Filed under: Play On!
PC Gamer UK has a fun little article on D&D not only being the root of all evil, but also being the root of most modern video games. (I made up the root of all evil part) I believe this is more true for MMO’s than any other games out there, unless they are actually D&D branded games. Virtually all MMO’s I have played have elements reminiscent of a D&D system or two, no matter the genre.
D&D promoted the idea of the game being driven by the players and subsequently created a whole new way of looking at PC and Video gaming. While gamers at the time were content to simply advance to the next Pac Man maze or dodge more barrels, the creators wanted to bring some of the things they most enjoyed from the pen and paper game to the screens. Fun concepts such as character development and meaningful story lines, not that Robotron did not have a meaningful storyline mind you, became the new paradigm.
Now I personally do not actually make games, I just get to talk about them for a living. However, I got infected with the gaming bug by the old D&D basic box set. I believe it was Christmas of 1978 that I purchased the set from Toys R Us, they carried the game at the time as it had not yet been deemed Satanic. I played all through High School, my years in the Army, college and off and on as an adult and parent. It shaped, not only the way I think of games, but who I am. ( I credit D&D for keeping me off the mean streets of Oakland and out of most trouble) D&D left an indelible mark on me as a person and most especially as a gamer.
I know that many of the people I work with, especially designers, also started to get their game on with a 20 Sided Die and a character sheer. I gather that many game creators that I do not know have the same roots, except for those new younger ones. They started with a Super Nintendo.
I wish I had a Super Nintendo as a kid. . .
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One of my standard questions of verification when someone tells me that they are an old school geek is to ask them the defination of “Thac0″.
If they don’t know it, or prefer ruleset 3.5 I make them walk a gauntlet of 4 siders…barefoot.
And that pic of Julie is wigging me out. *shivers*
Comment by Coyote February 12, 2007 @ 3:40 amI’m going to lean slightly towards the idea that D&D , or the way it forced us DMs to think logically and to look for new ways to keep our dungeons challenging, as being in part responsable for the way computer gaming developed.
Setting aside the screencrawler games, like Invaders etc, and ’sport simulators’ like Amped or the driving games (OK, that’s pretty much written every game other than FPS SEUGs) and looking towards the shoot ‘em ups and any game involving exploration and it’s really easy to make a connection back to making maps for D&D.
The kid is playing Metal Gear Solid, again, on his old XBox here. Stripping away the glamour cast over the rude machanics of the game by those clever, arty folk that do make games, what’ve we got? A linear progression, series of static or wandering monsters, the occaisional boss, power ups and heal spells.
It’s true! D&D is the daddy of them all
Comment by almagill February 12, 2007 @ 7:59 am