MMO classic Sierra adventures

Today I stumbled on exactly that. "What?" you say...I said just that when i heard it but when you actually experience everything becomes clear. Let me just say that it is super cool albeit somewhat odd. Martin Kool created sarien.net a multiplayer web based version of classic sierra games that you play they way you used to but with the added experience of hundred other players walking around and doing the same things you are doing.

I started out with Larry. The game was exactly the same with the original version that you typed the commands. It was pretty surrealistic though to walk among other ten Larries, that you could talk too as well. The most fun , I have to say, was checking what the other players were trying with the game. This was incredibly fun and it could bring more people to play these classic gems. Being able to talk to other players wherever you want means that you can ask people for help as well if you are stuck. This was a very unique experience.

Walking among other larries is odd, but you never know what the other players will try!

Up until now 6 games are supported:

• King's Quest: Quest for the Crown
• Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
• Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel
• Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter
• Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge
• The Black Cauldron

I am sure you will find the whole thing very entertaining.

Nostalgia: The games we loved (...some of them)

A couple of nights ago we were out for drinks with friends and after the usual alcoholic beverages, while relaxed, we started talking about games that we loved. After some time into the discussion I realized that not one of the games mentioned was not among the ones that you find into today's shelves. We got nostalgic about games that offered pure fun when games was not a multi-billion dollar industry. These games where about atmosphere, gameplay, story and challenge, without requiring a 5-hundred-dollar graphics card and the game boxes were made out of paper and were coming with much more than a 4 pages manual. I will try to mention as many as I can remember from the ones we mentioned without any particular order:

Daggerfall (1996)
The biggest, baddest, hardest RPG ever made. A friend spend two years playing itwithout following the main story and he has still not finished. A gem coming to us from 1996. The second game on the elder scrolls series, before Oblivion, before morrowind. Let me just say that in its world morrowind was but a small island on the map.Yea...that big.


Loom (1990)
One of the first Lucas Arts advenure games. A fairytale were riddles are solved with music and fantasy has no limits. It was rather small compared to games of its age but yet it was extremely enjoyable. Highly recommended.


Gabriel Knight Series(1993,1995,1999)
My personal favorite sierra adventure series. Mystery, supernatural and horror coming from the Jane Jensen's mind. Carefully woven stories mixing historical facts with myths ensure of excellent atmosphere and challenging riddles. Gabriel Knight, the shadow hunter, is solving mysteries keeps the worlds safe from evils. Me favorite is the second one, The Beast Within, were he hunts werewolves in old castles in Germany.


Albion (1995)
This 1995 RPG managed to combine technology with magic to create a unique atmosphere and gameplay. It was played, both, in 3rd and 1st person perspective. It had a big extra terestrial game world full of dungeons and puzzles featuring a deep storyline.


Defender of the crown (1986)
My favourite strategy game on my 8086 computer. When it first came out for the amiga everyone was looking at its gorgeous graphics with the mouth open, drooling. Create your army, save damsels, take part in sword fights and sieges to save England from the evil Normands. I must admit that I still play this game with the same enthusiasm as I did when I was a kid.


Lords of Midnight (1984)
In my opinion the best game Sectrum ZX had to offer. A mix of adventure strategy and RPG in the biggest world 48 Kilobytes of memory could hold. Fantastic atmosphere and challenging game play ensure hours of fun. The original game box included a book containing the manual, a
small story to get you into the game and the map of the world which was essential in order to plan your campaign. If you want to enjoy this you can still can using the fatastic and faithful port Icemark did for Dos using dosbox. I still have not managed to beat the game...but I will some day.