tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post6811330405927449154..comments2024-03-29T09:18:29.803-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Game 125: Dungeons and Dragons (1980)CRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-10032284684342779642015-04-03T00:54:56.739-04:002015-04-03T00:54:56.739-04:00Ah, the TRS-80. That actually was my first compute...Ah, the TRS-80. That actually was my first computer. The thing of it is, it was a terrible disappointment. My cousins on one side had a DOS box with fun things like MathBlaster and PrintShop. My cousins on the other side had an Apple II with about a dozen games. At school I got to use an Apple IIgs maybe a couple days per quarter. I loved all of them, but when I asked for a computer, what I got was the TRS-80. There are obvious economical reasons for that in hindsight, but as a kid I didn't understand. All I understood was I didn't really know how to do anything with the TRS-80, and it didn't seem any fun. I did figure out how to change the color of the foreground and background, but since it was hooked up to a black and white television I often accidentally hit on color tones that made the text invisible, for instance if I had a red and blue of similar brightness. It did teach me how to type my way back out of that without seeing what I was typing. <br /><br />I wish I'd had a game like this to play with. I did have Zaxxon on tape, but that got old after a while, and I didn't know what else to do with the system, so ignored it. I can only imagine if I'd had a game like Dungeons and Dragons it would have captivated me, since around the same time I was learning about playing D&D. I can also see myself cracking the game open and messing around with it if I'd had source code (the year before I'd been given a book of games you could program into the Atari--mind you, I didn't *have* an Atari--and I still read and re-read the programs, wishing somehow I could tap into that potential.) I'm sure like you I typed my name or a few other things in an infinite loop, but I didn't know what else to do with the system and just ignored it. Looking back, even though it wasn't a "good" computer, I feel like I probably missed an opportunity to really get into programming a lot sooner than I eventually did.<br /><br /><br /><br />Quirkzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16409671254311123117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-68100411901646381802014-08-02T19:19:57.850-04:002014-08-02T19:19:57.850-04:00Nice article. Really takes me back. I spent many...Nice article. Really takes me back. I spent many hours playing and modifying this game as a teenager. You can now play it on-line thanks to a TRS-80 emulator written in Javascript:<br /><br />http://willus.com/trs80/dungeon_original.shtml<br /><br />Thank you, Peter and Chester!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-15752839090263370802013-12-18T09:20:55.361-05:002013-12-18T09:20:55.361-05:00Pete, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I rea...Pete, thanks for stopping by and commenting. I realize my reviews must often seem insulting to the original developers, and I apologize if that's the case here. I'm writing from the perspective of a game player from 2013, evaluating how enjoyable these games are today, and not through the lens of how enjoyable they must have been at the time. I agree that <i>Dungeons and Dragons</i> did as best as could be expected in 1980 given the limitations in memory, language, and distribution. I also realize it wasn't meant to compete with commercial software. <br /><br />The combat system is actually more intriguing than I credited in the post. Later systems adopt an "attacks per round" approach, but yours is the only one I've seen that literally mimics the effects of dexterity on combat speed by how frequently the game allows you to interrupt your opponent's attacks.<br /><br />Thanks again for writing, and thanks for your contribution to this genre.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-20210559565120026472013-12-17T20:21:45.931-05:002013-12-17T20:21:45.931-05:00I finally found that panel I was talking about; th...I finally found that panel I was talking about; this contains a lot of talk of TSR, mismanagement under both it and WotC, Loraine Williams, and some amusing stories. http://35privatesanctuary.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=541:paizocon2013-special-013-secrets-of-tsr&catid=35:the-tome-know-direction&Itemid=34 (Or just http://35privatesanctuary.com/podcasts/paizocon2013special013-secretsofTSR.mp3 )Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-23480063091901206502013-12-16T21:01:07.051-05:002013-12-16T21:01:07.051-05:00That Williams woman was not very popular, I think....That Williams woman was not very popular, I think. I recall reading in an old computer gaming magazine that at a convention she had two "gorillas" at her side at all time. I wish I could remember the excact wording, 'cause it was funny.PetrusOctavianusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-28896562388685742632013-12-16T18:02:26.649-05:002013-12-16T18:02:26.649-05:00(Er... "than Williams and the Blumes", t...(Er... "than Williams and the Blumes", that should be in the last sentence. There were two Blumes brothers, but as far as I know, Lorraine was only Williams involved.)Jalen Wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00973042209003357278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-20349398038600634812013-12-16T17:52:59.731-05:002013-12-16T17:52:59.731-05:00That quote from Tracy Hickman is ambiguous at best...That quote from Tracy Hickman is ambiguous at best, as well as undated, so it's impossible to tell what it was referring to. In fact, it doesn't make much sense for it to be referring to WotC's purchase of TSR; that happened in 1997, and Hickman last worked at TSR in 1987... so either he wrote that a time when he hadn't been working at TSR for years and had no access to inside information (in which case that quote certainly wasn't "from the horse's mouth"), or he was referring to something else entirely.<br /><br />There <em>was</em> a hostile takeover of TSR, but it wasn't by WotC. It happened in the mid-80s, when the Blume brothers obtained a majority share of the company's stock, and started running the company into the ground with bad business decisions. When Gygax got them ousted from the board of directors, they retaliated by selling their shares to Lorraine Williams, who managed to force Gygax out of the company. This is what led to the horrible mismanagement that Deuce Traveler and Canageek mention. At the time WotC bought out TSR, the company had been going down the tubes for years, and was pretty much bankrupt. Whatever its flaws, WotC did far better by the company than the Williams and the Blumes had.Jalen Wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00973042209003357278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-79776875041416412252013-12-16T16:19:59.912-05:002013-12-16T16:19:59.912-05:00The game included a primitive word parser too, whi...The game included a primitive word parser too, which I think was the first microcomputer game to have this concept (and the word parser fit into a 16K program, and limited by BASIC).PeteTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-3286278471821562952013-12-16T13:03:51.360-05:002013-12-16T13:03:51.360-05:00Man, the 16 KB is the impressive part; BASIC is no...Man, the 16 KB is the impressive part; BASIC is not an easy language to do useful stuff in! Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-687090844462411982013-12-16T12:33:36.279-05:002013-12-16T12:33:36.279-05:00Yup that is me (Pete Trefonas). I wrote this game ...Yup that is me (Pete Trefonas). I wrote this game when I was about 19 yrs old. I understand the criticisms, but please understand, the game was designed to work in only 16KB, and it had to use the BASIC interpreter, and was purchased and produced by CLOAD. At the time, the game had quite strong positive reviews and interest.<br /><br />You can find my FB account, there are only 3 people with my name in the world, and I am related to the other two of them.<br /><br />The LinkedIn cited is a dead link (hasn't been updated in 4 yrs or so, and I cannot access it due to someone who altered the password and my email changed). I can be reached at p3voices@REMOVETHISgmail.com<br /><br />PeteTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-12108231647354247982013-12-15T01:47:46.467-05:002013-12-15T01:47:46.467-05:00Kenny McCormick: Odd, I've heard a very differ...Kenny McCormick: Odd, I've heard a very different story in several interviews with TSR people from the time. They didn't like WotC, but they were totally out of money due to horrible, horrible mismanagement. Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-78874446072409593112013-12-15T01:44:16.622-05:002013-12-15T01:44:16.622-05:00Which of these computes is the much derided 'T...Which of these computes is the much derided 'Trash-80' that I've heard reference to when browsing old Wikipedia articles on Usenet culture?Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-31402675919865109532013-12-07T02:37:44.459-05:002013-12-07T02:37:44.459-05:00I think I checked that guy out, and he was too you...I think I checked that guy out, and he was too young. One of my readers named Peter found Mr. Trefonas's Twitter account, but he hasn't responded to a message I sent there. CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-50217596362866955702013-12-07T02:05:24.581-05:002013-12-07T02:05:24.581-05:00This might be the Peter Trefonas who wrote the pro...This might be the Peter Trefonas who wrote the program - http://www.linkedin.com/pub/pete-trefonas/3/753/980Odkinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-7699032774572846782013-12-06T23:31:05.915-05:002013-12-06T23:31:05.915-05:00That is correct. It's hard to get enough start...That is correct. It's hard to get enough starting money to buy the two-handed sword. I didn't realize that THS worked; I used TWO throughout.<br /><br />I honestly don't remember where I downloaded it, but if you e-mail me, I'll be glad to send you the files.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-2834883551931660762013-12-06T09:53:33.350-05:002013-12-06T09:53:33.350-05:00Oh wow... I remember playing the heck out of this ...Oh wow... I remember playing the heck out of this game on my TRS-80 Model III back in the early/mid 1980s. I seem to recall that the best weapon available was a two-handed sword, which could be abbreviated as "THS".<br /><br />Through the years, I've tried (unsuccessfully) to find a copy of the game. If it isn't too much trouble... would you mind providing at least a hint as to where you found it? "Dungeons and Dragons" is a pretty unhelpful search phrase on teh interwebs. If it makes you feel any better, I did have a licensed copy back in the day. :)<br /><br />Also, I don't recall ever knowing about the diamond after the dragon. Some kind of spoiler warning would have been nice! (Yes, I'm joking.)Willnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-55673661762613106042013-12-05T09:19:18.964-05:002013-12-05T09:19:18.964-05:00Really? I had no idea it was ever marketed commerc...Really? I had no idea it was ever marketed commercially. That's almost unforgivable.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-67141027289736978012013-12-05T09:16:47.168-05:002013-12-05T09:16:47.168-05:00That is indeed what happened.That is indeed what happened.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-10405286585604122762013-12-05T05:00:16.154-05:002013-12-05T05:00:16.154-05:00Chet entered the FSM as his god, so I'm guessi...Chet entered the FSM as his god, so I'm guessing it's generated from that. You can see it in one of the screen shots.Natehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08098875250377735658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-5166755908564619762013-12-04T04:44:48.727-05:002013-12-04T04:44:48.727-05:00I actually remember playing this on a little known...I actually remember playing this on a little known computer the Colecovision ADAM. I ordered the game from some catalogue I picked up at the local users club. I was so envious of my friends IBM after spending hours playing Ultima on his dad's IBM, and the advertising blurb made it sound amazing, "One of the best games ever" "Comparable to Ultima III and the Bards Tale". Boy was I disappointed 2 weeks later when it arrived in the mail!Atomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-82425727633589129092013-12-03T23:07:59.284-05:002013-12-03T23:07:59.284-05:00Ahh Dungeons of Daggorath brings back memories of...Ahh Dungeons of Daggorath brings back memories of furiously typing "A" [space] "L" [enter] as fast as possible, over and over. Combat was pseudo realtime; the faster you typed, the more hits you scored. Eve more effective if you tossed junk out to distract the critter you were beating on.. Fun times Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-14673885912032892482013-12-03T21:41:57.043-05:002013-12-03T21:41:57.043-05:00Perhaps Chet should change his religion to the IPU...Perhaps Chet should change his religion to the IPU.<br /><br />http://www.invisiblepinkunicorn.com/Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-8415924048845925092013-12-03T19:56:04.705-05:002013-12-03T19:56:04.705-05:00Oh, and here I thought they were talking about a F...Oh, and here I thought they were talking about a Finite State Machine.Corey Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16772474266362396768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22873799436529914912013-12-03T19:45:42.299-05:002013-12-03T19:45:42.299-05:00@Deuce Traveler - Not what came from the horse'...@Deuce Traveler - Not what came from the horse's mouth and I quote from The Golem in Google discussions who had a transcript of Tracy Hickman (THE Tracy Hickman who wrote the Drangonlance saga):<br /><br />">>What I would like, is if any one has any actual information on this,<br />>>could they please post a source? Basically, until a TSR rep says it, or<br />>>it appears in a trade mag, or somebody is quoted, I'd take any rumors<br />>>with a barrel full of salt.<br />>I really doubt there's much to it, though it's possible the current<br />>owners are looking to sell TSR. If they've already made a deal, the<br />>layoffs might be housecleaning before the company changes hands. That<br />>way the new owners don't look like the bad guys. But I'll believe it<br />>when I see it in the papers.<br />Here's the quote I got, from the alt.starshield.rpg newsgroup, and<br />written by Tracy Hickman (I think everyone knows who he is. BTW, he<br />is a regular participant on the newsgroup, as Starshield is his new<br />RPG\book series).<br /><br />----<br />None of us know exactly what the future will bring -- however, I can<br />pretty well rule out TSR as a potential purchaser since they are<br />currently in the middle of a hostile takeover and have failed to pay<br />their royalties for over two months in an effort to fill their<br />warchest.<br />----<br /><br />There you go, make of it what you will.<br /><br />________________________________Peter John Miller<br />http://www.dragonfire.net/~peter/ --> CURRENTLY DOWN!<br />Traveller, RPGs and the Home of the Imperium Games FAQ!"<br />Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-57804633110699506372013-12-03T17:54:50.826-05:002013-12-03T17:54:50.826-05:00@Corey Cole: 8K is lots of memory. :-)
You should...@Corey Cole: 8K is lots of memory. :-)<br /><br />You should check out some of the amazing 4K demos.<br /><br />http://awards.scene.org/nominees.php?cat=10<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhJy705g9Vk<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QvPmCgnjnw<br /><br />The 64K demos are really impressive too, such as:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oPpcSZa3NE<br />Be sure to check<br />Ragnarnoreply@blogger.com