@~Though a bit out of date (it was last updated in Dec 1993) I am @~sure a lot of you will find this file fascinating, especially @~those of you who like to hunt out old adventures. Information about Interactive Fiction Games - Part One ------------------------------------------------------ Original author Hans Persson unicorn@lysator.liu.se Supplied by The Grue This file is a compilation of various posts to rec.arts.int-fiction and rec.games.int-fiction and some other things added by myself and those listed at the end. Thanks to all who have contributed! I would like to see it grow into a history of the entire genre of interactive fiction. If you have more information on any of the games in the file (what machines they ran on, when they were published, etc), find errors or omissions, please let me know. I have excluded the entire Infocom line since there are already at least two excellent information files about them on ftp.gmd.de, directory if-archive/infocom. I'm trying to categorize the games a little. So far the system is as follows: Text [TO]: Text only, no pictures (of course). Graphics [G]: Some kind of graphics. I'll use this only if I haven't seen the game or have forgotten how it looked. Drawn graphics [DG]: Pictures drawn for each room as you enter it. I haven't seen a new game with this in quite a while. Bitmap graphics [BG]: Readymade, static pictures. Interactive graphics [IG]: This category is a bit difficult to define. Uninvited and King's Quest goes here, anyway. A few other definitions: ftp.gmd.de: A goldmine for anyone interested in interactive fiction. It contains loads of playable games, a lot of articles and information about interactive fiction (not only this file) and quite a few different systems for creating your own games. It is maintained by Volker Blasius who is doing a great job. Contact him (blasius@gmd.de) for more information. TADS: The Text Adventure Development System written by Michael J. Roberts (mroberts@hinrg.starconn.com). It is shareware ($40) and can be acquired from ftp.gmd.de. A lot of shareware and freeware games have been written with TADS. TADS runs on many machines, including Amiga, Atari ST/TT/Falcon, DEC MIPS-based workstations running Ultrix, Macintosh, NeXT, PCs running DOS, OS/2 or Linux (386+), Silicon Graphics workstations running Irix, Sparc and Sun 3. The Macintosh and PC/DOS versions can create stand-alone versions that can be run without TADS. The Quill: An adventure creation utility made by a company called Gilsoft. It had a companion program called The Illustrator with which pictures could be added to the game. It ran on Commodore 64 and Spectrum 48K and great deal of commercial adventures have been written with it. Aardvark: ******** All these games are written in Basic and are available for Commodore 64, OSI 8K, Sinclair (16K, extended Basic), TI99, TRS-80 16K, TRS-80 Color 16K, VIC 20 13K. [TO] Trek Adventure By Bob Retelle. [TO] Derelict By Rodger Olsen and Bob Anderson. [TO] Pyramid By Rodger Olsen. [TO] Mars By Rodger Olsen. Abstract Concepts: ***************** They were started as a "serious adventures" label by Delta 4 Software in 1987. Distributed by Activision, Inc. Mindfighter [1988] By Fergus McNeill. Accolade: ******** American company. Law of the West [BG, 1985] By Alan Miller. Graphics by Mini Doggett. Music by Ed Bogas. For Apple II, Commodore 64. You wander around a typical "western movie" town, meet people and have to deal with them. You have a selection of four or five things to say at each turn. Get it wrong and they try to shoot you. Get it right and they might give you some information. The Third Courier [1989] Altered Destiny [IG, 1990] By Michael Berlyn. For PC/VGA. Moving graphics and a natural language parser. Les Manley in: Search for the King [G, 1990] By Steve Cartwright. For PC/VGA. (sequel to Les Manley in Search for the King) [G] Icon-based user interface. For PC/VGA. Elvira [1990] Developed by Horrorsoft. Acornsoft: ********* At some point in time, Acornsoft decided not to publish adventure games so the authors took their games with them to Topologica. Countdown Acheton Large adventure in the Colossal Cave style. Hamil Small adventure with some Mathematical bias. Philosophers' Quest Medium sized game. Sphinx Castle of Riddles Some of the puzzles in Castle of Riddles came from the original version of Philosophers' Quest (see Topologika) and now appear in the Topologika version of Philosophers' Quest. Activision, Inc: *************** They distribute Infocom (packaged as The Lost Treasures of Infocom I and II), Interplay Productions (up to around 1987), Lucasfilm Ltd -- Games Division and Abstract Concepts. Alter Ego [1985 (?)] By Dr. Peter Favaro (?). For Apple II, Commodore 64, Macintosh. The player could assume different characters. There was a male and a female version of this. Portal [1986] By Rob Swigart and Brad Fregger. For Apple II, Commodore 64, Macintosh, PC. It was translated to a novel. Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X [G, 1992] By Steve Meretzky. Return to Zork [G, 1993] Addison-Wesley: ************** The Antagonists By Hal Renko, Sam Edwards and Hermie Hermens. For Commodore 64. Package includes a diary and a hex listing of the adventure. A tape of the program could be bought separately. Adventions: ********** All the Adventions games are written with TADS. Those that are freeware or shareware can be found on ftp.gmd.de:/if-archive/games/adventions. Unnkulian Unventure Series ========================== Humorous fantasy adventures in the style of the original adventure. Freeware/Shareware ------------------ Unnkulian Underworld: The Unknown Unventure (v3.01) [TO, 1990-91] By David A. Leary. Shareware US$10. Unnkulian Unventure II: The Secret of Acme (v3.0) [TO, July 1992] By David M. Baggett. Shareware US$10. Unnkulia One-Half: The Salesman Triumphant (v1.0) [TO] By David A. Leary. Freeware. Unnkulia Zero: The Search for Amanda (v1.0) - Demonstration version [TO] By David A. Leary. For MS-DOS, Macintosh. Commercial ---------- Unnkulia Zero: The Search for Amanda (v1.0) [TO] By David A. Leary. For MS-DOS, Macintosh. Unnkulian Unventure III [TO] By Chris Nebel. (1993 (scheduled)) Unnkulian Unventure IV [TO] (work in progress) Unnkulian Universe Unventure Series =================================== Set in the same universe as the Unnkulian Unventure Series, but 500 years later. Commercial ---------- The Legend Lives! (an Unnkulian Universe Unventure) [TO] By David M. Baggett. (Fall 1993 (scheduled)) Miscellaneous ============= Freeware/Shareware ------------------ Colossal Cave Revisited (v1.0) [TO] By David M. Baggett. A remake of Crowther and Woods' original adventure. Released with complete TADS source code. Freeware. The Horror of Rylvania - Demonstration version [TO, fall 1993] By David A. Leary. Commercial ---------- The Horror of Rylvania [TO, fall 1993] By David A. Leary. @~To be continued next issue - o -