Before Second Life... even before the internet as we know it... there was...
|
|
Spooky Caligari
Registered User
Join date: 10 May 2005
Posts: 145
|
09-26-2005 16:36
... Habitat, courtesy of Lucasarts. Way back in 1988. http://www.mixnmojo.com/php/site/gamedb.php?gameid=99From: someone One of the first examples of a massively multiplayer online game, Habitat was conceived by LucasArts designers Chip Morningstar and F. Randall Farmer. Habitat was played via modems on Commodore 64's, running early versions of what has now become America Online. Gameplay consisted of player quests such as treasure hunts and dungeons, but also more "modern" massively multiplayer activities like players running a business or the town newspaper. For a more detailed history of Habitat and some great stories, check out this article. Here's the scanned press releases from 1988 http://www.mixnmojo.com/galleries/237/full20041124070915.jpghttp://www.mixnmojo.com/galleries/237/full20041124070942.jpghttp://www.mixnmojo.com/galleries/237/full20041124071008.jpghttp://www.mixnmojo.com/galleries/237/full20041124071102.jpgNow this is interesting. I never knew this existed, even though I had the old C64 modem, which I used to browse BBS'es and play a multiplayer online homebrew Zork-esque text game (sort of a precursor to a MUD) that a friend made. |
|
Torley Linden
Enlightenment!
Join date: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 16,530
|
09-26-2005 16:53
I sorta remember that! LOLEX. I remember Q-Link too, which I think has made a comeback recently via the wonders of resurrectional technology.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Link |
|
Spooky Caligari
Registered User
Join date: 10 May 2005
Posts: 145
|
09-26-2005 18:44
Cool. I never even knew that existed until recently. My first ISP was Prodigy back in 1992. Before that I just manually dialed into BBS'es. |
|
Chance Abattoir
Future Rockin' Resmod
Join date: 3 Apr 2004
Posts: 3,898
|
09-26-2005 19:02
I've got the poison, I've got the remedy, I've got the pulsating rhythmical remedy. ...Sorry. 
_____________________
"The mob requires regular doses of scandal, paranoia and dilemma to alleviate the boredom of a meaningless existence."
-Insane Ramblings, Anton LaVey
|
|
Katiahnya Muromachi
Ninja Mistress
Join date: 25 Jun 2005
Posts: 130
|
09-27-2005 08:24
Oooh, I loved Q-Link back in the 80's. The chat-based services there (People Connection, RabbitJack's Casino, Club Caribe) were pay-per-minute services, so I ended up spending too much time there and had my parents cancel my account after too many $100+ Q-Bills.  Club Caribe (aka Habitat) was ahead of its time, and as a result, was plagued with all sorts of technical problems and would always glitch out. 1200 baud modems being premium technology didn't help much either..  I do plan on trying to get in on that Q-Link Reloaded revival project next weekend though! Should be very nostalgic.. I hope the Red Dragon Inn is still around! |
|
Cocoanut Koala
Coco's Cottages
Join date: 7 Feb 2005
Posts: 7,903
|
09-27-2005 10:27
I remember when I first got my first computer. Sometime in the nineties. I was a huge holdout (despite being a writer) due to lack of money. My girlfriend kept nagging me and nagging me to get one, but nope, no money. When she got a new one, she gave me her old one. I became an even worse computer nerd/addict than she was.
It was either that computer, or on the one I finally bought myself when that one died beyond either of our abilities to fix it, that came with this little obscure program or reference to SOMETHING you could sign up for with avatars to speak for you to other avatars.
I don't remember what it was (I think it cost something), but my mind was blown away by the concept. And now here I am.
In the future, I expect this avatar concept to involve complete immersion, through goggles and various body-suits. After that, I expect some sort of direct access to the brain.
I would like a holodeck, too, but that's not so intriguing, since you still have to get in it with your real body and use your whole body to do things. I prefer keeping it all pretty much within reach of only my nimble fingers, my eyes, and my brain.
coco
|
|
Cristiano Midnight
Evil Snapshot Baron
Join date: 17 May 2003
Posts: 8,616
|
09-27-2005 10:32
Habitat, et al, still exists under the name Vzones. It still has quite a strong following as well. A friend of mine from Canada tried to get me into it. After SL, it was pretty boring, but what was interesting is how much creativity there was in the little 2d avatars. People would pay a lot of money for custom avatar heads and outfits (notice below, those prices are USD). http://www.vzones.com/
_____________________
Cristiano ANOmations - huge selection of high quality, low priced animations all $100L or less. ~SLUniverse.com~ SL's oldest and largest community site, featuring Snapzilla image sharing, forums, and much more. 
|
|
Katiahnya Muromachi
Ninja Mistress
Join date: 25 Jun 2005
Posts: 130
|
09-27-2005 11:40
 . . . $10 USD for a belt that would take my 13-year-old sister 5 minutes to draw with MS Paint? . . . To quote Casey Kasem's famous secret recording, "Ponderous. F'in ponderous!"  |
|
Neehai Zapata
Unofficial Parent
Join date: 8 Apr 2004
Posts: 1,970
|
09-27-2005 12:55
I could take a picture of that belt, send it to a third world country and have a real one made for less than $10.
_____________________
Unofficial moderator and proud dysfunctional parent to over 1000 bastard children.
|
|
Bertha Horton
Fat w/ Ice Cream
Join date: 19 Sep 2005
Posts: 835
|
09-27-2005 19:02
Wow! Habitat! I used to fantasize about playing it (but it was C64, wasn't it?). In those days I was playing PBM (play by mail) games whose turns were fed into computers and each turn cost $5 and lasted a week. I played Beyond the Quadra Zone, and later, Starbase. (What sort of online games were there for an Apple ][ with no modem? ) We could have had online games as good as Habitat by 1980 if Richard Nixon had only stayed in office and delivered on his ideas for a nationwide computer network. (True! Strange results occur when you do too much research.) Still, we may all reminisce about Habitat, or indeed Gauntlet or Pong, but ultimately we want to play something with good graphics and a better interface. |
|
Eggy Lippmann
Wiktator
Join date: 1 May 2003
Posts: 7,939
|
09-28-2005 05:44
omg habitat! |
|
Spooky Caligari
Registered User
Join date: 10 May 2005
Posts: 145
|
09-30-2005 12:52
From: Bertha Horton Wow! Habitat! I used to fantasize about playing it (but it was C64, wasn't it?). In those days I was playing PBM (play by mail) games whose turns were fed into computers and each turn cost $5 and lasted a week. I played Beyond the Quadra Zone, and later, Starbase. (What sort of online games were there for an Apple ][ with no modem? ) We could have had online games as good as Habitat by 1980 if Richard Nixon had only stayed in office and delivered on his ideas for a nationwide computer network. (True! Strange results occur when you do too much research.) Still, we may all reminisce about Habitat, or indeed Gauntlet or Pong, but ultimately we want to play something with good graphics and a better interface. I never knew it existed until recently. And I thought Furcadia was archaic. |
|
Satchmo Prototype
eSheep
Join date: 26 Aug 2004
Posts: 1,323
|
09-30-2005 12:57
... and then Al Gore invented Second Life.
|
