From Computer RPG to Pinoy CyberPunk 

Recently, I was watching several awesome video game reviews of Dragon Age and  Dragon Age 2 on YouTube. The sound, graphics and gameplay where really spectacular, but the thing that really got me thinking was that the core concept of computer rpg has remained the same in over 30 yrs. or so (after all, the things that made up a detective mystery in the 1940’s wouldn’t probably differ that much to the things that would make up a detective mystery today). RPG or role playing games (and not the proverbial Filipino acronym “Rumaragasang Patay Gutom”) has been around for quite some time. From the diced based boardgames, actual physical re-enactments (the players would dress up as fantasy adventure characters cosplay style) and finally the computer based games being the most popular of them all. So what was it like to play computer rpg back in the 1980’s? What connection does it have to Pinoy Cyberpunk? 

Back then, there were 2 particular RPG’s that had a great big influence on me when I was writing my cyberpunk novel. The first game was “Ultima”.  Those of you who were fortunate enough to play this game or the game series will remember the clunky user interface and awkward if not pitiful computer graphics (by today’s standards) on an Apple2, Commodore 64 or the early versions of the IBM PC. It was fabulous! I would stay up till around 5 in the morning just playing the game.Well, so did my friends. It was so addictive moving your (ehem…) “stick like” player character on screen around something that looked like a crude map and doing battle with other stick like characters that represented monsters or bad guys while obtaining important objects and other stuff to complete your quest. We even shared notes and clues just to help each other out with the gameplay.

 It was the renaissance if not the beginning of the kind of rpg gameplay we currently have today. I played the first 2 Ultima games on my Apple 2plus and finally Ultima 3 on my PC/XT. Ultima 3 was by far the closest (during that time) to the rpg’s we have today where you had to assemble a group or party and go questing just like in Dragon Age. 

Ultima game series copyright by Origin Systems Inc. (images for commentary and educational purpose only)

My friends went on to play Ultima 4 and upwards while I was diverted to another game that stole my attention. It was “Times of Lore” (again by the same company that created Ultima). I played it on a Commodore 64 (with joystick) and compared to the Apple2, the 64 had a dedicated separate graphics chip and sound chip (just like having a high end video card and creative sound card stuck to your PC). The 64 was a very slow loading computer, but once the game was loaded, it was awesome!!! The graphics and sound of “Times of Lore” literally blew me away hehe…

The player characters were cartoon like and so was the map. Combat was fast and the game was represented in overhead view. The music and sound effects (because of the sound chip) were glorious. You had to choose a character ( there were 2 guys and a girl) find a magical power axe (which played like a yoyo during combat) and eliminate this bad dude called the Black Asp in order to save the land. Again, kept me up till 5 AM in the morning. These activities exposed me to using the computers of those times, and they did feature prominently throughout the novel.

Times if Lore copyright Origin Systems Inc.

 (images for commentary and educational purpose only)

I had to learn the operating systems used from Apple DOS to MS DOS and inquisitive by nature, I studied the hardware of each machine just the same. (Much later, I had the chance to add the Commodore Amiga and Apple Mac to my list of tinkered machines.) All this game playing and software/ hardware tinkering coupled with an over exercised imagination led to the creation of my first novel which at that time I classified as Pinoy Cyberpunk.

An excerpt from the book: (Chapter 6 Role Playing Gang)

Jimmy Ortega was hunched over Kristy’s Apple 2 plus, his face in deep concentration. Eenk zap! Eenk zap!... zap! “Yeah”! Jimmy shouted as a smile of satisfaction spread on his face.

    
Joey closed the door and sat beside his friend. “Where the heck are   you?”

  
 “Northwest of Scara Brae,” Jimmy replied.

Note:

Eenk zap! Eenk zap!... zap! Is what you will hear during combat while playing Ultima on an Apple2.

Scara Brae = One of the major locations (town) in the Ultima Games Thanks =)

On Sci-Fi, SteamPunk, TechnoPunk and the just plain PUNK…

Greetings Pips, I’m here once again. Last time, I shared with you my own idea of what Pinoy CyberPunk is and why I called it as such in the first place.Despite its being a sub genre of Sci-Fi with a lot of things in common, they are still not really the same. 

You may be wondering why I am discussing a variety of topics and what do they have to do with Project Pawai?  All of this,played a specific role directly or indirectly in the creation of the novel. 

Another sub genre would be Sci-Fi Fantasy which unfortunately is known to the young generation of today as DOTA. DOTAA and DOTA 2, but in my time (Ehem…) they called it ULTIMA hehehe…  but I’ll reserve that for another post. So, my apologies once again as I try to assign to this sub genres my own special way of defining things.  

   

 Note: Images are from royalty free sources and photo edited by this Punk.

Sci-Fi/Science Fiction = If it ain’t happened yet or the chances of it ever happening is astronomically high, it’s Sci-Fi. (Of course it’s got something to do with Science, Technology, Information Theory or what ever they’re called today.) 

SteamPunk = It’s got nothing to do with Valve. You don’t go there to connect or download games. These are imaginative Sci-Fi stories that are set in the so called “Victorian Age of the Industrial Revolution”. They called a computer back then an Analytical or Difference Engine. a Computer Scientist  as Charles Babbage and a computer programmer as Ada Lovelace.  A very good example would be the movie “Hugo”. If you haven’t seen it, it’s about this street kid who has this inventor’s price possession stashed in his attic-like hideout. The thing was called an “Automaton” which needed a special key to turn it on so it could write a very special document. (It’s an actual robot made out of old school watch parts with a specific hard wired programming to write down word for word a document). Talk about CyberPunk in the 1800’s.

TechnoPunk =  It’s actually a kind of Punk Rock music. Usually used as the soundtrack for CyberPunk movies, TV series and video games.  TechnoPunk has this kind of electronic synthesizer beat oriented way of creating music that is very catchy and blends well with CyberPunk. The Punk band DEVO of the late 70’s to 1980’s was said to be the originator of this kind of Music. Their hit single “Some things never change” which was used as the soundtrack for Neuromancer  is a good example of this. TechnoPunk has also been used to classify Sci-Fi stories that focus on technology in general and not specifically computers. (Some grey areas here again.) 

And finally, the just plain PUNK.  Punk =  Is a form of Rock Music usually called Punk Rock. Although some of them may really have offensive lyrics and messages of defiance towards established social norms and customs, the music is lively to the point of danceable. An example would be Toni Basil’s “Street Beat” and “Micky” (for those of you who can still remember). And who can forget Juan Dela Cruz band, “Teacher’s Enemy No.1” or “Beh Buti Nga” of Pu3ska. Hehehe…the good old days.  Punk, is also used to describe a good for nothing individual – scum of the Earth if you will. An anti-social non-conformist whose ideas are way beyond the boundaries of normal everyday living.

A good example would be the person writing this blog whose (Good looking?) image appears at the rightmost of the image group for this particular post. What puzzles me is if these people are so bad, how come you see them everywhere ( In the Government, media, business, science, technology and even in the streets.) What about the kid who made this social media site that almost everybody is registered to (if you saw the movie you’ll see why they call him a Punk.)  Punk is Good, Punk is Great, cause sadly, it takes a Punk to write CyberPunk!

Thanks again, see ya next time…