--- In alt-ego@y..., "dfabulich" <daniel.fabulich@y...> wrote:
>
> I've uploaded both versions of Alter Ego, male and female, to our
> files section.  Grab them here:
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alt-ego/files/
>

How do you navigate to the icons on the side, such as stats, risks,
jobs, etc etc?

Thanks. I cant get it to run on NT4.  I get a message that says "Cant
execute as Child of BASIC"  I will have to try it at home on 2000.


Thanks again.  it is a cool game.  Did you know that it was on BBspot?

Is there a program you can you to read the vignettes outside the game?

Karra

Any idea when the web version will be back up?

Is there any chance that you could zip together the files for the cgi
based version and post them here. It seems to play better, and I
could help a little with hosting.

Thanks
--- In alt-ego@y..., "dfabulich" <daniel.fabulich@y...> wrote:
>
> I've uploaded both versions of Alter Ego, male and female, to our
> files section.  Grab them here:
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alt-ego/files/
>
> Will they work for you?  I don't know.  They're VERY old.  They
work
> on my Win2k box, but obviously, your mileage may vary.
>
> Note as well that there's no way to quit the game, since back in
the
> day you would boot directly from the AE disks and just turn off or
> reboot your computer when you were done playing.  So, to quit, you
> have to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and end the AE task.
>
> Coming soon: My service provider should let me put the game back up
> any day now, and in the meantime, I'll look into seeing if I can
post
> the CGI files required to get the game running on someone else's
> machine.
>
> Have fun!  Tell us your AE stories!  I love to hear the funny stuff
> that happens to people in this game!
>
> -Dan, author of AE

I've uploaded both versions of Alter Ego, male and female, to our
files section.  Grab them here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alt-ego/files/

Will they work for you?  I don't know.  They're VERY old.  They work
on my Win2k box, but obviously, your mileage may vary.

Note as well that there's no way to quit the game, since back in the
day you would boot directly from the AE disks and just turn off or
reboot your computer when you were done playing.  So, to quit, you
have to press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and end the AE task.

Coming soon: My service provider should let me put the game back up
any day now, and in the meantime, I'll look into seeing if I can post
the CGI files required to get the game running on someone else's
machine.

Have fun!  Tell us your AE stories!  I love to hear the funny stuff
that happens to people in this game!

-Dan, author of AE

How does one get a copy of the DOS version?

--- In alt-ego@y..., "vbehyr" <dacoyote@a...> wrote:
> Chris,
>
> They run on my win2k box at work, when you download the file and
> unzip it there is a ALTEREGO.BAT ... that is the file you want to
> run. You may want to also click on the link at the top of the page
> that says windows (cpukiller).
>
> Unfortandly I didn't have a lot of time to play with this (work is
in
> the way) but it asked me for my name before I closed out.

I get some error that says
"Cannot run as a child of BASIC"
Uh, whatever that means, have to try it on XP at home




--- In alt-ego@y..., "vbehyr" <dacoyote@a...> wrote:
> Chris,
>
> They run on my win2k box at work, when you download the file and
> unzip it there is a ALTEREGO.BAT ... that is the file you want to
> run. You may want to also click on the link at the top of the page
> that says windows (cpukiller).
>
> Unfortandly I didn't have a lot of time to play with this (work is
in
> the way) but it asked me for my name before I closed out.

Chris,

They run on my win2k box at work, when you download the file and
unzip it there is a ALTEREGO.BAT ... that is the file you want to
run. You may want to also click on the link at the top of the page
that says windows (cpukiller).

Unfortandly I didn't have a lot of time to play with this (work is in
the way) but it asked me for my name before I closed out.

I found them here

http://web.interware.hu/c64/pc/pc1.htm

I dont know what language this is.. and they dont seem
to run on win2000. Sigh.. guess I have to wait..

Chris

--- Christopher Ward <ward_christopher@...>
wrote:
> I found the C64 roms here... anyone see a dos
> version
> anywhere?
>
> http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap13/alter_ego.html
>
>
> --- vbehyr <dacoyote@...> wrote:
> > Would you be intrested in letting people like me
> > load the CGI and
> > images on my computer...
> >
> > I am hooked but the server went down.
> >
> > AHHHHHH
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > -vbehyr
> >
> >
>
>
> =====
> ----------------------------------------
> "To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as
> the night the day, Thou can not then be false to any
> man.”
> -Polonius, Hamlet
> ----------------------------------------
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for
> all of
> your unique holiday gifts! Buy at
> http://shopping.yahoo.com
> or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> alt-ego-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>


=====
----------------------------------------
"To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou can
not then be false to any man.”
-Polonius, Hamlet
----------------------------------------

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of
your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com
or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com

I found the C64 roms here... anyone see a dos version
anywhere?

http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap13/alter_ego.html


--- vbehyr <dacoyote@...> wrote:
> Would you be intrested in letting people like me
> load the CGI and
> images on my computer...
>
> I am hooked but the server went down.
>
> AHHHHHH
>
> Thanks
>
> -vbehyr
>
>


=====
----------------------------------------
"To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou can
not then be false to any man.”
-Polonius, Hamlet
----------------------------------------

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of
your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com
or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com

Would you be intrested in letting people like me load the CGI and
images on my computer...

I am hooked but the server went down.

AHHHHHH

Thanks

-vbehyr

--- In alt-ego@y..., "saytanschild" <saytanschild@y...> wrote:
> I thoroughly enjoyed the game!  To bad it was too busy.  I wasted
> most of today playing it.  Twice.  I too was captured and tortured
to
> death by the bad man in the car.  Damn it.  I was well on my way
to
> middle age the second time.  I'll wait a few days and try again.
> Thanks!
>
> SC

Yeah, he killed me to.. I got to college before the viscious 404
beast killed me!

It doesnt fit me personaly as my father died when I was 8. But it is
alot of fun.. I want to try to become a crackead that lives into his
old age next time..

I thoroughly enjoyed the game!  To bad it was too busy.  I wasted
most of today playing it.  Twice.  I too was captured and tortured to
death by the bad man in the car.  Damn it.  I was well on my way to
middle age the second time.  I'll wait a few days and try again.
Thanks!

SC

Well, I for one am certainly *NOT* sorry -- this game is FUN FUN
FUN!!! I look forward to it being back up!

--- In alt-ego@y..., "QuixoticDreamer" <dreamer@q...> wrote:
> sorry I contributed to your server problems *hangs head*
>
> I was on my second try when the server went down.
>
>
> fun!

--- In alt-ego@y..., Dan Fabulich <daniel.fabulich@y...> wrote:
> xeriar wrote:
>
> > This was loads of fun.  I think it would be neat to flesh it out
more
> > and emphasize the 'paths' that could be taken.
>
> Yeah, there's a lot of things I've idly dreamed about adding in.
> Rather than giving you the smackdown when you try drugs, it'd be
> interesting to see the effects of addiction, rehab, etc.

Different drugs, too, and whether or not you get caught in the first
place.

> In addition, there are vignettes in the original game's code that,
> AFAIK, are never actually called during the course of the game.
> During these "Life Experience" vignettes, it's possible for your mom
> or your dad to die.  It'd be interesting to see how I could
> incorporate those.  I tried for a while, but eventually gave up,
> because I wasn't sure how I'd want to handle all those other
vignettes
> which include either your mother or your father.

Ayaiyai.  Things like that have so many weird possibilities :-/  Then
again the game is already a little disjointed.

> > Oddly enough my sister and I have had some rather different
> > experiences.  I climbed the metal-frame liquor shelf when I was a
kid
> > and brought two bottles to the porch (so my mom tells me) when my
dad
> > was asleep.  That thing was a deathtrap, no idea how I did it.
>
> Neat.  I was always afraid to climb stuff when I was little.  Not a
> single broken bone in my body. :)

I was rather adventurous at the start, jumping off things etc.  No
broken bones there, but I was literally addicted to milk.  Can't do
that anymore though, at 400 pounds...

> > Also, needs a 'learning how to escape from your crib'
experience :-)
> > And something with siblings, like, 'teaching your sister to escape
> > from the crib' :-)
>
> So, to do siblings properly, I'd probably want to have a question in
> the openning questionnaire... maybe as simple as "I have a brother"
> and "I have a sister" questions.
>
> The already uses "My parents were strict disciplinarians" directly
in
> the game.  Often when you get in trouble, the game checks to see if
> you said that your parents were strict, and if so, your punishments
> are harsher and it's easier to get estranged from them.  [That's the
> only question like that at the moment.  The others just figure into
> calculating your personal statistics.]

The thing is I'm leagues away from what I was as a child.

People's lives have -so- many factors, though.  What happened to me
in kindergarden was nowhere near typical, and missing six months had
its share of impact on my life :-/ (Chicken pox, tonsels removed,
error in tonsel surgery...  sucked)

> > Another childhood story I'm told, my dad was working on the roof
of
> > our duplex, and left the ladder out.  I climbed up most of the way
> > and my dad told me to get down, so I got down the fastest way I
> > knew.  Luckily, my dad caught me.
>
> Heh.  I think the last thing this game needs is more deathtrap
> vignettes, frankly.  It's already so easy to die suddenly and
without
> warning...

I'm not sure I would have died, rather than bouncing off the
grass with broken things to show for it.

> > My first lie is also an important aspect of my life :-(
>
> That, I'm proud to say, IS in the game.  You have the option to
steal
> a shiny quarter from your mom, and then to lie about it when asked.
> Deep effects on your trustworthiness later on in life...

The thing is that that wasn't the dillemma for me - my mom started
trusting me with $10 bills at that age.  Mine involved showing up
three hours late, and cleverly lying about it to my mom to pass the
blame on my friend to get out of the situation (and chores, etc.)
After that I learned that I -could- lie, if I was careful (and
crafty).

> -Dan, who should be doing work

ditto :-)

>       -unless you love someone-
>     -nothing else makes any sense-
>            e.e. cummings

--- In alt-ego@y..., Dan Fabulich <daniel.fabulich@y...> wrote:
> QuixoticDreamer wrote:
>
> > sorry I contributed to your server problems *hangs head*
>
> Hey, don't worry about it!  I'm just excited so many people got to
> play in the first place!
>
> -Dan
>
>       -unless you love someone-
>     -nothing else makes any sense-
>            e.e. cummings

it is awful fun, even though I did die an old maid, confidant, but
unloved, dizzy on a sidewalk...

hee

QuixoticDreamer wrote:

> sorry I contributed to your server problems *hangs head*

Hey, don't worry about it!  I'm just excited so many people got to
play in the first place!

-Dan

       -unless you love someone-
     -nothing else makes any sense-
            e.e. cummings

aaronw wrote:

> is it linear in each 'age' or what? i couldn't seem to see a
> difference in which square i picked.  does it matter what order you
> do the squares in? why are they branching?

I haven't the slightest clue why they're branching.  :)  That's the
way it was in the game, and I copied it directly.  I think the
branches are there just to simulate life's little vicissitudes.

As for the order, as the introduction points out, the squares are
sorted approximately in chronological order, but technically, you're
free to jump around.  It doesn't make much sense, but it does help
replay value.

> when does it decide to send you to the next 'age'? i got sent from
> infant to toddler(?) when i still had a few squares left in infant.

When you've completed 80% of the vignettes in that life stage.  This
generally helps to keep the game fun on the second ride through.

Unfortunately, it sometimes gives you way fewer vignettes than it
should, forcing you to use the age bump script.  :(

-Dan

       -unless you love someone-
     -nothing else makes any sense-
            e.e. cummings

dr3ndite wrote:

> --- In alt-ego@y..., "antichason" <chason@a...> wrote:
> > please upload the original to the files section, i'd love to play
> it when I'm not
> > hooked up to the internet. :)
> Yes, please do :)

I'm at work now, but I'll upload it when I get home.  Additionally, a
couple of people have offered to host mirrors for the game.  You'd
need the ability to run a perl script on your server, but if
somebody's up for it, I'm excited.

-Dan

       -unless you love someone-
     -nothing else makes any sense-
            e.e. cummings

sorry I contributed to your server problems *hangs head*

I was on my second try when the server went down.


fun!

xeriar wrote:

> This was loads of fun.  I think it would be neat to flesh it out more
> and emphasize the 'paths' that could be taken.

Yeah, there's a lot of things I've idly dreamed about adding in.
Rather than giving you the smackdown when you try drugs, it'd be
interesting to see the effects of addiction, rehab, etc.

In addition, there are vignettes in the original game's code that,
AFAIK, are never actually called during the course of the game.
During these "Life Experience" vignettes, it's possible for your mom
or your dad to die.  It'd be interesting to see how I could
incorporate those.  I tried for a while, but eventually gave up,
because I wasn't sure how I'd want to handle all those other vignettes
which include either your mother or your father.

> Oddly enough my sister and I have had some rather different
> experiences.  I climbed the metal-frame liquor shelf when I was a kid
> and brought two bottles to the porch (so my mom tells me) when my dad
> was asleep.  That thing was a deathtrap, no idea how I did it.

Neat.  I was always afraid to climb stuff when I was little.  Not a
single broken bone in my body. :)

> Also, needs a 'learning how to escape from your crib' experience :-)
> And something with siblings, like, 'teaching your sister to escape
> from the crib' :-)

So, to do siblings properly, I'd probably want to have a question in
the openning questionnaire... maybe as simple as "I have a brother"
and "I have a sister" questions.

The already uses "My parents were strict disciplinarians" directly in
the game.  Often when you get in trouble, the game checks to see if
you said that your parents were strict, and if so, your punishments
are harsher and it's easier to get estranged from them.  [That's the
only question like that at the moment.  The others just figure into
calculating your personal statistics.]

> Another childhood story I'm told, my dad was working on the roof of
> our duplex, and left the ladder out.  I climbed up most of the way
> and my dad told me to get down, so I got down the fastest way I
> knew.  Luckily, my dad caught me.

Heh.  I think the last thing this game needs is more deathtrap
vignettes, frankly.  It's already so easy to die suddenly and without
warning...

> My first lie is also an important aspect of my life :-(

That, I'm proud to say, IS in the game.  You have the option to steal
a shiny quarter from your mom, and then to lie about it when asked.
Deep effects on your trustworthiness later on in life...

-Dan, who should be doing work

       -unless you love someone-
     -nothing else makes any sense-
            e.e. cummings

this was extremely interesting.  i hadn't seen this before, and it
was quite interesting to see it.  unfortunately, i only got halfway
through, and i have some other questions:

is it linear in each 'age' or what? i couldn't seem to see a
difference in which square i picked.  does it matter what order you
do the squares in? why are they branching?

when does it decide to send you to the next 'age'? i got sent from
infant to toddler(?) when i still had a few squares left in infant.

this is really an interesting little toy, and i'd love to see more of
it.

aw

--- In alt-ego@y..., "antichason" <chason@a...> wrote:
> please upload the original to the files section, i'd love to play
it when I'm not
> hooked up to the internet. :)
Yes, please do :)

This was loads of fun.  I think it would be neat to flesh it out more
and emphasize the 'paths' that could be taken.

Oddly enough my sister and I have had some rather different
experiences.  I climbed the metal-frame liquor shelf when I was a kid
and brought two bottles to the porch (so my mom tells me) when my dad
was asleep.  That thing was a deathtrap, no idea how I did it.

Also, needs a 'learning how to escape from your crib' experience :-)
And something with siblings, like, 'teaching your sister to escape
from the crib' :-)

Another childhood story I'm told, my dad was working on the roof of
our duplex, and left the ladder out.  I climbed up most of the way
and my dad told me to get down, so I got down the fastest way I
knew.  Luckily, my dad caught me.

My first lie is also an important aspect of my life :-(

The URL for the c64 version of the game is here (works w/ emulators)
http://www.gb64.com/oldsite/rare-a.htm

The 'game' was almost the textual equiv of MYST only it was clicking
through text entries instead of pictures.  The entries were disguised
as database entries of varying types and would provide plot moving
pieces as well as ancillary information. The basic premise was that
you were an astronaut returning to earth to find it deserted, you
interface with a computer ai which helps to dole out information from
an internet like global network to explore the last days of humanity
on earth.
the following URL has a good write up (you'll have to key on PORTAL
to find it, interestingly enough they talk some of AE as well)

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4393/activisn.txt


--- In alt-ego@y..., Dan Fabulich <daniel.fabulich@y...> wrote:
> xamfear1 wrote:
>
> > Yup, loved the game;  Also loved (from the same period of time)
The
> > Novel/Game 'portal' What a unique experience are both games.
>
> Neat!  Do you have a link for it?
>
> > I have long wanted to bring portal to life on the web, and may do
so
> > now, after seeing the wonderfull work you have done with AE.
>
> Heh.  Just make sure to get a webserver that can handle it... :)
>
> > Great work and thanks for the fun!
>
> My pleasure!
>
> -Dan
>
>       -unless you love someone-
>     -nothing else makes any sense-
>            e.e. cummings

please upload the original to the files section, i'd love to play it when I'm
not
hooked up to the internet. :)

xamfear1 wrote:

> Yup, loved the game;  Also loved (from the same period of time) The
> Novel/Game 'portal' What a unique experience are both games.

Neat!  Do you have a link for it?

> I have long wanted to bring portal to life on the web, and may do so
> now, after seeing the wonderfull work you have done with AE.

Heh.  Just make sure to get a webserver that can handle it... :)

> Great work and thanks for the fun!

My pleasure!

-Dan

       -unless you love someone-
     -nothing else makes any sense-
            e.e. cummings

Yup, loved the game;  Also loved (from the same period of time) The
Novel/Game 'portal' What a unique experience are both games.  I have
long wanted to bring portal to life on the web, and may do so now,
after seeing the wonderfull work you have done with AE.
Great work and thanks for the fun!
-Xam
--- In alt-ego@y..., Dan Fabulich <daniel.fabulich@y...> wrote:
>
> The game was a simple port from an old IBM PC game.  I'll probably
> upload a copy of the original to our files section if there's some
> demand for it.
>
> I knew I was in love with the game ever since the first time I
played:
> I died in childhood, kidnapped and tortured to death.  No other game
> has consequences like that.
>
> Sure, there are problems with the game.  It's quite harsh on drug
> users, and seeing a psychiatrist is always the best choice.  Still,
it
> creates a very highly plausible world.
>
> This is because no game has ever been built the way Alter Ego was
> built:
>
> THE MAKING OF ALTER EGO
>
> In order to provide players with a cross section of experiences from
> life in general, rather than the author's life alone, Alter Ego's
> creator, psychologist Dr. Peter J. Favaro, interviewed hundreds of
men
> and women about their most memorable life experiences.  He examined
> the interviews and looked for common experiences, then chose the
> experiences that many people shared.
>
> The scoring in Alter Ego is based on evaluations by Dr. Favaro and a
> group of fellow psychologists.  In Dr. Favaro's own words, "We feel
> that from any one response, it is almost impossible to give an
> accurate picture of someone.  We also feel that, given the fact
that a
> person makes several HUNDRED responses while playing Alter Ego, we
> have a better chance of guessing what that person might be like."
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
>
> There's truly no other game like it.  Not even Mind Mirror, Timothy
> Leary's attempt at a similar game, stands up to Alter Ego.  Some of
> this is due to Favaro's snappy writing, but much of it has to do
with
> the interviews themselves.  Some of the events of this game are so
> weird, yet so obviously real, that you know that they couldn't
> possibly be made up.
>
> Little twists, like turning you down for certain high-paying jobs if
> your Ethics score is too high, give this game a replay value that
> almost no other game can match, in gender-bending alone.  [Did you
> know that the male and female versions of this game are entirely
> separate, and have many completely different vignettes?]
>
> How about you?  What happened to you in the game?  What vignettes
> would you like to see?  [We can add more in if we like!]
>
> -Dan
>
>       -unless you love someone-
>     -nothing else makes any sense-
>            e.e. cummings

The game was a simple port from an old IBM PC game.  I'll probably
upload a copy of the original to our files section if there's some
demand for it.

I knew I was in love with the game ever since the first time I played:
I died in childhood, kidnapped and tortured to death.  No other game
has consequences like that.

Sure, there are problems with the game.  It's quite harsh on drug
users, and seeing a psychiatrist is always the best choice.  Still, it
creates a very highly plausible world.

This is because no game has ever been built the way Alter Ego was
built:

THE MAKING OF ALTER EGO

In order to provide players with a cross section of experiences from
life in general, rather than the author's life alone, Alter Ego's
creator, psychologist Dr. Peter J. Favaro, interviewed hundreds of men
and women about their most memorable life experiences.  He examined
the interviews and looked for common experiences, then chose the
experiences that many people shared.

The scoring in Alter Ego is based on evaluations by Dr. Favaro and a
group of fellow psychologists.  In Dr. Favaro's own words, "We feel
that from any one response, it is almost impossible to give an
accurate picture of someone.  We also feel that, given the fact that a
person makes several HUNDRED responses while playing Alter Ego, we
have a better chance of guessing what that person might be like."

---------------------------------------------------

There's truly no other game like it.  Not even Mind Mirror, Timothy
Leary's attempt at a similar game, stands up to Alter Ego.  Some of
this is due to Favaro's snappy writing, but much of it has to do with
the interviews themselves.  Some of the events of this game are so
weird, yet so obviously real, that you know that they couldn't
possibly be made up.

Little twists, like turning you down for certain high-paying jobs if
your Ethics score is too high, give this game a replay value that
almost no other game can match, in gender-bending alone.  [Did you
know that the male and female versions of this game are entirely
separate, and have many completely different vignettes?]

How about you?  What happened to you in the game?  What vignettes
would you like to see?  [We can add more in if we like!]

-Dan

       -unless you love someone-
     -nothing else makes any sense-
            e.e. cummings