SSBoards: 20 years and still being played.

My mother entered into 'the hovel', as she was fond of calling it demanding something about something or other. I wasn't really listening as my bedroom was filled with Midge Ure's vocals as he went in search of 'Loves Great Adventure'. I nodded at what I thought was the correct moment to do so, with one eye on her and the other on my black and white Binatone.

"Hmmm", I said "Ok. Understood. Right o. I'll sort it".

Eventually these randomly generated words seemed to do the trick and she left. Free once again to continue with another four or five hours wearing down the rubber keyboard of my 48K ZX Spectrum, I set out on my endless journey of anticipation to find out what the next screen looked like on yet another platform game.

It's funny how your mind associates one thing with another and never lets go. Whenever I hear a song by Ultravox I am immediately transported back in time to the early half of the 1980's. It was a time when I spent a lot of my 'misspent youth' (a keynote phrase used by my Uncle Frank after seeing the amount of games I had), playing the latest in digital entertainment which where either bought or copied. Many a tape-to-tape moment was had back then when a group of us would pile around to each others houses and hook up our mono tape cassette recorders in a bid to cram as many games on to a TDK C90 as possible.

We would of course play games, that goes without saying. Competitions were had to see who could get the hi-score on 'Jetpack' or to what level you could reach on 'Manic Miner' without losing a life. That was the extent of multiplayer gaming back then though. You would have a turn and then once killed you'd pass it over to the next person. In the end the one with the hi-score would engage in a victory chant that would include comments directed at his superiority and how everyone else was as useful as a YTS Mastertronic programmer.

These get-togethers turned into something altogether different however when some kid's father started up a Computer club based out of the village guildhall.
There was a smell about the place, sort of old and musty but not unpleasant. The wall to wall wooden floorboards that hadn't been treated in some time made creaking noises that echoed throughout the hall. It was a place used by the local scout troop and dozen other little groups that form in a smallish village community. It was minor things like this that built up an impression of a place, one that I found myself revisiting not long ago when my own son started with the cub scouts. They used a hall not to dissimilar to the one I remembered going to as a kid and this had the effect of taking me right back there. Mostly though it reminded me of Chaos, a game that change the way I looked at games and what they where capable of. The only game that I have constantly gone back to time and time again for the past 20+ years.

Every other Sunday we would head down to the 'Guild' between 12 and 3. Sometimes I'd take along my own 'Speccy' and if I got there early enough I'd even find a space to set it up. The row of tables that ran along the three walls of the large function room held the various computers that kids would bring along. Names now forgotten, it was the only place where one was able to sample the delights of the BBC B, Oric, Dragon 32, ZX81, Amstrad CPC and of course the Spectrum's old rival the Commodore 64. The speccy and the 64 had the biggest following of course and this was in evident by the amount of these being brought along to the club. The kid to install the latest game would usually have the biggest crowd. If it was any good you'd see fights break out as a score of children would battle over the last two plug sockets left in the building in a bid to get the game taped before the end of the day.

I recall being late by about an hour one Sunday afternoon in 1984. By the time I got there the place had a bit of a buzz about it and the only computers being used where the Spectrums. Even more strange was that each one of them had the same game running. Peeking over the shoulders of the gathered mob I saw a black screen with various pixels of animals, monsters, trees and gooey blobs. Trying to see who was actually playing it though was confusing, as it appeared that everyone was having ago. As it turned out the game being played was 'Chaos: Battle of the Wizards' and it allow a player to play against 7 other opponents that where either Computer or human controlled. 'Turned based strategy game' was a phrase not really used at the time but it pretty much summed up what the game was about.

To have up to 8 players at the same time though was unique and it struck a cord with a lot of us. It seemed from that moment on Computer games could be competitive in a way they never had been before. I certainly don't remember any other title that had such a similar impact at that time and it secured something in my mind that has lasted to this day. Gamplay is God. Sod your fancy graphics, sod your quadraphonic sound effects and sod your megabyte munching multi-disk triple A title. If it doesn't have gamplay sorted then it's going to bomb.

OK, so history has proven me wrong on that point but here is a title that has lasted 20 years and that has got to stand for something. Chaos was never the biggest thing to hit the interactive world but it has spawned other titles that you may be surprised to hear. The author Julian Gallop went on to produce some of the most influential titles in PC gaming at a time when PC gaming was in its infancy. There must be no old time gamer who has not heard of the X-com series or UFO: Enemy Unknown. The fallout from these games alone is widespread. Chaos itself had a number of sequels and copycat games although many of them unofficial. Several years ago Julian himself decided that he wanted to see a more up-to-date follow-up to his fondest creation and with a newly formed company he created 'Magic and Mayhem'. The game got some good press, was enjoyable to play and sold enough to convince the developers a follow up would be commercially viable. The Art Of Magic as it was called did ok but tried to be too much and no further sequels appeared.

All these overshadowed what was going on in the background however. Small groups of people who still remembered what it was like to crowd around that little black box with the rubber keyboard, endeavoured to recreate that bit of magic. The remake scene has been around for some time now and there has always been a 'Chaos WIP' (Work In Progress). Most have dropped by the wayside but some have carried on through to provide us Chaos Junkies a platform to relive the days of old. I know I still do.

So come this next Thursday evening I'll be dropping my son off at the scout hut and I may find myself lingering for just a moment to take in the smell and sounds of the old wooden floor. Just for a moment I may find myself taken back to when I was 13 and recall the good times I had down at the Guild with friends a game called Chaos. I'll head back home and for the next hour while waiting to go back for my lad I may just spend my time playing Chaos Funk and remember why gamplay will rule over all else.

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“The only good thing about the English is that they hate the French” – Chris Rock.

Edited by Sheallaidh (05/28/04 02:07 PM)