Microsoft has been involved in many different products since its beginnings. As we have discussed, Microsoft sold hardware add-ins for Apple PCs in 1980. Microsoft also released a PC-game that is now mostly forgotten, before 1980. It’s called Microsoft AdventureIt’s the first title from the same company that brought us Microsoft Flight Simulator, Age of Empires, Halo, Gears of WarThere are many other game franchises which have become more popular today.
Microsoft Adventure This game is actually an adaptation of a game called “Mainframe” that was released free for mainframe computers in the middle 1970s. Colossal Cave Adventure Sometimes referred to as Adventure) William Crowther first published the book in 1975. In an interview with the book Genesis II: Creation and Recreation With ComputersCrowther says he got the idea to create the game after exploring caves with his family and playing the original Dungeons & Dragons Tabletop RPG
Colossal Cave Adventure It is a text only game where the character of the player explores a system of caves. He must also avoid being attacked by dwarves as he searches for treasure. The game is played by typing in one- or two-word commands.
In 1977, Don Woods gained access to source code for the game. He added fantasy elements and points. You can also find out more about Adventures. This is one of many PC adventure games that were released in the years following. Zork Onwards, we owe this debt.
Microsoft Adventure This adaptation is called You can also find out more about Adventures. Gordon Letwin created it under his company Softwin Associates. TRS-80.org claims that other programmers attempted to adapt the original. You can also find out more about Adventures. Letwin was first to port the game over to smaller PCs. When the game was first released, it was only available on PCs. Microsoft Adventure Microsoft released the game in 1979, but did not give credit to Crowther and Woods.
The game was originally released for the TRS-80 Model 1 computer, but it required 32K in memory and a floppy disk drive. Many PCs did not have these features. It was one of the very first PC games to be copy protected. Players could also save their progress twice on a disc. Microsoft also sold $1 hint documents to help those who were stuck. It was expensive at the time, costing $29.95.
Microsoft Adventure In 1979, the game was released on Apple II. The game was re-released in 1981 for the IBM PC. This was the first ever commercial game made for IBM’s debut personal computer. A racing game was included in the IBM PC DOS Operating System for free. DONKEY.BASThis game was actually written by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates.
The IBM version can be played on the PCjs.org web site. Although it’s unlikely Microsoft will do a full-graphical reboot of this classic game (especially as it is an adaption of two men’s work), it is still fascinating to read about the early days in PC gaming, and Microsoft”s very first software projects.
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