Habitat
My friend Chip has a nice write up of the early days of Habitat, the MMORPG that Lucasfilm was doing in the mid-80's.
Chip has to be one of the smartest guys I've ever met, and along with Randy Farmer, were true visionary in the world MMORPGs. They were asking questions and solving the problems that would show up almost 15 years later when the rest of the world caught up to them.
Much of the technology that went into Maniac Mansion (the C64 version) came from Habitat. I learned C from Chip and he taught me everything I know about writing compilers.
Like a lot of geniuses, they were too far ahead of their time...
Monthly wrap-up
Well, it's that time again. The month of July has slipped behind us and a new dawn, named August, looms ahead. Rather then blindly charging into the future, some reflection and deconstunction of the past is in order.
Yes, I am talking about the top referers of the month:
Topping the list for July is SCUMM Bar. There used to be a link on the main page to my site, but I don't see it anymore. Of course, I looked for like, 5 seconds, which is close to my attention span these days.
Second on the list is World of Monkey Island, Grumpy Gamer was mentioned on the main page on the 21st, but the clicks keep on coming. I'm smelling a monkeybot. A shamless attempt to take the #1.
Back from DEFCON
Not that anyone cares, but I just got back from DEFCON. I'll post my thoughts tomorrow.
Comments have be turned back on site wide so please stop sending me email.
Off to DEFCON...
I've disabled comments while I am gone. As the site has become more popular, I've been the victim of comment spam (not to mention a few childish spats) and until I get a better system in place to deal with it, I have to resort to this draconian police state measure. But, anyone living under the current American regime should be used to it by now.
Secret photos...
I got a chance to snap a couple of pictures using my zipper mounted spy cam.
Sorry...
No new entries for the past few days. I'd like to think it's because the gaming industry has finally taken all my advice and brilliant games are now streaming out the door and selling like hot-cakes and I have nothing to rant about. But, it's really because my bathroom is disgusting and I needed to clean it.
Game Names (via)
Alex Ashby of Idle Thumbs as a good editorial on naming of games. Scott Miller has mentioned this on his site as well.
Designing Games for the Wage Slave (via)
There is an excellent article on GameDev.net called Designing Games for the Wage Slave.
DEFCON 12
I'll be at DEFCON 12 this year. I'll be easy to spot. I'll be the geek talking about my Linux server and HDTV MythTV setup.
26 Alphabetized Terrors
If you're in need of an antagonist for your next game, look no further:
The A.I. Web Game
Remember that big web game that was used to promote that movie, staring that kid, and that other guy. It was directed by that one director. You know who I'm talking about.
Monkey Iceland
I've always said, the Web is the sum of all human knowledge plus porn.
Mac Thoughts...
I've been playing with my Powerbook for a couple of weeks, and I thought I'd share some of my impressions coming from Windows for so many years.
Independent Art
I've been poking around, looking at some of the independent adventure games on the web. I'll do a more detailed analysis a little later, but I want to make one general comment:
Radio Interview
I was interviewed for FM4 in Austria the other day. I think the interview is scheduled for around 12pm on wednesday.
Independent Adventure Games
I am starting to compile a list of independent graphic adventure games. If you know of any, or good resources, please let me know. I will keep an updated list.
I just got a Powerbook
I just bought a 12 inch Powerbook. It will be interesting making the transition from Windows to the Mac. I won't be leaving Windows for good, because game development kind of requires you to spend a lot of time on Windows.
Voice Actors in Games
Value just announced the cast for Half-Life 2 and it includes some celebrity actors such as Robert Guillaume, Lou Gossett, Jr., Michelle Forbes and others. Does having big name actors in your game really add anything, or is it just a big woody for the game developers? Let explore.
DRM is BAD
Cory Doctorow from the EFF gave a talk at Microsoft on DRM. It's very interesting and entertaining.
Story in Games, Part I
If you're interested in story-telling in games, this is a must read:
Price Reduction Conspiracy Theory
There is an interesting article over on Curmudgeon Gamer about the price of and price reduction of computer and video games.
Journalism 101
Brian has a good article on Game Journalism that's worth a read.
Why Adventure Games Suck
I wrote this back in 1989 while I was designing Monkey Island. It is now the futuristic year of 2004 and we are all driving around in flying cars and wearing sliver jumps suits. A lot has changed for Adventure Games as well, but unfortunately not in the right direction.