Lode Runner, a game many of us logged hundreds of hours upon. Lode Runner has a great deal of replay value thanks to its great map editor. The game was first published by Broderbund in 1983, but was first prototyped by Douglas Smith, an architecture student at the University of Washington.
The Lode Runner prototype was called Kong and was originally written for a Prime Computer 550 minicomputer on campus, but shortly after it was ported to the VAX minicomputer. Originally programmed in FORTRAN and utilized only ASCII character graphics (the most basic of characters).
In September of 1982 Smith was able to port it to the Apple II+ (in assembly language) and renamed it to Miner. In October of that same year he submitted a rough copy to Broderbund and he’s said to have received a one-line rejection letter, “Sorry, your game doesn’t fit into our product line; please feel free to submit future products.”
The original title had no joystick support and was developed in full black and white…not exactly exciting. So, Smith then borrowed money to purchase a color monitor and joystick and continued to improve the game. Around Christmas of 1982, he submitted the game, now renamed Lode Runner, to four publishers and quickly received offers from all four: Sierra, Sirius, Synergistic, and Brøderbund.
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@Orcs Must Die!
Weird! I played something similar from ISOTX, “Iron Grip: Warlord”. Tower defense, you can lay out traps and whatnot. And also first person shooter, so that you can kill the attackers yourself.
Derrick, interesting idea there: quick, fun games are back.
@LG Lawsuit Stops PS3 Shipments In Europe:
Bwa ha ha ha ha 😀
This is unbelievable! As a counter-suit however it is a pretty weak move: PS3 is already doomed, so threatening Sony with disrupting PS3 imports is … lame. Unless Sony has NO REPLACEMENT for PS3. Then it makes sense. It’s like threatening with a kick to a groin already beaten up.
@Mortal Kombat Banned in Australia:
I think they could be getting it via Steam. Or via friends from other regions :P.
I see this as a test on how weak the ban gets enforced. I say it’ll be very easy to bypass.
Derrick, according to Rayden, the whole idea of MK is not death, but preservation of life 😛
@Rift:
Too bold for his own good. There’s a quote from C&C Generals Zero Hours, that goes like: “Rage won’t get you anywhere, general. Now, rage and a column of tanks …”.
Will Cook has rage. Not sure about tanks though.
@Browser Based PC Games The Future?
The browser is the viewing end. In this case, things are done on remote servers.
Dunno about cloud computing. Bandwidth will always be an issue, and hardcore players will want to take control of the quality of their experience.
It might work however for folks who don’t mind some graphical issues.
Very interesting approach however on it being a demo platform. Very, very interesting approach.
@PC Gaming Is Indeed Dying:
😀 I’m not having a fit. I’ll still be playing PC games. Heck, Steam is growing like hell, so any conclusion on PC gaming longevity based on retail sales is cr@p.
Jonah, I hooked up my PC to a TV since 2001 to watch movies. The PC has the flexibility that allows you to both play games and to do “office stuff”.
@What is your favorite gaming food?
I don’t really eat while gaming. I would go for cookies, crackers, biscuits stuff like that. Maybe some dark chocolate. And soft drinks like Pepsi or Coke.
@Orcs Must Die!
Weird! I played something similar from ISOTX, “Iron Grip: Warlord”. Tower defense, you can lay out traps and whatnot. And also first person shooter, so that you can kill the attackers yourself.
Derrick, interesting idea there: quick, fun games are back.
@LG Lawsuit Stops PS3 Shipments In Europe:
Bwa ha ha ha ha 😀
This is unbelievable! As a counter-suit however it is a pretty weak move: PS3 is already doomed, so threatening Sony with disrupting PS3 imports is … lame. Unless Sony has NO REPLACEMENT for PS3. Then it makes sense. It’s like threatening with a kick to a groin already beaten up.
@Mortal Kombat Banned in Australia:
I think they could be getting it via Steam. Or via friends from other regions :P.
I see this as a test on how weak the ban gets enforced. I say it’ll be very easy to bypass.
Derrick, according to Rayden, the whole idea of MK is not death, but preservation of life 😛
@Rift:
Too bold for his own good. There’s a quote from C&C Generals Zero Hours, that goes like: “Rage won’t get you anywhere, general. Now, rage and a column of tanks …”.
Will Cook has rage. Not sure about tanks though.
@Browser Based PC Games The Future?
The browser is the viewing end. In this case, things are done on remote servers.
Dunno about cloud computing. Bandwidth will always be an issue, and hardcore players will want to take control of the quality of their experience.
It might work however for folks who don’t mind some graphical issues.
Very interesting approach however on it being a demo platform. Very, very interesting approach.
@PC Gaming Is Indeed Dying:
😀 I’m not having a fit. I’ll still be playing PC games. Heck, Steam is growing like hell, so any conclusion on PC gaming longevity based on retail sales is cr@p.
Jonah, I hooked up my PC to a TV since 2001 to watch movies. The PC has the flexibility that allows you to both play games and to do “office stuff”.
@What is your favorite gaming food?
I don’t really eat while gaming. I would go for cookies, crackers, biscuits stuff like that. Maybe some dark chocolate. And soft drinks like Pepsi or Coke.
“As a counter-suit however it is a pretty weak move: PS3 is already doomed, ”
It’s not the PS3 – it’s all Blu-Ray devices. And LG would get money for nothing.
“As a counter-suit however it is a pretty weak move: PS3 is already doomed, ”
It’s not the PS3 – it’s all Blu-Ray devices. And LG would get money for nothing.