Someone's plan b paid off nicely

[DimPrawn]

Restored in 2005 from a 1977 backup.

How far back can you restore?

Ask Milan.

[Sysman]

Restored in 2005 from a 1977 backup.

How far back can you restore?

Good question. 800 bpi anyone? I gather it's quite hard to get hold of the kit (including cables, connectors and interface cards) to read old tapes nowadays. There are companies who specialise in this stuff, although they mainly concentrate on seismological surveys and legal data retention requirements (i.e. they ain't cheap).

I wouldn't be surprised if I could still read the cartridge tapes I had going back to the late 1980s which were written with a CRC capable backup program, but they got jettisoned in a move.

[Tarquin Farquhar]

The original sources to that have been found, bugs 'n' all. It was based on Colossal cave in Kentucky.

Further details here.

Restored in 2005 from a 1977 backup.

How far back can you restore?

[Sysman]

Text based games...

I first played a text adventure game in circa 1980, "You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully."

xyzzy !

The original sources to that have been found, bugs 'n' all. It was based on Colossal cave in Kentucky.

Further details here.

[Moscow Mule]

It's a good model. Provide something free but charge a small fee for better options and hope you get a million people signing up.

It's a common model. IIRC, Travian also uses it - I expect there are countless others.

I expect what it making him money is that the game is good.

Also, he'd probably the richest person in the tulip-hole that is Frome, Somerset...

[Lockhouse]

All respect to him, the boy done good.

[DimPrawn]

Gandalf goes west. Gandalf arrives from the west. Thorin sings a song about gold...

Even that had graphics.

But it didn't generate £50K a month did it?

His brilliance was:

1. Making the game free
2. Letting people get a leg up for a measly £3 a month.


It's a good model. Provide something free but charge a small fee for better options and hope you get a million people signing up.

[VectraMan]

Gandalf goes west. Gandalf arrives from the west. Thorin sings a song about gold...

Even that had graphics.

[TimberWolf]

Text based games...

Anyone else remember or play the Infocom games such as Zork, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc?

I first played a text adventure game in circa 1980, "You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully."

xyzzy !

Plugh

[Platypus]

Text based games...

Anyone else remember or play the Infocom games such as Zork, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc?

I first played a text adventure game in circa 1980, "You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully."

xyzzy !

[DimPrawn]

More like 60% when you include NI.

He'd be mad to base his Internet business here.

[MrMark]

Anyone tempted to steal his idea?

Wonder if the young man will consider moving abroad - 50% of his earnings will now go to the taxman. I believe some here regard that as theft.

[DimPrawn]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...line-game.html

Joe Chedburn, a self-confessed geek, was just 16 when he came up with the idea to write an online game focused on crime.

Torn, which is text-based and has no graphics, grew quickly and now has around 41,000 active users with over 1.3 million account holders.

Although the game is free to play users can pay £3 every month to receive extra points and status.

Most players are willing to pay enabling the site to make around £50,000-a-month. Joe, from Frome, Somerset, is now a millionaire at the age of 21.


Good luck to all the plan b'ers here.