Combat Heroes: the 1980s RPG gamebook craze got so wild they were implementing multiplayer grid-based dungeon crawlers in print

boing
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Well there WAS space wars, an arcade PvP video game that came out in 1977. But it was more limited by its technology than Ace of Aces. It had two dimensional movement* and a shared, top down view of the combatants.

  • since space is isotropic and three objects (two ships and a central sun) are by definition co-planar, a two dimensional representation really isn’t a bad simulation. Edited to add: Any thrust used to change the plane rather than within the plane is wasted.
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I’m glad you remembered the name because I fondly remember playing Ace of Aces with friends.

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What is a computer program other than a bunch of text you can bounce around back and forth in?

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I used to have so many of those game books – Ace of Aces, several of the Battletech series, and the ones with duelling fantasy characters. I think there were some with WW2 fighters also.

I have no idea what became of them. I’ve lost or sold so many games over the years. Some were eaten by snails.

It’s a great nostalgia trip to read about them!

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I had those. There were like 6 books in a pack each with a unique mech that you could choose from go to combat. It was fine. Most of my friends couldn’t grasp how to play it. But there again I was an RPG lightweight. I was like 10 and was rubbish at explaining rules

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