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The History of Computer RPGs

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71–80 of 95 posts

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#71

Up until now, I was under the impression that CRPG stood for "Classic RPG" (as opposed to J(apanese) RPG, Action RPG or MMORPG). Am I alone in this? If not, this seems a topic worth discussing.

I thought it stood for "Conversation RPG" - games where you could literally talk your way out of some conflicts. This is even more relevant since so many "Computer RPG" games (even some classics) have also come out on consoles, and vice versa.

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#72

To this day I am impressed with the game Starflight, the first sequel was also amazing. What stood out about Starflight even more today to me than back then was what they accomplished on two 360k diskettes. From a great story, cool Easter eggs, to hundreds of unique worlds to explore. One of the earliest sandbox games too, you didn't have to play it the same way each time you started up a new game. https://en.wikiped…

It was amazing, and definitely what they could do with such little resources is breathtaking. One of the top games of my childhood.

I had the original box and manual, I hope I still have them.

What would be a modern equivalent? I guess the MMORPGs like EVE Online? Any single player game with a similar open-ended gameplay + story?

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#73
post #25

If you are interested in old computer role-playing games, you should check out the CRPG addict's blog [1]. He has played (usually to completion) every CRPG thru 1986 and every one that runs on DOS thru 1990. The reviews have great humor. And he covers everything. [1] http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com

Thanks!

I used to follow it a few years ago, but for some reason it fell off my radar, I imagine now there are tons more reviews than when I left it.

It inspired me to do a nostalgia-fueled replay of all Ultima games(1-8), a couple of years ago.

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#74
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> nothing feels like that anymore This is an experience everybody has at some point. The reason is not that the world changed, but that you changed. Having more experience about life means being less excited. I guarantee, that nowaday's youth has the same excited experience about one RPG (e.g., maybe the current Zelda that was just released) that you had back in the day. Welcome at the old guys table. :-)

Fellow old guys, give new Zelda a spin. You won't regret it!

Agreed as someone who is now in his 30s who has played games since he was 5. BOTW is something very special. I'm at the point now where I've done everything in the main quest but I'm delaying Ganon until I do a bunch more shrines and sidequests. I don't want it to end.

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#75
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elite is not an CRPG as defined by the author. http://crpgaddict.blogspot.jp/p/blog-page.html

While I agree with the sentiment, the CRPGAddict is not the author of this book.

Oops. That what I get for reading and replying on the train. Thank you. Sorry about that.

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#76
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the tip. The problem is that Parish publish his books through Amazon's CreateSpace, which is powerful but extremely expensive... printing the CRPG Book in color through it would cost more than $60 per unit. :/ I would love to do something like the Bitmap Books ( https://www.bitmapbooks.co.uk/collections/all ), which have great quality and a decent price, all funded via Kickstarter.

Parish has used several different options over the years, so I still think it's worth asking his experience. (When I bought his books, some of it was through Blurb: http://www.blurb.com/search/site_search?search=jeremy+parish ) Speaking for myself, I think $60 is reasonable for a 450 page, full color book about a niche subject. Bitmap Books does look like a good option, and wow, that book on Super Famicom box art is…

+1 to $60 being totally reasonable (cheap even) price for 450 page book in color. I (and thousands of people) regularly pay $50-70 for pen and paper RPG books with less page count. And I've paid much, much more than that for niche art books.

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#78
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parish has used several different options over the years, so I still think it's worth asking his experience. (When I bought his books, some of it was through Blurb: http://www.blurb.com/search/site_search?search=jeremy+parish ) Speaking for myself, I think $60 is reasonable for a 450 page, full color book about a niche subject. Bitmap Books does look like a good option, and wow, that book on Super Famicom box art is…

+1 to $60 being totally reasonable (cheap even) price for 450 page book in color. I (and thousands of people) regularly pay $50-70 for pen and paper RPG books with less page count. And I've paid much, much more than that for niche art books.

Thanks, but it's a last resort. That wouldn't even require a crowdfunding campaign, I just upload the files and that's it.

Since I've spent over 4 years now on this, why not dream higher? I think it's worthy to try to make something cooler, of higher quality and cheaper for everyone.

The book doesn't even have a cover yet, so I might hire an amazing artist as stretch goal or something like that. :)

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#79
post #69

it's a shame clan lord[1] from delta tao software is omitted, although I understand you can't document them all. its historical significance comes from being the first graphical MMORPG for mac, having started in 1994. it still runs to this day, and because there's no exp cap there are people who have been playing the same characters for 20 years. the hand-drawn sprites hold up surprisingly well (even if the game only…

It does look like there just may be no Mac exclusive titles documented in the book. No TaskMaker or Escape Velocity either.

Re: The History of Computer RPGs

#80
post #41

Where is Moraff's World?!? How could they leave that out? A complete classic, with an open world and loads of depth, well before anything like that was standard.

Spent so many hours with the version I had on one of those cheap shareware bundle CDs. I'll never forget the bizarre, cheesy sprites, like the Hawaiian shirt zombies[1], or, really, any of them[2]. Fun game. [1] https://emptysqua.re/blog/moraffs-world/moraff-monsters.png [2] https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_small/13/134049/1...

Likewise. Used to run it on a Hercules monitor on an 8088. Amazing. It supported so many different graphics modes.
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