7 ms·

Wish there was some way to describe a title using some really generic words and get a series of probabilities. I've been searching for this PC game from the mid

Wish there was some way to describe a title using some really generic words and get a series of probabilities. I've been searching for this PC game from the mid to late 90s but I am having so much trouble describing it. It was some sort of science fiction point and click game that was released around the Windows 95/98 era and was discounted at places like Caldor. I got rid of the CD because it kept crashing randomly under Windows 95/98. Really regret throwing away a lot of CDs back then. Other than posting these vague descriptions here I don't know what else I can do other that waiting for Elon Musk's brain computer and then maybe I can download my brain one day and try to sift through its contents to find some more clues.

hakuseki 4y ago
Have you browsed through this list? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Point-and-click_adventure_games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Point-and-click_adven...
jandrese 4y ago
"Science fiction point and click" is very vague. You don't remember any further detail? You might be surprised at how good people on the Internet are at tracking down obscure information like this given just a few hints.
- aerovistae 4y ago
  Exactly. /r/tipofmytongue is an incredible community.
- nebula8804 4y ago
  I am sorry I haven't been able to provide more info. I have collected more info at this comment after other suggested ideas that helped me provide more details. [1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294
googlryas 4y ago
I would suggest finding a forum devoted to either that style of game, or games from that time period, and just do a brain dump. I bet someone will know exactly what game you're talking about. Some useful information would be: When is the earliest date you remember playing it? Or, when is a date where you are positive the game had been made at that point? What did the graphics look like? Do you remember anything about any intros or loading screens? Anything more specific than sci-fi? Space? Aliens? Was it dark/scary, light-hearted, dramatic, etc? Do you remember any lines, characters, game mechanics, or plot points from it?
squarefoot 4y ago
Over at archive.org they have quite a large list of old PC games. https://archive.org/details/classicpcgames https://archive.org/details/classicpcgames
wruza 4y ago
No more details? Don’t you have at least some blurry images in your mind or particular scenes? E.g. there are games that I couldn’t remember, one was a quest(?) in a set of pictures and a submarine, dark tones, mysterious. I remember a full outside view of it and then few screens inside. Another was a dos game that had a fullscreen map of some galaxy and a cursor in a form of a torn hand. Five blobs below the map were unnamed(?) buttons on a strange panel. One button sent you flying through a “canyon” on a selected planet, which was drawn as a set of simple \_/ planes slightly offset from each other, synthwave style-ish but much simpler. I believe it was an early rogue like, but I was too young and knew no english to understand it. I don’t get how one can remember something but not have any details except a period of release.
- noduerme 4y ago
  Almost sounds like you could be describing Starflight...? https://youtu.be/GaYIk3MIFGI https://youtu.be/GaYIk3MIFGI Check out the map around 15:00 and the planet landing around 16:21.
  - nebula8804 4y ago
    No that seems more like the DOS era. This was definitely some sort of Win32 application (ie. runs on Windows 95/98 and not DOS) See my comment here for more info: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 Thanks for the suggestion though!
    - noduerme 4y ago
      I meant the second one, the dos game you mentioned. Glad you found the first one though I'm curious what the second would be..
      - wruza 4y ago
        Haha, I suspect both of you misread usernames/replies itt ;)
- 4y ago
easrng 4y ago
Maybe ask on https://gaming.stackexchange.com/ https://gaming.stackexchange.com/, I've seen similar questions on some other stack exchange sites though idk if it's allowed on gaming specifically.
yCombLinks 4y ago
My favorite game matching that description is lucasarts "The Dig"
- ailun 4y ago
  This was my first thought as well! I was weirdly obsessed with that game. It crashed all the time, so that part fits. I originally had the demo on CD, I think it came with X-Wing vs Tie Fighter or one of those other Lucasarts games.
- nebula8804 4y ago
  I added more info here after others helped get more out of my head [1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 The game was definitely a Win32 application so it wouldn't have the style of "The Dig"
jiayo 4y ago
I have the same problem; I've been trying for over 25 years to find a game I vaguely remember from my childhood. It's unclear if what I'm looking for was ever formally published. To be honest as soon as I saw @textfiles tweet about this new search engine, I got irrationally excited thinking I might be able to find it here, but how do I describe this in a way anyone will understand? I'll give it a shot. In the late 80s, my dad bought an 8088 XT clone and "somehow" got some games. We had a bunch of the popular Sierra/AGI adventure games, Hugo's House of Horrors, etc. This game was in the same vein, but way way more primitive. It's a DOS game. I believe it would have been made between 1980 and 1988. I remember it as a text adventure, but with non-interactive full-screen graphics (e.g. appears like Sierra games, but you can't move the player, only issue text commands). I remember it as monochrome (bright white on dark black background) despite my computer supporting at least CGA. I remember the commands you type being entirely in uppercase (LOOK DOOR, PRESS BUTTON). I remember the protagonist waking up on an alien spaceship, and by far the strongest memory I remember is there being an elevator with up and down buttons you could press to go to different floors of the spaceship. I vaguely remember the game being called ALIEN (as in, I could type ALIEN to start it; so, ALIEN.COM maybe??) I don't expect to ever figure this out, and have mostly gaslit myself about this ever existing. I actually asked /r/tipofmytongue or some similar subreddit about 10 years ago to no avail. If anyone on hacker news has any clues to help with this I would be so grateful and would buy you a beverage. p.s. @nebula8804, my guess for your holy grail is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_(1997_video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_(1997_video_game)
- anthk 4y ago
  https://ifdb.org/search?searchbar=alien https://ifdb.org/search?searchbar=alien
- 1970-01-01 4y ago
  Alien? https://oldgamesdownload.com/alien-dos/ https://oldgamesdownload.com/alien-dos/
- Maursault 4y ago
  I have the same problem trying to find a graphics adventure-style video game for 8-bit Apple called "Necromancer" that was not the game of the same title for 8-bit Atari and C64. Rather than a perspective view, graphics gave a bird's eye view. Ridiculously, I remember being impressed with the graphic representation of the necromancer's keep, which was just a little hollow square on the screen. Played it a lot in 1980, or possibly as late as 1982. I've only been looking for it for about 15 years. Seems to have disappeared because not even the expert 8-bit Apple folks can find it. It doesn't help that Google search has gotten a lot worse in the last 15 years. I've looked so hard at various times, just thinking about it now give me a headache.
ilkke 4y ago
Beneath a steel sky? Innocent until caught? I have no mouth yet I must scream? You're really not giving us much to work with.
- nebula8804 4y ago
  I have collected more info here after others game me ideas to help narrow it down: [1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 While all those games are from the 90s. I must stress that this was definitely a Win32 game: ie. Has to run on Windows 9x and cannot run on DOS.
layer8 4y ago
I would try a linear search for the relevant year/system/genre combinations on MobyGames, e.g.: https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/1995/windows/adventure/ https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/1995/windows/adventur... Certainly tedious, but maybe your best bet, with such a vague description.
js2 4y ago
I have a distinct memory of there being a BBS client for either the Apple II or maybe the IIGS called something like "Graphical BBS". I'm pretty sure that it used the Apple II hires mode. But I can't find any evidence that it existed for the Apple II series and I've been searching off and on for years. Wait... I just searched again. I'm not crazy. It was called HBBS and it got added to archive.org last year: https://archive.org/details/apple2_hbbs https://archive.org/details/apple2_hbbs Oh, no, its author (Matthew Dornquast) passed away earlier this year: https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000416768/ https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000416768/ Jason Scott (textfiles.com) posted about his passing at the time: https://nitter.net/textfiles/status/1490157005805395971 https://nitter.net/textfiles/status/1490157005805395971 Well, now I'm bummed. I found what I was looking for all these years and sadly learned its author died much too young. :-(
- TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
  Never heard of this before. Thanks. I was active in the scene then and never came across a graphical Apple 2e BBS.
CommitSyn 4y ago
It may be worth trying the /r/tipofmytongue subreddit.
- xhrpost 4y ago
  /r/tipofmyjoystick
ralusek 4y ago
A few people have mentioned /r/tipofmytongue, but you'll do better at /r/tipofmyjoystick; specifically for games.
ethbr0 4y ago
Space Quest IV? https://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-iv-roger-wilco-and-the-time-rippers/screenshots https://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-iv-roger-wilco-an... Or V? https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/space-quest-v-the-next-mutation/screenshots https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/space-quest-v-the-next-mu... Or VI? https://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-6-roger-wilco-in-the-spinal-frontier/screenshots https://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-6-roger-wilco-in-...

hakuseki 4y ago

Have you browsed through this list? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Point-and-click_adventure_games https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Point-and-click_adven...

jandrese 4y ago

"Science fiction point and click" is very vague. You don't remember any further detail? You might be surprised at how good people on the Internet are at tracking down obscure information like this given just a few hints.

aerovistae 4y ago
Exactly. /r/tipofmytongue is an incredible community.
nebula8804 4y ago
I am sorry I haven't been able to provide more info. I have collected more info at this comment after other suggested ideas that helped me provide more details. [1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294

googlryas 4y ago

I would suggest finding a forum devoted to either that style of game, or games from that time period, and just do a brain dump. I bet someone will know exactly what game you're talking about. Some useful information would be: When is the earliest date you remember playing it? Or, when is a date where you are positive the game had been made at that point? What did the graphics look like? Do you remember anything about any intros or loading screens? Anything more specific than sci-fi? Space? Aliens? Was it dark/scary, light-hearted, dramatic, etc? Do you remember any lines, characters, game mechanics, or plot points from it?

squarefoot 4y ago

Over at archive.org they have quite a large list of old PC games. https://archive.org/details/classicpcgames https://archive.org/details/classicpcgames

wruza 4y ago

No more details? Don’t you have at least some blurry images in your mind or particular scenes? E.g. there are games that I couldn’t remember, one was a quest(?) in a set of pictures and a submarine, dark tones, mysterious. I remember a full outside view of it and then few screens inside. Another was a dos game that had a fullscreen map of some galaxy and a cursor in a form of a torn hand. Five blobs below the map were unnamed(?) buttons on a strange panel. One button sent you flying through a “canyon” on a selected planet, which was drawn as a set of simple \_/ planes slightly offset from each other, synthwave style-ish but much simpler. I believe it was an early rogue like, but I was too young and knew no english to understand it. I don’t get how one can remember something but not have any details except a period of release.

noduerme 4y ago
Almost sounds like you could be describing Starflight...? https://youtu.be/GaYIk3MIFGI https://youtu.be/GaYIk3MIFGI Check out the map around 15:00 and the planet landing around 16:21.
- nebula8804 4y ago
  No that seems more like the DOS era. This was definitely some sort of Win32 application (ie. runs on Windows 95/98 and not DOS) See my comment here for more info: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 Thanks for the suggestion though!
  - noduerme 4y ago
    I meant the second one, the dos game you mentioned. Glad you found the first one though I'm curious what the second would be..
    - wruza 4y ago
      Haha, I suspect both of you misread usernames/replies itt ;)
4y ago

easrng 4y ago

Maybe ask on https://gaming.stackexchange.com/ https://gaming.stackexchange.com/, I've seen similar questions on some other stack exchange sites though idk if it's allowed on gaming specifically.

yCombLinks 4y ago

My favorite game matching that description is lucasarts "The Dig"

ailun 4y ago
This was my first thought as well! I was weirdly obsessed with that game. It crashed all the time, so that part fits. I originally had the demo on CD, I think it came with X-Wing vs Tie Fighter or one of those other Lucasarts games.
nebula8804 4y ago
I added more info here after others helped get more out of my head [1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 The game was definitely a Win32 application so it wouldn't have the style of "The Dig"

jiayo 4y ago

I have the same problem; I've been trying for over 25 years to find a game I vaguely remember from my childhood. It's unclear if what I'm looking for was ever formally published. To be honest as soon as I saw @textfiles tweet about this new search engine, I got irrationally excited thinking I might be able to find it here, but how do I describe this in a way anyone will understand? I'll give it a shot. In the late 80s, my dad bought an 8088 XT clone and "somehow" got some games. We had a bunch of the popular Sierra/AGI adventure games, Hugo's House of Horrors, etc. This game was in the same vein, but way way more primitive. It's a DOS game. I believe it would have been made between 1980 and 1988. I remember it as a text adventure, but with non-interactive full-screen graphics (e.g. appears like Sierra games, but you can't move the player, only issue text commands). I remember it as monochrome (bright white on dark black background) despite my computer supporting at least CGA. I remember the commands you type being entirely in uppercase (LOOK DOOR, PRESS BUTTON). I remember the protagonist waking up on an alien spaceship, and by far the strongest memory I remember is there being an elevator with up and down buttons you could press to go to different floors of the spaceship. I vaguely remember the game being called ALIEN (as in, I could type ALIEN to start it; so, ALIEN.COM maybe??) I don't expect to ever figure this out, and have mostly gaslit myself about this ever existing. I actually asked /r/tipofmytongue or some similar subreddit about 10 years ago to no avail. If anyone on hacker news has any clues to help with this I would be so grateful and would buy you a beverage. p.s. @nebula8804, my guess for your holy grail is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_(1997_video_game) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner_(1997_video_game)

anthk 4y ago
https://ifdb.org/search?searchbar=alien https://ifdb.org/search?searchbar=alien
1970-01-01 4y ago
Alien? https://oldgamesdownload.com/alien-dos/ https://oldgamesdownload.com/alien-dos/
Maursault 4y ago
I have the same problem trying to find a graphics adventure-style video game for 8-bit Apple called "Necromancer" that was not the game of the same title for 8-bit Atari and C64. Rather than a perspective view, graphics gave a bird's eye view. Ridiculously, I remember being impressed with the graphic representation of the necromancer's keep, which was just a little hollow square on the screen. Played it a lot in 1980, or possibly as late as 1982. I've only been looking for it for about 15 years. Seems to have disappeared because not even the expert 8-bit Apple folks can find it. It doesn't help that Google search has gotten a lot worse in the last 15 years. I've looked so hard at various times, just thinking about it now give me a headache.

ilkke 4y ago

Beneath a steel sky? Innocent until caught? I have no mouth yet I must scream? You're really not giving us much to work with.

nebula8804 4y ago
I have collected more info here after others game me ideas to help narrow it down: [1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33258294 While all those games are from the 90s. I must stress that this was definitely a Win32 game: ie. Has to run on Windows 9x and cannot run on DOS.

layer8 4y ago

I would try a linear search for the relevant year/system/genre combinations on MobyGames, e.g.: https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/1995/windows/adventure/ https://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/1995/windows/adventur... Certainly tedious, but maybe your best bet, with such a vague description.

js2 4y ago

I have a distinct memory of there being a BBS client for either the Apple II or maybe the IIGS called something like "Graphical BBS". I'm pretty sure that it used the Apple II hires mode. But I can't find any evidence that it existed for the Apple II series and I've been searching off and on for years. Wait... I just searched again. I'm not crazy. It was called HBBS and it got added to archive.org last year: https://archive.org/details/apple2_hbbs https://archive.org/details/apple2_hbbs Oh, no, its author (Matthew Dornquast) passed away earlier this year: https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000416768/ https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000416768/ Jason Scott (textfiles.com) posted about his passing at the time: https://nitter.net/textfiles/status/1490157005805395971 https://nitter.net/textfiles/status/1490157005805395971 Well, now I'm bummed. I found what I was looking for all these years and sadly learned its author died much too young. :-(

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
Never heard of this before. Thanks. I was active in the scene then and never came across a graphical Apple 2e BBS.

CommitSyn 4y ago

It may be worth trying the /r/tipofmytongue subreddit.

xhrpost 4y ago
/r/tipofmyjoystick

ralusek 4y ago

A few people have mentioned /r/tipofmytongue, but you'll do better at /r/tipofmyjoystick; specifically for games.

ethbr0 4y ago

Space Quest IV? https://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-iv-roger-wilco-and-the-time-rippers/screenshots https://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-iv-roger-wilco-an... Or V? https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/space-quest-v-the-next-mutation/screenshots https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/space-quest-v-the-next-mu... Or VI? https://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-6-roger-wilco-in-the-spinal-frontier/screenshots https://www.mobygames.com/game/space-quest-6-roger-wilco-in-...