And this is where you were born

Filed under Writing Journal on April 9, 2004
Tagged: Commodore 64, The Bard's Tale

Well, instead of writing last night, I spent the evening goofing around with some old C64 ROMS. For those who aren’t familiar with this terminology, C64 is an abbreviation for Commodore 64, an old computer from the early 80’s that had all of 64 kb of RAM. ROMS are copies of games from old systems that can be run on modern computers using emulator programs. I had downloaded CCS64, a C64 emulator, along with several classic rpgs from my youth: Elite, The Bard’s Tale trilogy, Pool of Radiance and its sequels, Wasteland, Sword of Fargoal, and the Phantasie trilogy.

I was playing The Bard’s Tale, and while creating my party, trying to remember the original characters I had run through the game with. Most of the names, races, and classes came pretty easily. As I went down the list, I rediscovered a shocking bit of trivia. Loghan Shadowhand–the online persona I use for most message boards and chatrooms, and the central character in my own fantasy novel trilogy–was first created in Bard’s Tale. Of course, due to character length limitations, he was just Loghan back then.

It was like going back to see the first house you remember living in, or the elementary school you went to. I always remember as a kid hating when my dad took these little detours whenever we were on vacation. Of course, now that I’m older, I understand the lure of nostalgia. I hope Loghan enjoyed the trip as much as I did.