Little Computer People
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| Little Computer People | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Activision |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Designer(s) | David Crane Rich Gold |
| Engine | - |
| Release date(s) | 1985 |
| Genre(s) | Life simulation game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | N/A |
| Platform(s) | ZX Spectrum Commodore 64 Amstrad CPC Atari ST Apple II |
| Media | Cassette Floppy disk |
| Input | Keyboard, Joystick |
Little Computer People, also called House-on-a-Disk, is a life simulation game/god game released in 1985 by Activision for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum and Apple II. An Amiga version was released in 1987. A Famicom Disk System version, published in Japan by Square, also exists.
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
The game has no winning conditions, and only one setting: a sideways view of the inside of a three-story house. After a short time, an animated character (always male, except on the Famicom Disk System) will move in and occupy the house. He then goes about a daily routine, doing everyday things like cooking, watching television or reading the newspaper. Players are able to interact with this person in various ways, including furnishing the house, entering simple commands for the character to perform, playing a game of poker with him and offering presents. On occasion, the character initiates contact on his own, inviting the player to a game or writing a letter explaining his feelings and needs.
Each copy of the game generates its own unique character, so no two copies play exactly the same. The documentation that accompanied the game fully kept up the pretense of the "little people" being real, and living inside one's computer (the software merely "bringing them out"), with the player as their caretaker.
Two versions of the game existed for the Commodore 64: the disk version, which played as described above, and the cassette version, which omitted several features (and was considered crippled). On tape versions, the Little Computer Person was generated from scratch every time the game was started up (not only on the first boot, as with other versions), and thus did not go through the "moving in" sequence seen on other versions. Also, on cassette versions the Computer Person had no memory, and did not dialogue meaningfully with the user; and the card games, such as Poker, could not be played.
[edit] Apple Town Story
On the Famicom Disk System, the game was called Apple Town Story - Little Computer People. This version was slightly different. It featured a female character, accompanied by a cat, the house was shaped differently (most notably it had a terrace on the top floor), and there were cut scenes for several actions, for example when the character was brushing her teeth. [1]
[edit] Add-Ons
According to "High Score!", they were prepared to make all sorts of add-ons such as diskettes filled with new furniture and an "LCP Apartment", with the LCPs all interacting. Unfortunatly, these add-ons never materialized because the market did not demand it.
[edit] Reception
While fairly popular in its day, earning a score of 97% in Zzap!64,[1] the game faded into obscurity afterwards.
[edit] Legacy
The game is a clear precursor to The Sims, validated by an interview with Will Wright (designer of The Sims) on January 20, 2000.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ The Activison Little Computer People Discovery Kit. Zzap!64. Newsfield. Retrieved on 2006-09-03.
- ^ Will Wright : A chat about the "The Sims" and "SimCity". CNN. Retrieved on 2006-09-03.
[edit] External links
- Little Computer People at MobyGames
- Little Computer People Research Project (extensive information on C64 version) at The-Commodore-Zone
- Legends of the C64 article on David Crane (includes Little Computer People info)
- Technical information on how the random characters were generated at Software Preservation Society
- Famicom Disk System screenshots
- Little Computer People at World of Spectrum
