PC Gaming has been around for a long, long time, and while there have
been a lot of stinkers, there have also been a lot of really great
games. Many of them are now revered as 'classics'; the great old games
of years gone by. But how familiar are you with those games? Let's
find out!

30 years of game is pretty long, so let's start with the first decade
(sorry if you youngsters feel left out. We'll see more modern games
next time but we have to start somewhere ;-). The list will include
two games for each year between 1983[1] and 1992. Games were selected
based on quality, popularity and impact[2] (and let me tell you,
making those selections was HARD![3]). Apply a score and then count
up the total of each letter.

Scoring: S - This is my favorite game! (only can be applied once)
A - I've completed the game multiple times
B - I've played it and completed it once
C - I've played it but never finished it
D - I know of it (or own it) but have never played it
E - I never even heard of this game!

The Classics of PC Gaming: The First Ten Years
------------------------------------------------
1983 Battlezone[4]
Planetfall
1984 Kings Quest: Quest for the Crown
The Ancient Art of War
1985 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
Castle Wolfenstein
1986 Might & Magic 1
Karateka
1987 Bard's Tale
Maniac Mansion
1988 Tetris
Pool of Radiance
1989 SimCity
Prince of Persia
1990 Secret of Monkey Island
Links: The Challenge of Golf
1991 Eye of the Beholder
Sid Meier's Civilization
1992 Wolfenstein 3D
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
//////

Let's see, my score is: CCBASBABABBAABACBAAB
That is: 8 "A's", 8 "B's", 3 "C's" and 1 "S"

"Ultima IV" gets the coveted "S" score, since I was a huge fan of
the Ultima series in my younger days.

"Planetfall", "Battlezone" and "Links" are some of the few games I
haven't finished (the former because I grew frustrated with the game,
the latter two because they couldn't hold my interest).

But all the rest? I either played them to completion or have played
them multiple times. But this is unsurprising; I'm a DOS-game fanatic
so obviously all these games will rank fairly high for me.

//////

So, how did you fare? Are you well familiar with these classics from
the earliest years of PC gaming? Or are you ignorant about your PC
gaming history? Or maybe you just hate my selection of games? Hit
"Reply To" and let us all know!

-----------
[1] Yes, PC gaming started before 1983, but most of the games prior
to that were shittier versions of games found on other platforms.
[2] Quality: Was the game any good? Popularity: Is it still remembered
fondly (or at all)? Impact: did it help change the gaming
industry?
[3] Just because your favorite game doesn't appear on this list
doesn't mean it wasn't worthy. I had to draw the line somewhere,
and a lot of great games didn't get the cut.
[4] Yeah, not the greatest start, but there weren't a lot of original,
good games on PC in 1983, and of those, few are remembered to this
day. The two I picked you probably have at least HEARD of unlike,
for instance, SSI's "Knights of the Desert" or Beam Software's
"The Hobbit"

On 10/29/23 17:46, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> Scoring: S - This is my favorite game! (only can be applied once)
> A - I've completed the game multiple times
> B - I've played it and completed it once
> C - I've played it but never finished it
> D - I know of it (or own it) but have never played it
> E - I never even heard of this game!
>
>
>
> The Classics of PC Gaming: The First Ten Years
> ------------------------------------------------
> 1983 Battlezone[4]
E > Planetfall
E > 1984 Kings Quest: Quest for the Crown
E > The Ancient Art of War
E > 1985 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
E > Castle Wolfenstein
D > 1986 Might & Magic 1
E > Karateka
E > 1987 Bard's Tale
E > Maniac Mansion
E > 1988 Tetris
A > Pool of Radiance
E > 1989 SimCity
C > Prince of Persia
E > 1990 Secret of Monkey Island
E > Links: The Challenge of Golf
E > 1991 Eye of the Beholder
E > Sid Meier's Civilization
D (i dont like those kinda strategy games)
> 1992 Wolfenstein 3D
C > Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
E

<snip>

> So, how did you fare? Are you well familiar with these classics from
> the earliest years of PC gaming? Or are you ignorant about your PC
> gaming history? Or maybe you just hate my selection of games? Hit
> "Reply To" and let us all know!

> -----------
> [1] Yes, PC gaming started before 1983, but most of the games prior
> to that were shittier versions of games found on other platforms.
> [2] Quality: Was the game any good? Popularity: Is it still remembered
> fondly (or at all)? Impact: did it help change the gaming
> industry?
> [3] Just because your favorite game doesn't appear on this list
> doesn't mean it wasn't worthy. I had to draw the line somewhere,
> and a lot of great games didn't get the cut.
> [4] Yeah, not the greatest start, but there weren't a lot of original,
> good games on PC in 1983, and of those, few are remembered to this
> day. The two I picked you probably have at least HEARD of unlike,
> for instance, SSI's "Knights of the Desert" or Beam Software's
> "The Hobbit"
>
>
>

Definitely a cool new game thing!
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

On Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 3:47:07 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

C - 1983 Battlezone (Is this completable?)
E - Planetfall (May have heard of it, but don't remember, I'm not a
fan of Zork type games, where's Zork, Collossal Cave, etc. by the way?
CD - 1984 Kings Quest: Quest for the Crown (May have played at a
friend's house)
D - The Ancient Art of War
D - 1985 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
C - Castle Wolfenstein
D - 1986 Might & Magic 1
CDE - Karateka (May have played this? It looks familiar, don't remember
the name.)
B - 1987 Bard's Tale (Hi Phred!)
D - Maniac Mansion
C - 1988 Tetris (Is this completeable?)
S - Pool of Radiance (Only completed once, but it's my favorite on this list.
I did play it multiple times though. I played on C64 originally, but did play it
about halfway through on the PC within the last decade. )
C - 1989 SimCity (Played at a friend's house)
C - Prince of Persia (Played at a friend's house?)
B - 1990 Secret of Monkey Island
E - Links: The Challenge of Golf
C - 1991 Eye of the Beholder
B - Sid Meier's Civilization
C - 1992 Wolfenstein 3D
D - Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

I'm not sure what counts as a PC. I started with a CP/M computer and
the likes of Collossal Cave Adventure, Wumpus, Star Trek, and Hamurabi.
Some friends had Atari 400's I played pitfall, yar, asteroids, etc. Then
my best friend had an Atari 400 I could play short bouts on, then
friends got C64s and I played at their places more often. Then I got
an Intellivision, and at last a C64. Than an Atari ST. Then it was
Dos/Windows from then on out, with a bout with a PS2, while still
playing PCs.

It feels like PoR was released on the C-64 first, the PC version was
inferior at least with less colors.

Some other 'big' PC games I loved from 80s and before:

A - Temple of Apshai 1979
A - Ultima I 1981 (oddly never got into any sequels, didn't like II)
B - Hillsfar 1989
C - Phantasy 1985 (not completable)
A - Archon 1983
C - Mail Order Monsters 1986
A - Dungeon Master 1988
B - Rogue 1980
C - Telengard 1982
B - Mars Saga/Mines of Titan 1988
C - Populous 1989 (not completable?)
C - Elite 1984 (not completable?)
B - Magic Candle 1989

- Justisaur

On 2023-10-29, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Let's see, my score is: CCBASBABABBAABACBAAB
> That is: 8 "A's", 8 "B's", 3 "C's" and 1 "S"
>
> "Ultima IV" gets the coveted "S" score, since I was a huge fan of
> the Ultima series in my younger days.
>
> "Planetfall", "Battlezone" and "Links" are some of the few games I
> haven't finished (the former because I grew frustrated with the game,
> the latter two because they couldn't hold my interest).
>
> But all the rest? I either played them to completion or have played
> them multiple times. But this is unsurprising; I'm a DOS-game fanatic
> so obviously all these games will rank fairly high for me.

EEDEDCDEEDCECCSCEDCD

S - Secret of Monkey Island
A - None :(
B - 0
C - 6
D - 6
E - 7

I am basically ignorant of these games! Also a high number of C as most
of my early gaming was playing demos or free levels from BBS'es so
wasn't able to finish.

SoMI I completed in the 90s then again recently with the family.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

On 2023-10-30, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 3:47:07 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> and at last a C64. Than an Atari ST.

Isn't the C64 to Amiga the normal progression. Moving to Atari seems
like joining the dark side :). I enjoyed discussing the relative merits
of Amiga v ST, "discussion" might be putting it mildly. We'd both source
the latest demo discs to show off graphics or sound.

> C - Populous 1989 (not completable?)

I remember this game, was thinking of it also when reading the list. I
played more Powermonger though. I somehow came across a glitch in game
that gave me chemical weapons (or something just as powerful) and I
could defeat every map.

Now I want to see if it is on GOG.

> C - Elite 1984 (not completable?)

This I played on my friends Atari, many a weekend spent trading. A good
game to include.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 5:00:07 AM UTC-7, Geeknix wrote:
> On 2023-10-30, Justisaur <just...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 3:47:07 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> >
> > and at last a C64. Than an Atari ST.
> Isn't the C64 to Amiga the normal progression. Moving to Atari seems
> like joining the dark side :). I enjoyed discussing the relative merits
> of Amiga v ST, "discussion" might be putting it mildly. We'd both source
> the latest demo discs to show off graphics or sound.

I'd agree Amiga was better, but I was broke and family poor, and managed to
scrape together just enough for the cheaper ST. Pretty much everything I
had was bought many many years after they'd become last gen except
for the CP/M computer which wasn't mine, but my mom's long time live
in boyfriend who built it from scratch, before they lost everything in 1984..

> > C - Populous 1989 (not completable?)
> I remember this game, was thinking of it also when reading the list. I
> played more Powermonger though. I somehow came across a glitch in game
> that gave me chemical weapons (or something just as powerful) and I
> could defeat every map.

Powermonger is another good one. The music track on that game was
awesome. I don't think the music of the games gets talked about enough,
good music and sound really enhance a game and some times are even
more memorable than the games themselves.

> Now I want to see if it is on GOG.

Unfortunately not. No idea why. They've got a number of other great
Bullfrog games there from before and after. Magic Carpet and Syndicate as
well as Populous.

> > C - Elite 1984 (not completable?)
> This I played on my friends Atari, many a weekend spent trading. A good
> game to include.

I suppose as MS flight sim beat it to the first person flying. I wouldn't even
call MSFS a game though, it's a sim.

- Justisaur

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

> So, how did you fare? Are you well familiar with these classics from
> the earliest years of PC gaming? Or are you ignorant about your PC
> gaming history? Or maybe you just hate my selection of games? Hit
> "Reply To" and let us all know!

I guess not, considering I got my first PC in 1990. The eighties for me
was pretty much home computers, especially Commodore and Sinclair and
some CP/M machines at school. Nokia was actually making computers back
then and they had a pretty cool classroom system. All students could
view their own or the teacher's screen and the teacher likewise could
view his or her own screen or any student's screen.

I do have a vague memory of some new fangled PC-like machines arriving
in the late 80s. They even had mice and a GUI so maybe some version of
Windows 1 or 2.

Anyways, my result was EEEEDCEEDDDDDAADDDAD. I put E also for "never
knew there was a PC version". I guess Battlezone here doesn't have much
to do with the Atari coin-op from 1980? Or does it, Wikipedia lists it
as having a PC port. But how do you complete a game like that?

Am 30.10.23 um 13:00 schrieb Geeknix:
> On 2023-10-30, Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 3:47:07 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>>
>> and at last a C64. Than an Atari ST.
>
> Isn't the C64 to Amiga the normal progression. Moving to Atari seems
> like joining the dark side :). I enjoyed discussing the relative merits
> of Amiga v ST, "discussion" might be putting it mildly. We'd both source
> the latest demo discs to show off graphics or sound.
>
Yes it more or less was, I progressed from Atari 8 bit to PCs, because
my dad thought a PC was more worthwhile than an ST or Amiga...

Guess graphically it was a downstep until EGA came and soundwise as well
until I got my first soundblaster!

First PC game was the classical flight simulator for me, second one I
think leisure suit larry!

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>Apply a score and then count up the total of each letter.

CB DD CC BC AD CB BC DD AS CD

Counts:

1 S
2 A
4 B
7 C
6 D

Note that a number of these games I've only played on the Commodore
64 or in the case of Battlezone only in the arcade. Some of them,
like Karateka and Prince of Persia I didn't play long or get very far
in them because I found them too difficult.

--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
db //

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote in
news:i7ktji5b4l317vor8p11eg133uqru2iidk@4ax.com:

D 1983 Battlezone[4]
D Planetfall
D 1984 Kings Quest: Quest for the Crown
S The Ancient Art of War
D 1985 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
A Castle Wolfenstein
D 1986 Might & Magic 1
E Karateka
D 1987 Bard's Tale
A Maniac Mansion
A 1988 Tetris
B Pool of Radiance
C 1989 SimCity
A Prince of Persia
C 1990 Secret of Monkey Island
E Links: The Challenge of Golf
B 1991 Eye of the Beholder
D Sid Meier's Civilization
A 1992 Wolfenstein 3D
D Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

1 x S
5 x A
2 x B
2 x C
8 x D
2 x E

--
Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos -- the only sysadmins that matter

On Sun, 29 Oct 2023 17:59:15 -0700 (PDT), Justisaur
<justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 3:47:07?PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>E - Planetfall (May have heard of it, but don't remember, I'm not a
> fan of Zork type games, where's Zork, Collossal Cave, etc. by the way?

Although Infocom was releasing games prior to this date, they only
started porting their games to PC in 1983 (The more recognizable
titles arrived on PC in 1984). Planetfall was one of their better
known games released to PC in 1983.

>CDE - Karateka (May have played this? It looks familiar, don't remember
> the name.)

Little man runs right and kick-punches any bad-guy ninjas that stand
in his way. We had a discussion about this game in this newsgroup a
few weeks ago.

>B - 1987 Bard's Tale (Hi Phred!)
>D - Maniac Mansion
>C - 1988 Tetris (Is this completeable?)
>S - Pool of Radiance (Only completed once, but it's my favorite on this list.
> I did play it multiple times though. I played on C64 originally, but did play it
> about halfway through on the PC within the last decade. )
>C - 1989 SimCity (Played at a friend's house)
>C - Prince of Persia (Played at a friend's house?)
>B - 1990 Secret of Monkey Island
>E - Links: The Challenge of Golf
>C - 1991 Eye of the Beholder
>B - Sid Meier's Civilization
>C - 1992 Wolfenstein 3D
>D - Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

>I'm not sure what counts as a PC.

I should have been clearer, but I intended "PC" to refer only to games
released (and played!) on IBM PC Compatibles or partially compatible
(like Tandy).

>Some other 'big' PC games I loved from 80s and before:

A lot of fun titles, which I left off the list for the following
reasons:

>A - Temple of Apshai 1979
Technically not released to PC until 1986, when it was ported over in
the "Temple of Apshai" trilogy.

>A - Ultima I 1981 (oddly never got into any sequels, didn't like II)
Technically not released to PC until 1987

>B - Hillsfar 1989
While I have fond memories of Hillsfar, I'm not sure I'd rank it as a
classic game. Even at the time it wasn't that well received, it didn't
really add much to the genre, and it isn't particularly well
remembered today.

>A - Archon 1983
This might have been a better selection for 1983, although arguably
it's not really remembered well enough for it to qualify.

>A - Dungeon Master 1988
Definitely one of the great classics and one of the games that got
unfortunately cut (1988 was a busy year).

>B - Rogue 1980
Technically not released to PC until 1984 by Epyx. Its arguably one of
the more memorable games listed - a lot of fun, memorable and had a
lot of influence - but I don't really see it as a PC game. Besides,
it would have kicked "Ultima 4" off the list, and that just wasn't
going to happen. ;-)

>C - Telengard 1982
Came to PC in 1985. It has its fans, but its not really well
remembered and by 1985 it was significantly behind the curve.

>C - Populous 1989 (not completable?)
Another great game that didn't get on the list because I restricted
myself to only two games per year.

>C - Elite 1984 (not completable?)
Only released to PC in 1991, as "Elite Plus", and it was far behind
the curve by that point. It's a definite classic, but not a "PC"
classic.

>B - Magic Candle 1989
A definite oldie-but-goodie, but very rough around the edges (then
again, so were most games of that era) and not really that well
remembered today.

On Mon, 30 Oct 2023 11:30:03 GMT, Geeknix
<usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:

>I am basically ignorant of these games! Also a high number of C as most
>of my early gaming was playing demos or free levels from BBS'es so
>wasn't able to finish.

In fairness, these are all older games and - honestly - I didn't
expect most people to do all that well with them. We'll probably see
better results with later surveys.

In fairness, I should note that my scores reflect whether or not I
played the games EVER, not if I played them when they came out. Were I
to limit myself to just the games I played 1983-1992, I'd have had a
much poorer result. ;-)

On 10/30/2023 5:24 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Oct 2023 11:30:03 GMT, Geeknix
> <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
>
>
>> I am basically ignorant of these games! Also a high number of C as most
>> of my early gaming was playing demos or free levels from BBS'es so
>> wasn't able to finish.
>
>
> In fairness, these are all older games and - honestly - I didn't
> expect most people to do all that well with them. We'll probably see
> better results with later surveys.
>
> In fairness, I should note that my scores reflect whether or not I
> played the games EVER, not if I played them when they came out. Were I
> to limit myself to just the games I played 1983-1992, I'd have had a
> much poorer result. ;-)
>
Your Number was low in those days, Brother.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

CEBEEEEEDDCEDDDEEDDD
That is: 0 "A's", 1 "B's", 2 "C's", 8 "D's", 9 "E's"

Very tough!

rms

On Mon, 30 Oct 2023 12:00:03 GMT, Geeknix
<usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:

>Isn't the C64 to Amiga the normal progression. Moving to Atari seems
>like joining the dark side :).

I went from a C64 straight to a PC. Neither the Atari or Amiga were
popular here in the USA.

On Sun, 29 Oct 2023 18:46:54 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

>Scoring: S - This is my favorite game! (only can be applied once)
> A - I've completed the game multiple times
> B - I've played it and completed it once
> C - I've played it but never finished it
> D - I know of it (or own it) but have never played it
> E - I never even heard of this game!
>
>
>
>The Classics of PC Gaming: The First Ten Years
>------------------------------------------------
> 1983 Battlezone[4]
> Planetfall
> 1984 Kings Quest: Quest for the Crown
> The Ancient Art of War
> 1985 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
> Castle Wolfenstein
> 1986 Might & Magic 1
> Karateka
> 1987 Bard's Tale
> Maniac Mansion
> 1988 Tetris
> Pool of Radiance
> 1989 SimCity
> Prince of Persia
> 1990 Secret of Monkey Island
> Links: The Challenge of Golf
> 1991 Eye of the Beholder
> Sid Meier's Civilization
> 1992 Wolfenstein 3D
> Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

This is actually a good list of games.

D
B B
D A
B S = Might & Magic is my favorite game series
D B
A = Maniac Mansion is one of favorite C64 games.
C = I will never understand the appeal of Tetris.
A = I love the gold box games
D = I have played Sim City games but never the first one
C A
D A
D = I have only played Civ 2 and 3 up to this point.
B A = My favorite RTS is Age of Empires 2 but Dune 2 was my first.

Ok hopefully, I did not screw up my letters with your list.

On Mon, 30 Oct 2023 18:02:19 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>On 10/30/2023 5:24 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> In fairness, I should note that my scores reflect whether or not I
>> played the games EVER, not if I played them when they came out. Were I
>> to limit myself to just the games I played 1983-1992, I'd have had a
>> much poorer result. ;-)
>Your Number was low in those days, Brother.

Forgive me. I have been trying to redeem myself ever since. May The
Number ever grow.

On 10/31/2023 6:18 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Oct 2023 18:02:19 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>> On 10/30/2023 5:24 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
>>> In fairness, I should note that my scores reflect whether or not I
>>> played the games EVER, not if I played them when they came out. Were I
>>> to limit myself to just the games I played 1983-1992, I'd have had a
>>> much poorer result. ;-)
>
>> Your Number was low in those days, Brother.
>
> Forgive me. I have been trying to redeem myself ever since. May The
> Number ever grow.
>
We all start at Zero, Brother, and you have come far in the Numberhood.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 29/10/2023 22:46, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> The Classics of PC Gaming: The First Ten Years
> ------------------------------------------------
> 1983 Battlezone[4] - C
> Planetfall - D
> 1984 Kings Quest: Quest for the Crown - D
> The Ancient Art of War -E
> 1985 Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar - C
> Castle Wolfenstein - D
> 1986 Might & Magic 1 - D
> Karateka - E
> 1987 Bard's Tale - D
> Maniac Mansion - E
> 1988 Tetris - C
> Pool of Radiance - D
> 1989 SimCity - D
> Prince of Persia - D
> 1990 Secret of Monkey Island - D
> Links: The Challenge of Golf - E
> 1991 Eye of the Beholder - D
> Sid Meier's Civilization - D
> 1992 Wolfenstein 3D - D
> Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty - E
>

Kinda easy for me while also being difficult. The route I took was
Speccy 48k -> Atari ST -> drink/drugs/women -> PC (1998). The result,
I've played none on a PC so the C's are played but on a different platform.

> [4] Yeah, not the greatest start, but there weren't a lot of original,
> good games on PC in 1983, and of those, few are remembered to this
> day. The two I picked you probably have at least HEARD of unlike,
> for instance, SSI's "Knights of the Desert" or Beam Software's
> "The Hobbit"
>

The Hobbit, I remember playing that on the Speccy but it didn't really
grab me as much as say Sherlock.