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I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:04 pm
by flightgamer
I think it was a dos game but it was basically a whole screen (black and white) full of a spreadsheet with constantly changing values. A complete txt sim.Very complex but the only graphics was a small square inset map that used characters like )^#@) to represent the surface of the moon for landing (top down).A flat landing spot might look like this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^________^^^^^^^^^________^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I remember it was fascinating because it was so difficult. Any ideas? Thanks for even taking a stab at this

RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:06 pm
by Cody
No idea - but welcome to SSC.
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 7:50 pm
by flightgamer
Not a problem, I know it will be a tough one to remember.Thanks for the welcome.
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 9:12 pm
by flightgamer
Unfortunately no, but that has a very similar graphical look (especially the map area in the upper left) and I also remember playing that so thank you.What I remember is less of a game and more of something NASA would have trained people on in terms of complexity.Thanks again for the try!!!!
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 8:22 am
by auryx
This rings a very vague bell with me somehow....what platform did you play it on? DOS on an IBM PC? And around what year? I'm sure I had something very similar on my Apple ][ but just can't put my finger on it

auryx
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 1:54 pm
by flightgamer
Auryx,Thx for the reply.Not only am I trying to take a trip down memory lane and maybe play it in DOSBOX, etc but maybe it will be a blast from the past for someone else.So, I would have to guess it was an IBM-PC program since I don’t recall playing it at home on my commodore 64 and I couldn’t afford the sinclair I wanted :)I worked at an engineering firm and we didn’t have any apples.I will sadly admit that I started playing it because I could play it on the clock and it didn’t look like a game. It looked like I was running a groundwater simulator :pI would have to say it was a late 80s thing. Here is a more thoughtful recreation of the left ¼ of the screen (its the least I can do) __________________________________________________________________________Map
^^^o^^^^%%%^^^^oOo^^^^^^^^^o^^^^^^^^^O^^^^^^^^^^^^O^^^^~~~#~~~~^^^^^%%%%^^^^^o^^^^^^^oOoO^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^%%%%^^^^^^^^^o^^^o^^^^^^^^o^^^^^^o^^^^^^O^^^^^^^^^ LANDERVEL 12,800ALT 54,000P1 132P2 356AZ1 345AZ2 134 ORBITERVEL. I’m making up the above data but the actual simulation would have 10 times this data and 3 or 4 more columns of pure data but this gives you an idea. As I recall it was a moving/scrolling map.Map keyo - small craterO - large crater^ - mountains# - Landing site% - Rocky~ - Sea I hope this took some of you back. I am searching google for it but so far nothing. I promise if I find it I will post the info here.Take Care
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 2:32 pm
by auryx
Again, this is familiar! Especially the orbiter/lander distinction......bah.......just can't remember it! I shall keep trying and see if it suddenly springs into my mind

auryx
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 2:34 pm
by Pinback
How about Omnitrends Universe game http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-universe_5617.html[/url] Now that's a manual. Came out on the PC as well Atari A8.
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 12:51 pm
by flightgamer
That may not be the game I'm looking for but wow, what a manual.
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:36 pm
by Guest
i know exactly the game you're referring to, it's an ascii apollo dos game, the screen was split into four quadrants representing the lem cockpit and the top left quadrant was the view outside, all rendered in ascii. the cockpit of course was a table of animated data. i think it had a complex keyboard layout permitting to orient the apollo/lem module realistically. i must have been 12 when i played it and admit didn't get far with it :)i'll see if i can dig it, but don't hold your breath i can't eve seem to find an image on google...
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:49 pm
by Guest
found it! enjoy http://www.jogi.com/schrege-voegel/software/_apollo.htm[/url]
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 3:22 am
by Geraldine
How about Omnitrends Universe game http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-universe_5617.html[/url] Now that's a manual. Came out on the PC as well Atari A8.OoooOOOoooh lots of goodies on there for my old 520 STe Pinback :girlcrazy: And well done luckluca, good job in finding that. :girlsmile:
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 8:22 am
by flightgamer
OMG Luckyluca you nailed it.I totally forgot about the larger screens but the rest is as complicated as I remember.Thanks so much!!! That is quite a flashback.
RE: I'm 46 years old and looking for a specific, ridiculously old space sim for nostalgia. Any ideas
Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 7:43 pm
by Guest
Luckluca you are the man.