Zarf Updates

"What is the first computer game that you played?" One of those social forum threads which is really about reader demographics rather than games. Still, I tried to remember.

No, my answer wasn't Adventure. I played Adventure in '79 or so -- but before that, I probably ran into Oregon Trail or Lemonade Stand or one of those other BASIC games on a school PET machine. And I definitely played one of the Star Trek variants on a neighbor's Apple 2 (not a II+, this was way early).

But there's also a game that I played at the Ontario Science Center in... man, I really don't remember when. Certainly 1980 or earlier. It might have been before or after my initiation into Adventure.

I will describe the game. You tried to contain a firest fire. The game was built in an arcade-like cabinet, but it was not a commercial arcade game. You had a graphical map of a forest, done in colored ASCII art. You had a cursor controlled by d-pad-style buttons. There was an info display showing wind speed and direction.

A fire got started. (One red square!) You had to control the spread. Your tools were water-bombs -- very limited supply -- and setting back-fires. Maybe you could drop firefighters as well; I don't remember.

I do remember that if you were fast and lucky, you could bang the cursor over to the initial spark and water-bomb it before it spread. That was the ideal outcome. Otherwise, things got out of control real fast. I didn't grasp the scenario well enough to use backfires effectively, but I understood the cheese-it solution.

Come to think of it, I must have played Apple 2 games by then. Because I was clueful enough to recognize that it was not running on an Apple; the Apple couldn't do color-blocks mixed with text like that.

I'll dispense with the tension up front: this game has been identified. Not found -- it's unlikely that the original version survives anywhere. But someone recalls it:

I am replying to a 13-year-old message, I know, I know, but still, for the record:

The game in question was built to the extent of two or possibly three machines. They used an S-100 computer, likely using a Z80, and a custom graphics display that had originally been designed to run the TTC's Downsview control room. They were placed in a custom cabinet using OSC's unique push-buttons (remember the red rubbery tops?) The game used a cellular automata, like Conway's Life, to model the spread of the fire.

The machines stayed with the OSC for years and one of them was taken on the road with their show that visited schools. The last I heard is that one of them ended up in the Firefighting Museum in Sault, but I have never heard back from them.

So no, it's not the DOS game, it was all custom and actually pre-dates DOS.

-- maurymarkowitz, reddit thread, 3 Feb 2023

There's no name for the game; it might not have had a name. I don't think it had a splash screen or anything like that. But that was definitely it.

As the thread notes, there was a later DOS game called Fire Fighter (Eben Sprinsock, 1985) which was similar. Possibly close enough to have been directly inspired by the Toronto original? You can play the DOS game at Archive.org.

Interestingly, the DOS game is turn-based but the original was definitely real-time. Or at least real-ish time.

maurymarkowitz continues:

Found my notes, such as they are:

The company was called United Technologies International, or UTI. Bunch of former UofWaterloo people most of whom ended up in the GTA or Ottawa (back when that was a big tech hub!). Their first machine used three 8080, one for a CPU, another for a disk controller, and a third for the graphics.

The two game machines were built in 78 or 79. They used a single 8080 running CP/M, but I suspect there might have been a second for the graphics even though it had only one display. When I first saw them they were side-by-side in the Communications area where the PDP-11 used to be. Many years later (late 80s I think) I saw one had been moved upstairs into the Natural Resources area which was open and looked down into comms, but no one ever went there so that one was always free to use.

At least one was still operational as late as 1998 mounted in the van they took to the schools. The guy that ran the outreach thinks its last public showing might have been at the CNE that year. He thinks the machine itself was around until 2000 when the shut down the outreach program. That's the one they thought ended up in the Sault. But it turns out I did contact them in the Sault and they say they never had it.

So I guess they're in a landfill somewhere. Probably beside Science North's PDP-1! :-(

-- maurymarkowitz, reddit thread, 4 Feb 2023

There's a couple of other forum threads which turn up the same information. (Because the same guy googled them, just like I'm doing now.) This post from Livejournal remembered more of the gameplay:

For example, maybe you took a bulldozer icon and cleared out some trees to make a firebreak, maybe you started a fire to burn out an area so that when the "real" forest fire got to that point, it had nothing to burn, or you sent in planes to drop water on parts of the fire, or you dropped smokejumpers, just had ordinary firetrucks, or whatever.

-- planettom, toronto.livejournal.com

(Same thread is linked from this post on forums.atariage.com.)

And... that's all the information there is. I have not located any photos or original records. Thanks to maurymarkowitz for collecting what we've got.

So why am I posting this?

First, to collect information in one place. Livejournal is not a reliable platform. Reddit probably isn't going to shrivel up and evaporate, but can we really be sure? At least this way the info is on two web sites with a history of sticking around.

Second, because the Ontario Science Center closed two years ago. I had no idea.

On June 21, 2024, the Ministry of Infrastructure announced the closure of the Ontario Science Centre to visitors, due to the building’s deteriorating infrastructure, including the potential for roof failure due to snow load as early as this winter.

We understand this building holds many memories.

For 55 years, the Ontario Science Centre has been a beloved landmark in our province. Our building itself has been a cherished space for generations of visitors, sparking wonder and curiosity about science and the world around us, every day. It's been the site of first jobs, first field trips, and countless "aha" moments. The memories made within these walls are truly special.

While we are no longer able to welcome visitors at our current location, we will continue to deliver innovative science experiences virtually, through pop-up experiences and in an interim facility, as we plan for our new permanent home at Ontario Place. We will share more details shortly.

My memories of the place go beyond that one videogame. The building was iconically 70s-futuristic -- a space-age outpost sprawling down a forested ravine in the heart of the Toronto. My mental imagery of The Future comes straight from the Ontario Science Center... and Ontario Place, speaking of which.

I revisited the museum in college, and then again in 2015. The game was long gone but I remembered some of the other exhibits. It was still a magical place.

In 2022, I heard that the sky-bridge between the museum buildings was in bad repair and had to be closed. See also this timeline.

At the time, people were speculating that the whole museum had been starved of maintenance funds so that Rob Ford could shut it down and replace it with luxury condos. Or maybe it was Doug Ford. Forces of evil, anyhow.

The report about the roof has been disputed. The replacement building at Ontario Place remains a fantasy, although the museum now has a pop-up exhibit space on the waterfront.

I have another whole set of memories around the 1970s playground at Ontario Place. That's another post, though.

Ontario Place turned up as an abandoned Illyrian city on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. That was weird.