A lot of these things don't have much financial value and will probably get tossed when I die, but hopefully whoever cleans out this room will keep a thing or two so my memory lives on with them. :)
When I worked on Bards Tale IV it was really important for Brian Fargo to release a physical version in the same form factor to the original and include a code wheel. It was my job to design it and it was super fun reliving my childhood too. A lot of fond memories for that original game.
So YOU'RE to blame for that code wheel! 😂 I was showing my son a code wheel once and explaining to him about the copy protection and he said no one today would understand how to use it so simply including one was pretty good copy protection, lol. I certainly miss all the "feelies" that came with games back then -- not just the Infocom trinkets but things like the newspaper from Maniac Mansion or the map inside Bard's Tale. It made games feel more like an "event" back then. Thanks for your work on BT4 -- it's another classic! Maybe I will dig out my old copy of Bard's Tale Construction Set and start working on my own sequel...
Those were the days! If you played IV, all the puzzles were my fault too, so I’ll apologize for those as well. Haha! Looking up a reference in a book was another fun one. Wasteland, had descriptions printed in a book, to save disk space. As a joke they included a whole fake story arc of aliens for those that just read the book looking for clues. When working on the sequel we added a bunch of references to these fictional aliens as a nod for those old guys like us who truly experienced these physical elements.
Your Bard’s Tale story is almost identical to my memories of playing Kings Quest and Exodus Ultima III with my neighbor on his PCjr. Whenever I fire up those, I’m immediately transported back to those good times with my friend. Ahhh. :)
I didn't get into Ultima or other top-down games too much, but man did I play King's Quest and every other game released by Sierra that looked remotely like it. At the time I was astonished that the exact same game on the exact same disk(s) could look (and sound) so different between our XT and our PCjr. I can still hear those digital birds tweeting in my head.
What a lovely way to remember your friend, Rob. I also attach meaning and memories to things, especially jewelry and clothing (kinda my thing).
Wishing you a very Jolly Holiday, all the best to you and yours, and good wishes for the new year. Thank you for sharing your writing—I’ve enjoyed getting to know you this year. 💕
Bards Tale was so important to so many of us, I still have my original. It was so passed around between my friend group, but it was so well-respected that it somehow found its way back to me in very decent condition. Thanks for sharing these memories.
We played Bard's Tale so often and so much that Skara Brae started to feel like a place I had really visited. When I close my eyes I can't really imagine climbing the ladders in Donkey Kong or chasing ghosts in Pac-Man, but I can see myself walking down a street, turning right and walking into the Tavern. The graphics, animation and sound look quaint and primitive to today's eyes but back then it was enough to transport us to another realm.
Love this. I too have a room full of tiny memories. Thank you for sharing.
A lot of these things don't have much financial value and will probably get tossed when I die, but hopefully whoever cleans out this room will keep a thing or two so my memory lives on with them. :)
When I worked on Bards Tale IV it was really important for Brian Fargo to release a physical version in the same form factor to the original and include a code wheel. It was my job to design it and it was super fun reliving my childhood too. A lot of fond memories for that original game.
So YOU'RE to blame for that code wheel! 😂 I was showing my son a code wheel once and explaining to him about the copy protection and he said no one today would understand how to use it so simply including one was pretty good copy protection, lol. I certainly miss all the "feelies" that came with games back then -- not just the Infocom trinkets but things like the newspaper from Maniac Mansion or the map inside Bard's Tale. It made games feel more like an "event" back then. Thanks for your work on BT4 -- it's another classic! Maybe I will dig out my old copy of Bard's Tale Construction Set and start working on my own sequel...
Those were the days! If you played IV, all the puzzles were my fault too, so I’ll apologize for those as well. Haha! Looking up a reference in a book was another fun one. Wasteland, had descriptions printed in a book, to save disk space. As a joke they included a whole fake story arc of aliens for those that just read the book looking for clues. When working on the sequel we added a bunch of references to these fictional aliens as a nod for those old guys like us who truly experienced these physical elements.
Your Bard’s Tale story is almost identical to my memories of playing Kings Quest and Exodus Ultima III with my neighbor on his PCjr. Whenever I fire up those, I’m immediately transported back to those good times with my friend. Ahhh. :)
I didn't get into Ultima or other top-down games too much, but man did I play King's Quest and every other game released by Sierra that looked remotely like it. At the time I was astonished that the exact same game on the exact same disk(s) could look (and sound) so different between our XT and our PCjr. I can still hear those digital birds tweeting in my head.
What a lovely way to remember your friend, Rob. I also attach meaning and memories to things, especially jewelry and clothing (kinda my thing).
Wishing you a very Jolly Holiday, all the best to you and yours, and good wishes for the new year. Thank you for sharing your writing—I’ve enjoyed getting to know you this year. 💕
Bards Tale was so important to so many of us, I still have my original. It was so passed around between my friend group, but it was so well-respected that it somehow found its way back to me in very decent condition. Thanks for sharing these memories.
We played Bard's Tale so often and so much that Skara Brae started to feel like a place I had really visited. When I close my eyes I can't really imagine climbing the ladders in Donkey Kong or chasing ghosts in Pac-Man, but I can see myself walking down a street, turning right and walking into the Tavern. The graphics, animation and sound look quaint and primitive to today's eyes but back then it was enough to transport us to another realm.