Ken's book on Sierra

[DeadPoolX]

Well, Wolfenstein 3D came out in 1992, and Doom 1 in 1993. I didn't have access to the internet until 1995, and I'd given up on Wolf3D and Doom long before then.

I sometimes forget that I was online earlier than most people, having first gone online in 1991. As for cheat codes, I think they were also written in many gaming magazines, but you probably didn't buy or subscribe to those like I did.

Is it worthwhile to play them (even in god mode), just to find out what happen at the end?

Probably not. They'd feel so outdated and limiting that it'd probably be frustrating. Also, Wolf 3D is one of the very few games I've ever felt some degree of motion sickness in because the movement is too smooth. It feels like I'm skating around.

Each level is maze-like, so you don't know where you've explored and where you haven't. It consists of running around to avoid being shot (and being shot anyway), shooting randomly (and hitting some soldiers accidentally), and basically not having a clue where you are or where you need to get to. No wonder I gave up on this game.

Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

The levels aren't all that big and there are maps freely available online. Sure, there's no auto-mapping function, but lots of genres didn't bother with that (including adventure games) for years.

I don't know how or why you'd run around "shooting randomly" in a game like Wolf 3D. There's no looking up or down and absolutely no verticality, so all you need to do is aim at enemy soldiers (and there are never that many on-screen at any one time) who're basically right in front of you. You don't even need to aim all that well as enemies had a fairly generous hit box.

As for "real gamers don't cheat!!!11oneone" and similar asshattery -- life's too short to pay attention to fools. It's your game, so play it however you like to play it. If some online schmuck doesn't like it, too bad! *nods*

I don't listen to them; however, the real danger is that many developers DO listen. Unfortunately, these idiots are the loudest, so developers think these screaming morons represent their gaming audience. Sometimes I really, really hate gamers.

[Rath Darkblade]

As for "real gamers don't cheat!!!11oneone" and similar asshattery -- life's too short to pay attention to fools. It's your game, so play it however you like to play it. If some online schmuck doesn't like it, too bad! *nods*

I don't listen to them; however, the real danger is that many developers DO listen. Unfortunately, these idiots are the loudest, so developers think these screaming morons represent their gaming audience. Sometimes I really, really hate gamers.

Really? If screaming morons are your gaming audience, maybe it's time you got out of the gaming business.

Which developers are those? I'm just curious, so I know which ones to avoid.

I've been on some gaming forums (e.g. the one belonging to Creative Assembly, who make the Total War games), and I've seen some pretty mean asshattery -- for instance, people getting upset because the Roman soldiers had the wrong type of sandals and similar nitpickery. By far the worst were the ones that not only did that, but threatened physical harm to the developers or said they hoped the developers lose their job over such a 'blunder'. Er ... I'm not a lawyer, but isn't threatening someone with physical harm -- well, illegal?

[DeadPoolX]

Really? If screaming morons are your gaming audience, maybe it's time you got out of the gaming business.

I imagine roughly 90% of developers (and publishers) would be out of business if they followed your advice. For the record, I tend to agree with you, but at the end of the day, it's the sales figures that matter, not who's screaming at whom.

Which developers are those? I'm just curious, so I know which ones to avoid.

Way too many to list. Seriously, you can find this in just about every genre, although admittedly some genres attract a more toxic fanbase than others. In my experience, the worst people you can find is in any competitive online game.

I've been on some gaming forums (e.g. the one belonging to Creative Assembly, who make the Total War games), and I've seen some pretty mean asshattery -- for instance, people getting upset because the Roman soldiers had the wrong type of sandals and similar nitpickery.

Gamers tend to be some of the most entitled, self-absorbed, and overall nastiest group of people around.

And yeah, I know everyone here technically counts as a gamer, but we're all probably considered "filthy casuals." The dumbest thing about that is the "hardcore elite" (which is laughably stupid, but something I've really seen written) can't even agree on what defines "casual." Some claim it's the genre of games you play, while others reference the frequency in which you play or what platforms you play on.

This goes hand-in-hand with gamers DEMANDING the inclusion of achievements in games. A common post in game forums is "achievements or no buy!" and I've read posts that say "there's no point to playing a game without achievements." For some reason, this group needs achievements to play a game, which makes me wonder: do they even enjoy whatever game they're playing? If you require an external reward to do something that should be recreational entertainment, then maybe you should do something else.

It's not surprising that this group of morons make up the toxic fanbases (the majority of which tend to be sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and anti-Semitic) that I mentioned before.

By far the worst were the ones that not only did that, but threatened physical harm to the developers or said they hoped the developers lose their job over such a 'blunder'. Er ... I'm not a lawyer, but isn't threatening someone with physical harm -- well, illegal?

Threatening someone is actually considered assault, which is illegal. A lack of maturity and the belief that they're safe from any sort of reprisal makes asshats brave on the Internet.

The funny thing is that considering most of the harassment occurs on social media, like Facebook, they're not "safe" at all since you use your real name on there. Even if you don't use your real name somewhere, you can still be tracked down by your IP address and through your ISP. So not only are these losers actually cowards (because they're only tough behind a screen), they're idiots as well!

[Rath Darkblade]

Sigh. It's not just "hard-core" gamers, either; I seem to remember one forum I moderated, years ago, where a person joined the forum simply to taunt some of the ladies and threaten them with rape. I immediately banned him, but he returned under a different IP address. I banned that one, and he returned with his "mates" and continued his immature asshattery. I then lost patience and reported him to the board owners (Ezboard, I think), who banned them all permanently.

It all seems to come down to arrogance, a quality which these "hard-core" people never seem to lack, unfortunately.

It sounds like this Christmas carol is fitting for them:

(to the tune of "Angels we have heard on high")
Angels, I have heard you sing:
I'm the best at everything.
If you won't admit to it,
I don't really give a s***.

Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria,
Everybody hails me.
Glo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria,
I'm the best there can be.

[Tawmis]

The complete lack of peripheral vision is a major detriment in FPS games. Some people suggest to increase your field-of-view (FOV) to compensate, but I experience a "fish bowl" effect if I bump up my FOV too high.

It's been way too long since I played DooM - but I thought I remember his face (down in the ammo area) - his eyes would look left or right if he was being shot from there?
Or maybe his eyes just moved around randomly?
Or maybe I was always being shot from every side.

[Tawmis]

Article about Ken's book - https://www.wired.com/story/sierra-onli ... ew-memoir/

Ken also posted that the Audio book should now be available as well. I see it on Amazon. I am curious if anyone got this - is it Ken reading his own book or was it some professional that was hired?

[Collector]

Someone else.

[Tawmis]

Someone else.

Ah, bummer. Would have picked it up there too if it was him.

[Collector]

[Rath Darkblade]

My apologies, but I'd never heard of Josh Horowitz or his work. Is he good?

Tawm, not every author has either the time, inclination, or vocal ability to narrate his own books. Voice work is hard -- heck, I don't need to tell you that, I'm sure you know! But to give just one example, I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, but not one of his audiobooks is narrated by him. Quite a few are narrated by Stephen Briggs, a very talented stage actor and voice actor. Some are narrated by the actors Tony Robinson (Blackadder, Time Team, The Worst Jobs in History) or Nigel Planer (The Young Ones, Filthy Rich & Catflap, Wicked, Chicago etc.) -- so ...

I've tried doing some narration myself, and I've had some positive feedback on Vimeo. </cheap plug, sorry>

[Tawmis]

My apologies, but I'd never heard of Josh Horowitz or his work. Is he good?

Tawm, not every author has either the time, inclination, or vocal ability to narrate his own books. Voice work is hard -- heck, I don't need to tell you that, I'm sure you know! But to give just one example, I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, but not one of his audiobooks is narrated by him. Quite a few are narrated by Stephen Briggs, a very talented stage actor and voice actor. Some are narrated by the actors Tony Robinson (Blackadder, Time Team, The Worst Jobs in History) or Nigel Planer (The Young Ones, Filthy Rich & Catflap, Wicked, Chicago etc.) -- so ...

I've tried doing some narration myself, and I've had some positive feedback on Vimeo. </cheap plug, sorry>

I get vocal work is difficult - had my own share of it.
But it's not like Ken would have to do different voices for different characters. He's just reading the history of Sierra.
I assumed it wasn't him (because he seemed happy to finally be done and get it off his plate) - but figured I'd ask, because it would have been cool to not only have read about it - but hear him directly - speaking about it.

[Tawmis]

Going through some of my saved stuff - and had this video of Ken showing off an early version of his book.