known some of them. But I'm not going to rehash the old arguments.

The bone I want to pick is:

Wait for it...

That horrid, ugly, black-hole-level-of-suck game they showed. Yup, that's right, that embarrasing, back-woods-cousin representative of computer games that they threw up on the screen. (For those of you who haven't seen it, follow the link above and watch the preview. Look for the two or three seconds they show of the 'game' in question.)

Do the people who plan this show know anything about PC games? Couldn't somebody have stood up at some point and said 'That game doesn't look interesting, marketable, fun, or even playable'? I mean, crap, guys, I know you can't program a whole game engine just for one show, and licensing an existing one would cost quite a bit, but couldn't you have your art people at least research game design a little before they cobble something together? Or even ask a gamer for some input?

Here are some brief points for next time:

1. Quality PC games do not use screen fonts that look like refugees from Wargames.

2. Quality PC games do not flash the score in the middle of the screen every time you earn points - they keep it off to the side where it won't distract from the gameplay.

3. Quality PC games do not change camera angles every couple of seconds like a bad episode of MTV's Real Life, nor do the cameras constantly 'swoop' around the character.

You want to see some great examples of how to do it? Look at some screen shots of Max Payne, Battlefield 2, GTA3/Vice City, or XIII. Better yet, you can probably find two or three of those titles on discount racks for around $10 or less. Try playing them, then look back at the travesty you put on the screen Monday night. See if you can tell the difference in the basic 'feel'. What CSI had was a cartoon. A badly drawn, overly-violent cartoon. Not a game.

If this is the only exposure some people have to PC games, it's no wonder they think the hobby is a vast waste of time. If you want to make social commentary and provoke discussion, fine, but at least pretend like you've done some research on the subject matter.

Blasts from the past

2005-11-21T09:29:00.000-06:00

Head on over to the Download Squad for an interesting look back at Windows 1.0. Not exactly a game, I know, but Windows has had a tremendous effect on the path that gaming history has taken.

(via The PC Doctor)

And for some gaming goodness that will take you back, travel in time to The Most Officialest SkiFree Home Page! Skifree was part of the original Microsoft Entertainment Pack, and was one of the first Windows games I remember playing (aside from Solitaire and Minesweeper, of course). Written by the original programmer, the site gives a brief history of the game's development and marketing, and has a link to the original SkiFree 1.0. Even cooler, there's a Win32 .exe file available for download, so you can get your skiing on in Windows XP now, too.

And yes, I still hate that stupid abominable snowman.

Belated acknowledgements

2005-11-18T19:43:00.000-06:00

I completely forgot to credit my latest ebay purchases, so here they are. (Better late than never.)

Thanks to speksmaker, I am now the proud owner of Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel, Kings of the Beach, Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego?, and one of the prides of my collection, Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar. The Ultima games have always been dear to my heart (and yes, i even liked Ultima IX: Ascension), so I was very pleased to acquire this gem. It would have been a bargain at twice the price I paid for the auction.

Thank you, speksmaker, for keeping your games in such good condition and allowing me to add them to my collection.

New games

2005-11-18T18:37:00.000-06:00

Bidding on Ebay is starting to bug the crap out of me. Every time I find a game that I really, really want, within the last two minutes of the auction the price skyrockets out of my range.

Oh, well, on the plus side I love my local Deals store ($1 shop). Almost every time I go in there, I find something new to add to the collection. Tonight I walked away with Wheel of Fortune, Hero X, Deadly Dozen, Force 21, and Battleship. And for one genuinely good game, 2 so-so's, a board-game derivative and a game-show derivative, that's $5 well spent.

(And don't say anything, but I picked up a Tonka game and a My Little Pony game as stocking stuffers for the kids. Shhh!)

Memories

2005-11-17T19:00:00.000-06:00

The Most Shocking Video Game Moments of All Time (at least, according to MyGadgetBag.com)

(via Fark)

Addicted to gaming?

2005-11-17T14:29:00.000-06:00

According to an article at NewScientist.com, "[g]aming fanatics show hallmarks of drug addiction".

I always thought that was kind of common sense. I have certainly felt addicted to certain games in the past, and I've noticed the same behavior in others around me. But I could say the same for certain television shows or books. Almost any behaviour, to some people, will have addictive qualities.

Think about it. How often do you arrange your schedule around a favorite TV show? "Well, let's see, I need to return the library books and fill the car before 7, so I can make it back in time for Survivor." What type of stress do you feel as you struggle to meet that self-obligation? Is it an addiction, or just something you really, really, really like to do? How thin is the line?

Fortunately, there is no (or little) chemical dependency related to these activities -- it would be limited to the release of natural chemicals in the brain rather than the introduction of external, synthetic substances. It's mostly behavioural. Which means that with some self-control, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I say as I sit in front of a computer and continually check the stats of a website dedicated to 20+ years of gaming.

(via Fark)

IFComp 2005, the text adventure competition

2005-11-16T22:50:00.000-06:00

Text adventures (now known as interactive fiction) are alive and well. IFComp holds an annual competition. Established in 1995, the contest gives players the chance to try out new, fan-created adventures and pick their favorite. And they're free. :)

The Wall Street Journal has a pretty comprehensive article about this year's competition here. Check it out, then head over to IFComp.org and get ready to party like it's 1989.

(via fark)

A little bit of history

2005-11-16T13:27:00.000-06:00

OK, OK, I know this has been around for a while, but it's still one of my favorites: 1up.com's Essential 50. Everybody who games should read this and get a good foundation in the history of their hobby. And while I may not agree that all of the games on the list are absolutely essential, I think they do a great job of presenting the stories behind the games and showing how they influenced the ones we currently play.

Let there be games...

2005-11-16T08:31:00.000-06:00

Beyond merely playing a game, the thrust of user interaction for the last couple of years seems to be on level modification and skinning. A few games, most notably Neverwinter Nights, have allowed almost complete control over creating new storylines and new worlds.

But what about actually creating games from scratch? Coming up with an original game idea and making it work, if you're not a programmer, can be an intimidating thought. From what I understand, it can be pretty daunting even if you are a programmer.

Over the last few years, a handful of programs have been published that try to help the common, every-day gamer get past the 'intimidation' factor and create their own games to play and share with friends.

One of the earliest was SSI's Wargame Construction Set. Released in 1986 (and incidentally, one of the oldest titles in my collection), it used a tile-based keyboard-driven interface and allowed you a fair amount of flexibility when it came to creating units. The graphics left something to be desired, and good luck getting it to run on a modern rig (perhaps DOSBox?), but it was the first chance a lot of players had to put their dreams on the screen.

A few years later, Klik & Play gained some popularity. I even seem to recall PC Gamer releasing some Klik & Play stuff on their demo CD's. Europress Software came out with it in 1994, and it gave users an introduction to object-oriented programming, but kept it simple enough to be approachable by non-programmers. Wired Magazine gave it a decent review back in 95, where they highlighted one of its major shortfalls: it just wasn't powerful enough to create Doom clones, which was, of course, what everybody wanted to create. Still, it did a great job of platform and arcade-style games, and allowed importing of graphics and sound files. It was mouse-driven, too, which was a great improvement (in my eyes) over the Wargame Construction Set. And if you follow the link above to Clickteam's website, you can find an 'education' version available for download. Again, you may have problems running it under XP, but it's worth a shot.

And finally, we come to RPG Maker 2000, which I briefly played around with a couple of years ago. With a strong flavor of the early Final Fantasy-type RPGs, you also get the ability to import custom chipsets, midi files, and character sprites to make a well-rounded, completely customized RPG. I found the learning curve to be a little steeper than I would have liked, being a non-programmer, but there are (or were) plenty of online tutorials out there that walk you through every step of the process. RM2K has had a couple of updates over the years (RPG Maker 2003 and RPG Maker XP), which seem to expand on the original program without changing the overall feel, but I can't speak of that firsthand -- I've not yet played around with the newer iterations.

Of course, there are plenty more game creation tools out there. More than I could hope to play around with, actually. So let me know -- what's good? What have you tried and liked, and which ones should be avoided? How easy are they for non-programmers to get into? And most importantly, is game creation still popular with players, or has everybody jumped on the modding bandwagon?

12 Games, 24 Hours

2005-11-15T09:03:00.000-06:00

I just found this via In4mador:

Extreme Adventure

Hendrik Vogelpohl plays (to completion) 12 classic graphic adventure games in 24 hours. Through the wonders of modern technology, you can watch the whole thing in under two minutes.

New additions

2005-11-12T17:36:00.000-06:00

Just added the following to my collection, thanks to a great Ebayer by the name of pfarr21:

The Best Games You've Never Played, Vol. 1

2005-11-12T01:42:00.000-06:00

Try Galactic Swarm, by Camaj Interactive. Seriously.

I first ran across this game as a Reflexive demo, and I was blown away.

The premise is simple: using a top-down view, fly around shooting enemies, dodging space debris, and collecting ore. Kinda like Asteroids on steroids. Asteroids-steroids. Or something.

But with the weapon power-ups available (the morning star tail has to be one of the coolest ideas I've seen in this type of game) and the varying attack styles of the enemies, you have an intense, fluid game that keeps you saying, 'Just one more level.'

Add to all that the fact that I was able to find a full-version copy at a dollar shop, and this game has to be one of the best entertainment values out there.

The story is practically non-existent, and the tactics don't vary a whole lot -- every level is pretty much 'shoot everything in sight and run for the gate' -- but for a quick break in between marathon RPG or strategy sessions, this game is perfect.

If you've never played it, do yourself a favor and head over to Reflexive's website and take it for a spin (it's listed as 'Swarm'). Then check your local dollar shops and discount stores to score a cheap copy.

And watch out for the energy-suckers. Those beggars get me every time.

Games for the kids

2005-11-11T21:10:00.000-06:00

My kids are going to be computer geeks. There is no doubt in my mind.

They've been able to use a mouse and keyboard since before they could walk. My wife used to hold our son in one arm while guiding her Sims character through its daily routine with the other, and as he got older he graduated up to helping her kill monsters in Neverwinter Nights. My daughter is too young to remember the days when we didn't have a computer on the floor next to the TV, especially for the kids. They started with an old Macintosh with the one-button mouse, moved up to a Pentium 200 Mhz system with a two-button serial mouse, and have most recently been given the use of the first computer I ever purchased -- a P2 400 Mhz.

So of course they can play their own games. Shoot, they can probably even install their own games. It's in their blood.

We've tried a lot of different titles with them. Most have been 'edu-tainment' of one sort or another, usually focusing on math, reading, or logic. For replay value alone, the best of the lot would have to be those published by Humongous Entertainment, may they rest in peace. Humongous is no longer among us -- they were absorbed by Atari Kids -- but if you can find any of their older series (Putt-Putt, Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish), pay the price and take them home. Your kids will love them.

These games are all in the 'graphic adventure' genre. You know the type -- before you can go through the gate, you have to get past the guards. The guards only allow gourds to go through, so you have to find a pumpkin. To get the pumpkin you have to do something about the weeds in the garden. And so on. It's a familiar drill. But the really great thing is that no matter where you click on the screen, something cool happens. And usually, several 'something cools' happen. Try unrolling the paper on the wall -- it may show a treasure map, a poster of Pajama Sam's hero Pajama Man, or a hint on how to proceed with the game. And these sorts of things are scattered all over. Add to that the fact that the quests are cycled for each game. Finish it once, and you can play through it again because you'll get entirely new puzzles. It stays fresh, and the kids keep going back to it to find something new.

The quests themselves can be a little tough at times. We've actually had to use an online walkthrough once or twice, but maybe we just aren't as sharp as our kids. That's a minor quibble, though, and when you factor in the violence level (almost non-existent) and the character lessons (helping others, eating a balanced diet, etc.), it's easy to overlook a few tough puzzles.

If you have kids, these games are an excellent addition to your library. Just keep an eye on the age category -- a game that your kids aren't quite old enough for can lead to frustration. And the kids might get upset, too.

Gamerspouch.com

2005-11-09T23:37:00.000-06:00

If you want to check out a great gamer community project, head on over to Gamerspouch.com.

Built on an empty database that is populated by you, Gamer's Pouch provides a method of cataloging, tracking, and rating games.

My username over there is Palad, if you're interested in checking out my catalogued collection. It's not quite complete, as I have multiple copies of some games, multiple formats of others, and some that are just so obscure that I haven't been able to find reliable publication information on them.

The funny thing for me is that at some point, Gamerspouch became a game in itself. It was fun to add new games to my collection just to see how it stacked up to everybody elses'. It became a meta-game: a game about games. A challenge to get ahead of the other players. A personal affront when Fenriss or Artayd beat me to the punch adding games to the global database. A quest to dig up as much information on my games as I can. My own MMORPG with real-life connections.

And my wife thinks I'm obsessed. pffft.

I just never grew up.

Get Lamp

2005-11-09T23:13:00.000-06:00

I want to make sure I get Jason Scott in here right at the beginning. He's the guy who directed BBS: The Documentary (that's Bulletin Board System, not British Broadcasting Service), and he is currently working on a new show that should be of great interest to computer gamers:
Get Lamp: The Text Adventure Documentary. Take a look at his website and keep an eye on this guy.

When I first ran across his website, it reminded me of one of the first computer games I ever played -- Infocom's Leather Goddesses of Phobos. It was a great game, especially for a 13-year old who knew enough to lie when the 'Lewd Mode' age-authentication came up. Ahhh, lewd mode... what memories. ~sigh~

Actually, it was my brother's game, and it tended to lose my interest after a while. The text parser was great (at least, for those days), but I would get frustrated at not being able to fully explore the world. I didn't mind the lack of graphics one bit, I just hated being told, "Sorry, you can't do that." I understand that even with current technology, programmers can't acount for every single thing the player could want to do, but it still bugged the crap out of me to feel like my hands were tied.

Have you ever been to Disneyland? I went once, as a child. They had a ride where you could drive a car around a track, but in order to keep you where they wanted you, there was a metal rail running the length of the road, and each vehicle straddled it. Being five years old, I nearly gave my dad whiplash by slamming the car back and forth against the rail. That's how the early adventure games made me feel. The designers seemed to have a track in mind that they wanted the player to follow, and nothing you tried would allow you to bump over that rail and explore freely. Every time you got the message, 'You can't do that here,' it jolted you out of the game, making you realize that it was just a story, not a true adventure.

Still, it's amazing to go back and look at some of those games. My wife recently bought me a bundled copy of some of Infocom's early text adventures, and I loaded them on her PC. You see, she started playing games with Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, and she has no idea what we used to do for fun. While I may have quickly grown irritated at the limits imposed by those old games, I still have some fond memories of working away at them, trying to find just the right combination of phrases to keep the car on the track. I keep telling her she needs to try them out, if only to gain a little sense of history.

As for me, it sure is fun being a kid again for a few moments. Even if I do keep hitting the rail.

icollectgames

2005-11-09T21:23:00.000-06:00

I collect PC games. But if you're here, you probably already know that.

Just to prevent confusion, let me spell it out. I collect original PC or IBM-compatible games, no warez, no copies, nothing illegal. I don't collect C64 , Amiga, Mac, or console games. I focus solely on PC games, and have so far put together a collection spanning the last 20+ years and composed of over 550 individual titles. I prefer original media, but I buy re-releases and compilations/collections whenever I can -- I'm more interested in building an archive of the software itself, rather than the physical media.

I felt it was time to start a presence on the web to document some of this, and to give people a place to contact me. I'm always on the lookout for more games, and anything offered would be gratefully accepted.

But I'm not going to limit this to merely talking about the games I find. I want to branch out a bit, and give exposure to the other people engaged in this hobby. I want a place to share my memories of two decades of computer gaming. I want to give those who come here a chance to become a part of the history that we live in the middle of.

I'll leave comments open for the time being. I want you to respond to what I say. Please don't abuse the privilege.