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Habitat, the world's first virtual reality developed for a computer, went offline in 1992. The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment helped bring it back online.
MADE seeks to legitimize the preservation of video games as both a historic and artistic medium within the context of our time and has amassed a collection of working video game consoles and a library of old.
Alex said that they do exhibits, preservation activities, and old games.
What is involved in bringing an online game back from the dead? A generous donation, a lot of luck, and an absurd amount of guts.
Habitat was an online world that could support up to 15,000 users who could run businesses, play games, solve mysteries, or just hang out. Habitat was the first game many people think of when they think of the first MassivelyMultiplayer game.
The games that these communities could play quickly followed as online communities emerged from the primordial pre-modern internet soup. Multi- user dungeons are the first online games that are text-based. Habitat took its concept of a shared online gaming space one step further and was inspired by the popular video games.
The idea of a graphical world that was static and interacted with other human beings was a new concept.
Habitat was an online world that could support upwards of 15,000 users
Habitat ran on the Commodore 64 personal computer and connected players online via Quantum Link, the precursor to the America Online internet service. Habitat was launched in 1986 to 1988. Budget considerations forced Lucasarts to cut features for a rebrand in 1988 as Club Caribe, which lasted until its end in the 90s.
The Club Caribe intellectual property was sold to Fujitsu around the time of the sunset. Habitat 2 is on the Sega Saturn Japan.
They didn't set out to resurrect Habitat. It was not a long-term passion project or the result of a concerted effort.
The Game Developers Conference is a video game industry event for developers to talk about their games. The former LucasArts developer was also planning to attend the event.
I contacted Chip and asked if he had anything we could show at the conference. Habitat's source code was sent to him as a joke, thinking he wouldn't be able to do much with it. The developer was told that it would take a long time to get the code working again.
He laughed in my face.
Habitat's code was prehistoric in video game terms, and it required a proprietary server and operating system, called Stratus VOS, in order for it to work.
The problem was twofold. The software OS and a compatible piece of hardware were needed by Handy. It took a lot of luck to solve the hardware part of the equation. Technology companies have come and gone, and if one survived into the present day, it usually isn't making or maintaining products from 30 years ago. The company that made the server and operating system was still around. It was still maintaining its hardware. When Handy asked for a server, they sent one.
The software problem was hard to solve. There was confusion when trying to find the Stratus VOS.
When I contacted the Computer History Museum about the computer, they forgot about it.
Unable to get a copy of the Stratus VOS, Handy decided to use connections and pool resources to see if it could be rebuilt from scratch.
He said that he got together some modern day programmers, some guys who were really into the Commodore 64.
The game's source code was in the hands of Handy and he cobbled together a server that could host it. The next step was enabling this ancient game to run on a modern internet, which was when Handy was met with his biggest obstacle yet: lawyers.
You needed a Commodore 64 and a subscription to the Q-link internet service provider to play Habitat in 1986. Habitat was exclusive to that service, and it contained code necessary for Habitat server and Commodore 64 computers to work together. Habitat will not work without Q-Link. Q-Link changed its name to America Online in 1989 and then fell into the possession of Verizon.
It took a long time to get the source code for the computer and the old Q-link software libraries. It was luck that the software libraries still existed, and that it was willing to give them up for the cause.
We just let them go for a day, and at the end of the day, they got a server up
We thought we were going to get them, and I had a guy put them on a stick.
Even though it's 30-year-old software, that company considers that to be at the core of its security, I guess. They wouldn't open that up.
He had two choices. He either had to abandon his quest or find a way to get around the Q-link requirement. It was easy to sidestep Q-link. The old Q-link service had been replaced by a program that would insert between Habitat's server and players' computers. A complicated law was put in place to prevent that kind of sidestepping. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a problem for streamers and YouTubers in the entertainment industry.
The DMCA protects copyrighted material from unauthorized distribution. Section 1201 makes it illegal to circumvent technological measures used to prevent unauthorized access to copyrighted works, including copyrighted books, movies, videos, video games, and computer software.
Digital rights management is a program that is embedded in video games to protect them from unauthorized use. Q-link was a protection for Habitat before it became a thing today. Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits any attempt at circumventing a protection measure.
The US Copyright Office grants 1201 exemptions to organizations if they make the case that circumventing a protection measure serves public interest. The program that would get around Q-link would be created by the office.
The exemption that they gave us was that you can preserve the game if it is locked in a room, but only if you are sitting on a computer next to it.
He was able to bring Habitat back online, but he wasn't allowed to do so. The portion that falls apart without the O is in the MM. The game was functionally worthless.
What happened? How can anyone play it now?
"We don't care, we have a simple laugh," he said.
Habitat could not be hosted online, but he decided to put it online anyway. He stressed that playing the game is not an illegal act. He got permission from the Japanese rights holder to do whatever he wanted with the source code.
The circumvention of the Q-link middle piece is illegal because we didn't get the computer software libraries that allow for it.
He didn't seem concerned about the legal ramifications of his act of video game preservation.
He said that if they wanted to come and be upset about it, they could.
Habitat is free to play right now at neohabitat.org. The source code for the game is available on the website git and there is a video on the website that gives tips and tricks to play. The world is alive and people still use it, even though Habitat was once capable of supporting tens of thousands of players.
He shared that a Swedish club of Commodore 64 enthusiasts once hosted.
We think of World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV when we think of an online game. Standard features of an online game include in-game currency to earn and use on virtual goods, as well as numerous social activities, such as quests, dungeons, and player combat. The standards came from Habitat. Habitat was the first metaverse before any of them existed as companies.
Video games do not get the same level of attention as their cultural peers. Works of art can be found in libraries, archives, and museums. We support art financially and dedicate entire academic fields to it. Video games are left without such support because of the constant technological advancement that renders new video game hardware and software obsolete every decade. The gaming community is trying to save the video game history, but it is not enough.
Habitat is a game that all modern online games owe a debt to. Habitat is one of the many games lost to time, neglect, and technology without the foresight to hold onto their source code.
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