So glad to have been a part of the Origin Era

[Thorndog]

I'll tell you what, visiting this site sure does bring back some great memories! I was in Okinawa, Japan in 1987, and it was there I was first exposed to true IBM compatible computers. I of course took the gaming route and started playing "Gunship" from Microprose, and from that point forward I was hooked! I still remember purchasing my first computer (Commodore PC10, 4.77mhz) EGA card, Ad Lib sound card, and being blown away by the music and graphics from "Kings Quest IV, the Peirls of Rosella". Ahh, those were the days.

It wasn't until I purchased Wing Commander a few years later that I became a die-hard Origin lover. I played every single Origin game since and what a joy it was! I have to say Strike Commander was my favorite game, but Ultima VII and Serpent Isle sure did come in a close second. I also loved Privateer, and as a matter of fact, my full name is in the Privateer manual as a flight instructor! I believe this happened because I wrote Origin a huge letter about opening my own computer software store and they sent me a wonderful package back with a bunch of promotional stuff, including color glossy preview sheets and stickers. I was so happy! Since they were still a small company back then, I can only believe that I made it in the manual because of that letter, well, I'd like to think so anyway!

Well, thanks for taking the time to read an old fan's ramblings of a bygone era. To Joe and Paula, THANK YOU for the museum. I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of your tremendous collection, but thank you for sharing it with us.

I'm just happy to have been a part of Origin's life, it was a wonderful one!

Gunnery Sergeant Mark "Thorndog" Thornton

 

[nunuu]

Just wandered in cuz I'm sort of bored at work.

I've been on a strange Wing Commander kick lately. I think the chain reaction started with watching The War of the Worlds movie (Tom Cruise one) then blazing through 4 seasons of Stargate SG-1.

Anyway, I so agree with your statements. Origin had a lot of wonderful games! My first Origin game was Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny on the Commodore 64. I was freakishly obsessed with it to the point that I called up a classmate one day and woke him up just to get hints on the game. I also went mad at one point and WROTE to Origin for some hints as well. They were kind enough to provide a complete walkthrough of the final dungeon of Ultima V.

If there aren't any legal issues, I'd love to scan that walkthrough for archival purposes here. I'd scan the letter too but due to embarassing issues mentioned in the letter, I'd rather not.

After U5, I was hooked on the series and played VI - VIII (and any add-ons of those games) + Ultima Underworld. I started a bit on Underworld 2 but never got very far in it. The Worlds of Adventure series deviated from the traditional medieval setting of Ultima so I never got into them. :/

Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi was my first WC game. Played it on a 433 MHz PC, IIRC. Loved it to death. From then on, I think the order of play was the add-ons to WC2, Wing Commander + add-ons, WC3, WC: Academy, a bit of Privateer, WC4 and finally, WC: Prophecy.

If I had a better memory, I'd probably be more well-versed in both the Ultima and Wing Commander universes. Alas, that's not the case and I only have certain memories here and there -- like how I could never pass the last bloody Heaven's Gate mission in Wing Commander II because I was never good against surviving attacks against capital ships.

Anyway, I'm off to look around the forum some more.

Random thought: Did Origin ever release a music CD with various themes from their games? Sort of like what Sierra and Lucasarts did/have? I remember really loving music from U7: The Black Gate and was pathetic enough to record some tracks by holding a cassette recorder up to the desktop speakers of the computer.

 

[ChrisReid]

Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi was my first WC game. Played it on a 433 MHz PC, IIRC.

I'm going to guess it was a 486 running at 33 MHz.

Random thought: Did Origin ever release a music CD with various themes from their games? Sort of like what Sierra and Lucasarts did/have? I remember really loving music from U7: The Black Gate and was pathetic enough to record some tracks by holding a cassette recorder up to the desktop speakers of the computer.

Yup! There were three of them. We have some of the publicly available music here at the CIC. https://www.wcnews.com/news/update/5542

I'll tell you what, visiting this site sure does bring back some great memories! I was in Okinawa, Japan in 1987, and it was there I was first exposed to true IBM compatible computers. I of course took the gaming route and started playing "Gunship" from Microprose, and from that point forward I was hooked! I still remember purchasing my first computer (Commodore PC10, 4.77mhz) EGA card, Ad Lib sound card, and being blown away by the music and graphics from "Kings Quest IV, the Peirls of Rosella". Ahh, those were the days.

It wasn't until I purchased Wing Commander a few years later that I became a die-hard Origin lover. I played every single Origin game since and what a joy it was! I have to say Strike Commander was my favorite game

Yeah, 1987 was an excellent time. I feel kinda sad that future generations won't be awed by the original Sierra graphical text-input adventures like we were. Space Quest 1 in 1987 was my first computer game on an old Tandy 1000.

Several years back, I'd also get kind of depressed when I thought about future generations not being able to experience the earlier Wing Commanders and Privateer. But with amazing breakthroughs in emulation with things like DOSBox, and with amazing new potential in services like GameTap, the future is looking really bright.

Edit: Even Space Quest 1 (the original DOS version!) is on GameTap now, so I probably shouldn't even be sad about that anymore.

 

[OM Curator]

Well, thanks for taking the time to read an old fan's ramblings of a bygone era. To Joe and Paula, THANK YOU for the museum. I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of your tremendous collection, but thank you for sharing it with us.

You are quite welcome Thorndog!

Your enthusiams are one of the things that keeps us going. While I don't update the website as nearly as much as I should, Paula and I still manage to do little things for other sites (like WCNews), that allow us to contribute. If it's an old pic we uncover, or an advert, or even a strange little giveaway that looks interesting, you can count on the WCNews staff to care enough to share it with you.

It really makes us proud to see that there are still fans out there, and folks like Alkarion, and Goku are keeping the 'Origin torch' burning. Just when I think I've seen it all, along comes another fan, who wows me with new artifacts--AWESOME!

The CIC anniversary will be coming up in less than a month, and that's always a good time to see more Wing Commander, and related stuff being brought back. Paula and I are working with the CIC staff this month, in order to bring an extra surprise to the festivities--this CIC party is gonna be the best EVER!

"...Preserving Worlds..."
Joe Garrity
Curator of The Origin Musum
http://www.originmuseum.net