When most high school seniors were perseverating about getting a car of their own I was out buying my first computer. I had dragged my dad up to an Apple Computer store and talked him into being a co-signer so that I could purchase an Apple IIc with a monitor and printer. The Apple IIc was an Apple IIe in a smaller case, more portable and easier to use but also less expandable. The Apple IIc was unveiled for retail on April 24, 1984. I had made my purchase in May of that same year. I was already working and soon I was making computer payments rather than car payments. I had made the decision to put myself through college and I figured that owning a computer would aid me in that endeavor.
When the sales person working at that old Apple Computer store was ringing up my purchase I had been browsing the software shelves when my eyes fell upon a box sitting there.
An electric thrill coursed through my body at the sight of that box. I was already an avid Sword & Sorcery junkie through literature and I had also been playing Dungeons & Dragons for years. ‘What is this???’ I thought to myself and eagerly snatched it off of the shelf to scan the back of the box.
Without hesitation I took the box up to the counter and handed it to the sales clerk.
I would like to tell you that when I got home with my computer purchase that I was responsible and set up my printer and familiarized myself with the word processor. But instead I ripped open the Wizardry box and had Wizardry I: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord booting up in no time.
I spent hours and hours playing this game. I will cover it in much greater detail in a later blog post but it is what you would call an old school dungeon crawl. It literally required you to use a pencil and graph paper so that you could plot your way through the multiple maze-like levels. There was enough descriptive text sprinkled throughout different areas of the dungeon to fuel a teenager’s overactive imagination.
This was the game that got me hooked on CRPGs for life. This was the game that, much like memories of a first love, has me fondly remembering my first forays into computer gaming. The first three games in this long running and popular series represent some of my fondest memories of gaming. The computer was still a mystery at the time and such a new marvel. What secrets lurked within the code of these games and what fantastic places could these games take you to? That naivete and wonder helped to place these games on an even higher pedestal than they likely deserved.
Over the years that followed I worked multiple jobs to put myself through college and then met the love of my life and started a family of my own. Coaching my own kids, time with the family, traveling, and work always served to compete with any free time I might have. My love of fantasy literature and CRPGs however never waned. I suddenly find myself now in a much better place both monetarily and time-wise to devote to this gaming hobby and I’m going to make the most of it.
I LOVE hearing stories from others concerning their first introduction to games and computers. What was your first love or experience with gaming? It may very well have been a platform game that did it for you; not necessarily a CRPG but I’d still love to hear about it.
I could also digress into a whole subjective vs. objective article where computer games are concerned but I’ll keep this brief. Similar to the coke vs. pepsi argument; I always marvel at what particular game or series was the “hook” that got you involved with adventure gaming. Many gravitate towards the Ulitma series, or the Might & Magic series; or the later Gold Box series; whereas many like myself love the Wizardry series. These feelings are for the most part subjective (involving a bias) for many gamers. I would love to hear from you as to what was your favorite series of all time and why?
Who will be the first to comment?
Next blog post: My first challenge quest: Dungeon
Aloha.
Congrats on the new blog.
I can’t remember my first crpg – but the first computer game I ever played was the Hobbit on a Sinclair Spectrum, I went to a Christmas shindig with my parents to their friends’ house and they had borrowed that computer specifically for me to play around with. I was mesmerized.
We didn’t get a computer at our house until I was 13 and got an Atari ST as a confirmation present. I spent untold hours playing Dungeon Master either alone or with friends (a cracked version with zero documentation – until I got a photocopied spell list from a friend in a different town). Still my all time favorite crpg, although Phantasie III was also a big thing with us.
Good luck with your exploring!
Thank you for being the first to comment here! The Dungeon Master is certainly a classic and since you brought it up that Phantasie I-III series also has the distinction of being one of my all-time favorites. All that you mentioned will certainly be more thoroughly explored here. CRPGs were great for multiple friends to sit around and band together as you alluded to.
My first and main was Legacy of the Ancients on the Commodores 64. Only recently did I learn of it’s siblings, the older Questron series and the younger but much larger brother, The Legend of Blacksilver.
I think my first CRPG was also Legacy of the Ancients on the Commodore 64. I have such fond memories of the little mini-games in that game and delving into the dungeons. I was never a huge CRPG player to start and I must say I’m still not. I played a lot of various games over the years. I didn’t get my first IBM-PC until I was in college working as a coop engineer, so I had the money. Most of my early formative gaming years besides Atari 2600 was on the Commodore 64 playing the likes of Gunship, Pirates, Airborne Ranger, F-19 Stealth Fighter… and… Pool of Radiance (amazing) up to Secret of the Silver Blades (not as amazing).
One of my high school friends had both a Mac and PC, and we would take turns playing games on it. That’s where I first played Wing Commander and F-16 Fighting Falcon. I watched him play Ultima and I never played it myself. Also played Ancient Art of War (and at Sea) on the Mac which was great.
My classic PC games would be Wing Commander Series (loved them), Civilization I & II (lost hours of my life to those games), Command & Conquer, and Jane’s Longbow I & II during my college years. I di play some of the classic FPS games, but they really weren’t my thing. I did beta test Ultima Online. I took a step away from gaming for quite some after that.
So early years, I was more of simulation, turn-based strategy, and RTS player. Now, I’m more of a pure turn-based strategy/tactics player. I’ve been reintroduced to the original XCOM series and it became another favorite of my. I saw my high school friend play it back in the day, but I never got a chance to get into it until about 5 years ago. The turn-based tactics are probably what I enjoy so much about the Pools series (Pool of Radiance, etc).
However, these days, I’m primarily a boardgame nut with all the great modern boardgame designs out there. I see a lot of cross over now between the video game industry and boardgame industry these days as well as hybridization of RPG’s onto other tabletop games.
Thank you for such a detailed and fantastic response. I have to say that XCOM series both old and remastered looks amazing and I can’t wait to get into it someday. The reviews from those who have played it are amazing. I like turn-based strategy games as well particularly if there is not a time limit attached to your turn. Great to see you here I hope you subscribe and thanks again for such an insightful post.
You should also check out Pheonix Point by the original XCOM creator. It looks like he’s melded the best of old and new XCOM together with some interesting twists on top of it. I also think my love turn-based strategy is why I like a lot of board games now 🙂 There’s some really good ones out there, but I’ll try to stay on topic for the blog 🙂
I’ll be looking forward to more entries from you. I think you’re off to a good start.
Thank you Greg for the suggestions. I will certainly look at each of them.
Great blog by the way. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
My first rpg game was Hobbit at my neighbor who had a Spectrum Sinclair. I got hooked on text adventure games ever since. The graphical one that I loved the most was Last Ninja 2 and then of course Sierra online games…