There was a bunch of text and what looked like computer code on the screens of both Riley and Treat's laptops yesterday. "Is that some kind of game?" I asked. Riley nodded and I was transported back to the basement of the student union at my college.
The year was 1980, I was taking computer science, and you had to sign up for a terminal that was wired to the huge mainframe computer on the other side of the glass and cinder block wall. In addition to my homework, which was writing simple programs in BASIC and COBOL, I spent a lot of screen time playing a game we called "Cave".
This was years before Apple introduced the Macintosh I with its graphic user interface, and so the game involved reading a narrative which offered information with both explicit and implied choices and typing in simple commands to try to explore a network of caves filled with treasure and peril. One of the first ever computer games, it was novel and addictive. Back in 1980, we crowded three or four to a cubicle and collaborated on navigating the virtual adventure, shouting suggestions and repeating rumors we had heard from other people who played. Still, ours was a relatively obscure pastime, and there was no internet to search for cheat codes, so we stumbled through as best we could with limited success.
As I was describing it to the boys, Riley found a version on the internet and began playing it. I wish I could say it all came back to me, but as the game progressed it seemed closer to a dream than a memory, and I grasped at any vaguely familiar detail. Soon, despite appreciating its pioneering nature, the boys grew weary of the primitive game and quit (after the dwarf killed them a couple of times), but it had recaptured me.
I found several websites that outlined the history of the game and some that provided annotated directions for the entire challenge. As I read through them, some foggy specifics did actually return. For example, the bird you find is afraid of the rod you have probably already picked up, so you must drop it to capture him, and then retrieve it. Likewise, you can set that birdie loose on the vicious snake that bars your way a bit on down the passage and the bird will win, but if you simply key in the command kill snake, you'll get the snarky reply With what? Your bare hands? To that you need only type, Yes, and you will receive this: Congratulations! You just killed a giant snake with your bare hands!
As I read on, I realized that I had no desire to actually type the commands myself; after 35 years I was content to watch over the virtual shoulder of this cyber adventurer and let him show me how it ended.
XYZZY!
The year was 1980, I was taking computer science, and you had to sign up for a terminal that was wired to the huge mainframe computer on the other side of the glass and cinder block wall. In addition to my homework, which was writing simple programs in BASIC and COBOL, I spent a lot of screen time playing a game we called "Cave".
This was years before Apple introduced the Macintosh I with its graphic user interface, and so the game involved reading a narrative which offered information with both explicit and implied choices and typing in simple commands to try to explore a network of caves filled with treasure and peril. One of the first ever computer games, it was novel and addictive. Back in 1980, we crowded three or four to a cubicle and collaborated on navigating the virtual adventure, shouting suggestions and repeating rumors we had heard from other people who played. Still, ours was a relatively obscure pastime, and there was no internet to search for cheat codes, so we stumbled through as best we could with limited success.
As I was describing it to the boys, Riley found a version on the internet and began playing it. I wish I could say it all came back to me, but as the game progressed it seemed closer to a dream than a memory, and I grasped at any vaguely familiar detail. Soon, despite appreciating its pioneering nature, the boys grew weary of the primitive game and quit (after the dwarf killed them a couple of times), but it had recaptured me.
I found several websites that outlined the history of the game and some that provided annotated directions for the entire challenge. As I read through them, some foggy specifics did actually return. For example, the bird you find is afraid of the rod you have probably already picked up, so you must drop it to capture him, and then retrieve it. Likewise, you can set that birdie loose on the vicious snake that bars your way a bit on down the passage and the bird will win, but if you simply key in the command kill snake, you'll get the snarky reply With what? Your bare hands? To that you need only type, Yes, and you will receive this: Congratulations! You just killed a giant snake with your bare hands!
As I read on, I realized that I had no desire to actually type the commands myself; after 35 years I was content to watch over the virtual shoulder of this cyber adventurer and let him show me how it ended.
XYZZY!
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