I Remember When ...

              A misty-eyed "look back" by Sue

Recently I had a call from a PC Mart reader who was interested in
details of SynTax and its library and he said "Do you have a game
called 'L' in your library?".  I had to admit I hadn't heard of it
and asked for details and he said it was a text game he had played
on a mainframe and which he wondered might now be available on
disk. I said I'd ask in SynTax if anyone knew it and, even better,
had a copy I could pop in the library and pass across to him
(assuming it's PD, Shareware or whatnot) and then I thought back
about 15 years ...

When Alan and I first met, he worked for a large company which
used HP3000 mainframes. He brought a terminal home one evening to
do some work, so I went round to his flat to see it. He said there
were some adventures on the mainframe that you could get to via
the terminal.  "Oh," sez I, "What's an adventure?" and he
explained, little knowing what a Pandora's Box he was opening for
the future, and how much it was going to cost him!

The first one he showed me was a version of Colossal. I was
fascinated but also very frustrated at first trying to get it to
accept what I wanted it to do - having a bad cold at the time
didn't help as my brain wasn't functioning too well (that's my
excuse!). It wasn't a very successful first introduction to
adventuring but luckily I had another chance after the cold had
gone. I drew some very bad maps which rambled over several pages -
I didn't know the best way to draw them logically to start off
with - and got thoroughly lost but the addiction had started to
take hold.

There were two other games on the mainframe. One was called
Mansion. I didn't get too far with it, but I can remember the main
house and grounds, hearing noises in the distance, and getting
caught in long grass by a wolf which ate me. I didn't like that
bit. But the game I loved on that mainframe was Warp.

Warp was brilliant, the product of a slightly deranged mind, and
set in a seemingly normal world but with some great touches. The
main area was a city, roads arranged in a square with a bus that
went round at regular intervals. You could hop on and off the bus
at the bus stops (as one does), and woe betide you if you tried to
cross the road when the bus was coming (I think all you got was a
warning about a horn and cloud of dust, then it was 'game over').
There were various buildings to enter, one of which was an office
block, the Warp Building, complete with an armed security guard
who wouldn't let you in unless you had an identity badge.

There was a wooded area and a cemetery at one end, maybe with a
hut nearby (I'm trying to remember back 15 years so bear with me
if it's a bit hazy!) but even better was the beach. I recall one
area for Uglies, where they could sun themselves. I think it was
protected by a wire fence to keep others out. There was also a
nudist beach and the solution to being able to enter that was
charming. In one location where you "saw nothing" you had to "get"
and "wear nothing". Lovely.  I also remember a fountain in the
town square that you had to get working and a tube with a sphere
in it that you could see but not reach ... I got very close to
retrieving the sphere but never actually got my mitts on it.

For a long time I had printouts of all 3 games, as far as I'd got.
They're probably still here, mouldering and yellow in a cupboard
since I rarely throw stuff out, but goodness knows where. I didn't
get far into any of them and I'd really like another crack at
them. So, as with L, does anyone know if it possible to get hold
of Mansion or, more especially, Warp to play them on a PC and let
me recapture my (relative) youth? Ta.









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