I don’t know how it started or when but my interest in computers
have always been strong. During the first years of my life that is, in Kuwait and
when my family came back to Turkey, computers were kind of hard to reach. Though,
I want to count my car race toy, the one below, as a computer. As that sort of
use for computers dominated during my first years.
Atari
Atari was the first and only game console i ever owned. it had bunch of games
in it even without the cartridges. My favorite and the only one I can remember
by name is River Raid. The game is basically a plane, shooting down some
bridges, helicopters and ships and occasionally other planes to collect points
and advance to the next level. You were supposed to fill your fuel tank from
time to time; otherwise it would be impossible to continue.
It was such an exciting game for me and I managed get my
family interested in the game to. Still, when I look back at it, is quite
surprising. But I remember moments of my dad trying the game but more
frequently, I remember them watching me playing and cheering when I managed to
advance to higher levels or get myself out of difficult situations.
I have never been able to finish that game. Partly because
my interests shifted in time and partly because I broke all my 3 joysticks by
being too hard on them. You know, pushing too hard so that the plane would move
faster. Which never worked.
386DX
The date may be shaky but my dad decided to keep his patient
information on a computer instead of paper in 1993. This meant a 386DX computer
with 8mb ram and Windows 3.11 at that era.
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| Windows 3.11 |
I still miss that computer from time to time. I spent so
many hours in front of that computer. Sometimes alone, sometimes with my dad.
My dad loved building model planes but his interest shifted to drawing them
when he realized it is much cleaner and cheaper as a hobby. I used to watch him
do his magic on MS Paint for hours, asking questions, wondering whether I can
also draw like him.
After a few tries and my dad showing me what every tool in
paint did, I also started painting. Of course I sucked at the beginning but in
time I started hearing “this is correct” from my dad more and more often. Years
later, the last thing I drew on that computer was McLaren F1. But I didn’t like
that the car had such a big windshield so I lowered its top.
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| Mc Laren F1 |
I don’t know whether it was because our computer wasn’t capable
of 16 or 32 bit color or that we didn’t know how to adjust the settings but we
always drew in 256 colors. I drew a bunch of planes and cars but unfortunately neither
of mine nor my dad’s drawings survived. Which is something saddens me as I recall
that era of my life.
Other than drawing stuff, that computer was also a goldmine
for me because of the countless games it came with. I don’t know other parts of
the world but in turkey, after paying like 3.500$ to a computer the dealer wouldn’t
really ask for money for the games you wanted on the machine. Basically every time
the guy came to fix the computer or install some software for my dad, he also brought
games. Plus the town I grew up in, Ordu was and still is a small city in which
everyone knows each other. My probably was the computer dealer’s dentist. This is
just an assumption though.
Alladin
Alladin! Oh I can’t remember how long it took for me to
finish this game. I absolutely loved it. It made me so excited every time I was
playing it. There was a level in a dungeon. I think it was the 3rd level. I can’t
forget how scared and excited I was when I finally got to there. I remember
shaking like crazy because I was scared that I’d lose and would have to start
all over again. At that moment my dad had a patient and he stopped working and
tried to calm me down. Which he did… but I failed that level at least a few
weeks until I finally advanced. Needless to say, I was really hard on the
keyboard while playing this game. My dad hated that.
The Lion King
Lion king was a great game which I didn't finish. But I played
it for a long long time because I loved simba. It was great fun. Not like Aladdin
though. The importance of my game comes from a trip my family took to Ankara to
see my grandfather and some of my dad’s friends from university. There was a
kid who was 2 years older than me and he was spending most of his time in front
of computers. We started talking about computer games of course and we both
knew Lion King so he opened the game.
At that moment, something that I never knew that could
happen, happened! The game had sounds!! Samba was growling and there was music.
It was like discovering a new drug (I guess). I loved it so much. When we
returned to Ordu, our now 2 year old computer beeping pretty much like my Casio
watch did didn’t impress me at all.
Sokoban
Sokoban was a great game. The aim is to push all of the boxes to that black area. rules are, you can't push more than a box and you can't pull boxes. Which means, if you push a box to a corner, you're done. My dad and his assistant advanced
way further than I did in this game. Being beaten by them was no fun for me. I still
play this game from time to time.
Duke Nukem
Another game I finished. I think this may be the only game
in that period of my life that I finished before everyone else who was using
that computer did. Frankly they didn’t like it that much. I don’t remember my
about it. I remember a robot that looked like Kane from Robocop 2. That’s all
really.
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| Kane from Robocop. So ugly... ugh... |
There was one game that I only saw once in my neighbor’s
computer. An older kid was playing it and he didn't really like and kind of
conversation. Which meant I didn't even get the chance to ask the name of the
game. It involved sending a black heavy ball through some devices to make it
reach to some destination. Every level, you were given different tools and you
were supposed to figure out how to solve the puzzle.
Tomorrow I’ll be posting about my computer experiences in
Işık High School in İstanbul. First encounter with internet and all:)
