MULE is one of my favorite video games of all time. It has been years since I last played (via emulation) but it's one of those games like Warcraft II and Starcraft where I find it's all to easy to say, "How about one more round?"
The music is burned into my mind.
I haven't done a search, but I assume there are some modern homages to MULE?
Edit: Only 30,000 copies were ever sold? Just goes to show how uncommon it was to own a computer back then. I think I still have my disk and cardboard flip-case somewhere... I should dig that up.
There was a more-or-less faithful (unlicensed) remake released as a commercial title perhaps...ten years ago? I can't for the life of me remember the name, though.
Planet M.U.L.E. is still around--at least as of a week or two ago! I haven't played in a while, but I check the site everyone once in a while to see if there's any news and whether people are still playing. Here's a cached version of the site from January 29th: http://web.archive.org/web/20130129005307/http://www.planetm... . I'm guessing they're just having minor issues.
"Dan Bunten was an idealist from an early age. At university he protested the Vietnam War, and also started a bicycle shop, not to make money but to help save the world. According to his friend Jim Simmons, Bunten’s logic was simple: “If more people rode bikes, the world would be a better place.” When he watched Westerns, Bunten was an “Indian sympathizer”: “It just seems like such a neat, romantic culture, in tune with the earth.” A staunch anti-materialist, he drove a dented and battered old Volkswagen for years after he could afford better. “I felt like I sold out when I bought a 25-inch color TV,” he said. That 1960s idealism, almost quaint as it now can sound, became the defining side of Bunten the game designer. He campaigned relentlessly for videogames that brought people together rather than isolating them."
It's quite fashionable to be condescending towards hippies and the 60's counterculture these days, but I find them incredibly inspiring.
I wonder how different today's gaming world would be were more game designers and studios more concerned with expressing their idealism through their games rather than squeezing out a few more FPS, making prettier graphics, or making games according to tired formulas.
Maybe it's me projecting but I've always been more of a fan of Jeff Minter for what I perceieve of him as being a really cool down to earth dude rather than his games (despite me liking many of them).
When God puts the fear of Hell into you, you try to avoid nightmares and you seek-out the holiest things. For me, I thought little house on the prairre was the ideal.
I don't fear Hell, so much, now.
Jesus has delightful parables. Y'all have to learn them. The parable of the talents is about cowardess. If you're not scared enough, be afraid of being a coward. LOL
I sometimes like to imagine God is a results-kind-of-guy -- it's a naughty thing. Beware of what you wish for.
God says...
28:37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword,
among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
28:38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather
but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
28:39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither
drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat
them.
28:40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou
shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his
fruit.
28:41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy
them; for they shall go into captivity.
----
Jesus could talk to a mixed crowd--young and old. I'm too lazy to try to talk in adult code.
I took an interest in Pixar, the other day. I think I just liked hobnobbing -- after thinking about it we had nothing in common.
I am in awe of how much toil it must be to do animation. They get paid.
God says...
2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at
the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard him; 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy
Ghost, according to his own will? 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not
put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that
thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him?
2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him
with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that
he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put
under him.
----
Got any advice for behaving with young ears?
God says...
committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and
right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
18:22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be
mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall
live.
18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the
Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that
the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he
hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath
trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
Old video games are particularly interesting as artifacts because they implicitly highlight the capabilities of hardware and the sort of peripherals that could be expected during that period.
One of these days I'm going to find the time to sit down and play Colossal Cave Adventure.
And then after that maybe I'll find somebody willing to play Spacewar! with me.
I loved this game as a kid - I remember getting my whole family to play a few times, what a blast!
It's touched on briefly in the article, but another thing I remember from this time in gaming is a short-lived but fascinating push to make the makers of these games public figures. It wasn't a ton of games, but I think it was EA (ECA back then) that would include pictures of the game design team and a brief blurb inside each of their games.
15 comments
[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 43.5 ms ] threadThe music is burned into my mind.
I haven't done a search, but I assume there are some modern homages to MULE?
Edit: Only 30,000 copies were ever sold? Just goes to show how uncommon it was to own a computer back then. I think I still have my disk and cardboard flip-case somewhere... I should dig that up.
Those wild college years.
The release date has been pushed back repeatedly and should be any day now. Apparently making software is hard.
I can't wait. When playing M.U.L.E. on the C64, I've never was able to get four people together. Now I've got a second chance.
Here's some videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LiqbEvEnrg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1W52wQUkKc
Unfortunately, the website for that game seems to be gone.
I highly recommend it!
It's quite fashionable to be condescending towards hippies and the 60's counterculture these days, but I find them incredibly inspiring.
I wonder how different today's gaming world would be were more game designers and studios more concerned with expressing their idealism through their games rather than squeezing out a few more FPS, making prettier graphics, or making games according to tired formulas.
Maybe it's me projecting but I've always been more of a fan of Jeff Minter for what I perceieve of him as being a really cool down to earth dude rather than his games (despite me liking many of them).
Someone just needs to get him to keep writing - last post was 6-7 years ago.
I don't fear Hell, so much, now.
Jesus has delightful parables. Y'all have to learn them. The parable of the talents is about cowardess. If you're not scared enough, be afraid of being a coward. LOL
I sometimes like to imagine God is a results-kind-of-guy -- it's a naughty thing. Beware of what you wish for.
God says...
28:37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
28:38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
28:39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
28:40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
28:41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
----
Jesus could talk to a mixed crowd--young and old. I'm too lazy to try to talk in adult code.
I took an interest in Pixar, the other day. I think I just liked hobnobbing -- after thinking about it we had nothing in common.
I am in awe of how much toil it must be to do animation. They get paid.
God says... 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him? 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him.
----
Got any advice for behaving with young ears?
God says... committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
18:22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? 18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
----
I might be committed to a mental hopsital.
One of these days I'm going to find the time to sit down and play Colossal Cave Adventure.
And then after that maybe I'll find somebody willing to play Spacewar! with me.
The day I played it, the docent giving the demonstration was Steve Russell.
It's touched on briefly in the article, but another thing I remember from this time in gaming is a short-lived but fascinating push to make the makers of these games public figures. It wasn't a ton of games, but I think it was EA (ECA back then) that would include pictures of the game design team and a brief blurb inside each of their games.