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Dumpshock Forums _ General Gaming _ Play Alter Ego online!

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jan 19 2008, 05:23 AM

This is incredibly cool! I found an online version of an old game from the 80s, "Alter Ego". It was written by an 80s dude who had an 80s degree in psychology. The game involves playing the role of yourself or an alter ego through a number of choose-your-own-adventure style vignettes. However, the game is also a bit more complicated because besides for the vignettes you can have romantic relationships, get jobs, go to college, and even make major purchases. The best part is when you go to buy a computer and the expensive awesome computers have got less than a megabyte of memory!

http://www.theblackforge.net/alterego/alterego

Go and play it! I had great fun.

There's both a male and female set of vignettes, but according to articles on the internet historically the female version barely sold at all because at that time women who played computer games were ultra rare. I mean, they're even still on the rare side today. Which is sad.

Posted by: Angelone Jan 20 2008, 01:37 AM

I'm hooked been playing all day.

Posted by: Backgammon Jan 20 2008, 08:36 PM

I was kidnapped, tortured and killed. Harsh.

Posted by: Backgammon Jan 20 2008, 10:16 PM

Well, that cost me several hours of my today. Fun game.

Posted by: Critias Jan 21 2008, 12:35 PM

I died of a heart attack while being the starting pitcher for The Senior Sluggers, my age 65+ softball team.

Posted by: Velocity219e Jan 21 2008, 12:49 PM

Two happy lives and one death by car accident while trying to teach a speeding driver a lesson, the tree I hit had a different lesson in mind, although I'm not sure if it was BUY GLASSES or SLOW DOWN!

^^

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jan 23 2008, 01:05 AM

I played through the game trying to play the role of Robert E. Howard's Conan, but it didn't work because the game doesn't let you be truly Conanesque. When I got out of my car to do battle with the maniac he pwned me with a headshot from his handgun and I died.

Posted by: Angelone Jan 23 2008, 11:54 PM

I kept getting randomly knocked up. It would give my this whole 5 weeks after your fateful night line, and BAM pregnant. No real reason twice I wasn't even seeing anyone.

Posted by: hyzmarca Jan 24 2008, 12:16 AM

QUOTE (Angelone)

I kept getting randomly knocked up. It would give my this whole 5 weeks after your fateful night line, and BAM pregnant. No real reason twice I wasn't even seeing anyone.

Maybe your character is a slut. Or, possibly, your character's babies are Jesus.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jan 24 2008, 01:01 AM

QUOTE (Angelone)

I kept getting randomly knocked up. It would give my this whole 5 weeks after your fateful night line, and BAM pregnant. No real reason twice I wasn't even seeing anyone.

I'm guessing that could be related to a low Thoughtfulness characteristic. The reason I believe so is because the game once mentioned that if your character is diabetic and also has a low Thoughtfulness characterstic you could have a problem with forgetting to inject insulin.

Posted by: Ravor Jan 24 2008, 01:53 AM

Well I would like to figure out what is required to be a lawyer, unless I was blind I didn't see a selection to attend a Law School and my character was among the best and the brightest.

Posted by: Velocity219e Jan 24 2008, 12:17 PM

QUOTE (Ravor)

Well I would like to figure out what is required to be a lawyer, unless I was blind I didn't see a selection to attend a Law School and my character was among the best and the brightest.

A blind lawyer huh? gunna wear red leather and fight crime too?

I did it by working in college as a legal assistant (bottom job choice in young adult) then when I finished college I quit and got a job as a lawyer.

Entrepeneur seems like the most profitable profession to me tho.

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jan 24 2008, 04:42 PM

QUOTE (Velocity219e)

QUOTE (Ravor @ Jan 24 2008, 01:53 AM)

Well I would like to figure out what is required to be a lawyer, unless I was blind I didn't see a selection to attend a Law School and my character was among the best and the brightest.

A blind lawyer huh? gunna wear red leather and fight crime too?

Of course, it also seems like you generally don't need that much money in the game, unless you want to buy all the major purchases multiple times.

Posted by: Ravor Jan 25 2008, 04:52 AM

Naw, red isn't my color.

Posted by: hyzmarca Jan 28 2008, 08:48 AM

Kidnapped and killed twice by the same guy, then decided to play an absurdly aggressive female character and kicked the kidnappers butt (okay, ran like hell, but the result was the same). My character got pregnant in college for no apparent reason but when I decided to have a child later in life I was painfully disappointed by the fact that this requires a husband. There isn't even an option for making a withdrawl from the bank and intentionally being an ultra-slut didn't help at all..

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Jan 28 2008, 11:03 PM

QUOTE (hyzmarca)

Yeah, I tried the ultra-aggressive female thing as well. However, I noticed that in some of the vignettes they only give the choice of attacking someone to the male. For example, during the store robbery by the drunk guy with the fake gun the male has the choice to attack him but the equivalent choice for the female is to call the cops.

Another example is when you're put in charge of the bake sale during high school and the other kids mock you for being a teacher's pet. If you have low self control as a male you get into a fistfight, but as a female you just get into a screaming match.

80s sexism for the win!

Posted by: Angelone Feb 4 2008, 03:47 AM

You can be an ultra-agressive female when you're young. I beat up some kid who took my toy at the playground, and suckerpunched another baby. Still seem to be a baby magnet though.

Posted by: imperialus Feb 4 2008, 02:50 PM

I made a 500,000 bucks re-inventing the burrito because I chose to "get creative" while pining for a snack instead of going to a fast food joint.

Posted by: hyzmarca Feb 5 2008, 01:49 AM

This time, I was able to play a female character who became a successful lawyer and avoided pregnancy, the key to which seems to be absurd levels of aggressiveness, manipulativeness, and promiscuity tempered some thoughtfulness and compassion. Or it could just be that the huge amount of my character drank during infancy rendered her sterile.

Also, a homeless lady gave my character $50,000.

Posted by: SoyKaf Adict Feb 7 2008, 12:36 AM

I died alone because my wife left me, so I porked my babysitter at age 50 and croaked... How's about that Walt Disney ending?

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Feb 9 2008, 09:09 PM

QUOTE (hyzmarca @ Feb 4 2008, 08:49 PM)

That's poetry. Imagine being the babysitter who presumably has a fetish for older people and who is in the middle of getting porked when aforementioned older person dies. PWNED!

Posted by: Whipstitch Feb 9 2008, 09:16 PM

Ah, fell victim to "wait, the quote this post is on the BOTTOM of the message now?" trap, eh?

Posted by: Wounded Ronin Feb 10 2008, 04:18 AM

QUOTE (Whipstitch @ Feb 9 2008, 04:16 PM)

Ah, fell victim to "wait, the quote this post is on the BOTTOM of the message now?" trap, eh?

Ack! Pwned indeed!

Posted by: Whipstitch Feb 10 2008, 04:46 AM

I did it like three times when they switched it over. Took a flurry of editing on my part. I'm mostly just happy to know I'm not alone in the world.

Posted by: nezumi Feb 18 2008, 11:32 PM

Money really is completely irrelevant. My character currently is about a million and a half in debt with her house and two jets, has no money left for lifestyle costs, has no job (and has never had one) and has as of yet to have any of her children or assets seized. As long as you dig yourself into the inescapable pit of debt in a single phase of life and never expect to buy anything ever again, that's all you need to do.

(If you're wondering how I bought a house without ever having held a job, let me say that personal loans are a good thing, and the bank doesn't seem to concerned where the collateral on the new loan came from.)