SpectreVR is a title every old-school PC gamer should remember. The original game in the series, simply called Spectre, landed in 1991 and was one of the first computer games to offer an online multiplayer 3d environment. It first shipped on the Macintosh platform but later made it to DOS, Windows and even SNES. I have many fond memories of sneaking into the school computer lab and “hacking” an AppleIIgs with the principal’s password just to play this game. It was a pretty big deal back then since that was the only computer in the lab with a color-display (16 colors FTW!). Man, those were the days.

So seeing as how fond I was of the game, I decided to pick up a copy online. No, I don’t mean a bootleg copy. I buy the real stuff to support the industry. Anyway, I was able to find a copy online new-in-box for around $20. Not a bad deal, I thought it might be cool for collector’s value. And if I can find a brand new copy of a PC game from 15 years ago, well then there’s really no excuse to pirate. A few days later a package arrives. But when I open it I’m a bit surprised, this wasn’t the box art I remember. Not that crazy triangle shaped box I wanted, but a blast from the past never-the-less.

Unboxing images, video and rant below…

I pause, staring at the screenshots on the packaging; this doesn’t even look like the same game! WTF!?!? Confused I look closer at the box and the system specs. Then I finally realized that I bought the wrong version. This is the CD-ROM version, for 16-bit Windows, no less. I wanted the original SpectreVR for DOS! After looking online it seems I wasn’t the only one that got confused. This was back when CD-ROM was all the rage and everyone was eager to make a quick port and cash in on the action. Very well, I might was well install it. After all I did actually pay for it. First thing I did was check out the “readme” and boy, have things changed. Look at the system requirements, just amazing:

Requirements
o An IBM or 100% compatible computer with a 486DX or Pentium
processor
o A hard disk drive with 13 MB free space
o Microsoft Windows 3.1
o 8 MB RAM
o A 100% VGA compatible graphics card and monitor
o Double-speed CD ROM drive

I continue reading, just for nostalgic value, and it gets much better. In the middle of describing some of the game’s features it just randomly goes into this cyberpunk dialog like a page from a William Gibson novel. Not just a page either, practically an entire chapter. Here is just one excerpt:

The system slowly rerouted his nerve impulses, and he felt a
buzz descending over his consciousness. Behind his closed
eyes, it dimmed slowly, and suddenly it flared with bright
light. For an instant he felt his body, and the terror of
hypnagogic paralysis passed through him. Fortunately,
awareness of his body dissolved and a distant light coalesced
slowly into the familiar purple horizon of the net. It sure beat
the pain of the old direct connect electrodes.
Welcome to CyberNet.

I was quite impressed with the level of detail that went into writing a novella to put in the readme of a game. They really don’t do stuff like that anymore. But even as surprising as that little story was, I don’t think anything could prepare me for the intro to the game. This sequel came out when CD-ROM drives just blew up and it shows. Seriously, its on the SegaCD level but its great. Check out what is quite possibly the best game intro ever:

Talk about LOL!!!!

However, the game was running pretty slow under Vista 32-bit and wouldn’t go full-screen (although it did install fine, and run, which was a surprise). I decided the just install Windows 3.11 on my new machine! I found this guide that will let you install Windows 3.11 inside of DOSBox. You can see shots of the installation below. Don’t worry, the irony of spending a small fortune on a gaming rig to run a 16-bit Windows title from ‘93 is not lost on me.

Although the intro was very entertaining, as were the rest of the FMV segments, the game itself was sub-par. Clearly this was a quick port and didn’t have the gameplay from the original. Its sad because the graphics were technically better, but it was in the weird period when texture-mapping was a huge deal. So after all the effort the game just sucked! So I bit the bullet and ended up downloading the DOS version from some random ROM site. I figured since that was the version I thought I was paying for, its only fair. No worries, the game runs great in DOSBox and plays a whole lot better to. Here are some shots from the *real* SpectreVR:

Surely those shots don’t hold a candle to some 3D games of today, but back then this was state-of-the-art in computer graphics. Its really amazing how far we have come since that time. But even with the low-fi graphics, the game is still fun. Plus the music has that classic midi synth vibe going on, good stuff. Definitely one of my favorite games and a great addition to the cyberpunk genre.

Also, this is totally random but I just realized how much of a rip-off my LCD monitor is. The monitor I’ve got is a Sceptre 22″ widescreen display. When I bought it I thought the name sounded familiar, but I didn’t think much of it. Now, upon further review, its pretty obvious the company just straight stole the logo from this game. They swapped 2 letters, but even the font is suspiciously similar. Coincidence… or the ChinaTown special? You decide:

Thank you for connecting to the CyberChannel!!!

Tags: Cyberpunk, Ramblings, Video Games, Virtual Reality //