Articles - The History of Computer Role-Playing Games

[NeoZeedeater]

So many historical articles on gaming piss me off due to writers not knowing their stuff well enough.

Matt Barton's Gamasutra articles on the history of Western computer roleplaying games are an exception. These are in depth and well researched. It's a lot to read but well worth it.


Part 1
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20...arton_01.shtml

Part 2
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20...arton_01.shtml

[Prince Planet]

Good stuff. I was a teenager when those games came out in 1981 on onward, so there's some real nostalgia for me. Unless I missed something, it's too bad that SSI's Questron didn't a mention, since that was a great RPG of that era. Still, the author's right in saying that the importance of Ultima III can't be overstated. Incredible game.

[bVork]

Great article, though I think he overestimates the importance of The Bards Tale and the Gold Box games. I was playing RPGs back then, and most people viewed the Gold Box games as the filler between Origin and Sir-Tech RPGs.

I disagree with his statement that the Bard's Tale games were some of the first to go mainstream due to their user-friendliness - Ultima 4 had already de-emphasized statistics and done away with permanent death (Ultima 3 had done this too, but wasn't nearly as friendly as Ultima 4). The spinners in those Bard's Tale games are also some of the most annoying creations ever.

Shadowkeep was also ignored by the author. Released in 1984, it's probably the very first adventure/rpg hybrid.

Still, those are the finest articles I've ever seen about the history of CRPGs.

[Compass]

Nice find. I'll check this out at work tomorrow if it's slow.

[bbobb]

Very nice, I'm looking forward to part 3.

[NeoZeedeater]

Unless I missed something, it's too bad that SSI's Questron didn't a mention, since that was a great RPG of that era.

He mentioned it but called it an unimaginative Ultima clone.

Shadowkeep was also ignored by the author. Released in 1984, it's probably the very first adventure/rpg hybrid.

Could be. He did mention Zyll, another hybrid from the same year.

[dakidski]

First time I see proper respect paid to 'Alien Fires 2199 A.D.'

[Prince Planet]

He mentioned it but called it an unimaginative Ultima clone.

Ha! That's actually true in a lot of respects. But I remember really liking the story and the dungeon crawls.

[torgo]

He spoke highly of Hero's Quest. I have to agree, it's a very good game, even to this day. The rest of the QFG series, not so much.

[NeoZeedeater]

Bumping for part 3.
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20...arton_01.shtml