h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi, Titania. This is just to set up the thread. I'll be back in a minute to post more.

Hello, I'm back. Who was it you said I remind you of? Beorn? Um ... wasn't he a character in Lord of the Rings? Man, it's been ages since I read that - I'll have to reread it soon!

So, you are playing Collosal Cave, eh? That is the grand-daddy of all games. It was the first real computer game and it was the one that got me hooked on computer games. I played it in the early 1980's on a mainframe computer and managed to beat it on my own. I still have the maps I made way back then! The next major game in game history is Dungeon - another mainframe game, very similar to CC, but bigger with more complex puzzles to solve. I played that too, on our mainframe, but never completed it. It was made by a group of students at MIT, who ended up forming a company called Infocom. They broke Dungeon up into 3 smaller games that would fit on a PC and renamed it to Zork. You've probably heard of Zork. Anyway, about a year of so ago, I found copies of the Zork games on the internet and started playing them. It was just like old times - alot of fun. Anyway, I continued playing Infocom games, and am still playing now. Currently I am playing A Mind Forever Voyaging.

Through playing the games, I met Afgncaap5, another researcher here (although he wasn't when I met him). He is a walking encyclopedia on Zork and the other Infocom games. He has played them all and knows them inside-out. He is my crutch when I run into trouble on a game. There is a link to his home page at the top of my home page.

So, tell me about your game playing ...

*floating in, in her usual vague, elf-like manner*

Hi GL!

Once again, my sincere apoplogies for not noticing your answer...

Yes, Beorn is in Lord of the Rings, man turning into big bear

Well, Collossal Cave is the first, and so far, the only text based game I've tried.
I borrowed a CD with 99 Classical Games on it from my brother, and there it was...

I appreciate games that let you use your imagination and create the environments and character looks yourself, in your head.

I haven't gotten very far, but I started making maps in order to stop getting lost all the time...

Oh, you have to have maps! There is no way to do it otherwise. Especially when you get to the maze. Here's a hint for mapping the maze. Take lots of items with you. In each room, drop something. That then identifies the room if you get back to it. How far along are you? Are you still playing it?

BTW - I still have my maps! (did I say that in my big post above?)

Well, right now I've put the game on hold, ever since I discovered the world of h2g2... with its never-ending sources of information and forums and this and that...

I've been in the maze, but haven't mapped it out yet
I now how to get back to the building in a snap, and back into the caves again
I've watered the bean stalk and climbed it, and got killed...

Creating clear, easy-to-read, understandable maps is fun! (with little hints of what to find and how to deal with it)

Hey, GL, you seem to have a pretty good idea of how things work at h2g2..

How does this "skin" thing work?
Someone visiting My Space, will they see it in Alabaster or Classic Goo? Is it my or their preferences that decide?

And if it's their preferences that rule (say Alabaster) do you know the tag for saying "click here to see this in Classic Goo?

Sorry to take so long getting back - I use my computer at work for h2g2-ing and I take Wednesdays off, so I wasn't here yesterday.

Researchers see all pages in whatever skin they have selected as their preference. If you have a page that looks better in goo, you can use one of Redbeards buttons on your page. He has them here:

http://www.h2g2.com/A357437

My gameplaying has slowed alot too, after getting so involved with h2g2. I spend way too much time here. And I also found map-making fun. In Zork 1, there is a maze to map, too, but there is also a thief running around who sometimes takes the stuff you dropped. Fun!

*floating in*

Thanks, GL!

Leaving [t]

*drifting off*

[t]

Ha! Time to bring this piece of conversation up again (although I hate it sometimes, when conversatins keep popping up, where MY last reply was made WEEKS ago!)

My mail-address:
[email protected]

Titanya? Yes, hmmm, Titania was already taken...

Ha! Time to bring this piece of conversation up again (although I hate it sometimes, when conversations keep popping up, where MY last reply was made WEEKS ago!)

My mail-address:
[email protected]

Titanya? Yes, hmmm, Titania was already taken...

Just sent you a present in the mail.

I was looking through the conversation subjects on your user page to see if I had started one (I usually call them 'Greetings ...' - there was one, but I didn't start it - but I was very mystified to find one titled 'Hello Titania' - I had completely forgotten about this one!

Anyway - this is - uh - I guess you could call it invitation, sort of - at least if you check the GuideML: A966189

Just signed the card. Now to catch up at the Atelier.

By the way, did you ever finish Collosal Cave? Did you play any other text games?

No, I haven't finished Collosal Cave yet - I think I gave up after being robbed blind by the pirate a couple of times, or not being able to figure out how to get out of the maze before my light went out - and I think I ended up being killed by a dragon or something too...

Those games can get frustrating if you can't figure out a puzzle. It's always nice to have a friend that can give you hints, or a hints file that you can download from somewhere. If you were still interested, I could probably find some help for you. And if you weren't totally put off by the experience, I could recommend some other games. Colossal Cave was one of the very first, and later ones were much better (although I still have a certain fondness for CC)

I'm sure I'll play CC again one day - but something that I found confusing was that the version I found for my Palm was a bit different from the one I got from you - while it was fun being able to play CC on my way to w*rk by commuter train, I had to start all over trying to map the areas... ho hum...

I'm currently very much into Baldur's Gate - I probably won't be playing other games much until I've completed it at least once...

There's a new researcher around that you might be interested in... that I got a mail about... *nudge, nudge, wink, wink, being deliberately vague*

I've seen.

Very nicely done, I might add. Can't wait to see that user posting.