4 ms·

Everything We Know About 1970s Mainframe RPGs We Can No Longer Play

89 points by bikenaga 3y ago

cable2600 3y ago
https://sdl-hercules-390.github.io/html/ https://sdl-hercules-390.github.io/html/ So use an emulator and play the RPG on it.
- xorbax 3y ago
  So did you mention it to him?
- pdw 3y ago
  The guy knows about emulators. They don't help if the software itself is lost.
  - sumtechguy 3y ago
    That is the interesting bit about emulation. Lots of things are lost to time. Also emulation is a double edge sword too. In that maybe something is saved but another version will never be saved because it is 'already in the pack'. Yet that version had some cool quirk or bug fix. Getting OG stuff is challenging sometimes. Recently I saw wince went EoL. If someone were to say to me 'we preserved your wince project' I would think that is not a worthwhile effort (but hey if thats what you want to spend your time on ...) . That software is not worth preserving. I even affected about 50k peoples lives with it. I would vote it is never preserved. There are probably thousands of projects like that. Where tons of people were affected by it and thousands of people worked on it. But the software itself is just not that worthwhile to save.
doomlaser 3y ago
You could still find PLATO terminals at the UIUC student union when I was a kid. Very cool systems. Ahead of their time in many ways, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)
jfultz 3y ago
A reborn version of PLATO is available at https://www.irata.online/ https://www.irata.online/ (JS client if you hit the Login button at the top, various other clients enumerated below). I haven't played with it much, but I did find "Bugs and Drugs" from the article in the Irata games list, and was able to successfully launch it.
HenryBemis 3y ago
On a RPG tangent, and related to the dialogue "Elon Musk tells Rishi Sunak AI will put an end to work" (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67302048 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67302048) I catch myself wondering.. I used to play VikingMUD (like A LOT). I have read the book Halftime (by Bob Buford). Then I consider a UBI. Also adding to the mix the "humans" in the movie Wall-E (all obese, sitting on floating chairs drinking soda all day wearing their VR devices). Now add a little of "Ready Player One" in that mix. Now, adding all these to the mix (for for the future generation), will we become something like that? Will we be 'producing' 1h per day, sleeping 8h per day, and consuming the remaining 15h? (let's assume single or married person, but without any kids or pets) Will I be able in my 80s to play VikingMUD again for 12h straight? (boot-run for those unique +3str iron gaunts, etc) Will I be able to play again Midnight Sun? (oh I have forgotten 99% of it). Will someone revive Spellfire (oh how I miss this game.. I still have my cards in dossiers organized) and we will be able to scan & play with our cards from all over the world? Or will we simply be playing Fortnite (or whatever 3d game will be the 'cool one') in 20-30 years when the above criteria are fulfilled?
- ilaksh 3y ago
  Well, yeah, I think it's already similar to that because you can use emulators to play old adventure games, or telnet for MUDs. But the 3d games available today are much more immersive already. Of course we don't have UBI but we do have retirement (for some). Or three-day weekends. You may already be aware of these sites: https://midnightsun2.org/muds.html https://midnightsun2.org/muds.html https://spellfire.com https://spellfire.com https://vikingmud.org https://vikingmud.org
rpaddock 3y ago
I wonder what Dave might have in his Large Scale Systems Museum (LSSM) along these lines? Their website: https://www.mact.io https://www.mact.io My visit there in 2016: https://www.bpaddock.com/doku.php/lssm/start https://www.bpaddock.com/doku.php/lssm/start
hnthrowaway0315 3y ago
CRPG Addict is the official focus and productivity drain for all who love CRPGs. The owner literally tries to play through every CRPG he/she could lay hands on and write reviews and playthroughs (sort of) that span multiple long blogs. A project for life. The blog is now on the year 1993 and I'm waiting for the year when Fallout and Baldur's Gate appear. The later, the more games the owner has to go through.
- kibwen 3y ago
  > The later, the more games the owner has to go through. Once you go far enough, you'll pass the peak of CRPG release quantity. Baldur's Gate 3 looks mighty lonely out there.
  - Semaphor 3y ago
    Pathfinder:WotR, Solasta are both great to amazing CRPGs still getting updates/DLCs. Colony ship releases next week, Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader releases next month. It's an amazing time for CRPGs
ecolonsmak 3y ago
Excellent book about the PLATO system, it goes into some of the game mechanics and social aspects - 'the friendly orange glow' by Brian Dear.

89 points by bikenaga 3y ago

https://sdl-hercules-390.github.io/html/ https://sdl-hercules-390.github.io/html/ So use an emulator and play the RPG on it.

xorbax 3y ago
So did you mention it to him?
pdw 3y ago
The guy knows about emulators. They don't help if the software itself is lost.
- sumtechguy 3y ago
  That is the interesting bit about emulation. Lots of things are lost to time. Also emulation is a double edge sword too. In that maybe something is saved but another version will never be saved because it is 'already in the pack'. Yet that version had some cool quirk or bug fix. Getting OG stuff is challenging sometimes. Recently I saw wince went EoL. If someone were to say to me 'we preserved your wince project' I would think that is not a worthwhile effort (but hey if thats what you want to spend your time on ...) . That software is not worth preserving. I even affected about 50k peoples lives with it. I would vote it is never preserved. There are probably thousands of projects like that. Where tons of people were affected by it and thousands of people worked on it. But the software itself is just not that worthwhile to save.

doomlaser 3y ago

You could still find PLATO terminals at the UIUC student union when I was a kid. Very cool systems. Ahead of their time in many ways, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)

jfultz 3y ago

A reborn version of PLATO is available at https://www.irata.online/ https://www.irata.online/ (JS client if you hit the Login button at the top, various other clients enumerated below). I haven't played with it much, but I did find "Bugs and Drugs" from the article in the Irata games list, and was able to successfully launch it.

HenryBemis 3y ago

On a RPG tangent, and related to the dialogue "Elon Musk tells Rishi Sunak AI will put an end to work" (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67302048 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67302048) I catch myself wondering.. I used to play VikingMUD (like A LOT). I have read the book Halftime (by Bob Buford). Then I consider a UBI. Also adding to the mix the "humans" in the movie Wall-E (all obese, sitting on floating chairs drinking soda all day wearing their VR devices). Now add a little of "Ready Player One" in that mix. Now, adding all these to the mix (for for the future generation), will we become something like that? Will we be 'producing' 1h per day, sleeping 8h per day, and consuming the remaining 15h? (let's assume single or married person, but without any kids or pets) Will I be able in my 80s to play VikingMUD again for 12h straight? (boot-run for those unique +3str iron gaunts, etc) Will I be able to play again Midnight Sun? (oh I have forgotten 99% of it). Will someone revive Spellfire (oh how I miss this game.. I still have my cards in dossiers organized) and we will be able to scan & play with our cards from all over the world? Or will we simply be playing Fortnite (or whatever 3d game will be the 'cool one') in 20-30 years when the above criteria are fulfilled?

ilaksh 3y ago
Well, yeah, I think it's already similar to that because you can use emulators to play old adventure games, or telnet for MUDs. But the 3d games available today are much more immersive already. Of course we don't have UBI but we do have retirement (for some). Or three-day weekends. You may already be aware of these sites: https://midnightsun2.org/muds.html https://midnightsun2.org/muds.html https://spellfire.com https://spellfire.com https://vikingmud.org https://vikingmud.org

rpaddock 3y ago

I wonder what Dave might have in his Large Scale Systems Museum (LSSM) along these lines? Their website: https://www.mact.io https://www.mact.io My visit there in 2016: https://www.bpaddock.com/doku.php/lssm/start https://www.bpaddock.com/doku.php/lssm/start

hnthrowaway0315 3y ago

CRPG Addict is the official focus and productivity drain for all who love CRPGs. The owner literally tries to play through every CRPG he/she could lay hands on and write reviews and playthroughs (sort of) that span multiple long blogs. A project for life. The blog is now on the year 1993 and I'm waiting for the year when Fallout and Baldur's Gate appear. The later, the more games the owner has to go through.

kibwen 3y ago
> The later, the more games the owner has to go through. Once you go far enough, you'll pass the peak of CRPG release quantity. Baldur's Gate 3 looks mighty lonely out there.
- Semaphor 3y ago
  Pathfinder:WotR, Solasta are both great to amazing CRPGs still getting updates/DLCs. Colony ship releases next week, Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader releases next month. It's an amazing time for CRPGs

ecolonsmak 3y ago

Excellent book about the PLATO system, it goes into some of the game mechanics and social aspects - 'the friendly orange glow' by Brian Dear.