SOFTWORKS ANNOUNCES WINNERS
IN THIRD ANNUAL ADVENTURE GAME WRITING CONTEST
We spent our days searching for the Holy Grail and our nights fighting
"Big Bubba." We rose again to hunt for Easter eggs, crash an F-16 at
Mach 2, and fry up some chicken gizzards. We constructed a bird house,
cast and dodged an evil spell or two, and ended up playing the part of a
frightened Thespian in a haunted theater. After these diverse and
thoroughly exilerating experiences, our valient judges (dazed, exhausted,
but never played-out!) announce with pleasure the winner(s) of the third
annual Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) Adventure Game Writing Contest.
Gentlemen, the envelope, please!
......And the First Prize ($100) winner for the 1989 contest is:
SON OF STAGEFRIGHT -- By Mike McCauley. In this game, you play the role
of an actor (or actress) trying to get out of an old, abandoned theater.
This is an adventure game in three "Acts", where each Act has a different
theme and a different challenge. This award winning adventure is fun(ny),
frightening and very clever.
Mike is an engineer with Aetna Insurance in Southern California. He has
been involved in community theater for a number of years and the
physical layout of the game is based on a real theater that Mike has
spent many hours exploring. SON OF STAGEFRIGHT is a sequel to
STAGEFRIGHT, a game of Mike's that was commercially published for the
Coleco ADAM computer. He is currently hard at work on his second AGT
game which has a Christmas theme. Mike hopes to finish his next game in
time for Adventure players to enjoy it this Christmas and in time to
enter the game in the 1990 (fourth annual) AGT game writing contest.
Mike said that the Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) made writing SON OF
STAGEFRIGHT both easy and fun. His advice to other AGT game writers is:
"Get started! Get wild! Use beta testors extensively! And comment your
source code!"
In addition to SON OF STAGEFRIGHT, the contest had a number of other
excellent entries. Among them, the judges have singled out the very best
adventures as deserving an "Honorable Mention." These winning entries
include (in alphabetical order):
EASTER EGG HUNT -- By Tom and Ginnie Reynolds. A game aimed at and
suitable for children ages 7-12. It contains no killing, monsters, or
anything scarey. Easy for adults but challenging for children. This is
a very special and delightful game!
FAST LANE -- By Richard Baribault. In this game you attempt, against
much adversity, to find, enter, and win a Classic Car Show. You must
overcome obstructive family members, odd creatures, criminals (including
"Big Bubba"), the law, and other assorted trials and difficulties. A
very well done game with an ususal theme.
HOUSE OF THE O's -- By Wally O. and Pete D. This game is unique among
adventure games -- it has no dragons or spaceships, no magic potions or
trapdoors. The game is based on the ordinary activites of an ordinary
family living in an ordinary house in Mosquito Heights, New Jersey. A
game filled with subtle humor.
PORK II -- THE GIZZARD OF SHOWBIZ -- By Bill Larkins. This game is a
parody of Infocom's ZORK II. The game features a LEWD mode (not
recommended for youngsters) as well as a TAME mode. A test must be passed
to get in the LEWD mode. If you enjoyed PORK I, you should welcome this
clever sequel.
PYRAMID OF MUNA -- By Alfred W. King II. In this game, the player
explores an ancient Mexican pyramid and attempts to discover its
metaphysical secrets. An adventure based on the "Elements of the
Cosmology of The Builders". An exotic implementation of a classic
adventure theme.
QUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL -- By Mike Detlefsen. A zany, madcap
adventure, loosely (very loosely) based on the movie "Monty Python and
the Holy Grail". If you liked the movie and/or ehjoy the comedy of
Monty Python, you will love this game.
SIR RAMIC HOBBS AND THE HIGH LEVEL GORILLA -- By Gil Williamson. The
adventures of a Knight Errant and his faithful companion, the Wizard
Prang, as they seek to rescue a beautiful Princess from a fiendish
villian's evil grasp. Reminiscent of Don Quixote, wryly retold with a
delightfully British sense of humo(u)r.
THE BATTLE OF PHILIP AGAINST THE FORCES OF CREATION -- By Peter Arnold
and Anne Ungar. This game is based on a "Dungeons and Dragons" theme.
The game was written as a continuation of and a response to TARK, one of
the winning games from last year's contest. A very well written
adventure. Especially enjoyable if you are a "Dnd" fan.
THE PILOT -- OR A FLIGHT INTO FANTASY -- By A. G. Jackson. This game is
action-packed from its opening scene that has you trying to escape from a
jet that is hurtling towards the ground at Mach 2 to the game's final
scenes where you are exploring a mysterious cave beneath the polar ice
cap.
All of the winning games are available from Softworks, the publisher of
the Adventure Game Toolkit, in a special 2-disk set of files called "The
Best of the Contest - 1989". These disks contain over a mega-byte of AGT
source code. These disks are available for $12 from:
Softworks
43064 Via Moraga
Mission San Jose, California 94539
(415) 659-0533 (12:00 Noon to 8:00 PM -- PST)
VISA and MasterCard orders can be made by phone. All orders should
specify which disk format is desired: Macintosh, Atari ST, IBM 5 1/4 or
IBM 3 1/2.
Order "The Best of the Contest - 1989" disks today, and let yourself in
on some of the best adventure gaming in years!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Because these disks contain the source code to the games, you
will need the Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) in order to compile and play the
games. AGT is available separately for a $20 registration fee or for $35 for
a registered copy plus a 200 page printed manual (which reveals many of the
secrets of the great adventure game writers).
