My top three games that affected me the most are :
1. Adventure on the Atari 2600. The first game that showed me there was more to playing computer games than simply pressing the fire button at the right time. The dragons looked like floating ducks, your character was represented by a single green block and the "sword" looked like this an arrow... but, in the '70's it was soooo cool. Play a cut down version online here.
2. Adventure (zork) played at university on the VAX/VMS system - kind of zork I and II combined into one uber zork !!. The game that simultaneously caused me to fail and then later pass Computing 121. I failed COMP initially because I was OBSESSED with the game and never did any work. I later passed the course with an A (the second time round) because, after failing the COMP course, my account with the university computing system was taken away and I couldnt play anymore. So I went out and bought my first "real" computer (TRS80 Model III) and taught myself to program so I could write my own adventure game. The skills I learned doing that ignited my interest in all things computing and allowed me to get an A in COMP 121 the second time around. Play it online here.
3. DOOM. Having passed computing and eventually a BScDipEd I went into teaching. Early one year a kid brought in DOOM - Now most teachers would frown upon the theme and the obvious violence. I loved it !!! I got a bunch of year 9 kids together and we hooked up some old 486dx33 machines with thin ethernet just so we could play network doom - I told the principal I wanted to "network the computers" for school stuff - but "really" I just wanted to play Doom !!!
Trying to get IPX (and later IP) working on a DOS/windows for workgroups network, mucking around with network cards, black cables, termintors and net.cfg files taught me (and the kids) heaps and heaps and heaps. Eventually we got a real network, linux servers and quake and the whole thing... I now support 6 servers, over 200 workstations and over 700 users, but nothing compared to getting DOOM networked that first time and blowing away the kids with a shot gun!!
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1. Adventure on the Atari 2600. The first game that showed me there was more to playing computer games than simply pressing the fire button at the right time. The dragons looked like floating ducks, your character was represented by a single green block and the "sword" looked like this an arrow ... but, in the '70's it was soooo cool. Play a cut down version online here.
2. Adventure (zork) played at university on the VAX/VMS system - kind of zork I and II combined into one uber zork !!. The game that simultaneously caused me to fail and then later pass Computing 121. I failed COMP initially because I was OBSESSED with the game and never did any work. I later passed the course with an A (the second time round) because, after failing the COMP course, my account with the university computing system was taken away and I couldnt play anymore. So I went out and bought my first "real" computer (TRS80 Model III) and taught myself to program so I could write my own adventure game. The skills I learned doing that ignited my interest in all things computing and allowed me to get an A in COMP 121 the second time around. Play it online here.
3. DOOM. Having passed computing and eventually a BScDipEd I went into teaching. Early one year a kid brought in DOOM - Now most teachers would frown upon the theme and the obvious violence. I loved it !!! I got a bunch of year 9 kids together and we hooked up some old 486dx33 machines with thin ethernet just so we could play network doom - I told the principal I wanted to "network the computers" for school stuff - but "really" I just wanted to play Doom !!! Trying to get IPX (and later IP) working on a DOS/windows for workgroups network, mucking around with network cards, black cables, termintors and net.cfg files taught me (and the kids) heaps and heaps and heaps. Eventually we got a real network, linux servers and quake and the whole thing ... I now support 6 servers, over 200 workstations and over 700 users, but nothing compared to getting DOOM networked that first time and blowing away the kids with a shot gun!!