Anyone ever used my Dungeons & Dragons program in the 1980s?

[atarialoha]

Folks, I wrote a "shareware" (it wasn't called that then) program in the mid-1980s, called DMAIDE (Dungeon Master's Aide) for the Atari 8-bits.

 

I had put it up on BBSs for download.

 

I remember reading some BBS postings from a few people saying they used it and enjoyed using it for all their AD&D games.

 

One of the functions the program did was to figure out (quickly) the TO HIT for your dice rolls. Without the program, you had to refer to those lookup tables based on Armor Class, etc.

 

The program could also roll dice for you, if you wanted.

 

Anyone ever remember using this program of mine? I am just curious.

 

It was the only program I ever wrote for the community.

[zzip]

Never used it, but would have if I had found it!    Got into Atari computers around the same time as my friends got into D&D, and was looking for ways to use the computer to take the tedium out of managing all that stuff.  

[Tillek]

Yeah... that would be a great program to resurrect again.

 

Even if it is calculating THAC0.

/s

 

[ColleenLover]

I remember loading it up a few times to look at it but never used it in a game.

 

[Pokeypy]

Do people still play D&D these days?

 

Friend of mine had the idea to bring the old group together again using Zoom or the platform "Roll20" maybe. So I wondered.

If we start playing again (I doubt it though, we probably don't have the time any more), your program could be interesting.

Edited April 30, 2021 by Pokeypy

[Rybags]

It all seems to be Warhammer 40,000 here.  There's even dedicated stores that sell stuff and host games there (?)

 

I'm not into either though of course was well into the Alternate Reality games in their day.

[atarialoha]

1 hour ago, ColleenLover said:

I remember loading it up a few times to look at it but never used it in a game.

 

Haha great!

[+DrVenkman]

29 minutes ago, Pokeypy said:

Do people still play D&D these days?

 

Friend of mine had the idea to bring the old group together again using Zoom or the platform "Roll20" maybe. So I wondered.

If we start playing again (I doubt it though, we probably don't have the time any more), your program could be interesting.

Yeah, they're up to 5th Edition now and it's very popular for lots of RPG'ers, old grognards like us as well as 20-something nerds.

 

I haven't played D&D myself since AD&D back in the 80's, when I got sidetracked back then by TRAVELLER and never looked back. Not playing anything regularly these days, but I've managed to recreate my entire TRAVELLER "little black books" from back then, as well as the newest TRAVELLER 5.1 hardbacks. In the last year I've fallen in love with the CALL OF CTHULHU RPG from Chaosium, and wonder why I never discovered it sooner? Amazingly flexible and easy to understand rule system, a metric ass-load of scenarios, settings, sourcebooks, campaigns and resources, and a bunch of groups playing online on Twitch/Youtube to watch and enjoy when you can't play yourself. Hoping to start a game with some friends later this year.

[atarialoha]

35 minutes ago, Pokeypy said:

Do people still play D&D these days?

 

Friend of mine had the idea to bring the old group together again using Zoom or the platform "Roll20" maybe. So I wondered.

If we start playing again (I doubt it though, we probably don't have the time any more), your program could be interesting.

If you search YouTube you will find that there is a resurgence of D&D (now just called D&D, no more AD&D). However, that was PRE-COVID. And most of those guys were... not teenagers (LOL).

 

I think most people, especially youngsters, just play those online MMORPGs these days, and nobody really thinks very much about die rolls. Just click click click. There's nothing "wrong" with that, just that it's not the same even though it's called an RPG. Don't forget, we used to actually ROLE PLAY (not talking about the LARP stuff).

 

I guess video conferencing would be the only choice, if people can't get together in person.

 

However, it's not the same. There's the special magic of sitting around the same table with others for hours and hours, and seeing the results of someone literally rolling the dice!

 

 

[atarialoha]

4 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

Yeah, they're up to 5th Edition now and it's very popular for lots of RPG'ers, old grognards like us as well as 20-something nerds.

 

I haven't played D&D myself since AD&D back in the 80's, when I got sidetracked back then by TRAVELLER and never looked back. Not playing anything regularly these days, but I've managed to recreate my entire TRAVELLER "little black books" from back then, as well as the newest TRAVELLER 5.1 hardbacks. In the last year I've fallen in love with the CALL OF CTHULHU RPG from Chaosium, and wonder why I never discovered it sooner? Amazingly flexible and easy to understand rule system, a metric ass-load of scenarios, settings, sourcebooks, campaigns and resources, and a bunch of groups playing online on Twitch/Youtube to watch and enjoy when you can't play yourself. Hoping to start a game with some friends later this year.

Aside from AD&D, which was always the go-to RPG, my friends and I explored other RPG systems. I particularly liked Star Frontiers, also by TSR. There was also the lite version of D&D called Tunnels & Trolls (and of course, the non-advanced D&D), and various similar RPGs such as Gamma World (also from TSR), and even a James Bond RPG. Traveller was a very hot game but I never picked it up. I just remember the name.

[+DrVenkman]

31 minutes ago, atarialoha said:

and various similar RPGs such as Gamma World (also from TSR)

I had Gamma World and loved the premise, but I couldn’t get my friends interested in playing. I think there’s been at least one relatively modern revised edition of that one too but I’ve never explored it.

[atarialoha]

43 minutes ago, DrVenkman said:

I had Gamma World and loved the premise, but I couldn’t get my friends interested in playing. I think there’s been at least one relatively modern revised edition of that one too but I’ve never explored it.

Yes that's the problem. We can't play these RPGs alone. This is a major reason why the computerized games became very successful. I still remember the first time I played Baldur's Gate. It was a real breakthrough. I was so amazed at actually seeing Magic Missiles flying through the air. Well, it is Bioware's interpretation of it, but it was really quite good. 1d4+1 damage each if I remember correctly haha. And the other spells were likewise envisioned well. You could have a party of characters, and didn't need to hassle your friends to get together. Back in the day, however, I recall being envious of Apple ][ friends being able to play Wizardry and Ultima. But of course, we had Star Raiders hahaha!

[Sugarland]

Do you still have it? Please post it here.

[Dinadan67]

4 hours ago, atarialoha said:

Back in the day, however, I recall being envious of Apple ][ friends being able to play Wizardry and Ultima. But of course, we had Star Raiders hahaha!

Well, back in the day (tm) i had Ultima 1-4 also + Questron and Alternate Reality. The 800XL was my start into role playing, pen and paper came later on university.

[atarialoha]

3 hours ago, Sugarland said:

Do you still have it? Please post it here.

Is that question for me? No I don't have ANY of my Atari stuff now. The only things I only have remaining are some text files of things I wrote back in the day, which I sent to my Mac via a "null modem cable" (haha, remember that?) via ATASCII/ASCII, using terminal programs (circa 1987, when I got my first Mac). Those were English language files, no programming or data.

Edited April 30, 2021 by atarialoha

[atarialoha]

31 minutes ago, Dinadan67 said:

Well, back in the day (tm) i had Ultima 1-4 also + Questron and Alternate Reality. The 800XL was my start into role playing, pen and paper came later on university.

Oooo, I don't recall Ultima on Atari. I guess it got ported, but I either was onto something else at the time or just didn't have the cash to buy it.

[+Allan]

There are a number of public domain/shareware collections that this program might be in. C & T , MWPDS, BELLCOM. 

 

Here is a Bellcom catalog: https://archive.org/details/bellcompublicdomainsharewarecatalog

 

Many of the disk images are on archive.org as well.

 

[+x=usr(1536)]

8 hours ago, Pokeypy said:

Do people still play D&D these days?

Yes!  Most definitely.  My wife is in two games right over that are running over Zoom on a weekly basis.

[+CharlieChaplin]

Found this one: Dungeon Character Roller, but I guess it is not the one you are searching.

 

[atarialoha]

1 hour ago, CharlieChaplin said:

Found this one: Dungeon Character Roller, but I guess it is not the one you are searching.

 

Nope but thanks for checking.

[atarialoha]

6 hours ago, Allan said:

There are a number of public domain/shareware collections that this program might be in. C & T , MWPDS, BELLCOM. 

 

Here is a Bellcom catalog: https://archive.org/details/bellcompublicdomainsharewarecatalog

 

Many of the disk images are on archive.org as well.

 

Thanks but looks like no hit. I tried searching the PDF.

[atarialoha]

No luck here either:

 

http://ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/collections/holmes cd/Holmes 3/BELLCOM/DISKS.TXT

[tuf]

I'd love your program!  I run a 1e (original) AD&D campaign for a friends daughters who are into it.  D&D is bigger than it ever was.

[atarialoha]

45 minutes ago, tuf said:

I'd love your program!  I run a 1e (original) AD&D campaign for a friends daughters who are into it.  D&D is bigger than it ever was.

Haha, it's great you can be of service as DM to the next generation, and you're even doing the original AD&D! However, to be honest, I never really liked the negative Armor Class thing. It was so counterintuitive. I think for 3rd edition they made it a positive thing, and then later changed it back. I lost track over the years. It's pretty crazy it's in 5th edition now or maybe even more, but the older and more cynical me can now understand they just want to make people pay money to buy new books. So sad! That's how the world works! LOL

 

Well, if SOMEHOW my old program is relocated, it will help you and only you because you run 1e. For the THAC0 computation, I basically had to tediously type in all the lookup tables data from TSR. I think I had one of those "Dungeon Master Shields" (the large folded cardboard thingies) and it had the tables on it. Or maybe I just looked in the DM manual. Anyway, I typed all that in. Heck, I was a teenager on teenager clock cycles, haha. So the computation directly looks it up based on published TSR instructions, there was no formula to calculate or anything and I couldn't figure out the formula anyway. So whatever the program indicated was totally legit. And this also means it's not easy to adapt for any other edition that uses a different matrix.

 

I forgot what other features I wrote for the program. Possibly a character attributes generator. Definitely it rolled dice. You just told it how many and what kind of dice. Tap the spacebar to roll. And I remember blanking the screen to make it run faster for all the calculations, including THAC0.

 

[tuf]

41 minutes ago, atarialoha said:

Well, if SOMEHOW my old program is relocated, it will help you and only you because you run 1e.

Au contraire, 1e is alive and kicking!  There's tons of people running old Basic and AD&D as the rules have been converted to many different clone systems.  If you look up OSR and B/X you'll see what I mean.

 

What's old is new again