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Lode Runner (HTML5 Remake)

didgeoridoo
9 replies
2d4h

That Brøderbund triple crown never fails to bring me back to the half-underground computer software shop on the Main Street in my town some time in the early 1990s. I would read about upcoming games in PC Magazine, and visit almost daily when a new game came out to see if they had it in stock yet.

Either that shop was pretty casual about staying on the cutting edge, or release dates were fuzzier back then, because it would often be months of agonized visits before the game showed up on shelves. By then, of course, I’d have gotten another PCMag, and my attention had leapt to a different — clearly far more advanced and interesting — game that was “only days” from launch.

Anyway, during one of my Saturday morning visits to the musty-smelling and over-dehumidified shop, I ended up idly browsing through the Borland section and a Turbo C box caught my eye. My dad was incredibly pumped that I was showing an interest in something that could actually be productive and creative, so he bought it for me.

Unfortunately, nine-year-old me did not turn out to be a natural prodigy. My dad’s coding experience stopped somewhere south of FORTRAN (he had juggled some accounting systems for ABC in the early 1980s) so he tried his best but couldn’t really make it click for me.

So Turbo C went back on the shelf. Dark Forces was coming out next month, and I didn’t have time for twiddling with incomprehensible runes when there were stormtroopers to kill.

What could have been.

wenc
2 replies
2d3h

I tried Turbo C as an 8 year old and got as far as printf hello world and scanf. The pointer stuff seemed obtuse to me (coming from BASIC) and it was strange it didn’t have automatically sized string types (it was char[7] or something). In retrospect I should have gone the Turbo Pascal route as an 8 year old.

ngcc_hk
0 replies
1d5h

I like turbo pascal and still run its bridge for fun. But I wonder if you go this route would it be a dead end, unlike c. Pascal is very strong that era. Apple use it a lot. Still. Not much pascal these days. For a reason.

codetrotter
0 replies
2d1h

When I was around 12 years old I convinced one of my parents to buy a little book about C++ for me. I read the first chapter with great interest and wrote variations of input and output things with pen and paper.

Then I tried to follow the instructions on how to build and run a program on a computer.

I managed to install the IDE they recommended; one called Bloodshed Dev-C++. I managed to type the code for hello world into the IDE, and I managed to compile the program.

It produced an exe file that had a black terminal icon.

I double clicked the exe and it opened and closed very quickly.

It would only be several years later, when I started at the university, that this confusing interaction made sense to me.

At the time I thought I had made some mistake and I didn’t understand what or why.

But what happened of course was that the program started, printed its output and exited, and it all happened so fast that I just saw a window open and quickly close.

Fortunately I did eventually get better introductions to programming. But that first experience was a bit unfortunate heh.

samstave
1 replies
1d19h

So funny! I too was nostalgically brought back seeing that logo again - I literally stopped and evaluated it for a good moment, letting memories wash in.

Also, I suck at LodeRunner.

samstave
0 replies
1d17h

This is how symbols an Reservoirs will work in AI for behavioral function.

Omnious crow much.

(I am serious - we will see some upcoming shifts in the way black boxes interpret.

toast0
0 replies
1d18h

Either that shop was pretty casual about staying on the cutting edge, or release dates were fuzzier back then, because it would often be months of agonized visits before the game showed up on shelves.

Distribution was pretty fuzzy back then.

sliken
0 replies
2d

I did have IBM's C compiler and a full set of printed manuals. Never clicked for me. I did however get turbo pascal, it was amazing. Compile/edit/run cycles measured in seconds. Online docs/examples, etc.

Ended up reading PC Tech journal, wrote an EGA driver for Turbo pascal, and even a few games. Had some silly mine based game written in Turbo Pascal that showed how many mines were adjacent, with the revolutionary idea that you didn't have to hit enter after every move. It floated around as shareware on BBSs, someone even binary edited it make amusing changes to the text when you died. I allowed mines to cause chain reactions, people were amused that past a certain point increasing mine density made the game easier since the chain reactions got larger.

Certainly a different world back then.

mock-possum
0 replies
1d23h

Hey dark forces was my introduction to modern 3D first person shooter level design - I played it before I played quake, before I even played DOOM. I made handfuls of custom levels for it over my childhood years, before moving up to half life / source. Still have a very strong nostalgia for Dark Forces.

keerthiko
0 replies
2d1h

If it makes you feel any better, I was (am) a game-addicted kid who did indeed pick up Borland C++ and coded a graphical DOS version of hangman alongside my older brother when I was 12, and made a tank game with a map editor solo when I was comfortable with pointers before I was 14 — it hasn't made me a prodigal pioneer of computer programming or a wildly successful silicon valley C[E/T]O. While I do still enjoy coding/gamedev and earn a modest living from it, as a more evenly matured adult I have other interests that I care about just as much and keeps me occupied instead of poring over the latest and greatest in tech or gamedev.

I guess what I'm saying is that being interested enough to become competent at a young age doesn't necessarily equate to becoming an industry-leading savant by age 34...nor is it a prerequisite. If you are passionate today, I bet you could still level up to the forefront of whatever niche you care about with enough commitment.

mmphosis
6 replies
2d2h

The original loaded pretty much instantly. Software of that era didn't have minutes long "Loading ... Please Wait" screens for everything.

Also, the original didn't <s>try to data collect</s> ask to enter a name. For some odd reason, it took a while to get past this annoying dialog box on this web game.

On the original, the player would keep running whereas this new game is laborious in that you need to hold down keys to keep moving. The original keyboard layout is:

  UIO =  dig  up  dig
  JKL = left down right

thwarted
2 replies
2d1h

> The original loaded pretty much instantly. Software of that era didn't have minutes long "Loading ... Please Wait" screens for everything

Huh? Just about everything that didn't come on a cartridge took forever to load, especially on a C64. That's why there were "fast load" extensions. Most games would load once at the beginning, but sometimes you'd "need to insert disk 2" or "flip the disk over" to finish loading. What was truly impressive is that games like Times of Lore could entirely fit in 64k and only hit the disk when initially loading.

> On the original, the player would keep running whereas this new game is laborious in that you need to hold down keys to keep moving.

The original worked with a joystick, where you'd hold it in the direction to keep running. I'm not sure I ever played the original with the keyboard. You need to be able to stop in loadrunner in order to direct and avoid the movements of the enemies and dig holes in the right spots.

thaumasiotes
0 replies
1d23h

Huh? Just about everything that didn't come on a cartridge took forever to load, especially on a C64.

Taking a long time to load doesn't mean having a minutes long "Loading ... Please Wait" screen.

Civilization needed a lot of time, on a contemporary computer, to create the map. While doing so, it plays a slideshow with captions:

In the beginning,

the Earth was without form,

and void.

But the Sun shone upon the sleeping Earth

and deep inside the brittle crust

massive forces waited to be unleashed.

This goes on for quite a while, accompanied by appropriately epic music.

How do I even know that this is actually a loading screen? Simple - the animation is not skippable on a low-powered computer. You can try, but the actual skip will only occur later, when the computer is ready for it. On a Windows-95-era computer, you can skip the whole thing; the game will be ready before the slideshow starts.

But just because the game required a loading screen didn't mean the designers thought it would make any sense to punish the player by making them spend minutes staring at a message saying "I bet you feel pretty stupid for buying this game now, huh?". The Civ I intro is famous and well loved. You can watch a youtube video of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtK388b9drE . You can read the entire text on TvTropes, where a fan has posted it as a memorable quote: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Quotes/Civilization . It is the first thing listed on that page.

nsxwolf
0 replies
2d

The original worked with a joystick, where you'd hold it in the direction to keep running. I'm not sure I ever played the original with the keyboard. You need to be able to stop in loadrunner in order to direct and avoid the movements of the enemies and dig holes in the right spots.

I believe you would run endlessly on the Apple II version, because it had a non-centering joystick and it was more nimble of a game that way. You could stop the character with the space bar.

The MS-DOS version had a nice control scheme with the numeric keypad. You character would run endlessly left or right, but the "5" key on the keypad (right in the center of the arrows) would make him stop.

flymasterv
1 replies
2d1h

"Software of that era didn't have minutes long "Loading ... Please Wait" screens for everything."

Someone never played an Electronic Arts game on C64.

ddingus
0 replies
1d22h

Right! The Apple ][ game loads are very fast. Those are the ones I remember.

justsomehnguy
0 replies
2d

There is a repeat action toggle.

Red_Tarsius
4 replies
2d4h

I haven't played the original, but Lode Runner: The Legend Returns is one of my favorite games of all time. The later levels can be very challenging and I don't remember ever reaching the final stage but it was an addicting experience. You can download a faithful remake of Legend Returns here: https://mmr.quarkrobot.com/. Highly recommended!

sillywalk
0 replies
1d21h

(Thanks for that link.)

Agreed, one of my favourites. I also liked the background art, and the animated clips in between some of the different levels, and the CD's Redbook audio soundtrack. It kind of reminds me of the game Creaks.

I also remember it was one of the games that used WinG[0], before DirectX game out.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinG

nlitened
0 replies
2d1h

Oh God, I used to be obsessed with Lode Runner: The Legend Returns

morkalork
0 replies
2d

I sank countless hours in the level editor.

a1o
0 replies
2d

Lode Runner: The Legend Returns is the best version of the game I think, the old one is too pixely (like the classic version on iPhone) and the later 3D ones lose the simplicity of the original.

todotask
3 replies
2d5h

Issue: stuck at name input field. I cannot run!

_0ffh
2 replies
2d4h

Same here, I just get a beep on "enter", nothing going...

sltkr
1 replies
2d4h

I think the site requires you to pick something unique (???). For me, entering AAA doesn't work but entering HJFDKFDSGHK works.

kleiba
0 replies
2d4h

The classic ASS worked for me.

oflannabhra
2 replies
2d4h

I remember going quite deep on lode runner’s level editor in school with friends. I think there were a variety of edge cases that (almost like exploits) that allowed our levels to be incredibly complex and harder than any of the pre built level. A great reminder that giving people tools is almost always a creative boon.

pjz
1 replies
1d13h

...right? Anyone remember Pinball Construction Set?

mharig
0 replies
8h36m

Or Boulder Dash Construction Set.

jddj
2 replies
2d5h

I spent many hours as a child playing load runner (the legend returns) but I have no idea where we got it.

I think our Compaq Presario at the time must have come packaged with a sierra disk.

theandrewbailey
0 replies
2d5h

I remember having a Compaq computer in the 90s (some 486-based all-in-one with a CD drive), and had The Legend Returns. I kinda grew into liking it, but I'm not sure where the disc ended up. I found an ISO of Mad Monks Revenge (an expansion/re-release) on an abandonware site 15+ years ago. Works great on my retro PC.

a1o
0 replies
2d5h

Compaq Presario did come with Loderunner - and also The Evermore Incredible Machine!

wiredfool
1 replies
2d3h

Damn, got 30 levels in, 7 men left, and it reset when I went to the bathroom.

I wasted so much time on this as a kid, and this is the most faithful to the //e version that I've ever seen.

nsxwolf
0 replies
1d22h

It resumed on my highest reached level when I revisted the page.

thealienthing
1 replies
1d23h

It goes without saying that I could easily Google this myself, but I’ll ask anyway for those who are also wondering: what is the significance of HTML5 for this implementation? I’m not a web guy have gotten by with simple html css js and occasional templating when needed. Is HTML5 supporting some native programming?

rijoja
0 replies
1d21h

The canvas element I suppose, and yeah maybe gamepad and joystick support as well.

buescher
1 replies
2d4h

Lode Runner was the first game to impress me with its play mechanics and its level builder. It was really an elegant little game. I don’t think it would make my all time top 10 today but it would probably make a “top 10 to date of release”.

subtra3t
0 replies
2d4h

What would be your all time top 10?

RomanPushkin
1 replies
2d

What framework/libraries did you use while making the game?

wiredfool
0 replies
1d22h

My guess is that this is a 6502 emulator plus the original code in wasm. It’s too close to the //e version to be a reimplementation.

MourYother
1 replies
2d1h

Loads for ages, prompts for player name. smh...

foresto
0 replies
1d20h

prompts for player name. smh...

Also triggers Firefox canvas fingerprinting protection, but doesn't seem to need it to function. What's it doing there?

xbar
0 replies
2d

Crap. If this ruins 2024 like it ruined 1987, I am in deep trouble.

wg0
0 replies
2d2h

Seeing and playing this for the first time and... it's really very interesting game.

Is there a value in a total remake (different graphics, art style) of this game? I'm sure many already exist.

thriftwy
0 replies
2d4h

https://okgamer.ru/dendi-igry-onlayn/2356-lode-runner.html took five seconds to boot, whereas on this web site it took ten seconds to get to 25% after which I have up waiting.

HN hug of love?

the__alchemist
0 replies
2d2h

Oh man! I played the sequel when I was a kid after it came included on my dad's work computer. Entertainment on several family trips!

squarefoot
0 replies
1d21h

I don't remember playing Lode Runner back in the day, although it was quite famous. Back then my favorite games in the same league were Pharaohs Curse and Montezuma's Revenge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBSW6r9-lQo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq7xwDrKwBs

solardev
0 replies
2d1h

I'm curious, why does it take so long to load?

rgrieselhuber
0 replies
2d3h

Man I used to love this game.

olvy0
0 replies
2d

This brings back so much memories of playing the original on my Apple IIe.

Glad to have found about Lode Runner: The Legend Returns, Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks' Revenge, and its remakes from the comments here. There goes my weekend...

Another very good and free remake (which doesn't even include ads!) for mobile platforms is/was Lode Runner 1 by Nexon. It appears it's no longer on Google Play, but it can be found on APKMirror. I still play it from time to time.

Review: https://toucharcade.com/2017/05/19/lode-runner-1-is-a-well-m...

nikolay
0 replies
1d23h

One of my favorites in the past. This implementation is pretty good!

ngcc_hk
0 replies
1d5h

Ask the name and wait and wait and wait … no keyboard up on my ipad. gave up.

nevster
0 replies
1d18h

Always love seeing Apple II related stuff on HN.

The first game I got with my Apple //c was Championship LodeRunner - http://www.oldcomputerstuff.com/championship-lode-runner-cer...

memalign
0 replies
2d5h
lovegrenoble
0 replies
1d22h

Love this game

junkremoval22
0 replies
1d3h

Your nostalgic tale of the Brøderbund triple crown takes me back to the charm of early '90s computer software shops. The anticipation of new game releases, the agony of waiting for months, and the allure of cutting-edge technology captured the essence of that era. The unexpected encounter with Turbo C in the Borland section adds a twist, reflecting the hopeful ambition of diving into the world of coding, although, as a nine-year-old, the call of Dark Forces and stormtroopers proved more irresistible. A delightful journey into the past and the 'what could have been' moments. | https://aiadvantaged.com

intrasight
0 replies
2d5h

Great memories. Was our favorite game on my Macintosh 128K. My nephew brought my Mac back to Italy with him just so he could continue playing. I don't think I've played it on any other computer since.

inetknght
0 replies
2d1h

Ahhh I remember many (well... maybe not so many compared to current games) hours playing Lode Runner on a Mac Plus when I was 3 years old. I remember editing the maps and my dad thinking I was editing a locked floppy disk... when really I just figured out how to unlock it and re-lock it afterward.

harha_
0 replies
1d20h

It shouldn't take this long to load. Honestly it should just launch into the game without a loading screen at all.

foresto
0 replies
1d20h

Anyone else find that pressing a key while another key is pressed causes the game to forget that the first key is still being pressed? I don't remember this being a problem in the original. Browser limitation, or bug?

eddyfromtheblok
0 replies
2d4h

I played this as a kid on a Franklin PC, an Apple II clone. It was more interesting than Pac-Man at the time and IIRC you could design your own levels.

dvirsky
0 replies
1d22h

This is pretty great, I used to love this game as a kid. I played it on a PC in the late 80s. Besides being a fun game, it was probably the first game I've played where you could design your own levels, which was awesome, we used to challenge each other to custom levels in our school's computer lab.

ddingus
0 replies
1d22h

This looks and plays great!

My favorite version of this game runs on the Apple ][ and I am going to fire mine up and have a go this evening to hear the goofy 1 bit sounds.

To play on Android, I had to connect a keyboard.

bitwize
0 replies
1d20h

See also xscavenger, old-school X11 Lode Runner clone: https://www.linuxmotors.com/linux/scavenger/index.html

Enjoy it now, while X11 is still quasi-relevant and runnable on today's computers!

archsurface
0 replies
1d23h

Wow. Memories. Loving it.

Cristan
0 replies
8h50m
Cerpicio
0 replies
2d4h

I remember spending a lot of time playing this game. Even my mom liked it, and she never played video games. I wonder if she'll want to play this version. Great to see it again!