going retro

Sir_Toejam · Unread postby **Sir_Toejam** » 20 Dec 2006, 05:01

I recently found I was getting a bit burned out on games with flashy graphics and poor storylines, so I dug up some old rpgs... naww, still too much graphic intensity... went farther back... ahh the original kings quest games...

played a couple...

nope, must go further.

all of a sudden i find myself looking at pure text based adventure games again, things using z-code (like infocom games - think "Zork"), and TADS.

ahhh. I feel satisfied all of a sudden.

my imagination is working again.

strange feeling, but I recommend it to anyone who is simply burned out on the "graphic adventures".

here's a great site with lots of various format text adventure games:

http://wurb.com/if/index

you will need an interpreter, either z-code or tads is good for most.

to get back into the swing with a decent small game with a good storyline, try this one on for size (uses TADS):

Uncle Zebulon's Will

winterfate · Unread postby **winterfate** » 20 Dec 2006, 05:09

Too far back...too far back!

I started growing up when the Super Nintendo started getting famous (thus, I am not from the text-based adventure game generation...gives me the shivers! I'd rather read a book

) . X-Com and the really old Ultimas are probably the oldest games I've ever played.

But, you do have a point...these recent games burn you out with those graphics (I miss the Super Nintendo...the good old days

).

Sir_Toejam · Unread postby **Sir_Toejam** » 20 Dec 2006, 07:11

reading a book... yes.

there's something about using your imagination to fill in the visuals when there is a good text description of an area.

very much like reading a good horror or sci-fi novel.

with the added bonus of being able to control the flow, and solve puzzles at the same time.

try it, you might like it.

most of the games only take an hour or so to play, and there is some real creativity out there.

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 20 Dec 2006, 07:36

that's exactly why I read as much as I do .... that and it can be done pretty much anywhere, and the book is much lighter then my PC

Sir_Toejam · Unread postby **Sir_Toejam** » 20 Dec 2006, 09:45

well, that entirely depends on both the PC and the book in question.

I've read some rather heavy tomes in my day.

DaemianLucifer · Unread postby **DaemianLucifer** » 20 Dec 2006, 13:13

I remember beneath the steel sky on my old C64.I loved that one.I had two more text adventures,but forgot them

You know,using modern algorhytms it could be possible to make a text adventure that would understand some 70% of the words you type.Now that would be a game Id love to play.

PhoenixReborn · Unread postby **PhoenixReborn** » 20 Dec 2006, 15:29

Isn't beneath a steel sky a graphical adventure game?

The first computer games I played as a child were leather goddesses of phobos and another text game that I can't remember right now.

Caradoc · Unread postby **Caradoc** » 22 Dec 2006, 01:00

"You are standing beside a small brick building at the end of a road from the north. A river flows south. To the north is open country and all around is dense forest.

What now?"

Kalah · Unread postby **Kalah** » 22 Dec 2006, 02:46

Go into the forest.

Gaidal Cain · Unread postby **Gaidal Cain** » 22 Dec 2006, 09:07

The forest is dark.

You've been eaten by a Grue.

Mightor Magic · Unread postby **Mightor Magic** » 23 Dec 2006, 23:53

Gaidal Cain wrote:The forest is dark.

You've been eaten by a Grue.

That pretty much covers my adventures in Zork, that and the unopenable egg. Inopenable, imopenable...

I didn't mind having to use my imagination but I really could have used a list of commad words and a map. Funny enough, I had this game on an old Apple II but later found three Zork games hidden on one of those PC Gamer give away CDs so I also had a Windows/Dos version {And never has a game been more suited to Dos than anything else}.

Caradoc · Unread postby **Caradoc** » 27 Dec 2006, 16:17

When I'm up for a bit of retro gaming (or just sick of H5), I play a couple of games of nethack. It's also great for traveling, since it fits on a diskette.

PhoenixReborn · Unread postby **PhoenixReborn** » 28 Dec 2006, 02:45

Mightor Magic wrote:
Gaidal Cain wrote:The forest is dark.

You've been eaten by a Grue.
That pretty much covers my adventures in Zork, that and the unopenable egg. Inopenable, imopenable...

I didn't mind having to use my imagination but I really could have used a list of commad words and a map. Funny enough, I had this game on an old Apple II but later found three Zork games hidden on one of those PC Gamer give away CDs so I also had a Windows/Dos version {And never has a game been more suited to Dos than anything else}.

You could try the game Gateway. It is essentially a text adventure (you can choose to turn the graphics off). It has a nice list of key words to use.

Campaigner · Unread postby **Campaigner** » 01 Mar 2007, 15:53

lol! You sound like an old guy who complains everything new and that everything was better in the old days

I used to say that a few years ago to (but I was referring to the NES and SNES times) but then I realised that games just get better and better and that games are bad because of stupid developers/publishers.

Before the 3D hype that really took off with the Playstation, the majority of development was spent on actual _gameplay_ (yeah it's completely unbelieveable huh?) and challenge. But even in the high tide of the 3D era (1996) there was a few games that had superb graphics for its time that I played again, again and again. Twisted Metal and Vigilante 8 f.e. They were the latest 3D games and still some of the best I've ever played. Actually I'm gonna get a Playstation 2 to be able to play all the Playstation 1 and 2 games that I've missed.

Something I've noticed about games is that don't care one bit how old it is as long as it's good and has decent technically good graphics.
Just take two weeks ago when my childhood pal invited me to try out his Wii. He fired it up and showed me his six gameboxes (Zelda Twilight Princess being among them) but I felt that I didn't care about them. All I wanted to play was multiplayer in Street Fighter II and some other games he had downloaded from Virtual Console. I didn't care about his Wii games at all!
I did play Zelda from the beginning but I didn't like it (Heretic!). First you whistle with some grass straws and then you send this eagle flying towards some stupid monkey which holds a babybed for some fantastic reason and then against a bee nest. I gotted a fishingtool in exchange for that babybed and fished for 10mins before I was bored and tried Wii sports instead.
I can't help but wonder if people really like those stupid puzzles in Zelda or if it's the Japanese people idea of adventuregames....

Didn't like Wii sports either since there's no true skill required. In that stupid tennis game the character moves automatically! All you have to do is the swing with the nunchaka. And you can't even control where to shoot the friggin ball! It lands depending on where you shoot from and what type of swing you use....I found Super Tennis on the SNES to be miles better in every single aspect then that pathetic Wii game.
Shortly, the Wii are for the family, NOT serious gamers.

vhilhu · Unread postby **vhilhu** » 01 Mar 2007, 16:45

on uncyclopedia theres THIS GAME, a parody of zork. it hasnt got a text parser, but its funny as hell. prepare to be eaten

anyway. i would prefer a text-parser based game with good (modern) graphics. too bad theres not much of that.

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 07 Mar 2007, 06:12

It's very interactive, and shiny Campaigner, and people like that stuff

gimme a storyline anyday - GOW II anyone??

myythryyn · Unread postby **myythryyn** » 08 Mar 2007, 06:05

i played the zork games, but i found i had to cheat too much, i would always get stuck and not be able figure out the right thing to type. and with those games, when you got stuck you got stuck. there was nothing you could do if you couldnt figure out what the right thing to type was.

and for some reason i have the part where you have to cut an onion with a knife to make the many eyed creature cry stuck in my head....sorry if that spoiled anything

if you are a hitchhikers guide to the galaxy fan, you can try out this re creation of the original text based game...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game.shtml
just click on edition one or two....i never got very far with edition one though
the earth kept getting demolished on me

anyone remember the Sierra Heroes Quest games? So you want to be a hero? (quest for glory)?
now that game, and its sequel, trial by fire, i got hooked on those.
they were a combination of text and action.
over fifteen years later i still can remember parts of that game.

BoardGuest808888 · Unread postby **BoardGuest808888** » 08 Mar 2007, 06:57

Yeah. Those be first games I played RPG. Before that I didn't even know what RPG was.

asandir · Unread postby **asandir** » 08 Mar 2007, 07:25

King's Quest III was one of the very first for me .... RPG anyway

vhilhu · Unread postby **vhilhu** » 08 Mar 2007, 17:20

ive played through all Quest for Glorys at different times. and, qfg1 & 2 were really great, despite the now-outdated ega graphics. qfg3 was a total letdown. they should have only upgraded the graphics and continue to use text parser! but they made it pure action, no puzzling at all. just remember to click around a lot everywhere. qfg4 had one of the best atmospheres any game has ever had (mysterious, but full of parodized cliches, loved it), but again, GIMME BACK THE ******* TEXT PARSER! qfg5 was VERY combat-orientated, and the gondola puzzle would have needed more hints. the weird thing is, most of my friends thought qfg1 VGA remake was actually better than the original text parser one

oh, and for zork fans:

The Heroes Round Table

going retro

going retro

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