From Infocom to 80 Days: An oral history of text games and interactive fiction
From Infocom to 80 Days: An oral history of text games and interactive fiction
MUDs, Usenet, and open source all play a part in 50 years of IF history.
You wake up. The room is spinning very gently round your head. Or at least it would be if you could see it which you can't.
It is pitch black.
Holy hell I haven't played this in decades!
There goes my productivity for the day...
Turn on the light.
Good start to the day.
Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.Bedroom, in the bed
The bedroom is a mess. It is a small bedroom with a faded carpet and old wallpaper. There is a washbasin, a chair with a tatty dressing gown slung over it, and a window with the curtains drawn. Near the exit leading south is a phone. There is a flathead screwdriver here. (outside the bed) There is a toothbrush here. (outside the bed)
Text adventure games are awesome.
Always remember to bring your towel.
Did a unit on interactive fiction for a grad seminar once, and sent a link to the Infocom Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game as an optional primer. No one in the room except the prof and one guy who was experimenting with MUDs at the time had ever played a text adventure.
I mean, that was fun for me...
MUDs were fun and underappreciated. As a bonus, not realizing that there were keyboard shortcuts led me to becoming the fastest typist I knew.
MC Frontalot - It Is Pitch Dark
Never even played Zork once yet I will always think of this track when it comes up.