Game design site <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/">Gamesutra</a> has inaugurated an impressive series of articles detailing "The History of Computer Role-Playing Games", written by one Dr. Matt Barton from St. Cloud State University. Part I focuses on <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20070223a/barton_01.shtml">"The Early Years (1980-1983)"</a>, beginning with PnP antecedents and the very first Wizardry and Ultima titles, and Part II moves us up to the Bard and his ilk in <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20070223b/barton_01.shtml">"The Golden Age (1985-1993)"</a>. Be prepared for a <i>long</i> read - pull up a chair and brew a pot of coffee - but this is rewarding for anyone interested in the early years of computer RPGs.
For some of us, it's also a trip into our own past. Barton recounts my personal first RPG:
<blockquote>Although Ultima was quickly laying the foundations of the genre, it wasn't the only kid on the block. A company named Sir-Tech began publishing a prominent rival series in regular installments starting in 1981. While it had much in common with Akalabeth, it differed in some key respects. First off, it was a party-based rather than a single-character dungeon-crawler. Like Rogue, the mission here was to descend into a dungeon and find an magical amulet, smashing whatever got in the way. However, this game had better graphics and a very intuitive layout. While most of the screen was taken up by relevant statistics and other information, the top left corner offered a first-person, 3-D perspective of the dungeon (or a picture of the enemy during combat). The dungeons were always the same from game to game, so again players were rewarded by making their own maps (or purchasing them).</blockquote>Helping my parents clean out their old study over the holidays, I discovered the Wizardry maps I'd created by hand over a quarter-century ago.
Thanks, dojoteef!
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.gamasutra.com/">Gamasutra</A>
For some of us, it's also a trip into our own past. Barton recounts my personal first RPG:
<blockquote>Although Ultima was quickly laying the foundations of the genre, it wasn't the only kid on the block. A company named Sir-Tech began publishing a prominent rival series in regular installments starting in 1981. While it had much in common with Akalabeth, it differed in some key respects. First off, it was a party-based rather than a single-character dungeon-crawler. Like Rogue, the mission here was to descend into a dungeon and find an magical amulet, smashing whatever got in the way. However, this game had better graphics and a very intuitive layout. While most of the screen was taken up by relevant statistics and other information, the top left corner offered a first-person, 3-D perspective of the dungeon (or a picture of the enemy during combat). The dungeons were always the same from game to game, so again players were rewarded by making their own maps (or purchasing them).</blockquote>Helping my parents clean out their old study over the holidays, I discovered the Wizardry maps I'd created by hand over a quarter-century ago.
Thanks, dojoteef!
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.gamasutra.com/">Gamasutra</A>