A trip through Arthurian memory lane...

[Bert Olton]

In clearing off some book shelves a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled
across an old Sierra computer game that one of my daughters had bought
for me as a birthday or Christmas gift.

"Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail"

It was an antique when she got it for me but is even more so now...and
for some reason I had never loaded it up and tried it. Well, I finally
did just that (I'm still working on a Win98SE box with DOS programming
at least partially possible...) and had a ball reliving the ancient
computer gaming techniques of stopping the "action" with questions,
pausing the game for inventory checks, and marveling at the stilted but
functional figures within the game. The one thing I haven't succeeded
in firing up are the sounds...

It's a far cry from the all too realistic graphics of today, but it's
loaded with lots of fun referencing to the legends. The story was done
by Christy Marx, the basic graphics by Peter Ledger...

Can you remember running a game by loading up four floppy discs?

Bert

[xargon]

Post by Bert Olton
In clearing off some book shelves a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled
across an old Sierra computer game that one of my daughters had bought
for me as a birthday or Christmas gift.
"Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail"

I remember that game! I still have my copy, too. How far were/are you
able to get? I remember getting completely stuck fairly early on with no
ideas whatsoever for how to continue. Maybe I'll try loading it up again
for fun...

[Bert Olton]

Post by xargon

Post by Bert Olton
"Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail"

I remember that game! I still have my copy, too. How far were/are you
able to get? I remember getting completely stuck fairly early on with no
ideas whatsoever for how to continue. Maybe I'll try loading it up again
for fun...

I've gotten all the way through to achieving the Grail. Took me a while
to realize - especially in the battle scenarios - that going slow is
critical in this game.

Bert

[John Adcox]

I had one about Merlin helping Arthur reclaim lost Excalibur from someone--King
Lot, I think. It was an old diskette-based game for the Mac. I thoroughly
enjoyed it at the time, but it's more than a decade, most likely.
___
John Adcox

Click below for Mythology, Philosophy, Literature, Writing References and more.
http://jadcox.home.mindspring.com

[Bert Olton]

Post by John Adcox
I had one about Merlin helping Arthur reclaim lost Excalibur from someone--King
Lot, I think. It was an old diskette-based game for the Mac. I thoroughly
enjoyed it at the time, but it's more than a decade, most likely.

There is no particular reason that I've never gotten involved with
computer games. Now that I've started fiddling around with this one a
little, I wish I'd looked into them sooner. So, obviously, I don't know
anything about your Merlin/Excalibur game John, but from your
description it sounds like it's from approximately the same era of game
development as 'Conquests'. These things are laughable in their
relatively primitive look and function, but they're a wonderful peek at
the history of programming and technological development. Probably
ought to be contributed to some archive somewhere...on the other hand I
can picture myself sitting a grandchild on my knee to show him/her what
"the good old days" looked like. Think I'll burn it to a CD.

What really impressed me about 'Conquests' though was the amount of
information that could be garnered by questioning the various characters
in the game. Loads of stuff about the Gods and Goddesses, hints about
the transitions to the Arthurian legends, traditions and lore. On top
of that, four fun battles (first wild boars, then a joust against the
Black Knight, followed by a tussle with a mad monk and his deadly
doppelgangers and finally, the ultimate face off with The Saracen!) and
some quizzes that'll drive you nuts.

Christy Marx really threw a lot into this thing. Turns out she also
wrote a semi-Arthurian episode of the original Babylon 5 TV series -
"Grail". Interesting game, interesting gal.

Bert

[Bert Olton]

Post by xargon

Post by Bert Olton
"Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail"

I remember that game! I still have my copy, too. How far were/are you
able to get? I remember getting completely stuck fairly early on with no
ideas whatsoever for how to continue. Maybe I'll try loading it up again
for fun...

Xargon - have you tried the game again? I still haven't gotten the
sounds to work, but I did look around on line and found a 'cheat code'
page. The only real revelation I got from that was a very good joke
hidden in the Treasury.

Bert

[xargon]

Post by Bert Olton
Xargon - have you tried the game again? I still haven't gotten the
sounds to work, but I did look around on line and found a 'cheat code'
page. The only real revelation I got from that was a very good joke
hidden in the Treasury.
Bert

I did manage to get the game to work, also without sound. I found several
good online walkthroughs, so this time when I get stuck I'll have
somewhere to go. I might try playing it through around Christmas when I
have some more time.

[Bert Olton]

Post by xargon
I did manage to get the game to work, also without sound. I found several
good online walkthroughs, so this time when I get stuck I'll have
somewhere to go. I might try playing it through around Christmas when I
have some more time.

It's got to be a lot more fun with the music and sound effects - minimal
as they probably are. Wish I could figure out what to do to fix that.

Bert

[xargon]

Post by Bert Olton
It's got to be a lot more fun with the music and sound effects - minimal
as they probably are. Wish I could figure out what to do to fix that.
Bert

Well, the sound works if you select "Internal PC Speaker", but it gets
annoying fast! If I can find a way to get SoundBlaster compatibility to
work I'll let you know.

[Orjan Westin]

Post by Bert Olton
In clearing off some book shelves a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled
across an old Sierra computer game that one of my daughters had bought
for me as a birthday or Christmas gift.
"Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail"

http://www.christymarx.com/writing/camelotfiles.htm for download

Orjan