As I continued my memory trip into the most nostalgic games of my childhood, I stumbled down a long-forgotten path of memories which dealt with my first experiences with computer games.

We got our first family computer when I was around 6 years old…a 386 running DOS and then eventually Windows95 – first edition.

It was soon after that I had my first experience with the Real Time Strategy masterpiece known as Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.

It was love at first click. Warcraft offered two playable races, each with their own separate story lines which took place in the mythic world known as Azeroth. You could even tick off your units if you clicked them too much.

I remember the utter immersion I felt as I began telling my loyal peons to mine gold, chop down the forest, and build my war machine as I received the humorous reply of “Yes Master”. A smile still creeps over my face when I think about the hilarious remarks each of the different units would make to you.

Another cool feature this game offered was the multiplayer ability. Over the LAN connection, my dad and I would play against each other in head-to-head Orc Vs. Human battles. He beat me every time. However, if my memory serves me correctly, you could also opt to play on teams against the computer…hours of fun. The map editor (introduced initially in the first Warcraft game…Orcs & Humans) awoke in me a strong desire to create new playable worlds. I spent more time than I should have inside, ticking away the time, creating new levels for Warcraft. After this point, I didn’t really play the game that much except to look at the worlds I had created. I can’t describe the feeling of wonder I got from the editor. It opened up the creative side of my brain, I think. From here on out in my life, I would seek to ‘create new worlds’ in other game editors, through drawing, and by writing. I believe this game is responsible for the period in which I delved into RPG Maker and other such programs (even learning VB and Delphi) in order to enhance this feeling of creating new worlds. It goes to show the power that such a simple idea can have on a young mind. I’m sure there are others out there like me, who grew up playing games for the purpose of using the map editor.

While playing the game, I did get the feeling that the computer was cheating…It was doing stuff that I couldn’t replicate and it would cause me to get sick of the game and stop playing it for a few months. I later learned that the computer ‘cheated’ in order to make up for the lack of intelligent AI that was possible at the time. Although the game would make me mad at times…it will continue to have a warm place in my heart and I will always have a strong respect for Blizzard for creating such an amazing game.

If you’re looking to play Warcraft II but can’t seem to find the game anywhere (or it won’t run on your now supa-fast PC) I suggest downloading Stratugus. Stratagus was originally a Warcraft II clone and still carries the same feel of the game to this day.