Just a short one, today.

[active_apathy]

And this is because there wasn't a lot to talk about from my Monday. Sad but true.

So, what is there? Firstly, there was a Dianetics ad on TV earlier. I was amused by this, since they're selling it as a self-help book. A self-help book by an author who famously claimed that the easiest way to make money is to start a religion. I'm considering offering an alternate title - maybe Jumping On Couches For Dummies.

But! That's of secondary importance. I've started playing NetHack again, and it's more fun than ever. Not that it ever wasn't fun, but every time I start playing it again I realise how much I've missed it. Just need to get out of the Gnomish Mines intact, one of these days. And maybe even Ascend, but that's not for ages and ages yet.

I've got a notion to play Rogue again. If you have a link for a win32-friendly Rogue binary, or for the Rogue source (how hard can it be to find a C compiler?), then please, please post it here.

And that's it for the moment. Off to go and set foot in the Dungeons of Doom all over again.

Comments

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I quite like NetHack, and I'm fond of IF.

I have a vague idea of how to write IF in Inform. I need to get copies of Zork 1-3 again, and a large set of other IF titles I rather like. I haven't actually played Zork (since mazes (and guess-the-verb games) are irksome), but I have an appropriate fondness for brass lanterns and elvish swords.

I also feel a little tempted to see if the Discworld MUD is still about, but that means finding a decent telnet client all over again.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I have the Lost Treaures of Infocom CD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Treasures_of_Infocom

All those games are less than 4 megs together, if you want me to zip them up for you.

AB10.exe from here: http://ifarchive.flavorplex.com/if-archive/starters/
A good starter kit IMO.

More stuff here: http://www.microheaven.com/IFGuide/IFGuide.pl?step=6&c=0

You probably liked Maniac Mansion, didn't you?

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I've never played Maniac Mansion, so I can't say either way.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Maniac Mansion basically falls between Sierra graphical adventures and regular IF.

It still used an object-verb style parser for interface, but instead of guessing or typing, you used the mouse cursor to select objects from inventory or the scene, and selected verbs from a predefined list.

This meant you never had to sit there trying different nouns, wondering what the name for that plant on the wall was for months (only to realize, a year later, that it was a plastic fern). If something couldn't be interacted with, it didn't register with a mouseover. On the flipside, a gazillion red herrings DO register with mouseovers, but that's half the fun.

A modern fan-remake of Maniac Mansion is availiable here for free. It's a great game, has countless paths to victory, multiple endings... multiple ways to win in fact. All dependent on which characters you choose to play with. And it's not "all paths eventually lead to the final scene", but "the game can end as a result of radically different things" ranging from getting the villain arrested, to publishing his autobiography and making him famous.

Yeah, download, right: http://www.lucasfangames.de/games_eng.htm

It's well worth playing.

[tajessa.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am deeply jealous. I've played the Zorks, but I never got a chance to play A Mind Forever Voyaging or HHGGTG, which are two that I remember wanting to play.

And I've never played Maniac Mansion, either (sob) but Day of the Tentacle rocks.

And now I am off to Google/Amazon/EBay (yay for intarweb nouns becoming verbs, because that doesn't make my inner grammar bitch cry!) Lost Treasures of Infocom, for it must and shall be mine. Eventually. :)

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Look further down from this comment to find a nice download link for Lost Treasures :)

And look just above this for a link to a fan remake of Maniac Mansion.

[tajessa.livejournal.com]

Sweet! Thanks. I didn't see the links when I posted; sorry. :)

*makes preparations so as to not leave computer for next 6 months*

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Forgot to mention that all the Infocom ones are for DOS, but you may be able to use the DAT files in a Windows interpreter...

*tests*

Indeed you can! I just opened Zork 1 inside WinFrotz 2.32

Yay.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Indeed you can. All Inform games are interpreted, which makes the games themselves platform-independent long before the idea caught on elsewhere.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

That realization/remembrance only occured to me halfway through typing that comment.

Incidentally: http://www.shinraonline.com/palmer/infocom.zip

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Oooh... *clicky*

Thanks!

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

I had uploaded that hours ago, but forgot to post the link *shame*

I have odd things laying around... like those Windows versions of X-COM I mentioned somewhere. And I really should look for my original DOS version of TIE Fighter. Wait... my joysticks are broken. Farknuts.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I wasn't here hours ago, so I'd never have known.

Did you have Enemies of the Empire too?

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Alas no... never even heard of that one...
*googles*

Another TIE expansion? No... never heard of it.
I know my copy has Defenders of the Empire in it though.

Woo! Found my TIE disks! 7 floppies!

Now here's hoping they still work...

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Hrmm... maybe I could interest you in...

http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=315
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=316
and
http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=1505

Underdogs is old game love.

[mrpyro.livejournal.com]

Your Discworld games are all far too modern. I want my copy of The Colour of Magic for the Commodore 64 back; although not actually my copy, since it refused to load tape 2, meaning you could never get beyond escaping Ankh-Morpork.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Ah, but I can play the Discworld MUD with diaulup. Those are all rather big.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Ick, dialup. I know your pain, as I have it too.

I just queue big downloads up in WackGet and leave them on overnight/while at work.

That's how I downloaded all 2.1 gigs of Firefly in 8 days.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

I admire your tenacity. Maybe, one day, you'll watch it. :)

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

When I do, you'll be sure to know.

And then I'm liable to get interrogated as to how I liked it and sundry other things. Which is fine.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. Because you should have an idea of how my curiosity is, by now.

[palmer-kun.livejournal.com]

Linda's curisotiy is:

• Vast


• Penetrating


• Profound


• To be encouraged and indulged

[rwh.livejournal.com]

My first experience with rogue-like games was Legend of the Red Dragon 2. Mmm... ansi art. It was some years later when I discovered the real original ones. My sheltered BBS life had kept me from discovering them.

I still yearn for a multiplayable rogue-like game that really works (didn't really enjoy crossfire or mangband).

Mmm... text-mode fun...

[rwh.livejournal.com]

... oh, and (/me breaks his own rules about not responding to comments twice) in the realm of IF: try Adam Cadre's stuff (www.adamcadre.ac), if you haven't tried it already. Easy to get into, very creative, won many awards, et cetera.

[active-apathy.livejournal.com]

The name's familiar.

*clicks* *reads*

I've played Photopia, and quite enjoyed it, but I haven't had an Inform interpreter for some time. I should really fix that.

My last big dose of IF was with TADS, playing rather brilliant titles like Glowgrass, Babel and so forth.