Remembering Randamn

Lending truth to the idea that you can find anything on the internet, I've just turned up a page dedicated to a game I read about but never saw over 25 years ago. That game is Randamn.

Electronic Games Magazine was one of the first and only publications I've subscribed to in my life, and certainly the most eagerly anticipated each month. I read it avidly from cover to cover as soon as it arrived. I recall one issue had a blurb about an Apple II game that sounded interesting, put out by a very small company I'd not heard of, ironically called "Magnum." I remember one of the featured game stages was "The Land of the Damned," which seemed pretty cutting edge (and possibly controversial) at the time. But looking at what I assume is a screen shot of the level, it doesn't seem that diabolical.

One interesting note about the game - the copy protection was fiendishly hard to crack. Apparently it was only just broken in 2004, by someone looking to play the disk image on an Apple II emulator. I can only imagine this game was overlooked by the software pirates of the day, who were legion.

- a brief mention of Randamn in EG

- an ad for the game

According to the page, some of the Magnum team are now heading a project called MCF III, experimenting in artificial intelligence (for instance, a chat program for kids to talk to instead of chatting on the internet. I'm a little puzzled by that one. I like computers as much as the next guy, but it couldn't hurt to play outside once in a while...)