Amit Patel on Creating Solar Realms Elite, the BBS Door Game That Captivated a Generation
Interview with Amit Patel, Creator of "Solar Realms Elite"
In 1990, Amit Patel created Solar Realms Elite, a BBS door game that became a classic. In this interview, Patel discusses his early programming experiences, from TRS-80 to Commodore 64, and how he learned by experimenting with games like those in David Ahl's 'Computer Basic Games.' He shares insights into SRE's innovative ANSI interface, its unique game design, and how his curiosity-driven approach to programming shaped the game. Patel also reflects on the BBS era, his brother's role as sysop, and why he preferred OS/2 over Windows.
I found it best to learn by reading about something, then experimenting, then going back to reading.
- Boxxed
Other awesome BBS door games, for a those that want a shot of nostalgia:
LORD, Barren Realms, Falcon's Eye, Land of Devastation, Planets: TEOS, Usurper
It was a fun era. I had a BBS all setup and ready to go, complete with insane ASCII art: the plan was to make it live once my sister went to college, giving me the second phone line entirely to myself. But in the intervening two years the internet really took off and by the time she moved out (1997) it felt like a pointless endeavor.
- a11r
Amit Patel was employee #7 at Google and built many things including the little geo display in the lobby that would show live search queries as dots color coded by language.
- exogeny
Ah, nostalgia. I was a LORD man myself. One of my good friends from the BBS scene in my hometown (412/724) had a Telnet/SSH instance of LORD that ran for a good decade plus.