Very Old Online Games and their Communities

wourme · January 26, 2021, 4:56pm

I see Burger Joint in there.

OneSecondBefore · January 26, 2021, 4:58pm

I had to feature Burger Joint, it was my favorite ZZT game back in the day!

GlamGrimfire · January 26, 2021, 9:57pm

would love to see you guys do one on the sheer amount of player msde stuff you can find uninhabited on graalonline

OneSecondBefore · February 9, 2021, 3:13pm

Preserving Worlds is out now!!

Right now, Means TV subscribers can watch the whole series, as well as my feature film Sarasota Half in Dream. Later today they’re also putting up some Preserving Worlds “Bonus Expeditions” we made, where we returned to each game we covered and just kinda goofed around and explored.

I believe at midnight tonight they’ll be making Preserving Worlds publicly accessible, even to non-subcribers. The bonus expeditions will be subscriber-only indefinitely.

wourme · February 9, 2021, 5:55pm

I think that hour of bonus ZZT content is going to drive me to subscribe, though I typically do not subscribe to streaming services.

OneSecondBefore · February 9, 2021, 6:04pm

It’s a very lightly edited, improvised thing where cocreator Mitchell and I use the Museum of ZZT to find and play random different games and crack jokes. I also used it as an excuse to engage in some light library instruction, evaluating the Museum of ZZT as a very solid example of a hobbyist digital repository! I think it’s a fun video.

wourme · February 9, 2021, 10:11pm

I watched both ZZT segments. They are good.

I happened to look at the ZZT Discord just now and there was a discussion a few minutes ago about how the Frogware ZZT “magazines” (one of which you pulled up) look like parodies but someone has found one of the games you could get by e-mail.

Also, Merbotia was one of the first ZZT games I ever played. (I think Escape from Planet Red by Barney9651 was actually the first.)

I haven’t personally kept up with new ZZT creations since maybe 1999. One day I need to catch up a little.

I’m glad Flimsy Parkins was specifically mentioned. That’s the same person who made the Castle ZZT site. I once had a very odd e-mail exchange with him that I now wish I had kept up. (I used to get nervous talking with people even when it was just by e-mail.)

OneSecondBefore · February 10, 2021, 3:09am

Thanks wourme! Those Frogware ZZT magazines really befuddled me. They were self-critical to the point of parody, but they had some ineffable quality that convinced me they were real. Look at the way they reviewed their own game on their own demo disk!

OneSecondBefore · February 10, 2021, 3:17am

Also, quick self-correction, the series is unlocked for the public at: 2021-02-10T14:00:00Z

OneSecondBefore · February 10, 2021, 4:16am

One more post cuz I haven’t shared it here. Check out this website for the series that I spent my winter holiday making!

I wanted to do a sort of retro Geocities pastiche. The thing that made it difficult was coding it responsively so it’d look good on mobile. I did it by hand like a fool, but I had fun!

I tried to include a lot of useful resources about each game, to help people get started with them if they’re curious.

HOBO · February 10, 2021, 4:39am

Oh this fucking rocks

Father.Torque · February 11, 2021, 12:24am

That Uru list is a treasure

Sakurina · February 11, 2021, 1:54am

I just finished watching this! I knew nothing about most of these games, so I feel like I learned a lot!

WorldsChat really reminds me a lot of Paradigm-X from Soul Hackers in a lot of ways, it has the same spooky mid-90s virtual space vibe going on.

HOBO · February 11, 2021, 2:05am

She seemed confused yet fascinated and also kept asking “did you do that” every 30 seconds and I just kept going no, I only did the bits you can’t see right now and it’s going to stay that way probably, but her son’s a celeb now so who can blame her for being a bit overxcited

Brooks · February 11, 2021, 2:18am

somehow i knew my worldschat episode would cast a long shadow

Sakurina · February 16, 2021, 9:31pm

I just saw this get posted and thought there was enough overlap with the themes of Preserving Worlds to warrant posting it here, while also kind of being the exact opposite of the games on the show:

Seeing this also made me wonder what’s up with Ulillillia’s game… I hope he’s doing okay.

Quick_Shot_II_Turbo · February 28, 2021, 12:37pm

Just saw the trailer for Preserving Worlds (via) and was like “Yeah, this is some SB stuff, better share it here!”

And of course it’s actually co-created by someone off here.

Looks super-nice!

OneSecondBefore · September 15, 2021, 4:48pm

I might be doing research for more episodes of this… Nothing official! If anyone has any tips or suggestions for good subjects or guests then let me know!

Also, I am seeking the following, if anyone has any advice:

Someone who can speak knowledgeably about ROM hacking, its history, and its current community.
Examples of tiny indie MMOs/online virtual spaces made by only one or a few people. Bonus points if it’s hobbyist stuff.
Examples of MMOs / online virtual worlds that are utopian or radically open in some sense, platforms that are trying to do something brand new with the concept of a virtual world.

AutomaticTiger · September 15, 2021, 5:19pm

You ever looked into A Tale in the Desert? It’s a non violent MMO about building and crafting, and social dynamics. I have no idea how big the game’s devs are, and it’s competitive, but it’s a super unique weird mmo, or at least it was when I messed with it in 2003.

AutomaticTiger · September 15, 2021, 5:27pm

There’s also The Endless Forrest which is an MMO about…deer? In a forest?