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 =)