Do you ever "Authenticate" the experience?

[PaulQ]

On very rare occasions (perhaps once or twice per year), when my son is at school and my wife is out, I set up my Vic 20 with a B&W TV on my old writing desk with the C2N tape deck, cartridges, and old Atari joystick. Then, to further authenticate the experience, I get my old Sony Walkman with headphones and a tape with music from that era, and put on either my Casio A158W digital watch or Casio CA-53W calculator watch. To top it off, I opt for a can of Coke Classic for a beverage; though I've been thinking about picking up the case of bottles for next time. I find it's a great pick-me-up whenever I need an emotional boost, as I relive those carefree days of the early 80's for 90 minutes (the length of the C90 tape).

Am I a nut, or does anyone else do this?

[orion70]

Sometimes, when I feel sad and alone. Like tonight, for example. I planned a dinner with some friends here at home, but with heavy rain falling they called me saying they won't come.

So, I think I will plug my VIC to a B/W TV, listen to 80s music on cassette, and load some 1983 italian software from the C2N.

I must admit this is a palliative, because times when I was eager for new releases in the newsstand are long gone and lost, like tears in the rain (got a bit too far, I know, but it sounded a good ending).

Early 80s italian songwriters, Depeche Mode, atrocious disco-music. And you, DQ?

[PaulQ]

Sometimes, when I feel sad and alone. Like tonight, for example. I planned a dinner with some friends here at home, but with heavy rain falling they called me saying they won't come.

So, I think I will plug my VIC to a B/W TV, listen to 80s music on cassette, and load some 1983 italian software from the C2N.

I must admit this is a palliative, because times when I was eager for new releases in the newsstand are long gone and lost, like tears in the rain (got a bit too far, I know, but it sounded a good ending).

Early 80s italian songwriters, Depeche Mode, atrocious disco-music. And you, DQ?

New releases come out here, but I know; they're not the same.

I just got some "New" old Compute! magazines from World of Commodore to explore with some type-in's, so they're "New" to me.

Got the modem, but I don't know of any Commodore BBS's to connect to anymore. At least locally. I could telnet online, but it's not the same.

As for music, Depeche Mode is always good, but I definitely have to listen to the Spoons. Them, and as Golan suggested in another forum, Howard Jones. Add to that, plenty of one hit wonders from that era.

[ral-clan]

Maybe it would be fun if someone wrote a modem game for the VIC-20. Then two people with VIC-20s could play against each other if they live within local calling distance or want to pay long distance fees.

As for going retro for a night....no I don't really do that, even though I am a very sentimental / nostalgic person. If I did it would be for the late 70s / very early 80s. The mid to late 80s were kind of awkward years I wouldn't really want to relive.

I might crack open some old Compute mags, and then seeing all those articles and advertisements gets me going and I turn on my VIC or other video game from that era.

I remember how those old ads and the pictures on the back of the box (not always accurately rendered ) would fill me with such burning excitement. Often the game didn't live up to the hype, but SOMETIMES they did (Ultima, Archon, Gorf, Omega Race, etc.).

[pitcalco]

Authenticate? That is all normal fare for me. After all, you know what my taste in music is .

Seriously though, while I like my rather authentic VIC-20 set up, some other habits I had back in the days are best left in the past. When I was young, pigging out on crisps and drinking coke while I was computing was less of an issue. My health and figure would suffer greatly if I were to do that now.

As well, sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor three feet away from a 28 inch telly for 4 or 5 hours at a time would not do me very well.

[ral-clan]

As well, sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor three feet away from a 28 inch telly for 4 or 5 hours at a time would not do me very well.

Hahaha! Me too...and while your parents kept saying "it's time to get off the computer, we want to watch the TV" as you frantically tried to finish that game or type the last lines of the program from a magazine before they came in and pulled the plug.

[pitcalco]

I see that many early VIC experiences are universal and transcend national boundaries and cultural and language gaps.

[Jeff-20]

Maybe it would be fun if someone wrote a modem game for the VIC-20. Then two people with VIC-20s could play against each other if they live within local calling distance or want to pay long distance fees.

My War game could allow for this if it could be compressed into a few lines of basic. I could make a separate two player version, removing the computer AI and replacing it with modem interaction. The commands are fairly brief, but the game play time is too long. The phone would be occupied for about 2 hours!

[wiskow]

Got the modem, but I don't know of any Commodore BBS's to connect to anymore. At least locally. I could telnet online, but it's not the same.

Until recently, there wasn't a single Commodore-run dial-up BBS *anywhere* in the world... I decided to change that by putting one online. So far, the response has been good. I've gotten calls from as far away as Europe. Anyway, if you have the "itch" to see and hear your old modem in action, why not try giving Borderline BBS a call at (951)242-3593?

-Andrew

[Richard James]

A few years ago I was buying Retro Gamer for precisely this purpose. My first VIC only had a tape player and about three games. So I spent most of my time looking at magazines and wishing I had the games displayed in them. I once wrote a clone of Space Harrier from magazine screenshots. It was a bit slow because A) it was in BASIC and B) I coded 3D the wrong way.

So anyway I sometimes I just like to read and look at game screenshots and that instantly takes me back.

[PaulQ]

I suppose I should have clarified. By "Authenticate," I mean using things that are from the period, rather than trying to re-live your childhood. Imagine how an adult back in those days would have had their Vic set up and what they would have been using and wearing. Sort of like "Role playing." Perhaps they would have been drinking Diet Coke instead of regular Coke.

A modem game would be an excellent idea. I'll have to think about that one. At 300 baud, turned-based strategy would probably be best.

Wiskow, I'll have to dial into your BBS one day.

[Richard James]

Yes but why do you "Role Play"?

[PaulQ]

It's not "Role Playing," since I'm still myself; I just put myself in a different time era. The effect is like that of traveling back through time. It's my favorite period of time to visit, because that's when home computers were really interesting and varied. People who owned computers had a genuine interest in learning about them. Every year; heck, every month brought with it something new and awesome. I also think the music of that era was some of the most interesting.

[ral-clan]

I always thought it would be cool (if I had endless rooms in my house to customize) to make a 1930s room. Everything in that room would be authentic to the 1930s. The books, the calendar on the wall, the telephone, the radio or phonograph (which would be rigged to play 1930s broadcasts/music), the wallpaper, furniture, etc.

It would just be a kind of "retreat" - i.e. a library of sorts - to go into and read & relax & escape. It would be, in a tiny way, like the land beyond the wardrobe!

So I can kind of see what you are doing with the 80s experience.

Although the 80s isn't the time I would want to recreate (except for the computer part), I do think it would be cool to go into a totally re-created early 1980s arcade. Maybe a Chuck-E-Cheeze pizza parlour/arcade recreation. That would be fun.

[PaulQ]

I do have a growing fondness for mechanical things; clocks, typewriters, and now my watch. I also have a couple of purely mechanical cameras (a K1000 and a Brownie). I suppose the 30's was the high point for mechanical things, before electricity started to take over?