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Richard Bartle Awarded the GDC First Penguin Award
TerraNova has the story that MUD1 co-designer Richard Bartle has been awarded the annual First Penguin Award. The award is given for exhibiting "the courage and bravery of a developer who is the first to test the proverbial waters, in the face of uncertainty of success or failure. Receiving a 'penguin' serves as an inspiration and lesson to the community."
I hope Darl and his goons aren't reading this. If so, don't you have some paperwork or hearing to worry about?
Darl McBride is massacred to small fragments by your slash
Darl McBride is massacred to small fragments by your slash
Darl McBride is massacred to small fragments by your slash
Darl McBride is dead! R.I.P.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
They are really fun too, almost as addicting as an mmo, but sometimes even more!
Anybody know of some good ones? Post them here!
Your skill in reading has increased by one point!
I did a wee bit of coding and a whole lot of playing there, over a few years.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Tell me again how this carries any credibility? The only thing missing was Roland.
I wouldn't have got a job if I didn't need money for bandwidth.
This is not the first annual, nor is it the "Penguin Award". It is the First Penguin award and this is the fifth time it will be given out:
http://www.igda.org/awards/archive_penguin.htm
http://www.igda.org/awards/penguin.htm
Anm
n/t
Not all time spent on things like games would otherwise be spent working.
There is, after all, this thing called recreation. Assuming that you are defined by what work you do is a foolish and dangerous thing.
That being said, I think I'm going out for the day.
Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
In the early 80s, Mulit-Trek or just MTrek (a real-time multi-player, player-kill space combat simulator-not a rpg)was created by Tim Wisseman(VGA Planets) and Chuck L. Peterson. Chuck eventually took completely over the game administration. Over the decades, tens of thousands of people have played this game. In 2001, the game was taken offline so Chuck could have more time to pursue his career in gaming design, and is now part of a large gaming firm. In 2003, several of the players actually re-wrote the game from scratch and have created a nearly identical clone of the original version, called JTrek(for JAVA, what the game is written in). The only major differences are much improved connectivity and better online support. If you are looking for a new game and don't want to have to pay anything for it, I promise you will find JTrek very entertaining. There are currently 22 classes of ships with unique characteristics and weapons you can choose from, to do battle with other players and 4 massive quadrants to explore in a fully interactive 3-D environment. http://mtrek.game-host.org or you can TELNET mtrek.game-host.org port-1701
no.
What about the guys that made the highly successful MMOGs before his came out? MTrek? Nettrek? ect..Not that _he_ isn't deserving, but there are others who are much more deserving of an award; rue visionaries who made the Online Multi-Player Game thing happen when there was nothing else like it- not some guy that just happened to be one of the first 500 or so to jump on a new bandwagon. :P
no.
You're right, mtrek is a great game. It's kind of strange because it doesn't follow physics very well... a ship can change speed or instantly (there's no momentum)... things like that. But that seems to make gameplay far more exciting. I've played s&mtrek (which has momentum) but I didn't find it very fun.
It takes a while to get good at mtrek, but that's what makes it such a great game. People are always coming up with new ways to kill their opponents.
I've played JTrek for a while. I have to say, its definitely one of the better MUDs. A lot of the rpg-style MUDs get boring when you play them for any extended period of time. and you 'advance' your status through hour upon hour of repititious slaying of mindless mobs.
Jtrek is different. Your "char" never becomes more powerful via leveling, rather you become better at playing.. the same way you become better at an arcade game like mortal kombat. very interesting.
mtrek and gameplay is a bit like radio plays vs TV, by concentrating on the game play with a text interface it actually heightens the sense of combat in space (I'm thinking of the famous Orson Welles radio play of "War of the Worlds" that caused a panic in the 1930s :) ... its a great game for the technically minded because you create keymaps (macros) of sequences of commands, which can help you get an advantage over an opponent, as well as letting you lay out the command keys of your ships as you like.
The game play of mtrek can get pretty intense even though it's "just text". One of my favorite aspects has always been the competitive nature, so it was a sad 'day' for me when the server was pulled. Man, I'm glad it's 'back'!
:)
I think I'll go play for a bit
-- Play JTrek @ http://mtrek.game-host.org/
For anyone interested, here's a url with screenshots, so you can see what the game looks like these days. http://mtrek.game-host.org/screenshots.php/
no.
I'll take this rare opportunity to make an on-topic shameless plug of my MUD of choice, along with some explanation as to why it should be yours.
I will forego explaining all of the basics. Suffice to say that Carrion Fields has all of the things you would expect from a MUD that has prospered for over ten years.
Some highlights that should be important to players thinking about trying another MUD:
- We're a roleplaying MUD. The only OOC channel in the game is used for answering questions for new players at the lowest of levels. After that, everything is designed to be immersive and In Character- no distracting chatter about who's going to win the Super Bowl. We host a full pantheon of detailed religions, a number of cabals (including one based on building our history and providing events for top-notch roleplay), and have a varied and unique series of rewards. A staff of 30+ Immortals maintains the environment and keeps everyone roleplaying with frequent quests and interactions. And you can make your mark- our in-game libraries are filled with page after page of player-authored contributions and historic tributes.
- We're a PK MUD. Not only do we feature a huge array of abilities, but each class plays in a unique manner. That Maran high-elven sword/dagger specialist who employs Incarnadine Wave and Flow of Shadows is going to be so different from that Scion fire giant mace/axe specialist who uses Crashing of Waves and Trapping Beneath Thunder, that you will probably forget they are both members of the warrior guild. And yet, we religiously adjust and re-adjust things so that the game balance stays tightly focused, and every dog can and does have their day. New players always ask what is the "best" character to play. Old players know there is no answer.
- We have a veteran playerbase. Being up since 1994 means that many of those 100+ people you see in the evenings are lightning-quick killers who can change gears and lecture you on the finer points of the history of law enforcement in Galadon. Our 24,000+ rooms won't feel so big when you're trying to hide from them, or when one swoops to your rescue.
- We have an equally veteran staff. Professional treatment. Swift and just enforcement of our rules. Fast attention to bugs. Constant development. Top-notch original areas. 1800+ easily indexed helpfiles. Detailed, epic quests rooted deep in our world's history.
- We are 100% free. No 30-day trials. No varying levels of service- we value every rule-abiding player. No gear for dollars. No hidden fees. We won't bribe or force you to vote for us on Top Mud Sites. Everyone plays on a level field- if that guy just beat you down, or got picked to be Captain of the BattleRagers over you, it's because he's better, and not because he had an extra $50 to spend or because he's an "Iridium" member.
- We're tough. Not tough as in "It takes 500 hours of mashing the same two kinds of goblins to build a character who is any good at anything." Tough as in our areas and rules encourage fierce competition. Many items exist in finite numbers, and if you want that shiny sword over there, you might just have to rip it out of another player's cold, dead hands. Tough as in the mind-hurting twists and puzzles of Kteng's Laboratory or Nyathl Ikalith, the Silent Tower, some of which have been in for years without any player fully unlocking the innermost secrets. Tough as in you won't be fighting NPCs who are just skill-less tackling dummies outside of the first few newbie areas. Tough as in we show cheaters the door. Tough as in you'll look up from your screen, realize you've been with us for a year, and still be baffled at all the facets of the game you haven't experienced or mastered yet. Tough as in two seconds to think is often one more than you had.
- Every character starts off on the same footing. We're 100% free to play, and we mean it. You won't end up competing against other characters