The First Time You Discovered Toys For Bob

[Anthony]

I was wondering if anyone remembers the time first they discovered Toys for Bob, Paul Reiche III or Fred Ford?

When I played Star Control for the very first time, it was on an old Tandy computer.  I was a little kid at this time and I didn't even think about the developers behind the games I played.

The first time discovered the name Toys for Bob was when I started to play an abandonware copy of Star Control II and then finding UQM.  I was in my final year of high school.  I started to read some comments about it and people kept mentioning "voice files" and "music remixes".  I asked about it on an IRC channel and someone gave me the link to http://sc2.sf.net/.  That's when I found the open source release and the story of the gracious source code release.  At this point, I started to learn about The Horde, the acquisition by Activision, the 3DO version, etc.  I didn't even know anything about the 3DO console until I discovered the port of Star Control II.  As I started playing through UQM and reading through the site and forum, that's what made me learn about the developers.

I know that "Toys for Bob" is credited at the beginning of The Horde and a photo of the TFB crew is shown at the end.  I admit that I never actually played through The Horde; I have only played the demo.

So, that's a brief summary of how I discovered the people behind Star Control.  Do you remember the first time you came found out about Toys for Bob?

[Draxas]

I can remember watching the intro to SC2 DOS version back in high school, and wondering who those two guys credited at the beginning were. Bear in mind that this was a time when nearly every person credited in a videogame I had played until that point had an unintelligible japanese pseudonym and wasn't mentioned until the very end credits (if they were mentioned at all).

I can also remember looking for their names during the end credits of SC3. When I didn't see them present, everything fell into place about why I was so disappointed by the game.

That pretty much ended my interaction with TFB and their games until I found UQM back in 2004 or so.

[Nuclear]

When I played a Star Control game for the first time {SC3}, I had no clue what the heck "Toys for Bob" was, all I knew was that I found out about Star Control 1 in an Accolade software catalogue and Star Control 3 {Which I picked up because I thought Star Control 1 looked interesting enough} was also published by Accolade so I thought, "Yep, Accolade made Star Control..." It wasn't until I downloaded and played Star Control 2 that I found out about the original creators... And how good a game it is compared to the third one

[Angelfish]

I knew the creators ofcourse, because I had finished Star Control 2 and the names stuck . But the original SC2 for the PC didn't have Toys for bob in the credits as their company name.
It was until much later, when I found the discussion board of Guillaume Lafranc, and a bit later the pages of now and forever, that I discovered that they were now working as Toys for Bob .

[Lukipela]

I got the game back when I was 15 or so and never reflected over such a thing as "Creators". Spoiled ingrates rarely do. My second year at Uni I got an internet connection and discovered TimeWarp, PNF and UQM. Somewhere along that road I also got interested in who had actually started all this and followed a PNF link to TfB. It cleared up a lot of things, such as why I had enjoyed SC II with my friends but really not cared much for SC 3.

[Eth]

  Well, I played Paul Reiche III's "Archon" back in the day, and I was exposed to SC1 and SC2 around the time they were released, but not through proper channels: I was a member of a shadowy underground network of software pirates operating through BBSs.  Once the web took off, I discovered Yukki's (now sadly defunct) "Magic Box" website, which was a Toys for Bob fansite.  I tried the "Pandemonium" and "Horde" demos, and bought a copy of "The Unholy War."  I've been tempted by the various licensed games that TFB have come out with since then, but never quite tempted enough, y'know?

[Sage]

I seem to be among the rare few who were first introduced to Star Control 2 in the 3DO version. A friend of mine had a 3DO (and his family had an additional one they used mainly to play CDs) some time after they had largely passed out of favor, so I can only imagine they got the system and games for really cheap. For the most part I just sat by and watched as all the interesting stuff went on, though I do remember picking up and playing on a file of my own for a while.

But then, time passed, game consoles are set aside, people move, and so on. I didn't really think about Star Control 2 much at all until one day I caught wind of the early UQM release from a post on Penny Arcade. That lead me to download and play that, which eventually lead me to seeking information about the game and TFB, which eventually lead me here.

[viperbob]

Way back when, I had a 386/20 and was a co-sysop on a local BBS, I found SC2 and fell in love.  I never knew anything about "Toys are for Bob".  It was the first game I completed with the pc and I never forgot it.  I still have somewheres the four 3 1/2" disks that I put the SC2 on.  I'm sure the disks are useless now, but I never tossed them out.  This game SC2 is a labor of love.  LIke going back 30 years.   I will never take this game off this puter.
One of the real things I love about it now is the re-play.  If you don't like where you are or have missed something, you can start again.
What I apprecaite is the people here on this site that are keeping SC2 alive.  They (you all) have been a real help to me getting started again.
thanks
VB

[Chad]

I definitely remember their picture from the Star Control 1 manual.  That shirt and suspenders are pretty memorable

http://starcontroller.com/?p=822

I also remember the facts and stories in the SC 2 manual and SC 2 roleplaying resource guide.  I don't remember where or how I got my original copy of the resource guide but, it was clearly stated that it was written by the creators of the game.

[Angelfish]

I definitely remember their picture from the Star Control 1 manual.  That shirt and suspenders are pretty memorable

http://starcontroller.com/?p=822

I also remember the facts and stories in the SC 2 manual and SC 2 roleplaying resource guide.  I don't remember where or how I got my original copy of the resource guide but, it was clearly stated that it was written by the creators of the game.

I remember that picture too, and the 'psycotic pineapple', so I must've had that manual at some point. Perhaps it's still around somewhere in either my house or my parents' .

[viperbob]

Come to think about it, I may have somewheres my manual for the SC2 burried.  I gotta take some time and give a look, and compare it to todays manual.  Every time I see the screen with SC2 in it, it does bring back some great memories.
Gotta love this game, it set standards way back when that others couldn't even come close to.
VB