Gaming under DOS and Win95
This morning, I started thinking about how I first got into programming. Indeed, I think the earliest beginnings were from computer games. First, we had a computer that was amazingly fast for the time, an Intel 486DX 33MHz with 16 MB RAM and a 500 MB HDD. We had a 2x CD-ROM and a 3.5″ floppy drive, and we had DOS games from the Learning Company on disk, and later, some CD-ROM games like demos, “55 Ultimate Games” packs, and Disney’s Aladdin.
Connecting to the web was much different than it is today. I connected to Prodigy on our 14.4 Kbps dial-up modem and played online puzzle games. I was addicted. Shortly after upgrading from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95, I started playing games downloaded from AOL Games, which offered lots of shareware and demos. I never actually bought the full versions of games. Since I didn’t have any money, the shareware versions were fine. I’d play them over and over again. Near Christmas, they released special “Xmas Edition” expansions to many of the games, and I was able to game even more.
At some point, I decided that I really wanted to make my own game. I researched thoroughly how to do it. Most methods required expensive development packages like Microsoft Visual Basic, Visual C++, or Visual Studio. I tried lots of free compilers, read lots and lots of tutorials, tried game creators like “Klik & Play” and the Games Factory. I tried BASIC, including Microsoft’s and other companies’, and eventually compiled a few things for QBasic and started a website I called Gengar56 Studios, which eventually became Gengar Studios, hosted on Homestead.
There’s a lot more where that came from. I never really realized how obsessed I was. I’ve never really talked about this, either. I don’t think anyone’s really interested. But at least I can get it written down here.
Hey, I’m interested. Only upon reflection do we realize how we were in the “old days’ and what got us to where we are today.
Dude are you kidding me? This reminds me of how I started programming. I saw this fascinating 3D game wolfenstein 3D (the old,..old 1992 version) that my cousin was playing, and I was hooked. After playing through the game a bajillion times (this was my first video game) on a 122 mghz Pentium I, 24 MB ram, 900 MB HDD and 4x CDrom (windows 95), I had to learn how it all worked.
And then I discovered you could modify the game using a weird, very weird language called “C”. It was amazing fun hacking the game by adding items, making maps, and other random things. Ahh…the good ole days of the DOS Borland turbo C++ IDE.
I started a company as well, called Gamedia Studios. I “ran” it for about four years, but I never really finished any games except for this project I did for 7th grade.
Game programming was enormously fun.
I didn’t remember you playing games on the computer that much, or I would’ve stopped you! Well, I suppose it is a good thing I didn’t.
You asked to buy the Cybiko. We let you because you said you can program it and learn stuff. I remember testing out a few games you programmed on there.
Here I thought you were working on some complex math and it was all only games……:)
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