Games you can't remember the title of.

[SecondTalon]

You.. do realize the gameplay you described is like someone describing a First person shooter, then naming a boss or two, right? It's not that unique of a style, and was kinda popular there in the timeframe you mentioned.

It most likely did, in fact, exist exactly as you remember it. The problem is that no one so far happened to play that particular SmashTV-style variant.

[Felstaff]

Yeah. I just Googled and after 30 seconds came up with Operation: Carnage



Is that any closer?

[Lostdreams]

Amalthea?

[TFGuy89]

Yeah. I just Googled and after 30 seconds came up with Operation: Carnage



Is that any closer?

Felstaff, that's it! By gosh, that's it! That's exactly the game! Operation: Carnage! Thanks so much!

What search queries did you use? I tried searching every known query, I couldn't find it at all, even when thumbing through lists of games.

Apparently I misremembered the year (among a lot of other things), it was released in 1996. I thought it was earlier than that.

[Felstaff]

"top-down shooter" action "{"windows 3.1"|"DOS"|"Win95"}" aliens -"Alien Breed"

Fourth result. (This isn't exactly what I searched for yesterday, but similar)

[SirBryghtside]

XKCD triumphs again!

[AvatarIII]

XKCD triumphs again!

I think you might be giving the group as a whole too much credit, I swear, 9 times out of 10, it is always Felstaff that finds these games.

[Dason]

Humans triumph again!

[TFGuy89]

"top-down shooter" action "{"windows 3.1"|"DOS"|"Win95"}" aliens -"Alien Breed"

Fourth result. (This isn't exactly what I searched for yesterday, but similar)

You're a genius! Thank you so much, I've been trying to find it for such a long time.

[Panda Claws]

* Background: I played it at home and I still remember quite a bit of the gameplay.
* System: MS-DOS
* Year: Probably around 200-2003
* Perspective: 2D Platformer
* Art style: I seem to remember that it looked drawn and that the characters were pretty screen-filling. (I mean that they were pretty big drawn if you know what I mean.)
* Environment: The first level was a pirate ship that had a captain as a boss. (I thought he resembled captain hook but I am not sure.) You also had a level with Robin Hood as a boss (or someone who looked like him it was pretty weird.) Other levels included an arabian nights styled castle and a giant beanstake. I also remember wolves that could breath fireballs and stood on their two back legs. Another boss I remember was some sort of queen that levitated in the air and waved kisses at you. That became hearts and were used as projectiles. The player character had two antennas on his head. (Male) There was also an underwater level.
* Mood: I do not quite remember.
* Genre: 2D Platformer. Might have contained small RPG elements but I was too little back then to be sure.
* Gameplay: 2D Platformer again but I do seem to remember that you could open a small inventory and take out items like a watch that slowed time. (Not sure)

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[SirBryghtside]

I was at EuroGamer yesterday, and me and my friend played this really awesome retro game - but we have no idea what it was.

It was monochrome, really blocky, and used these controllers - so probably Atari 2600.

The gameplay was really basic - it was like a four-player breakout. Each person had a paddle, and had to hit a ball to the other people's defense to break through the blocks and eventually hit this weird symbol to beat them. You could aso hold down the orange button to 'grab' the ball, like magnet/sticky upgrades in some versions of Breakout.

Does anyone know what it is?

[Felstaff]

Sounds like the original Warlords, sans the monochrome part. Although there's a good chance that it's just one of the squillions of Pong clones that cropped up: Atari didn't patent Pong until 1973, and there were unofficial additions and clones and advances coming out within a few weeks of the arcade machine hitting the (admittedly empty) arcades.

[Lostdreams]

That game was so much fun.

[SirBryghtside]

Yeah, that's it! Thanks

I think the monochrome thing might have just been them wanting to make it look a little more retro - not that it needed it, but it was still great.

[ashleyalison]

* Background: Where did you play it? When? Why do you remember it? What sticks out at you about it?
I played it at my dads on the computer when I was between 12-15 so somewhere in the late 90's early 2000's. It came on one of those 500 game disks you could buy for pretty cheap.

* System: Which system did you play it on? Jaguar? 32x? Windows XP? Window 3.1? Apple IIe? Megadrive? Genesis? Game Boy?
It was on the computer, not sure what year or anything.

* Year: When did you play it?*
Not entirely sure, but it was definitely in the 90's cause now that I think about it, it could have been when I was as young as 7.

* Perspective: 3D? 2D? 2.5D? Isometric? Tile-based? First Person? Third Person? ... Second Person!?
I honestly don't remember much about the look of the game.

* Art style: Cell shaded? Sprite-based? Foggy? Live Action? Particular special effects you remember? Any movie sequences you remember?
Again not completely sure, it was a cheap looking game, not high on graphics.

* Environment: What sort of places were you in? Times? What specific types of monsters did you fight? Bosses? Who was the protagonist? Any NPCs you remember? Dialog? Weapons? Remember dying a lot? What killed you?
It was set in an older time period. The character was a wizard type warrior, who wore shields, armour and amulets that had special powers. You'd go into a building/castle, and come across different creatures. I don't exactly remember them all, but there were skeletons, huge spiders, werewolfs, ghouls, and other types of things like that.

* Mood: Was the game Dark or was it Hopeful? Was there an overwhelming sense of crushing despair, or was it a bright and happy candy land?
Definitely a dark type game. You could be killed by giant creatures.

* Genre: Multiplayer? Shooter? Action? Adventure? RPG? Arcade? Puzzle-based? Strategy? RTS? Text adventure?
Single player, action?

* Gameplay: Action? Turn-based? Did you have stats/levels? Remember any puzzles? What buttons did you press to control the protagonist? Was there a party of characters or a solo protagonist? Were you able to create a character and choose skills at the beginning, or were your skills pre-chosen (if any)? In short, How Did You Play The Game? What actions did you take?
You started out with a character and a certain amount of trait points which you could use on strength, agility, magic ability. You got a bit of a backstory (not sure what, I just remember bits of the actual gameplay) and were told to go the building. You'd enter a room and either see all of it, or have parts of it 'darkened' until you stepped closer. You could step into treasure (armour, shield, amulet, books, helmet, etc), or it could be a creature waiting to attack you. You'd go up/down stairs, or through doors working your way through the castle to find the big boss (I believe a giant) to win an amulet to get to the next part of the game (though I don't recall any of the second part, it took me years to get through the first part due to limited play). I remember that you used mana to attack, and you could sleep to restore mana.

I hope this is enough information. I don't remember many details, just a bit of the gameplay.

[Goldstein]

This could be one of many games. I'll guess Castle of the Winds again.

Could we re-arrange the suggested template for games you can't remember the title of? At the moment, the first few questions are so specific that they don't give much detail even if they're remembered correctly. It's often only the Gameplay question that fleshes out a picture of the game.

[ashleyalison]

That was it! Thanks. I couldn't remember it for the life of me.

[Bizif]

* Background: Top down, action, adventure type, RPG. You were on a jungle/island.
* System: Windows 3.1
* Year: Late 90's / Early 2000's
* Perspective: Top Down View
* Art style: Cartoony. I remember going from an Amazon village (where you start the game) to a futuristic lab on the same island.
* Environment: Jungle / Island. You fought dinosaurs and other jungle going creatures. I believe there was a type of alien or insect infestation as well.
* Mood: Neutral
* Genre: Action based RPG
* Gameplay: Was action based. You used the mouse to interact with the environment. You could get a party, I remember having an Amazon warrior and a scientist or solider in my party. You could also do some rudimentary crafting (make arrows, bullets, and bombs).

I appreciate your help!

Edited the year. Also, this game was on a CD received from PC Gamer or some other PC type magazine prevalent during that time frame.

[andrewcrawford]

Hey all,

I am looking for help to hopeful maybe get the name of the game i played when i was younger about 10ish so about 1990-1997, i have tried in past to find it but with no luck.

Ok here are th details i remeber

1. It was on atari st
2. it was a text based game with i think limit graphics on some screen not all
3. it was Americanised ie the things you have to type where american version of words like i would say tap but it would want faucet

now the game details i remember

4. i think you started in your bedroom could be kitchen or livingroom
5. you would go west i think to i think livingroom or bedroom
6. you would then go north and be in hallway with a door to the north and the bathroom to the west
7 the door could be only opened with the command open sesame
8. in the bathroom you had to find i think a umbrella then tune on the faucet (taps) to get a object
9 after you go back to the hallway and go out the door your outside
to the north is a curtain and you had to use a certain command to get past the ghost i think the ghost was one of the few screens you got a image on
10 details are now sketch i think to the east there was some sort of sewer and it was dark and you could easily gt lost in it

[Markus__1]

<<Something that does not follow the template>>

Please try again with the template (see first post), it may trigger additional memories to help you improve the description.

BTW, the Genre is named Illustrated Text Adventure

Meanwhile, names to google - Sierra On-Line, Legend Entertainment, not Magnetic Scrolls

Please post if you remember yourself.

[Lostdreams]

Maybe Hillsfar?

[emceng]

Maybe Hillsfar?

Was there more than one HIllsfar game? If not, then the answer is No. I played Hillsfar on PC and it was not text based. It was also incredibly fun and addicting.

[Lostdreams]

Wikipedia says text with some graphics which matched:

2. it was a text based game with i think limit graphics on some screen not all

[andrewcrawford]

its nto hillsfar ill try posting witht eh template later im also trying to get more information from my family member who also played it so can get best chance of getting the title

[andrewcrawford]

* I played it at home, (well sort of i was pretty young it was my parents who done the typing for the game me and my brother just tried to think of ideas). We played it around 1990-1995, i remember it for two reasons you had to open the first door you come to with open sesame and it was americised ie words like tap it wanted you to say faucet. what sticks out is it was the only game we never completed and the fact it was amercised and the door you said open sesame on:
* Atari ST:
* Late 80s to early 90s could have been ported from spetrum zx or similar systems:
* issulrative text adventure well more text adventure with lmiited graphics:
* None but we never completed teh game, i think there was issulration on the opening of the game similar to "dnt bank on it":
* You start off in a house, i think the bedroom and go west to the livingroom room i think, then you defintely go north to the hallway where the door you have to say open seasame at, and go west to teh bathroom which has the faucet you have to open not tap, you go back east then north, i think your ina garden, you cna go north and there a curtai if you didnt use the right command a issulrate ghost would appear, you go east there was something here cant remeber, then i think down steps that take you intoa sewer, cavern, tunnels or something, then we go through teh sewers once by luck as the sewers where dark and we never foudna light or torch so we coudl see where we was but as i say by luck once we got through adn we came out in garden with possible a maze:
* we think the game maybe had something to do with darklands or badlands and that the person your playing possible had amesia or drunk and woke with no memory and couldnt rememrbe wher ehe was or what he was doign the day previous:
* text adventure:
* you would type command to find or do things and these command where msotly american type of british words i would use:

the first room i think hada bookcase in it and a window you could look out also few post above has some other details about the game i can remmeber

[Lostdreams]

I think my eyes are hemorrhaging.

[emceng]

I was going to make a joke and quote it into italics to make you feel better. Then I saw that I'd have to change or remove a tag from every freaking line of that post. Way too much effort for a joke.

[andrewcrawford]

that was made using the template if the bold is a problem someone should update te template

[Lostdreams]

Rest assured, the bold is not teh problem.

on purpose!

[SecondTalon]

that was made using the template if the bold is a problem someone should update te template

Here, let me help you.

That was made using the template. If the bold is a problem, someone should update the template.

[andrewcrawford]

im dsylexic why do people feel that spelling is so important most people only use the first and last letter to read, before anyone suggest a spell checker, not all the time it knows what i am trying to type and second if i dnt know how to spell in the first place how can i pick the word from suggestions

[Lostdreams]

Was it modern day, future, medieval times?

[Felstaff]

Right, I've put my Research Hat on, and done a little research. Is it any of these three games?



If not, how similar to any of them is the one you're thinking of? How much of the screen did the text take up? What was the ratio of text adventure to graphics? Because, honestly, you've described one of about 6000 STAC games for the Atari ST, (many of which used "open sesame" as a command) and now begins the arduous task of narrowing them down. These are three games I have found that starts in a bedroom/home area.

[Izawwlgood]

a issulrate ghost

An Israeli ghost?

[andrewcrawford]

issulrative basically just a small text picture

ill check the games above later today but i dnt think it is them because it was more like dont bank on it where it was just black screen with text any pictures which there was very few off was basically primitive

the images that you did get which where limited not on many screens only a few where made up like i suppose you could describe space invaders

what might narrow it down is any text games like this where the words you typed where american so replace tap with faucet

[Gopher of Pern]

issulrative basically just a small text picture

Oh, you mean illustrative.

It's not just the spelling. Anyone can get spelling wrong. Your sentences often do not make any sense whatsoever, and require alot of effort on the reader's part to parse. Punctuation, grammer and spelling all help you convey what you want to say. Not knowing how to spell does not excuse mistakes like 'teh' and 'dnt'.

[Deva]

Parsed them for everyone. Tried to keep the style intact.

Post one:

Spoiler:

Hey all.

I am looking for help to hopefully get the name of the game I played when I was younger. I was about 10, so about 1990-1997. I have tried to find it before, but with no luck.

Here are the details I remember:

1. It was on the Atari ST.
2. It was a text-based game with, as I recall, limited graphics on some screens, but not all.
3. It was Americanized, i.e., the things you have to type were the American versions of words. For example, I would say "tap", but it would want "faucet".

Now, the game details I remember:

4. I think you started in your bedroom. It could be the kitchen or living room, however.
5. I think you would go west to the living room or bedroom.
6. You would then go north and be in hallway with a door to the north and the bathroom to the west.
7. The door could be only opened with the command “open sesame”.
8. In the bathroom, I think you had to find an umbrella, and then turn on the faucet (tap) to get an object.
9. After you go back to the hallway and go out the door, you’re outside. There is a curtain to the north, and you had to use a certain command to get past the ghost. I think the ghost was one of the few screens you got an image on.
10. The details are getting sketchy now. I think there was some sort of sewer to the east, and it was dark. You could easily get lost in it.

Post two:

Spoiler:

It’s not Hillsfar . I’ll try posting with the template later. I’m also trying to get more information from my family member (who also played it) to have a better chance to get the title.

Post three:

Spoiler:

(Deva Note: Placed the template alongside the text.)

Background: I played it at home (technically. I was pretty young. My parents did the typing for my brother and me. We just tried to think of ideas). We played it around 1990-1995. I remember it for two reasons: you had to open the first door you came to with “open sesame”, and it used Americanized words (such as requiring "faucet" instead of "tap"). And also that it was the only game we never completed.
System: Atari ST.
Year: Late 80s to early 90s. It could have been ported from ZX Spectrum or similar systems.
Perspective: Illustrative text adventure. Well, more of a text adventure with limited graphics.
Art style: None, but we never completed the game. I think there was an illustration on the game’s opening similar to "Don’t Bank on It".
Environment: You start off in a house. Specifically, the bedroom. From there, I think you go west to the living room. Then, you definitely go north to the hallway, where the door you have to say "open sesame" is located. Next, go west to the bathroom, which has the faucet (not the tap) you have to open. After that, you go back east then north. I think you’re in a garden now. You can go north, and there is a curtain. If you didn’t use the right command, an illustrated ghost would appear. Go east, and there was something here I can’t remember. Then, I think you go down steps that take you into a sewer, cavern, tunnels, or something like that. Go through the sewers. (Once, we made it through by luck. The sewers were dark, and we never found a light or a torch, so we couldn’t see where we were.) We came out in a garden, which possibly had a maze.
Mood: We think the game had something to do with Darklands or Badlands, and that the person you’re playing possibly had amnesia or was drunk. He woke up with no memory and couldn’t remember where he was or what he was doing the previous day.
Genre: Text adventure.
Gameplay: You would type a command to search or do things. These commands were mostly American words, instead of the British words that I would use.

I think the first room had a bookcase in it and a window you could look out. Also, a few posts above this has some other details about the game I can remember.

Post four:

Spoiler:

That was made using the template. If the bold is a problem, someone should update the template.

Post five:

Spoiler:

I’m dyslexic . Why do people feel that spelling is so important? Most people only use the first and last letter when reading. Before anyone suggests a spell checker, it does not always know what I am trying to type. And if I don’t know how to spell in the first place, how can I pick the word from the suggestions?

Post six:

Spoiler:

issulrative (Deva Note: Illustrative) basically means just a small text picture.

I’ll check the games above later today, but I don’t think it is them because it was more like "Don’t Bank on It". It was just a black screen with text. Any pictures (which there were very few of) were basically primitive.

There were a limited number of images. Only a few could be described as similar to Space Invaders.

What might narrow it down from other text games like this is that the words you typed were American. For example, replace "tap" with "faucet".
examplevisualattachment.jpg

Is everyone satisfied with this?

Could not discover the name of the game, unfortunately. Has played few text adventure games. Cannot locate much information about any given game now. Tried Google Image searches for the beginnings of some games. Yielded nothing useful.

[ConMan]

issulrative basically just a small text picture

Do you mean ASCII art? In other words, were the images made up of characters? Or were they made up of big, blocky pixels? Did they show up as part of a description, or was there a separate area for the picture?

[ConMan]

Also,

Gameplay: You would type a command to search or do things. These commands were mostly American words, instead of the British words that I would use.

How "clever" was the interpreter? Did you have to use *exactly* the right combination of words? Were you limited to "<verb> <noun>"-type instructions or could you type "go north then get key then use key to unlock door"-type ones?

[andrewcrawford]

issulrative basically just a small text picture

Oh, you mean illustrative.

It's not just the spelling. Anyone can get spelling wrong. Your sentences often do not make any sense whatsoever, and require alot of effort on the reader's part to parse. Punctuation, grammer and spelling all help you convey what you want to say. Not knowing how to spell does not excuse mistakes like 'teh' and 'dnt'.

i know my English is poor and it down to dsylexica it doesn't just affect spelling, dnt is just because that how i type it ill try make sure i type it do not in the future, teh is down to the dsylexica it how i see it and not all the times do i notice i have typed it wrong, even just i spell jsut ive asked expects why all they say is it how the brain process it and to me jsut is right every time i read it so it hard to spot the mistakes even with spell checkers

issulrative basically just a small text picture

Do you mean ASCII art? In other words, were the images made up of characters? Or were they made up of big, blocky pixels? Did they show up as part of a description, or was there a separate area for the picture?

they where made up of blocky pixels they where in separate area for the picture

Also,

Gameplay: You would type a command to search or do things. These commands were mostly American words, instead of the British words that I would use.

How "clever" was the interpreter? Did you have to use *exactly* the right combination of words? Were you limited to "<verb> <noun>"-type instructions or could you type "go north then get key then use key to unlock door"-type ones?

i will need to get back to you on this one, i know you had to use a exact combination of words if you used ones slightly different it would not work, like for example i think it was open umbrella, then turn faucet. i fairly sure you could only type one command so say go north, then you had to type get key ill need to check with one of my family member see if they remember

would it be easier if i got my brother to come on and post the information as i can explain to him what i mean and he can write it in clear English with few to no spelling mistakes

Merged your posts - please don't double-post (or in this case, quadruple-post). Thanks, Felstaff.