today, some obscure sierra on-line & dynamix history that shouldn't be obscure yet is due to how gaming culture developed: Front Page Sports Baseball. this just came in the mail, and i'm so glad to finally have my own copy after playing a demo from a CD-ROM Today! magazine cover disc as a kid.
this dynamix-produced and sierra-published title is weird for a bunch of reasons.
first, it's one of the last few DOS-only games that came out in the mid-90s.
second, it runs in hi-res mode using what i suspect is a blend of software-rendered 3D and 2D sprites that were a holdover from dynamix's 3Space engine used in almost all of dynamix's titles. (pic 2) the animation is crisp, the sprites are beautifully rendered in a very compressed colour palette.
third, the Front Page Sports series were massive hits - outselling other sierra/dynamix titles of the time. but no one talks about it, because sports games often get irritated yawns from gamers.
fourth, this game is fun to play. it's not just an average EA sports-style title. the batting/pitching gameplay is addictive, and the simulation of the players and teams is deep.
and finally, there is - unbelievably - still an active FPS Baseball community still modding and developing rosters for the game. someone maintains a tool that generates websites that lets other people see the outcomes of your baseball games like a late-90s ESPN network site 🤣 https://www.silverbox.com/biorhythm/
@vga256 Great write up! My brother and I played over 20 seasons of FPS Football 96, switching to 98 eventually. I think I have their baseball game but never tried it, definitely going to find the CD and try it out!
@objectinspace I've been thinking about micro transactions for the >get verb in a text game. I bet Hugo could update a text file that could be scanned to initiate a POST call to an sdk of a payment platform. I've never been so drunk with idea of a horrible power that would ruin everything. This must be what Robert Oppenheimer felt.
With kindness and sincerity, this video made me feel great empathy towards my nation's food service workers, and also gave me a rising sense of anxiety edging into the threshold of an outright terror of a flavor I have never tasted before. "Easy.” https://mastodon.social/@hotdogsladies/112254463591200744
@jmac I had a teacher for Assembly at college that would introduce a concept and then smugly conclude with "easy stuff." I'm like dude, I'm taking your class for the fourth time. It ain't that easy.
(He would have been a great co-worker and I wasn't the best student but that momentary bubble of rage when someone tells you something is easy was something.)
So MK1 finally added crossplay. I set up a WB account and connected all my gamer accounts, thinking that this would let me see other people who have also connected their gamer accounts who I am friends with. But this functionality does not exist! All you can do is search for other WB accounts. Am I stupid, or are they stupid? pretty sure it is they who are stupid this time.
@glaskows It was recently put on Steam! I bought it when it was new 25 years ago but never finished. I've played it a couple hours recently and I think it holds up well. Have fun :)
Rolling my eyes at “Previously on #StarTrek Strange New Worlds: GORN GORN GORN. Haha, anyway let’s see what's happening on this idyllic planet with the captain’s gf on it.”
@jmac Ha! Definitely got that X-COM vibe as well, glad I was not the only one. I liked it, but that town everyone was in was straight out of a daytime terror mission. :)
@juliancday I will never forget the ump putting his hands up to tell Sanchez he didn't need to run toward home and then counting the run. Or the errors or Dyson trying a (friendly) slap on the rear of Tulo and Tulo taking offense. And I'll never forget, of course, what Jose did. It is all still the craziest thing I've ever seen in sports and probably always will be.
#BarrenPlanet is released today! This turn-based strategy game runs in #msdos on the original #ibmpc with #cga graphics. Two mining corporations fight a series of battles to gain control of a mineral-rich but lifeless planet. Also runs in DOSBox on just about any computer or mobile device! Get it at http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/downloads/7/barren-planet
@cyningstan I just bought it and so far so good! The map moves when I use the cursor keys. I will take some nicer photographs tonight and reply to our thread with them. It looks amazing, the initial music sounded great and so far, so good!