There's a standard type of noncommercial, amateur-produced "Star Trek"
game that has existed for nearly every computer, from mainframes on
down. Typically it is played in a 10x10 grid of sectors, where each
grid itself is composed of a subgrid. The Enterprise might be
represented by an "E", klingons by "K", etc. You play by entering
commands to the enterprise -- for example, "T" and then a number 1-8
to indicate a direction to fire photon torpedos, "M" to move with warp
drive, I with impulse, etc. The implementation details of these games
all vary, but they're instantly recognizable when you see them.
In the early 1980's, I played a particular version of this game on the
Apple II computer. The odd thing about it was that at random times,
for no apparent reason, it would spew out long quotations from Marcus
Aurelius "Meditations". I mean, -long- quotes -- we're talking a full
screen of confusing philosophical text -- "And it is this which makes
us ask what the difference is between the representation of a thing
and the thing itself, which is to say a thing _in_ itself, yadda yadda
yadda" (I just made that quote up completely to give you an idea --
it's not a literal quote from the game/meditations).
My question can be answered in one of two ways:
(1) Identify this game, naming the precise game name or executable
name, and author, and if possible publisher or distribution channel).
The identification must be sufficient to distinguish it from the
hundreds of other versions of this game -- "The game is called 'Star
Trek'" is not an adequate answer.
(2) Alternatively, point me to a disk image containing the game.
Again, I want to emphaisize that I already know there are many
versions of this game that -don't- emit obscure Marcus Aurelius
quotes. I have most of them. I'm only interested in the one
described here. |
