Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with computergame

Looking for an old text-based RPG magical game.

mrbloo — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:13:37 -0800

I'm trying to find an old computer game that we used to play in school (probably around late 80s). It was a text based RPG with puzzles and magical items. Here is what I remember about it;

* The game was text based but colored even though the graphics was somewhat primitive.
* The bottom 1/4 (or 1/5) of the screen was where the text of the story was. The rest was a pixel drawing of a scene. It wasn't animated either.
* It was story based (old rpg probably..) with items, and puzzles.
* I remember the scenes including a forest, and magical items.
* I'm not quite sure if there was a wizard in the game, or a castle or a princess, but it was very fantasy-like.

I've done some research, and found "Enchanted Forest", but I know it isn't that for sure, there weren't any attributes to the character you played (not that I remember..) Any input would be much appreciated, thanks!

Balance in MMO Economies?

SpecialK — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:48:33 -0800

Game Design: In an MMO, how do you build an economy that will 'balance' itself? Obviously, having solid inputs and outputs are one thing, and balancing those inputs with the demand for the item, but what other things need to be taken into account? I can't seem to find anything that's *written* on economy design in an MMO game, but I know that it's always been a big issue and has caused the downfall of a few -- E&B to name one. So as I start to experiment with code in this genere, I'd like to try to get this right the first time. ;)

I suppose this is true for any artificial economy, and I don't know much about the microeconomics that are necessary to write all the business logic.

Half-remembered DOS game from the early '90s

Johnny Assay — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 19:00:40 -0800

Can you help my sister & me identify this half-remembered DOS game? While my sister & I were chatting the other day, we got on the subject of the Marines. I started humming the Marines' Hymn ("From the Halls of Montezuma"), and this twinged a memory in my sis of an old DOS computer game. Here's what we can remember about it:

The theme music was the Marines' Hymn. This much we are certain of.
The name of the game may have been Captain something or Commander something.
There was no save feature, so you had to play through the entire thing in one sitting if you wanted to beat the game.
The game was quite possibly a side-scroller or a top-scroller. We seem to recall that some of the enemies looked like beach balls.
We were playing this game on a DOS machine in the early '90s. It was almost certainly shareware.

Not much to go on, I know, but if any site can recall this bit of computer nerd ephemera, it's Ask MetaFilter. Any thoughts, folks?

What was the best computer game I've ever played called and how can I find it again?

limitedpie — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:50:11 -0800

What was the best computer game I've ever played called and how can I find it again? Somewhere around 1998-2000 I downloaded a shareware game (I think it was for Apple, but I also had a Windows machine then so it might have been for windows.) Help me find it again! Game description inside. Each screen / level in the game was a factory of one sort or another. I think one factory was donuts, and you had to fill a box of them. When you'd complete the task of one factory, the screen would change and there would be a completely different kind of factory. There were conveyor belts, and other misc switches and toggles to get everything moving just right. There were also holding tanks for partial parts of complete widgets. What was this game! Thanks for any help you can give me.

Fun simple competitive good-looking multiplayer computer games?

shivohum — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:45:52 -0800

What are the most addictive, not-too-hard-to-master, good-for-casual-gamers multiplayer computer games out there? Cool graphics appreciated. Strategy games preferred, but not required...

Vietnam War computer games

chef_boyardee — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 22:27:14 -0800

Do any strategy / pseudo-strategy computer games exist for the Vietnam War? Or are they all just shoot-em-ups?

Looking for an old Apple game

Godbert — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 08:46:21 -0800

I'm looking for the name of an old computer game, that ran on an Apple IIe (I think). This was back in first grade, so with the passage of around 15 years, details have faded somewhat.

The game had you controlling a character as you walked around a city. There was a big park in the middle of it. I can't remember why you walk around (I believe monkeys are involved), but when you do, you have to watch out for things like manhole covers.

I've been trying to find out the name of this game for years, and all attempts at searching have failed. A few friends of mine seem to remember the game vaguely, so I don't think I made too much of it up.

Find an old DOS Civil War Simulator

kenneth — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 10:00:06 -0800

Help me find this old DOS computer game. The talk of SkiFree reminded me of a favorite DOS Civil War simulator that was called, get this, Civil War Simulator, CWS.exe. It was a turn-based game, with multiple armies (Jackson, McClellan, Grant, Lee, etc.) that started out in certain cities and the player (as either north or south) moved the troops around to various battles, which were won based on numbers of troops, supplies, skill, location, etc. You could split or fuse your armies to take on more opponent's armies or fight them better and more. Unessential details: It was freeware/donationware/postcardware, I think. I remember it was written by a guy in Knoxville, and that it might have even stopped working after a certain date. Anyone remember this game, know who wrote it, or know where I can find it?

A PC Game Involing Gangs from the Late Eighties

dbarefoot — Wed, 11 May 2005 16:49:30 -0800

I have very fond memories of playing a graphically-simple game in the late eighties or possibly early nineties. It was set in the future, in a plague-ridde, post-apocalyptic America. You were a gang leader, and your job was to assemble gang members, vehicles and guns and essentially deliver America from ruin. There were two modes--a map of America and then a tactical view for vehicle to vehicle battles. The game featured fairly detailed resource management. I remember that there were five kinds of troops, each starting with the letters A through E (D was definitely dragoons). I also recall that if you stopped by the California city where the game was developed, you could get your vehicles super-charged. Any takers?

Question number 12130

Hands of Manos — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 08:05:13 -0800

I'm looking for advice on a computer game that would allow me to put work aside, and give my brain a break.

A few things to note:

-I freelance illustrate. So the only boss I have to worry about is me
-I exclusively use a laptop that can only run 3d games at low settings (but it works!)
-FPS games give me motion sickness
-Sim games are fun, but sometimes the micromanagent and replay value is low.
-RTS games are great, but replay value is a must if I'm going to sink 50 dollars into it.
-MMPORGs: I love them, but i don't love the tedious time you have to sink into them to level up.
-Are gameboys a way to go instead?

Any suggestions?