XYZZYnews
Issue #17
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HOLLOW VOICE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Even though playing text adventure games is largely a
solitary pursuit, IF fans sure like to put a competitive
edge on it wherever possible.
Take the recent crop of mini IF competitions in all
manner of niche categories: There was the XComp, for
games involving the paranormal in some way. The I-Comp
was notable for a feature its entries lacked; namely,
the games could not let players use an inventory for
collecting items. And in the Roadkill Comp...well, it's
evident what games in that competition could be expected
to feature. On the lighter side, the WackyComp (with
entries based on one of a number of pithy aphorisms) was
reminiscent of last year's Chicken Comp (with games that
all featured a chicken crossing the road). If you missed
the debut of any of these contests, visit
ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/games/mini-comps/ to see how
they fared.
While these mini-comps have so far not proven as hotly
contested as the annual IF competition or the XYZZY
Awards, they all point up a desire to share the wealth
when it comes to honoring our game developer colleagues
for their sharp-witted dialogue and skill in puzzle
creation. Even though the XYZZY Awards offers prizes in
a diverse range of categories, it's been dominated by
the crowd favorites more than once.
In the most recent XYZZY Awards (held in February 1999),
honoring the best games of 1998, Adam Cadre's Photopia
and Andrew Plotkin's Spider and Web won in seven out of
10 categories. See this issue's Letters column for one
proposal I received for restructuring the voting; it
calls for enabling readers to vote in a second round
after the top five vote-getters in each category are
designated as nominees. My initial hunch is that the
results would not turn out much differently -- but
please let me hear your thoughts on this as well!
Until next issue, happy gaming!
Eileen Mullin
[email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TABLE OF CONTENTS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Contents:
**Top 10 Picks for IF on the Web
**Letters
**Description Medicine: Making a Room Come to Life
**Have IF, Will Travel: A Primer on Playing
Text Adventures on PDAs and Handheld Devices
**Game Review: Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I
**Bulletin Board: readers helping other readers
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LEGALESE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
XYZZYnews is published by Eileen Mullin, 160 West 24th
Street, # 7C, New York, NY 10011, USA. E-mail:
[email protected]. URL:
http://www.xyzzynews.com/.
Send all inquiries, letters, and submissions to any of
the addresses above.
Contents (c) 1999 XYZZYnews. All rights reserved.
Published in the United States of America.
Electronic versions: There are
currently three versions of XYZZYnews made available
online. One is in ASCII and can be viewed with any text
reader. You can also download a .PDF file that mirrors
the layout of the print version. Use the Adobe Acrobat
Reader (available for Windows, Mac, DOS and Unix) to
view the .PDF file; no special fonts or linked graphics
are needed. You can obtain Acrobat Reader by following
the links from
http://www.adobe.com/. Thirdly, you can
also read this issue online at
http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.17.html
Subscriptions: All electronic versions are available at
no cost. You can obtain either the ASCII or PDF versions
by FTPing to the ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/magazines/
XYZZYnews directory. To be added to the mailing list,
please write to
[email protected] and specify text-
only or .PDF version. The print version is $15 (U.S.)
for six issues or $2.50 for a sample issue. For print
subscriptions outside the U.S. or Canada, please e-mail
or write for rates.
All products, names, and services are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Editor:
Eileen Mullin
Associate Editor:
Neil deMause
Contributors to this issue:
Michael Berlyn
Joe Merical
Ross Rubin
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Issue # 17 Top 10 Picks for
Interactive Fiction on the Web
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adventure Review
http://www3.sympatico.ca/philip.jong/index.htm
Creating a text adventure game in Java
http://www.davidreilly.com/jcb/text-adventure/index.html
Douglas Adams' Amazing HHG Text Game
http://www.comicrelief.org.uk/frames/fun/hitch_hike/
dont_panic.htm
Fiction Interactive
http://home.earthlink.net/~phoebef/fictioninteractive/
fictioninteractive.html
The Infocom Walkthrough Archives
http://home.earthlink.net/~phantoman/infocom/
Interactive Fiction Playground
http://www.tangrams.com/IF/
Intruder Online
http://www.gay-point.de/intruder/
LSD Interactive Adventure Game
http://www.aapi.co.uk/~oulik/lsd/
SLAG: A Z-Machine Hint System
http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~beej/slag/
The Unofficial Legend Text Adventure Page
http://www.waitingforgo.com/legend
[screen shot of the LSD Interactive Adventure Game
site.]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
LETTERS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hi there,
Thanks for running the XYZZY Awards again. In the
aftermath of this year's ceremony, a bunch of us were
kicking around some ideas. First off, most people seem
to be in favor of breaking the voting up into a pair of
two-week periods. The first would be for nominations,
in which people could submit as many choices as they
like for each category. Top five vote-getters in each
category would be the nominees. Then there would be
another two weeks in which people would vote. A lot of
people said that it'd be much less daunting to select a
favorite from a list of five than from a list of 120
games multiplied by all the puzzles and characters
therein.
I personally would really like to see this second round
done with Instant Runoff Voting, in which each voter
would rank the choices from 1 to 5, with votes
redistributed as candidates drop out. This would help
prevent splits in the Individual categories - so if
Dragon Town has a bunch of NPCs that people love, they
won't end up splitting their votes and throwing the
victory to the solitary NPC in Tornado Dogs or some
such.
Finally (for now), David Dyte says that because of the
medals, he'd like an absolute cap on ten awards per
year. Nevertheless, IF changes over the years, and it
might be nice if each year we could consider phasing out
categories that come to seem marginal and phasing in
ones that seem more relevant. (For instance, prior to
1997, a Best PC award probably wouldn't have occurred to
many people - but now it seems quite essential. Who
knows what'll seem essential at this time next year?)
Anyway, just thought I'd pass these ideas along while
they're still fresh. Thanks again.
-- Adam Cadre
[email protected]
Dear XYZZYnews,
Thank you for maintaining such a wonderful site. For
years I have played the Infocom text adventures found
the LTOI volumes 1 and 2. Only recently have I started
looking on the Internet for other resources. The most
pleasing surprise for me was the discovery of other Z-
machine interpreters for various operating systems. It
was these interpreters that got me thinking the other
day.
Has anyone used the Dragon Naturally Speaking (or other
speech recognition) software with the Win '9x Z-machine
interpreters?
If Activision would take the time and effort to bundle
the Infocom games with a decent interface and speech
recognition (and synthesis) software, these titles could
remain viable for quite some time. Since I do not run
Win '9x or have a machine at home capable of handling
speech recognition, this question is moot for me at this
point. However, if people do have success with speech
recognition and the Z-machine interpreter, that would be
enough right there for me to save a few pennies and
invest in a more contemporary model.
On a more philosophical note though, how do you feel
about the use of speech recognition and synthesis for
text adventures? Would this added capability detract
from the spirit of the games? These games would not
expand vocabulary nearly as much. But, we would get
away from tedious typing. (Admit it, typing can be
tedious at times.) I would like to see the option
remain open though for typing or speech synthesis. I
don't believe the Z-code would need to be changed.
Merely altering the front end or the interface should be
enough. I am not sure though how to handle games like
Beyond Zork where there is an automapping feature (which
I personally really liked).
Those are my thoughts for the day on text adventures and
where they may go. For what it's worth, the biggest
loss came when graphic adventures dropped their parsers.
The games and the computers they were played on lost
their personalities.
Sincerely,
Bob Langer
[email protected]
Hello XYZZY!
Just a note on the convention article in issue #16.
>From what I've read of the Erasmatron so far (XYZZYnews
#14), it seems an abysmal failure at any sort of
"revolution." I also strongly agree with Lucian Smith
that the idea of "simplifying" code so that "artists"
are able to bring there ideas to life in software is
somewhat misled. I am both a computer programmer
(programming since the age of five - ah, the days of the
TRS-80 Color Computer!) and an artist (professional
actor, professional graphic designer, amateur writer and
illustrator); any "artist" who doesn't want to bother
learning a new medium should not attempt to work within
that medium - game design is simply another medium that
an artist can choose to work in if so desired. I'm not
sure whether Chris Crawford is belittling artists or
pandering to them, but either way, I think his ideas are
flawed.
-- Semper Bufo
[email protected]
Dear XYZZYnews,
One thing I've found is that there are an awful lot of
people going on about the golden age of Infocom. I
haven't yet heard mention in XYZZYnews about an
Infocom/Mag Scrolls game before - so I'm mentioning it.
Since I had a Spectrum, we got a vast range of games
unique to our system, but very few ported from other
systems - one or two Magnetic Scrolls ones, but that's
about it.
So therefore, I'm (practically) new to all this stuff -
I'm used to games where GET ALL is a luxury - heck, even
some games where they don't allow GET, just TAKE... now
that's going a long way back!
On the other hand, there were some classics there. I
still laugh at the bizarre humor in Bugsy and Very Big
Cave Adventure, and I still idolize the first text
adventure I ever played properly - and the first I ever
completed, the utterly wonderful Escape. A perfect
beginners game, while a little too reliant on puns, it
was a lot of fun, and got me bitten by the text
adventure bug.
I think what I'm trying to say is that there is more
than one way to get into text adventuring - you don't
have to go via Infocom.
Anyway, congratulations on an excellent (and very
flashy) magazine.
-- Matt
[email protected]
Dear Eileen,
Hi! I am a computer programmer. Over the past 10 years I
and my friends have built, played, and then filed away
many text adventures that we got together and wrote. The
adventures were admittedly simple and hand-developed (we
had no idea that such systems like TADS existed!), but
they worked and we enjoyed building them, even if we
were the only people who ever saw them.
The reason that I'm writing is because I'm currently
developing yet another text-adventure. When I planned it
all out a few weeks ago I was just planning to build it
and file it away like I have all of the others. After
thinking it over, though, I thought that perhaps it was
time that I started releasing our text-adventure games
instead of just filing them away and forgetting about
them.
Upon thinking the matter over, I wasn't sure what to do.
I don't use any text adventure development system; I
simply sit down and build my application from the ground
up in Visual Basic. The text-parser I developed on my
own, and it probably isn't as advanced as it should be.
Moreover, the game I have in mind is rather large and
complex; it's quite likely that I won't have the time to
do it as thoroughly as I'd like to - and I don't want to
turn out a low-quality product.
So I had an idea: what if I were to ask the fans of
interactive fiction for help? If I were to do this on my
own my game probably wouldn't be a quality production.
However, if I could have some help (perhaps some advice,
perhaps some programming help, perhaps a few design
ideas, etc.) I think that I could turn out a good
product.
So, then: if anybody would be interested in having a
hand (however large or small) in developing what I'm
currently calling "The Tomorrow Problem" (perhaps
someone could think of a better name!), or if anyone
would just like to know what's under development, let me
know!
Sincerely,
Jonathan K. Cooper
[email protected]
Dear XYZZYnews,
In the "Reporter's Notebook, L.P. Smith incorrectly
identifies "Rite of Spring" as Shostakovitch. It was, of
course, Stravinsky who wrote "Le Sacre" (even though he
denied it in later years ;-)).
--Blake
[email protected]
Dear XYZZYnews,
I read the [letter] by Mrs. Mixon (XYZZYnews #15) about
emotion being an important part of an interactive
fiction, and have to agree with her. I haven't played
the game mentioned, but at the whole, I think that both
technical puzzles and character interaction/ emotions
are important. There are some IF games with hardly any
characters at all, and it's strange to explore a large
map and never find someone to talk to.
This was one thing I liked in Curses, where you can
often find some life, and may it just be the cat
Austin. The people in the streets of the Unreal City
are well done, too, even though they're just mentioned
and cannot be referred to. Walking around a place alone
can be irritating, especially when it is supposed to be
a place where one should expect to find people.
Creating emotions is important, too. If something very
important happens, why not making the messages a bit
more exciting? Let's suppose you are an orphan, and
find your father during the course of the game; why not
creating a message like "With great excitement, you walk
towards your father, trembling with..." and such,
instead of just "You see your father here."
Some IF players I know think there should always be
neutral messages in a game, blank spaces where the
player can insert his own emotions. And the player's
character should never actually speak, for this might
ruin the illusion (never ask me what illusion they
mean). This is true, to some extent. But I still think
even though the main part of imagination should be done
by the player, the game is allowed to manipulate
feelings in some cases.
-- Bjoern Ludwig
[email protected]
Dear Eileen,
I've loved interactive fiction ever since I played
Wumpus Hunter back in 1990. (If that counts as IF, hmmm)
You wanna know how much I love IF? Well, see, back in
1996 my dad found an old book and bought it at a library
sale. He gave it to me and it said "How to make
adventure games in Basic", so I thought "Hey, this is
great, I used to make Basic programs with my old TRS-
80" So I found something called QBasic, and it took me
about 12 to 15 hours to type in the whole adventure game
from the book.
That was so horrible, afterwards my eyes were bloodshot
and I was in a daze but sooo happy because I had
finished the game. So I try to run it. It didn't work!
I found out later that QB doesn't work with old Basic!
So, I found out that my school had some old computers in
the old computer room. I snuck in, early in the
morning, with my 5.25 disk and copied the old GW-Basic
on it and then snuck back out, I was so happy to be
able to play the game I had typed I almost skipped
school! But I got through school, ran to my computer,
put it in, and it worked! Now, do you see to what
lengths I went to to get my interactive fiction! It
makes me laugh to think back on it now, I must have been
nuts to work all that time on that blasted game!
[email protected]
Dear Eileen,
This letter is open to any developer(s) who wish to
reply. Currently I am working on developing a text
editor which among other things is able to pick AGT
commands and change their color real time (while you
type).
My next step is to make a proper development environment
that will create and AGT Script file output. Maybe a
compiler with it or even a run engine for 32bit
environment (W95)... All that will be free of charge.
If anyone out there is interested or willing to help
designing and implementing
such a project is more than welcome to contact (please
be informal, its for pure fun!)
If anyone responsible for AGT sees this please contact
me. We can talk!
Eileen, my congrats on your Web site. It's definitely
top of my list. Cheers!
--Leon
[email protected]
----------------------------------------------------
Infocom bugs, continued
Plundered Hearts: In the cargo hold with the burning
fuse, if you throw your hand through the gap, you lose
your hand.
Second, in the gallery, if you type BURN ROPE, it tells
you:
You have no source of fire. The rope is consumed
instantly in flames.
The version I found those bugs in is: Release 26, serial
number 870730.
-- Mike
[email protected]
I may have a new bug for your Zork bug list. I call it
The Boat Of Holding Bug.
I have recently started replaying Zork I (last time was
ages ago, and I forgot almost everything since then). I
therefore cannot be sure if this is a bug or a feature,
but it has the earmarks of a bug. The bug is a artifact
of there being two distinct objects for the boat: one
inflated, one deflated.
It is possible to inflate the boat, take everything that
is not sharp, pile it in the boat, and deflate the boat.
You may now pick the boat up and carry it around (along
with the pump and whatever sharp objects you want to
carry). This was discovered in Zork I 88/840726.
On a different note, I noticed on your bug list, you
mention:
When you get to the Dungeon area, try this (in any
version):
>DUNGEON MASTER, KILL ME WITH THE STAFF
"If you wish," he replies.
If you insist... Poof, you're dead!
**** The dungeon master has died ****
The dungeon master follows you.
Your sword has begun to glow very brightly.
Or this:
>DUNGEON MASTER, KILL DUNGEON MASTER WITH STAFF
"If you wish," he replies.
"If you wish," he replies.
You aren't even holding the staff!
The last message appears even though you are holding the
staff! Very surreal. I'm still scratching my head over
these.
It would appear to me that these messages are caused by
the engine performing output while interpreting the
orders with the dungeon master as the subject. Put
differently, some of the messages are the game talking
to the Dungeon Master.
For instance, in the last case:
YOU> DUNGEON MASTER, KILL DUNGEON MASTER WITH STAFF
invokes
DM> KILL DUNGEON MASTER WITH STAFF
Parser interprets:
Subject: DM
Verb: KILL
DO: DM
IO: Staff
Game engine checks for staff in inventory of DM (since
he is the subject). Not there. Engine dumps out
with error:
You aren't even holding the staff!
which is displayed.
>From the point of view of a Lisp hacker, this is a
fairly straightforward bug. However, the dungeon master
dying but not dying in the first message is what twigs
me. Perhaps I will know more when I experiment with
that bit of the game.
One final item. In Zork I, if you type DIVE while at
Aragain Falls, you plummet to your death. This is
accompanied by a couple of messages, such as:
Aragain Falls
>DIVE
This was not a very safe place to try jumping.
In the movies, your life would be passing before your
eyes.
**** You have died ****
(You are then resurrected in whatever manner is
appropriate for your situation.) The second line
varies, although I have not yet figured out what it is
based on. At one point, I elicited garbage. I will
have to get back to you to tell you just how to do this.
This is also in Zork I 88/840726.
-- Piquan
[email protected]
I have an addition to your complete Infocom Bug list:
In Suspended (early versions, anyway; I never tried it
on LTOI), you could type HUMANS, KILL SELF, and the
humans would obey the order and kill themselves.
Although this kept the humans from turning you (the
player) off, it had the side effect of making the game
unsolvable, since the humans wouldn't be alive to
perform their necessary plot functions. I don't think
the humans obeyed any other orders.
-- Monty
[email protected]
I found some bugs in Planetfall, but most of them are a
matter of opinion:
>look at benches
I see nothing special about the benche.
I can scrub the scrub brush!
>kick me
Kicking the you is as worthwhile as cleaning a Grotch
cage.
>push/kick/turn/get on me
pushing the you...
-- Chad Schultz
[email protected]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DESCRIPTION MEDICINE:
Learn how your words can make a room come to life
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
by Michael Berlyn (
[email protected])
So, you've got the puzzles and the plot worked out, and
you've even got your beta testers lined up. You're eager
to release your latest masterpiece, something over which
you've devoted most of your free time for the past few
months. Or years. You play the game through one last
time, just to make sure everything works. On completing
the game with a perfect score, you figure it's ready for
outside eyes. But you're probably wrong.
It takes only a few hours for you to hear back from one
of your testers that holding the yellow polka-dot
grunkle (a small domestic pet found on Altair 4) up to
the squinza's handle (a feeding mechanism for the
grunkle) while standing on your tiptoes seems a bit...
obscure. He suggests an alternate solution which you
think about for a minute or so before deciding to do as
he says. You fervently code the new solution. Anything
to make the testers happy. You send it out again, and
this time hear nothing negative about the puzzle.
This process goes on until the beta testers bless the
product or just plain give up. Oddly, you hear nothing
about what a great game it is, or how enthralled they
were while testing it. "Oh well, it's probably not a
beta tester's role to tell me how good the story is.
They're just there to find bugs," you think.
You announce the release of your product and wait a few
days for the flood of
e-mails to fill your in-box. But few messages appear.
So, what went wrong? Why weren't you nominated for the
Implementor's Hall of Fame? Why aren't people singing
your praises and calling you for phone interviews? Why
aren't you dating Uma Thurman?
Well, maybe - just maybe - it was your writing.
---------------------
The Room Description
---------------------
Room descriptions are the anchor on which your game
rests. It is the primary method you have at your
disposal for creating a reality for the player, for
creating mood and tension.
I like to think of my job as a writer as "re-creating
reality in the readers' minds." This re-creating reality
is really a subset of communication. What I want to do
is trigger an experience in the reader by layering
detail and by reminding them of their own experiences.
By having a series of details about the environment, I
can put the reader there.
Here's how it works:
Let's make up a simple example. I'll start with a
central room and put a room off in all four major
compass points. Here's what a skeletal description of
the room would look like:
You're in a room. There are exits off to the north,
south, east and west.
Thrilling, isn't it? While it does the job of providing
the player with information, providing information just
isn't enough. We're writing interactive fiction, and
part of what makes it fiction is that the reader
experiences what we all write.
Let's start with the room itself. Is it big? Small? Long
and narrow? High ceilings? Does it matter? Simply put,
yes. In writing a game, it matters a lot.
You're in a large room. A hallway starts up to the
north, fading into the darkness. You can see doorways
heading off to the east and west. A swinging door leads
off to the south.
So, I've started to layer in a few more descriptive
phrases. Instead of being in a room, we're in a large
room. This is better, but not good enough. I also did a
little work on the exits, trying to say something
interesting about a few of them, enticing the player to
pursue some exits. For example, to say "a swinging door
leads off to the south" may elicit a curiosity about
what's behind the door. In the same way, a hallway which
is "fading into the darkness" is a little ominous,
telling the player to use some caution.
But what about the room?
You're in a large, central room. The carpeting feels
soft beneath your feet. The walls are adorned with
portraits of the Ushers, from great-great grandfather
through baby Usher, grotesque in his own right. Torches
flicker on the walls, making the portraits seem to move
on their own. A hallway starts up to the north, fading
into the darkness. You can see doorways heading off to
the east and west. A swinging door leads off to the
south.
See how much difference some description makes?
---------------------
The Room Checklist
---------------------
Here's an approach - more of a recipe, actually - to
help you get started writing those great room
descriptions. Answer each of these questions about each
of the rooms you create and you'll be well on your way
to writing better.
Size/Scope
---------------------
How big is the room? In Zork: The Undiscovered
Underground, I thought it would be amusing to have a
broom closet which was huge enough to support weather
patterns. So, think about the size of the room. To say
it's a living room isn't enough. Is it small? Cramped
and tiny, just big enough for the furniture? Or is it
immense, the size of a small football field?
Ceilings
Is there a high ceiling? Is it vaulted? Or low enough to
make the room feel cramped? Are there skylights? Can you
see the cobwebs in the corners? Are there footprints up
there? What color are the walls?
Floors/Ground
---------------------
Is the flooring marble, wood, carpeted? Can you hear
your footsteps echo? Squish? Is the floor tiled - and
if so, is the tile a black-and-white checkerboard
pattern or terra cotta? Is the ground a dirt path? If
so, are there plants along the side of the path? Does
the path go straight or does it meander? If you're on a
lawn, is it neatly mowed or wild? Are there flowers or
bushes?
Walls
---------------------
Are the walls wallpapered? Painted? Natural stone? Do
they emit light? Reflect light? What's on the walls -
paintings? A mural? Windows?
Lighting
---------------------
Is it dark and gloomy or bright and sunny? Are there
shadows in the corner? Is the place lit by natural
lighting? Does the sun stream through the windows? If
so, can you see dust particles dancing in the rays? Or
is the sun glinting off the glass coffee table?
Mood
---------------------
Well, what's the room's atmosphere like? Gloomy? Somber?
Happy? Whoever lives or lived here would likely have the
room reflect their general mood. A depressed person is
not likely to have yellow-and-red throw pillows.
Senses
It's always a good idea to work as many of the senses
into the room description as is reasonable. For example,
what does the room smell like? Musty? Sweet from
incense? Can you smell stale cigarette smoke? What can
you hear? The dripping of a faucet? The rippling of
water that flows by?
---------------------
Practice
---------------------
The easiest way to approach all of this is to take a pen
or pencil in hand, grab a notebook, and walk around the
place where you live, describing everything you see. You
don't have to write a lot of detail, but some detail
does help make the scene pop for readers.
If you live in a one-room efficiency, you're kind of
stuck - so take your notebook and pen with you when you
leave and describe every room you enter. It makes a
difference if the windows reach nearly the floor and
stop a few feet from the ceiling. It makes a difference
if the carpet is deep pile or indoor-outdoor Astroturf.
I'd like to share with you a room description from a
work-in-progress, Chameleon. Here's a living room
description from an apartment in the opening of the
game:
South half of Living Room
This part of the living room has a bay window with a
southern exposure. There are no window shades or
curtains, so the direct sunlight is devastating to the
untended plants he had placed here. Remmy's dead potted
plants line the seat beneath the window. The tendrils
and baby shoots of a spider plant are not quite dead,
and sway slightly over the heating vent. To the right of
the window is an old, beat up, rectangular dining table
Remmy has shoved against the wall to use as a writing
desk. It is strewn with papers. A metal folding chair
sits at the desk. The rest of the living room consists
of a remnant piece of carpet used as an area rug and
small and large throw pillows for sitting. A small couch
sits beneath the bay window beside an old, overstuffed
easy chair.
There are things that you notice when you enter a room,
whether you note them consciously or not. If it's a
mess, you'll think differently about the person who
lives there than if it's neat.
Rooms make a statement. Have yours make one, too.
[ Michael Berlyn has been in the computer industry since
the square wheel was in common use. Known as "dino" to
his aged friends and "Foobler" on the ifMud, he is hard
at work on a new piece of puzzleless IF called
"Chameleon." He hopes to be finished with it some time
this century, but makes no promises. His publishing
company, Cascade Mountain Publishing
(
http://www.cascadepublishing.com), publishes and sells
books, eBooks and interactive fiction. ]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
HAVE IF, WILL TRAVEL
A primer on playing text adventures
on PDAs and handheld devices
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
by Eileen Mullin (
[email protected])
Whether you flash a Philips Velo or hang on to an HP
200LX when you're on the go, you're toting far more
portable potential than your fellow commuters armed with
Game Boys. So why not have at least as much fun? If you
currently use your personal digital assistant (PDA)
primarily for keeping your calendar or electronic note-
taking, here's your chance to find out how you can add
text-based gaming to your handheld's repertoire.
This article discusses two of the more popular modern
handheld designs, those running Palm OS and Windows CE
for Handheld PC devices. We'll look at how to find and
download game files that you can run on your mobile
device, as well as tips for optimizing performance and
your playing experience.
The game files you'll be able to play will depend on
which game interpreters are available for your
handheld's operating system. Currently, for example, you
can run Inform games using Window CE for handheld PCs,
but there is no Z-machine interpreter available under
Windows CE for palm-sized devices. While it should be
technically possible to create a Z-machine interpreter
for palm-sized PCs based on Windows CE -- such as the
Philips Nino, Casio E-10 and E-100 and Compaq Aero -- no
one has done so yet. If you're wondering whether there's
a Z-machine interpreter available for another particular
platform, you can check the IF FAQ on interpreters at
http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/games/interactive-
fiction/ part2.html. You may be happily surprised to
discover that yes, you can run text adventures on
everything from an Apple Newton to a Psion 3c.
---------------------
Get connected
---------------------
Before you can stroke, pen or key in your palm-sized
pursuits, you'll need to get the game files onto your
portable device. To do so, you'd typically either
connect your handheld device to your PC or directly to
the Internet in order to download game files. If you're
used to synchronizing or copying over files between your
PC and your handheld device, you're all set to move on
to the next step. However, this may be a new experience
for you if you've just recently acquired your PDA or if
you conduct your handheld computing in an entirely
separate way from what you do on your PC.
Most PDAs use a serial connection and many, like the
Palm devices, use a cradle. For Palm Pilots, and the
Palm III, V, and VII, install the Palm Desktop software
that comes with the PDA; you can also obtain the latest
upgrades from
http://palm.3com.com/custsupp/downloads/.
Once the Palm Desktop software is installed on your PC,
you must install an interpreter and convert and install
game files as explained in the next section.
For Windows CE devices that are primarily keyboard-based
-- such as the HP 320LX, LG Phenom Express, Vadem Clio,
or Sharp Mobilon -- you can use Windows CE ActiveSync to
connect your handheld device to your PC. Simply drag the
files you want to install into the synchronized folder;
there's no need to go through the installation wizard.
The files will transfer at the next sync or immediately
depending on your preferences.
Check out the support or downloads section of the
handheld manufacturer's Web site first to see there are
any additional files you'll need to help you sync up
with your PC or connect directly to the Web.
---------------------
Run, games, run!
---------------------
For the purposes of this article I looked exclusively at
playing games that could be run with a Z-machine
interpreter -- namely, any of the Inform or Infocom
games. Several Z-machine interpreters are available for
Palm OS-based devices and Windows CE Handheld PCs. I've
included below some of the useful links I've found to
Web sites that house these interpreters and discuss
playing games on handheld devices. You can also find
these Z-machine interpreters at the IF archive at GMD by
drilling through the
http://ftp.gmd.de/if-
archive/infocom/ interpreters/ directory.
Paul Hargrave's PilotFrotz is a robust Palm OS-based
interpreter for Z-machine games. It's a port of the
Frotz interpreter by Stefan Jokisch, and downloadable
from
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/2367/.
[screen shot of PilotFrotz]
caption: Paul Hargrave's PilotFrotz features word
lists, automatic carriage returns, and a compass rose.
To transfer files such as the PilotFrotz program from
your PC to the Palm Computing device, drag them to the
installation program(instapp.exe on the PC). The next
time you HotSync, the files will be transferred to the
handheld.
Once you're set up with PilotFrotz, you'll need to
convert your Infocom or Inform text adventures (files
with a .z3 or .z5 extension, for example) to .PDB files,
a format for files to be used on a Palm OS-based device.
There is a file converter included with PilotFrotz; and
you can readily download Inform games from GMD at
ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/ games/inform/.
You can save yourself some work on this front by
availing yourself of the game files available for
download on Leisa ReFalo's interactive fiction page
(
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/9590/interactive.htm
). She has converted a number of Inform games for use
with Palm OS-based devices to .PDB files. This page
unfortunately has not been updated in some time, but
you'll find many favorite Inform classics and the IF '97
Competition game files available here. Once your .z*
files are converted, they are installed via the same
program you used to install the interpreter.
If you use a Windows CE handheld PC, you can pick up Ian
Dean's FrotzCE interpreter at
http://www.pyram-
id.demon.co.uk/FrotzCE.html. Best of all, you don't need
to re-package or convert the standard Inform game files
at all before playing them -- you can just download them
from GMD and go.
[screen shot of FrotzCE]
caption: FrotzCE running Zork I. Use your device's
pen to tap the icons in the navigation bar to issue
common commands; use the keyboard to type in more
complex sentences.
---------------------
Experience points
---------------------
So, how can you judge whether you'd enjoy playing text
adventures well enough the justify the time and effort
it would take to get set up -- or to justify the cost,
if you're still debating buying one in the first place?
Here are some factors to consider:
* Writing preferences -- Playing text adventures can
be a typing-intensive activity. Is your mobile device's
keyboard so small that typing at length becomes a
hindrance? Determine how comfortable you are typing at a
stretch -- if you're forced to hunt and peck because the
keys are too small for anything remotely resembling
touch-typing, you'll find it hard to focus on your game
at hand.
* Ease of connecting -- If it's a drag to hook up your
PDA to your PC for file transfers, you're unlikely to
add new games to your repertoire. You want to make sure
you're comfortable with synching with your PC,
especially if you're playing a game at home so
compelling you want to take it with you when you go out.
* Speed -- Does your handheld respond as soon as you
press the carriage return, or do you spend spine-
tingling seconds in limbo waiting for a response? Check
your device's memory capacity, and experiment with other
Z-machine interpreters, if more than one if available
for your device's platform.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
GAME REVIEW: Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Parser: Inform
Author: Muffy and Michael Berlyn
URL:
http://www.cascadepublishing.com/
product.asp?sku=14
Cost: US$24
Ever wondered what would happen if you got stuck in a
particle accelerator that allowed you to see the
subatomic world in a series of mental metaphors? Oh, you
haven't? Well, Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. will fill
you in on what you've been missing.
The game's basic premise concerns a machine called the
Particle Accelerator and Reality Translation Integrator,
the P.A.R.T.I. of the title. The machine puts you into a
subatomic world. But instead of seeing protons and
quarks, P.A.R.T.I. creates mental metaphors. Dr. Dumont
shows you this machine secretly in hopes of taking your
body specifications in order to run the machine. He
wants to find the mysterious "Particle X" which has
eluded scientists for years. As you step into the
machine, you get worried and try to escape, but by doing
this, you accidentally send yourself to this subatomic
world.
You find yourself in a bedroom with nothing but a dirty
pair of jeans. From there, you must find a way out of
the machine without killing yourself. There are five
elements you need to shut down P.A.R.T.I. and return to
the real world. In order to get these elements, you need
to go through the UnFairgrounds, a Diploma of Thought,
some ducks, a large cat, a floating professor, a kite
race, and other abnormalities. The scoring system in
"Dr. Dumont" has been replaced by just an indicator of
how many elements you have.
This game's atmosphere is reminiscent of Infocom's "Nord
and Bert". There are different "worlds" inside
P.A.R.T.I. that all offer there own set of puzzles and
comic relief. Unlike "Nord and Bert", you can don't
"win" worlds; you can return to each world even after
you have solved all the puzzles contained within. The
comedy in the game is also kept under control so not to
create completely farce situations (although, "Dr.
Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I." itself is farce).
"Dr. Dumont" has all the aspects of a professionally-
written game. It has obviously gone under weeks or even
months of beta-testing to make sure everything was
right. It also includes virtual "feelies," the various
items that came with many Infocom games that will help
you along your way.
Highs: Good plot, great use of comedy, relevant puzzles
that don't require countless saves, and "feelies".
Lows: The $24 price tag
Overall: This is a great game that is professionally
done. If you have $24 burning a hole in your pocket, and
you want to play some great IF, this is the game for
you.
-- Joe Merical
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Spot the IF reference...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PhotoLink
http://www.netins.net/showcase/fotolink/
This is one of those Web-based adventure games, and
what's really cool is that it's also an online exhibit
for the works of several photographers! Very clever
(Warning: nudity! But not smut -- artistic stuff] and
while surfing through I found a reference on this page
which made me smile knowingly:
http://www.photolink.com/qcjcdc/maze1.html
-- Brian O'Neill
Raleigh, NC
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BULLETIN BOARD
Readers helping other readers
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Below are some new queries I've received recently
from readers looking for hard-to-find games, or who
are in need of specific help. If you can help answer any
of these requests, please don't be shy about chiming in
with an answer! --EM
Dear XYZZYnews,
In your "Adventure Game Interfaces" [XYZZYnews #7], you
made mention of ICOM, creators of the classic black-and-
white Mac game, Deja Vu. Do you have any idea if it is
available anywhere, for any amount of money? I have
about eight old black-and-white Macs that I lend out to
people and use myself -- I'm trying to track down as
much of the truly wonderful software as I can remember
from that era (my first computer was an original
128K)...
Hope you can help me in my (oddball) quest,
-- David Reynolds
[email protected]
I've been desperately trying to find a copy of an old
game called Hacker. The game starts with just the word
"LOGON:" and you have to work your way from there. Or
so I hear. Anyway, if anybody could find me a
copy/download of the game for any system at all, I would
be eternally grateful.
-- Andrew Dudzik
[email protected]
When I was a young man around the early '80s, I had a
BBC micro and played a text adventure called Castle of
Riddles by Acornsoft. Now I'm a bit older, I thought
I'd see if it's still available in PC format on the
Internet. That's how I discovered this incredible
following for text adventures. I also discovered
XYZZYnews, which is great.
Through your pages I am hoping to find either a PC
version of Castle of Riddles or a walkthrough.
After much research and work, I managed to obtain a BBC
micro emulator for the PC, as well as a disk image of
Castle of Riddles, so I can now play it as it was
originally intended -- complete with slow response
times!
If anyone knows of hints or a walkthrough I would be
grateful -- and has anyone converted this game to
Inform or other PC-playable version? It had some
interesting room-types and puzzles which may be quite
tricky to implement in Inform so it might be a
challenge for someone!
-- Andy Corbett
[email protected]
I have been playing through Zork I. Many times in the
game there are references to the manual. I downloaded
the game off the Infocom Web page and don't have the
manual. Is there anywhere to get it? Thanks.
-- David Vecchio
[email protected]
---------------------
Adventure Maze Maps
I was browsing through a back issue, and saw your
request for Maze Maps for Adventure. You've probably
been deluged with them by now, but just in case you
haven't, here are two that I made several years ago.
You'll need to view them in a [monospace] font like
Courier, in Windows Notepad for them to look right. [see
column at right]
-- Graeme Cree
[email protected]
MAZE 1 (All alike)
Loc. N S E W NW NE SW SE U- D-
1 1 2 3 18 -- -- -- -- ! --
2 3 15 17 1 -- -- -- -- 16 16
3 -- 4 2 1 -- -- -- -- -- --
4 5 6 3 -- -- -- -- -- -- 20
5* -- 4 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
6 -- 7 4 21 -- -- -- -- -- 22
7 8 7 22 6 -- -- -- -- 23 25
8 8 -- 9 7 -- -- -- -- -- 26
9 10 14 11 8 -- -- -- -- -- #
10 -- 9 11 13 -- -- -- -- -- --
11 9 -- -- 10 12 -- -- -- -- --
12*@ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 11 -- --
13* -- -- 10 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
14* -- -- 9 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
15* -- -- 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
16 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2 2
17* -- -- -- 2 -- -- -- -- -- --
18 1 18 19 18 -- -- -- -- -- --
19* -- -- -- 18 -- -- -- -- -- --
20* -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4
21 -- -- 6 22 -- -- -- -- -- --
22 -- 23 7 21 -- -- -- -- 6 --
23 7 24 -- 22 -- -- -- -- -- --
24* -- -- -- 23 -- -- -- -- -- --
25* -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 7 --
26* -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 8 --
!=Hall of Mists, West
#=Bird Room
*=Dead End
@=Pirates Chest is here
MAZE 2 (All Different)
Loc. N S E W NW NE SW SE U DD
1 MTL 2 4 11 5 7 10 9 3 6 %
2 MLT 3 5 9 10 4 8 1 7 11 6
3 tLM 4 11 6 2 9 1 8 10 5 7
4 MtL 5 2 8 1 10 6 3 9 7 11
5 MLt 6 7 4 3 8 9 2 11 10 1
6 TLM 1 10 3 7 2 5 11 4 8 9
7 TML 8 6 1 4 11 2 10 5 9 3
8 LMt 9 12 10 11 3 7 4 6 2 5
9 LMT 10 3 5 6 1 11 7 8 4 2
10 tML 11 8 7 9 5 3 6 2 1 4
11 LTM 7 9 2 8 6 4 5 1 3 10
12 *$ 8 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
*=Dead End
$=Vending Machine
%=Long Hall, West
M=Maze
L=Little
T=Twisty
t=Twisting
---------------------
Hi there. When I was a little boy, I went and played in
the basement of the Lawrence Hall of Science where they
had a small number of primitive terminals (I can still
remember the sound of the teletypes!). On those
machines, you could (if I remember correctly) login to
the "Plato" network. On that system was a primitive D&D-
like game whose original name I can't remember, but it
was renamed "Adventure" for a short while. The game was
taken off of the Plato network, and I moved onto other
things, as little boys are wont to do.
I know it wasn't the classic text adventure,
"Adventure," because it had Ultima I-like vector-based
graphics for going into a dungeon, finding a Vampire or
Balrog, and seeing its representation on screen. I
remember some details about the game, like being ranked
with other players based upon the success of your
character. I sorely miss that game. Could you set my
feet on a path to finding this lost source code/game? I
would appreciate it beyond words. Thank you.
-- Paul Forbes
[email protected]
Several years ago I tried America Online for a short
while. I downloaded an IF game called Dragon Quest for
Windows 3.1. However, later I got a new hard drive, gave
the other away, and I've never seen the game since. I
looked on the IF archive, do you have any idea where it
might be?
-- Chad Schultz
[email protected]
I am looking for information, about an old Infocom game
called Mines of Titan. I acquired the game from someone
I know at work. Can you tell me where I can get any
manuals, maps, relating to the game. I keep seeing
something about a visitors guide, when I play it. I
would appreciate any help you could give me. The game
was made about 1989, in cooperation with Westwood Assoc.
& Infocom Inc. Warm regards,
-- Charles Mock
[email protected]
Hello, I have a request for your XYZZYnews bulletin
board. After a 10-year-break, I recently rediscovered
Infocom and other IF games. I went straight to my local
store and bought the Masterpieces package.
Unfortunately, it didn't contain Hitchhiker's Guide, one
of the games I was hoping to solve this time, nor
Shogun. (Probably due to copyright reasons?) Are there
any other editions available in Europe that contain
either of these?
Any help is appreciated.
-- Florian Edlbauer
[email protected]
Sometime in my youth I played a text-adventure game on
Spectrum. I cannot remember the name of this game and
thus ask if you, or some reader of XYZZYnews could
identify it. The game was said to be easy but I wasn't
all too good with English back then.
Here's what I remember of the game: it was one of those
where some places had a picture. I kind of remember
that spectrum rendered the pictures... they were quite
simple.
In the game you had to put on a helmet before you could
walk somewhere, then you got a sword by sleeping on a
beach, did something in some village of some sort,
travelled through some forest with some item telling you
where to turn next, met a bear who had to be fed or he
ate you. Last thing I remember is some haystack but I
got stuck there then.
Unfortunately this is all I remember of the game. I'd
much like to play it through sometime so it would stop
haunting me =)
-- Jari Komppa
[email protected]
I'm looking for a text game called The Mist, based on
the short story of the same name by Stephen King. I'll
pay anything for it. PC only please.
-- Paul Neveu
[email protected]
I've had a copy of StarCross for years, got it around
'83 for the c64 (actually, my parents got it, I was six
at the time). Now, recently I've pulled the packet out
to use the map as I played it on the PC, during which I
found something interesting.
A copy of 'The New Zork Times' Vol II, No. (Infinity)
Summer 1983. This is just the cover sheet; I dug around
some of the old NZT archives, and found it was six pages
(three printed pages); all this has is the first page
and the order form. Has the front page, with the top
story "Zork Users Group Will Shutdown" and the order
page for the same user group for caps and things.
I'm not sure if this is valuable, but there might be
someone out there who would be interested.
-- Fox Cutter
[email protected]
----------------------------------------------------
