Random Terrain's Tetraternarium - Where My Interest in Randomness Started

[RSS Bot]

Where My Interest in Randomness Started

 

Although I played board games that were soaked in randomness, the Tilt-A-Whirl ride at Lakeside Amusement Park in Salem, Virginia, near Roanoke in the late 1960s was my cognizant introduction to randomness. Then around late 1973 or early 1974, the next major influential encounter with randomness was provided by 'Rabbit' and Sandra, family friends we had when we lived in Georgetown, Illinois. I believe they lived in a trailer park in Danville. I don't remember much about them, but I do know that Sandra played some kind of women's basketball. Anyway, 'Rabbit' (Robert) had a horse racing record that Sandra let me play. A horse racing record? Wouldn't it be the same every time you played it? Isn't that how all records work? Not this record. It had a random outcome every time. It was amazing! It was similar to to following, but it didn't seem to be part of a game:

 

http://www.retrothing.com/2007/11/theyre-at-the-p.html

 

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2041

 

That random horse racing LP record was the last piece of the puzzle. From board games to the Tilt-A-Whirl to the horse racing record, it all combined to form a kind of philosophy in my mind about the importance of randomness. That's when my thoughts about randomness and replayability in video games were born.

 

 

 

Random Terrain

_

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?app=blog&blogid=120&showentry=6483