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Player 4 Stage 2: "Why in the world would anyone want a computer at home?"
Why? Even though home PCs are outclassed graphically by home console units at this stage, thier games are already much more intelligent. VisiCalc may drive sales of computers at the office, but there are really only two reason to get one at home: word processing, and...
Tomorrow, the World!
Although online gaming only really starts to explode into the mainstream around the mid '90s, it has its start practically at the same time as Zork. In 1979 at Essex University in England, Roy Trubshaw writes the very first MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), created on that pantheon of computer game platforms, the PDP-10. Starting out as a simple chain of connected rooms, Trubshaw refines the program until he has a working version he calls MUD. It is a text-based multi-user world into which people can login and have limited interaction with an item database and use a rudimentary chat system. 20 rooms are present, 
and there are 10 commands available. When Trubshaw leaves Essex, development of the program falls to Richard Bartle, who refines the gameplay on top of the MUDDL (MUD Definition Language) architecture created by his colleague. The play aspects of the game are broadened to include player ob
jectives, point scoring and better interaction and communication between players...along with a total of 400 rooms. When Essex is connected up to the ARPAnet in 1980, 'externals' from the US begin to augment the local players in the environment. The University has to limit the hours that players can access the game to reduce load on the now swamped PDP-10 .
Using the original code, new MUDs are created by other students from Essex and around the world. The concept evolves from MUDs to MOOs to MUCKs to MUSHs, each incorporating new options and abilities for the growing player base. Multi-User Dungeons become a huge attraction for students on networked educational computer systems, and prove to the world that online gaming will be a continuing and growing force in the coming years. MUD itself is licensed to CompuServe and is still running there, making it the longest lasting Multi-User Dungeon environment ever.
Multimedia:
Images
External Links:
University of Essex - www.essex.ac.uk
Richard Bartle: Entry Point - www.mud.co.uk/richard
The Wheel of Time MUD - telnet://wotmud.org:2222
Let there be graphics
Straight text doesn't placate computer gamers for long, however. In 1980, On-Line Systems is founded by Ken and Roberta Williams. Operating out of their house in Los Angeles, their first game is Mystery House for the Apple II, the first computer game to combine text with graphics. In an Agatha Christie-like mystery, the player must roam a house finding treasure and avoiding the deadly fates of the other occupants. The parser is vastly below the standard set by Infocom's Zork, and the graphics are rough outlines created by Roberta on a tablet using metal rods to shape the images. Despite this, the game is a sensation. Priced at US$24.95, the Williams sell 11,000 copies inside the first year, grossing nearly 300,000 dollars for the new company.
Moving up north to Coarsegold, California, the couple change their company name to Sierra On-Line and produce 20 more games for the Apple II, even recieving correspondence from Steve Wozniak on the benefits of entertainment programs for the increasingly popular computer. In 1983, IBM asks Sierra to produce a game to show off the graphical capabilities of a new computer they are skewing towards the gaming market, the PCjr. Using a provided 
prototype system, Roberta designs the next evolution of the graphical adventure, allowing the player's onscreen alter-ego to walk around the landscape in astounding 16-colour CGA psuedo-3D graphics. With a team of six programmers and a development cost of $700,000, King's Quest is released in 1984. Players control Sir Graham , who is charged by King Edward to search the kingdom of Daventry for three treasures. While the PCjr tanks in spectacular fashion, Sierra has a major hit on their hands. Ported to more popular systems, King's Quest sells over 2.7 million copies, and is followed by eight sequels.
In 1986, early Sierra employees Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, aka The Two Guys from Andromeda, approach Ken Williams with the idea of creating a humorous science-fiction adventure game . Unconvinced of the commercial viability of the project, Williams says no. But they go ahead and develop a four room game around the premise during their spare time, and when Williams sees the demo he gives Murphy and Crow the okay to procede. Released that year, Space Quest is another huge hit for Sierra, and it spawns six follow-ups. Packed full of SF
references on everything from Douglas Adams' book series 
The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy to actual alien crash sites, the series follows the exploits of space janitor Roger Wilco, and his uncanny ability to stumble into, and then unravel, the galaxy domination plans of arch-villian Vorhaul Sludge (who makes his first physical appearance in the second installment). Space Quest 7 is announced, complete with a demo avi movie, for 1998, but it is eventually cancelled by Sierra. Incensed by Sierra's abandonment of one of computer gaming's most beloved characters, fans create the Save Space Quest 7 webpage to attempt to gain Wilco a reprieve.
1987 sees release of the controversial Leisure Suit Larry, by Al Lowe. Based on a 1982 text-only adventure game called Softporn by Chuck Benson (Gary Thompson later develops his own improved version of the program) , the goal of the game is to get the sleazy title character into bed with three different women. The game is a particular hit with bored male office workers, and it introduces the "Boss" key, which instantly clears the screen of any evidence of the game in case the manager walks by. Of course, many sequels ensue. With Larry a
nd other additions to the Quest series of games including Police Quest, created by real-life LAPD detective Jim Walls, Sierra retains its lock on the graphic adventure market until challenged by George Lucas' Lucasfilm computer games division (later re-named LucasArts), with the 1987 release of their first in-house produced game, the graphic adventure Maniac Mansion. Along with their Monkey Island series and the Indiana Jones graphic adventures, LucasArts adventure games eshew the verb-noun command parser for a slick point-and-click user interface. While Sierra succeeds in revamping their games to take advantage of this new technique, they lose their near-monopoly on the graphic adventure market. After a byzantine series of mergers and aquisitions, Sierra ends up aquired by video game giant Activision.
Multimedia:
Images
Video
Mystery House - On-Line Systems 1980| PCjr. Ad - IBM 1983
King's Quest - Sierra On-Line 1984/1987
Space Quest III - Sierra 1989
Audio
sierra_mmtheme.mp3 - Maniac Mansion themeindy.wav - Indiana Jones audio clip
External Links:
Sierra On-line - www.activision.com
Save Space Quest 7 - www.wiw.org/~jess/savesq7.html
Softporn Adventure - Online version of the game
LucasArts - www.lucasarts.com
Acknowledgements: Some images and information came from the following sources, in no particular order:
(Inert links are kept for historical purposes)
Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revolution, by Steven Levy - www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/other-books/hackers
Roger Wilco's Virtual Broomcloset - www.wiw.org/~jess/roger.html
The Human Element - Stage Select - www.stageselect.com/News/NewsViewer.aspx?newsid=140
The Origin of the Ultimate CRPG
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Texas, 1977. While attending Clear Creek High School in Houston, 15 year old Richard Garriott is writing dungeon games produced on a teletype machine at the school and getting A's for them from bewildered teachers. In 1979, while working part-time at a local Computerland store, he is exposed to the Apple II and decides to write an Applesoft BASIC game for the platform incorporating elements from his other interests, playing Dungeons & Dragons and reading Tolkein. Calling it Akalabeth, he finishes the program that summer. In the game the player scrolls around a map of ASCII symbols completing quests given by Lord British and battling creatures in black & white outline psuedo-3D dungeons. The game so impresses the manager of the store that he convinces Garriott to offer it for sale. Spending 200 dollars on Ziplock bags and cover sheets, he only sells about eight copies on cassette tape. But one copy makes it all the way to west-coast software company California Pacific, who fly Garriott to California to sign a contract for publishing rights. Releasing the game on 5 1/4" floppies, the game is a big hit, selling 30,000 copies. Dissatisfied with the original cover sheet design, a new one is commissioned by Garriott from aquaintance Denis Loubet, who goes on to provide artwork, both traditional and digital, for every Ultima game up to Ultima IX. All of Garriott's games are credited to "Lord British", a nickname having been created by his fellow students at the University of Oklahoma due to Garriott's use of proper English. Having been born in Cambridge, England probably adds to the effect.
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That fall, Garriott starts classes at the University of Texas. Still living at his parent's house in Houston, he and friend Ken Arnold begin work on another game Garriott calls Ultimatum, also programmed in BASIC. But a board game by Yaquinto, released in 1979, already exists with that name, so they shorten the title to Ultima. It features a tile-based graphics engine, with the same look-down perspective as Akalabeth. Set in the mystical land of Sosaria, our nameless hero must use might and magic to slaughter evil creatures roaming the landscape, gaining experience and hit-points for the ultimate showdown with the big boss...the evil wizard Mondain. When released by California Pacific in 1981, it sells even more than the first game (a re-release is made by Origin in 1986, featuring spruced-up graphics). While working on Ultima II that year, Garriott attends multiple showings of Terry Gilliam's movie Time Bandits, and uses maps and concepts from the film in the design of the game. After a 
falling-out with California Pacific, Garriott signs a deal with Sierra to distribute Ultima II as they're the only company he talks to that agrees to include a cloth map with every game. The second Ultima is released for the Apple II in 1982, with a limited intereaction with NPCs (non-player characters) now possible. The game also marks the beginning of Ultima's move to assembly language, greatly increasing the speed of the games. Deep into his persona as "Lord British", Garriott has taken to appearing at software trade shows in full royal regalia, including crown, cape and medieval sword.
After the release of Ultima II, Garriott drops out of the University of Texas to work on the Ultimas full-time. Porting UII over to the Atari 800 computer for Sierra, Chuck Bueche meets "Lord British" and they becomes friends..and Chuck becomes the character Chuckles the Clown in the Ultima series. When Sierra offers a questionable royalty deal for the release of the PC version of Ultima II, Garriott decides to create his own company to produce and distribute the games. Origin Systems Inc. is founded in 1982 by Richard Garriott, his brother Robert, their father Owen, and Chuck Bueche. That fall the company releases Ultima III , with some major advances over the previous games. A 
multi-party system is introduced, allowing the player to create 4 adventurers to control. The combat system is also revamped, with a zoom-in to the battle, and allowing each character a turn to attack.
Signing a distribution deal with Electronic Arts in 1984, Origin begins work on Ultima IV, the first in the "Avatar" trilogy, which will be a drastic departure from the original trilogy games. It is the first "ethics" based CRPG, requiring the player to answer moral questions, whose answers detirmine their character. Actions taken throughout the game are remembered by the citizens of the world, and one could be refused business at a local shop if one's reputation was 
tarnished enough. Instead of simply roaming the country-side looking for orc ass to kick, the player must seek out the temples of the eight virtues and integrate them into his being. The Apple II version of Ultima IV is released in 1985, and in 1988 Ultima V becomes the final game for that platform as Origin games move exclusively to the PC. 1992 sees the release of Ultima VII, the last game independently produced by Origin, as EA buys the company soon after. Ultima Underworld is another huge departure in the series, being one of the earliest fully graphic 1st person 3D games. It is released in March of 1992, preceeding id Software's 3D makeover of MUSE's Castle Wolfensein by two months. It also features several technological advances over id's product, including the player's ability to look up and down. In 1997, in the middle of the multiplayer gaming explosion, the company releases two years 
of work with Ultima Online, the largest Internet gaming system yet concieved. Here players can move about the Ultima universe with real-life human counterparts, joining guilds and participating in multi-character quests assigned by "Lord British" himself. There are, however, several digruntled players who sue Origin in 1998, claiming that the online service has met none of its extravagant promises a year after its creation. The suit is settled in 1999, with EA donating $15,000 dollars to the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation, although not officially admitting to any wrong-doing.
Along with Chris Robert's Wing Commander franchise, the Ultimas give Origin its powerful place in the world of computer gaming until absorbed by EA and eventually dismantled in 2004. Ultima IX is the last in the series, released in 1999, marking 20 years of the long, fruitful reign of Lord British. And as a son of NASA Scientist-Astronaut Owen Garriott, who broke records with his 60 day Skylab 3 mission in 1973 as well as a trip to Spacelab-1 on the space shuttle Columbia in 1983, Richard Garriott chases his own dreams of space, scheduled to become the 6th private citizen to journey into orbit on the International Space Station in the fall of 2008.
Multimedia:
Images
Video
Akalabeth - California Pacific 1980
Ultima IV - Origin 1985
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss - Origin 1992
Audio
Ultimabattle.wav - Ultima battle sample
UltimaIIstart.wav - Ultima II opening sound
origin_u3_theme.mp3 - Ultima III Theme
origin_ultimaIVtheme.mp3 - Ultima IV Theme
origin_ultimaVtheme.mp3 - Ultima V Theme
Acknowledgements - Some images and information came from the following sources, in no particular order:
(Inert links are kept for historical purposes)
IGN: Ultima Lawsuit Ends - pc.ign.com/articles/066/066277p1.html
Owen K. Garriott - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
External Links:
Richard Garriott's Space Mission - www.richardinspace.com
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