Old game, half-remembered, maze of rooms and corridors.
March 14, 2007 4:01 PM Subscribe
Need help with an old computer game, possibly Apple II.
My wife is trying to remember an old computer game, from 1982-85, she believes. It could have been on an old Apple II. She remembers the monitor being green and black, maybe yellow and black, not full color.
In the game itself, the view was top-down. You moved a blinking square cursor around inside a maze-like series of rooms and passages. When you entered a room, you could see the whole room. The rooms were squarish or rectangular. The walls were represented by simple lines. Sometimes you would find objects, such as keys, and sometimes the rooms may have had inhabitants, possibly ghosts or bats or other monsters, but it seems to have more of a puzzle/adventure game rather than action. There were different levels, ie, you were able to go up and down stairs. She can't remember if there were text descriptions of the rooms or not. She describes the levels as quite extensive, in that each had at least forty rooms, possibly many more. It wasn't an RPG, because the game didn't have all the stats and numbers and everything.
I know this information could apply to a lot of games, but we're hoping at least to narrow our search. Also, I don't think the game was probably a very obscure one: the only other game her dad had for this computer was "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?".
Links to screenshots, emulators/roms, descriptions, or other rescources will all be very helpful. Thanks!
My wife is trying to remember an old computer game, from 1982-85, she believes. It could have been on an old Apple II. She remembers the monitor being green and black, maybe yellow and black, not full color.
In the game itself, the view was top-down. You moved a blinking square cursor around inside a maze-like series of rooms and passages. When you entered a room, you could see the whole room. The rooms were squarish or rectangular. The walls were represented by simple lines. Sometimes you would find objects, such as keys, and sometimes the rooms may have had inhabitants, possibly ghosts or bats or other monsters, but it seems to have more of a puzzle/adventure game rather than action. There were different levels, ie, you were able to go up and down stairs. She can't remember if there were text descriptions of the rooms or not. She describes the levels as quite extensive, in that each had at least forty rooms, possibly many more. It wasn't an RPG, because the game didn't have all the stats and numbers and everything.
I know this information could apply to a lot of games, but we're hoping at least to narrow our search. Also, I don't think the game was probably a very obscure one: the only other game her dad had for this computer was "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?".
Links to screenshots, emulators/roms, descriptions, or other rescources will all be very helpful. Thanks!
More about it here. Also, there's an emulator for it.
posted by scblackman at 4:07 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by scblackman at 4:07 PM on March 14, 2007
Could be Temple of or Gateway to Apshai.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 4:08 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 4:08 PM on March 14, 2007
Rogue! Nethack! Angband! There's about a million of these, Rogue is generally considered to be the oldest, though. Wiki article.
posted by anaelith at 4:14 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by anaelith at 4:14 PM on March 14, 2007
I don't know if it had stairs, but might it have been an Apple ][ version of Venture?
posted by blueberry at 5:01 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by blueberry at 5:01 PM on March 14, 2007
In that timeframe, given that description, I wonder if she's wrong about the kind of computer. Ask her if it's possible that they were terminals on minicomputers?
The reason I ask is because that sounds almost like Rogue, but I don't think Rogue ever ran on Apple 2s. It's not that complex a game, but I don't remember seeing it ported.
To see if this is right, download and fire up Nethack, which looks quite similar, and see if it looks roughly correct. Rogue was (much!) simpler, but the overall look was pretty similar. You can download it here. There's also a screenshot on that page, which might be enough to rule it in or out before downloading.
There are variants of Nethack with graphics, but you want just the pure text version.
posted by Malor at 5:27 PM on March 14, 2007
The reason I ask is because that sounds almost like Rogue, but I don't think Rogue ever ran on Apple 2s. It's not that complex a game, but I don't remember seeing it ported.
To see if this is right, download and fire up Nethack, which looks quite similar, and see if it looks roughly correct. Rogue was (much!) simpler, but the overall look was pretty similar. You can download it here. There's also a screenshot on that page, which might be enough to rule it in or out before downloading.
There are variants of Nethack with graphics, but you want just the pure text version.
posted by Malor at 5:27 PM on March 14, 2007
Sounds like the 2600 version of Adventure. I don't recall any Apple II games with a square avatar. Even Apshai had a little figure.
Wizardry was not top down. It was the first 3d maze explorer I ever played, plus it was a real RPG.
posted by chairface at 5:28 PM on March 14, 2007
Wizardry was not top down. It was the first 3d maze explorer I ever played, plus it was a real RPG.
posted by chairface at 5:28 PM on March 14, 2007
Wait a second. There was part of Odyssey that was in lo-res graphics where you went into a dungeon. I think. While Odyssey was an RPG it was one of the most popular Apple II games so it's quite likely she played it.
posted by chairface at 5:33 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by chairface at 5:33 PM on March 14, 2007
it shouldn't be nethack if the description given is accurate. nethack and its ilk have stats and numbers.
posted by juv3nal at 6:18 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by juv3nal at 6:18 PM on March 14, 2007
So do the Apshai games. This sounds older.
posted by furiousthought at 6:33 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by furiousthought at 6:33 PM on March 14, 2007
I remember a game called House of Usher that sounds somewhat like what you describe. I played it on an Apple IIc, so it was definitely monochrome. Weird game, and very difficult. It's listed on this page, from which you can apparently download the game and many others.
posted by cog_nate at 7:21 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by cog_nate at 7:21 PM on March 14, 2007
Response by poster: Thanks for the effort so far, but it's none of the above. I thought of roguelikes too, but she's seen me play Adom and I'm sure that would've seemed similar enough to trigger something for her. I should've specified that in the original question. (Wasn't Rogue included with Unix back in those days? I'm pretty sure an Apple was much more her Dad's style. The Carmen Sandiego makes me think that too.)
So, after looking through all the screenshots with her, I've got new information. We still think it's top down, but there was only one or maybe two rooms visible at a time, as in this screen from Gateway to Apshai (which isn't our game). Also, the avatar may not have been a blinking square, it may have been a little guy. I get the impression that the game involved very little combat -- my wife's never been a gamer, and doesn't remember much or any combat, and yet she somehow managed to stay alive long enough to map out pages and pages the dungeon/castle/house on paper. She describes going as far as she could in one direction, to get to the boundary, or the end, and being unable to (which sounds like randomly generated levels, but, who knows).
Oh, and she says the overworld map from Odyssey looks familiar, but that probably wasn't the game. So add to the recipe a slim chance of an overworld map.
Thanks for the help thus far. Keep it coming, please.
posted by sleevener at 7:36 PM on March 14, 2007
So, after looking through all the screenshots with her, I've got new information. We still think it's top down, but there was only one or maybe two rooms visible at a time, as in this screen from Gateway to Apshai (which isn't our game). Also, the avatar may not have been a blinking square, it may have been a little guy. I get the impression that the game involved very little combat -- my wife's never been a gamer, and doesn't remember much or any combat, and yet she somehow managed to stay alive long enough to map out pages and pages the dungeon/castle/house on paper. She describes going as far as she could in one direction, to get to the boundary, or the end, and being unable to (which sounds like randomly generated levels, but, who knows).
Oh, and she says the overworld map from Odyssey looks familiar, but that probably wasn't the game. So add to the recipe a slim chance of an overworld map.
Thanks for the help thus far. Keep it coming, please.
posted by sleevener at 7:36 PM on March 14, 2007
Was it one of the Ultima games?
Also, did you check out Virtual Apple 2 and the Apple II madness post from last year? You may just have to go through all the games, trial and error like.
posted by cog_nate at 7:53 PM on March 14, 2007
Also, did you check out Virtual Apple 2 and the Apple II madness post from last year? You may just have to go through all the games, trial and error like.
posted by cog_nate at 7:53 PM on March 14, 2007
Response by poster: This just in! She remembers having to solve riddles and puzzles in the game, frequently enough that she began keeping track of those on paper too.
Thanks for the Virtual Apple pointer, it may yet be useful, but it's like the proverbial needle/haystack there at the moment.
posted by sleevener at 8:53 PM on March 14, 2007
Thanks for the Virtual Apple pointer, it may yet be useful, but it's like the proverbial needle/haystack there at the moment.
posted by sleevener at 8:53 PM on March 14, 2007
it reminds me of zzt but as far as i know it was never ported to apple. great game tho
posted by atom128 at 10:09 PM on March 14, 2007
posted by atom128 at 10:09 PM on March 14, 2007
Before you mentioned riddles, I was all set to toss out Think Quick as a possibility, just for a different angle. It was more of a logic game set in a castle, than a castle/dungeon game with logic puzzles.
I can't remember if it had riddles or not. I think it was simpler than that, more visual. Addictive as heck, though; I do remember that.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:25 PM on March 14, 2007
I can't remember if it had riddles or not. I think it was simpler than that, more visual. Addictive as heck, though; I do remember that.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:25 PM on March 14, 2007
Puzzles immediately brings to mind the Fool's Errand; 1987 might be too late and I can't remember if there's a maze in a building.
Wikipedia has a pretty good list ing of computer games by year that you can run through with her to see if anything rings a bell, if nobody figures it out here.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:32 PM on March 14, 2007
Wikipedia has a pretty good list ing of computer games by year that you can run through with her to see if anything rings a bell, if nobody figures it out here.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:32 PM on March 14, 2007
Not an arcade game, for sure? Tower of Druaga is a many-levelled tower of top-down mazes with puzzles.
Realm of Impossibility had weird, hard mazes and combat.
Another probably-not, but maybe Bard's Tale? It had much more D&D style stats and combat, but oh did I make maps of the mazes.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:56 PM on March 14, 2007
Realm of Impossibility had weird, hard mazes and combat.
Another probably-not, but maybe Bard's Tale? It had much more D&D style stats and combat, but oh did I make maps of the mazes.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:56 PM on March 14, 2007
Best answer: If mobygames has it listed & categorized properly, it should be pretty easy to suss out. This drill down gives only 47 possibilities and many are rpgs which can be dismissed if that part of the info is accurate.
posted by juv3nal at 12:43 AM on March 15, 2007
posted by juv3nal at 12:43 AM on March 15, 2007
reading your other post with the noted similarity to that one screen...maybe this game? screen here.
posted by juv3nal at 12:47 AM on March 15, 2007
posted by juv3nal at 12:47 AM on March 15, 2007
Sounds a little like Haunted House for the Atari. I shuddered the first time the screen flashed, heard thunder, and the ghosts came around. Of course, I was only 7 at the time. . .
posted by sherlockt at 10:14 AM on March 15, 2007
posted by sherlockt at 10:14 AM on March 15, 2007
Response by poster: Well, uh...
...so, after emailing various and sundry extended family members, my wife has found out that it was an IBM rather than an Apple. Thanks for the mobygames link, juv3nal, I think I can re-drill over there and get some useful results, or at least some results. If the game turns out to be called anything other than Wild Goose Chase, I'll let you all know. Thanks for the help, everyone.
posted by sleevener at 6:36 AM on March 16, 2007
...so, after emailing various and sundry extended family members, my wife has found out that it was an IBM rather than an Apple. Thanks for the mobygames link, juv3nal, I think I can re-drill over there and get some useful results, or at least some results. If the game turns out to be called anything other than Wild Goose Chase, I'll let you all know. Thanks for the help, everyone.
posted by sleevener at 6:36 AM on March 16, 2007
Response by poster: My wife found it at mobygames: Castle Adventure. Thanks again for the help(s).
posted by sleevener at 6:13 PM on March 16, 2007
posted by sleevener at 6:13 PM on March 16, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by scblackman at 4:05 PM on March 14, 2007