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	<title>Two articles from Electronic Games, circa 1985</title>
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	<meta name="Description" content="Two articles originally published in Electronic Games, circa 1985:
	"the infinitely improbable DOUG ADAMS" by Roe R. Adams III and
	"Booted Up Any Good Books Lately?" by Charles Ardai.
	Transcribed into HTML by David Welbourn." />
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	<h1>Two articles from <i>Electronic Games</i>, circa 1985</h1>

	<ul>
	<li><a href="#adams"><b>the infinitely improbable DOUG ADAMS</b></a> by Roe R. Adams III
	<li><a href="#ardai"><b>Booted Up Any Good Books Lately?</b></a> by Charles Ardai
	</ul>

	<p>(Note from the transcriber: Both are from the same magazine, but I only kept the articles, so I don't know
	the issue number and I can't be certain about the year. Also, my apologies for the break in the second article,
	where I missed a page or three.)</p>

	<hr /><a id="adams" />
	<!-- page 23 begins --><a id="page23" />
	<h1>the infinitely improbable DOUG ADAMS</h1>

	<p>By ROE R. ADAMS III</p>

	<div style="float:right; border-top: black solid 2px; border-bottom: black solid 2px;
	color: red; text-align: center; font-style: italic; margin-left: 0.5em">
	<b><big>Hitch a Ride<br />With Doug Adams,<br />The Man With a<br />Heart of Gold.</big></b></div>

	<p>If you ever wake up one morning and find yourself in a strange room with a splitting headache and no tea,
	where would you be? No, no, not there (but what a deliciously naughty thought). Rather, you'd be about to spend
	a wondrous sojourn inside the fertile mind of Douglas Adams, creator of <strong>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</strong>.</p>

	<p>The four books in the <i>Hitchhiker</i> Trilogy (that anomaly is consistent with known improbabilities)
	have generated such a devoted following worldwide that the books have obtained major cult status. While many
	unenlighted people still respond "Who?" to a suggested viewing of a <i>Dr. Who</i> episode, the mention of
	<i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i> elicits such comments as "Now, <emph>that's</emph> funny!"; "What a book!";
	"Awesome"; "Isn't that the Carl Perkins show?"; "The movie was excellent"; "I hear that Douglas Adams is really
	Arthur Dent and that the book is an autobiography"; and even a whispered "I hear the guide is for real, honest."
	All of the above is true except for the part about Douglas being Arthur Dent. Anyone who knows Douglas Adams well,
	would know he was really Ford Prefect, the celestial vagabond on an expense account.</p>

	<p>Douglas Adams began only slightly humorous. So, how does one learn to be really funny? Well, it pays to be born
	into an aristocracy noted for its unintentional humor. Then go to an exclusive private school that requires everyone
	to wear hilarious uniforms, and where they turn the worst students into lovely rocking chairs. Finally, one should attend
	a world-famous University that specializes in classic comical curriculums. No, it is not Harvard (good guess), or even
	Brown (which is much closer to the truth), but, is in fact, Cambridge. Ah, almost caught you there!
	<!-- page 23 ends -->
	<!-- page 24 begins --><a id="page24" />
	You where thinking, "But Harvard is in Cambridge." But this is the Cambridge that is in Cambridge, which is to say,
	a town in England (a.k.a. Great Britain, United Kingdom, Arthur's Place). The guidebooks refer to Cambridge as one of
	the country's great inland ports, though perhaps the word "port" was a typo for portal.</p>

	<p>Another critical ingredient for becoming a successful comic writer is being born in 1952. That means that during the
	early '70's you'd be able to mix and match wits with such luminaries and great straight men as Dudley Moore,
	John Cleese, and Graham Chapman. Stir that all together and, while you do not get Hamlet written by 500 monkeys,
	you do get <i>Monty Python</i> (and friends). Douglas Adams qualified as an early friend and occasional collaborator
	on the hit television series. Asked about his continuing relationship with the Monty Python people, Adams says,
	"Terry Jones and I have been great friends for a long time. We often have lunch to discuss what we're going to do
	together and we always end up having a great lunch."</p>

	<p>Adams shamelessly traded in on his numerous <i>Python</i>-generated contacts within the BBC (not an easy feat)
	for a job as one of the script editors for the mega-series <i>Dr. Who</i>. Adams even got to script a couple of the more
	vaguely unforgettable episodes. Following the good doctor through a few seasons of reincarnations and personality changes
	taxed even Adams' hardy constitution.</p>

	<p>Wanting to get a way from it all, and relax in a quiet environment, Adams hired on as a bodyguard to an Arabian royal
	family. This low-key job only required him to stand outside a door, bow occasionally, and duck hand grenades. Seems Adams
	took this employment with his usual acute sense of timing—the height of the OPEC oil crisis and rabid anti-Arab
	sentiment. The only momento that Adams still has from those fun-filled days is his heavy-duty, official Chuck Norris
	black leather jacket. He is rarely seen in public without it, lending credence to the rumor that it is so bulky
	because it is Ninja proof.</p>

	<p>Leaving this job for the exciting, globe-trotting career as a world famous, wealthy author was easy.
	However, there were a few small in-between stages, like becoming wealthy, and becoming famous. The globe-trotting
	part was fun and actually led to the rest.</p>

	<p>Travelling through Europe on a negative cash flow is not easy, but it can be done. Carrying his trusty, much worn,
	copy of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe," Adams went where few natives dared to tread, even off-season. One night
	in a slightly drunken stupor, Adams found himself in Innsbruck, Austria, face up, looking at the starry sky (the entire
	fate of the unknown universe would have been changed if it had been cloudy that night). The thought randomly came to him:
	"Eureka! It floats!" This was closely followed by two arias from Bartok's atonal opera, <i>Bluebeard</i>.
	Then in thirty-foot high letters, tilted back and receding, came the thought <i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>.
	Why not, no one had done it before! It's a catchy title and think of all those galactic royalties if it goes into
	syndication.</p>

	<p>Now the dilemma was what medium would maximize the audience? Since most of the readers were going to be
	Pan-Galacticans, the best way to reach them would obviously be through a radio telescope beamed across the universe
	and all adjacent slums. Flush with triumph at this brilliant marketing idea, Adams hurried to the BBC. Detoured en route
	by a six-year time warp (he had to write copy sometime), he arrived at the BBC just when they were fresh out of
	telescopes. So, in typical BBC practicality, they put the show on the radio and beamed it across the Thames to
	adjacent slums.</p>

	<p>The rest is history. Every Pan-Galactican living in disguise in London listened to the show (1978 was the year of the
	supersaver El-Alien tours) and sent in tons of incomprehensible fan mail. Since the BBC reportedly never actually
	reads a show's mail but just weighs it, the program was declared a two-ton smash hit and renewed for a second year.</p>

	<div style="float:right; border-top: black solid 2px; border-bottom: black solid 2px;
	color: red; text-align: center; font-style: italic; margin-left: 0.5em">
	<b><big>"The game was more fun [than the books].<br />Writing a book is staring
	at a piece of paper until<br />your forehead bleeds."</big></b></div>

	<p>A book was written based on the shows, certainly an excellent ecological recycling of old scripts.
	This book was named
	<!-- page 24 ends -->
	<!-- page 25 begins --><a id="page25" />
	<i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i> (might as well run with your proven winner), and promptly sold out.
	Little realizing that the first book had only been bought as a souvenir item by the departing Pan-Galacticans at the
	end of their tour, Adams wrote a second novel: <i>The Restaurant at the End of the Universe</i>. This book was
	appropriately placed in the culinary sections of the bookstores. Julia Child even did a television show on how to
	properly prepare a talking-steak dinner. Some dark rumors circulated afterward about the simulataneous disappearance
	of her arch rival, the Galloping Gourmet. People, however, rushed out to get the recipes from the first book,
	as the second book continued after the appetizers.</p>

	<p>The BBC decided that if it was good enough for the French Chef, then it was good enough for British television.
	So, a BBC television mini-series was done on the books patterned after the maxi-series, <i>The Forsythe Saga</i>.
	Belatedly realizing that Adams Chronicles had already been usurped as a title, the BBC imaginatively called the series
	<i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>. In true economical BBC fashion, the television series was a condensed version
	of both books, thus saving the BBC from paying out for two shows.</p>

	<p>Now the initial book really started to hit some sales figures. It was also first reported being smuggled into the
	United States via a case of Snickers. The desperate smugglers were thus able to bypass the numerous federal agencies
	on guard for illegal British humor.</p>

	<p>Alas, the government's worst fears were confirmed when the highly contagious <i>Hitchhiker</i> proceeded to sweep
	the ranks of science fiction readers in the United States. The condition reached epidemic proportions when British
	press copies of the third book, <i>Life, the Universe, and Everything</i>, flowed over the borders from Canada.
	Faced with the prospects of detoxifying thousands of rabid fans, the government capitulated and declared Douglas
	Adams a schedule-one uncontrollable British humorist.</p>

	<p>Official U.S. versions of Adams' books now appeared everywhere to rave reviews. Numerous radio stations
	broadcast the old shows. Channel 2 in Boston, the
	<!-- page 25 ends -->
	<!-- page 78 begins --><a id="page78" />
	most avant-garde of the nation's PBS stations, even dared to show the highly subversive BBC television series.</p>

	<div style="float:right; border-top: black solid 2px; border-bottom: black solid 2px;
	text-align: center; margin-left: 0.5em; font-style: italic">
	<b><big>"I really feel<br />the need to<br />branch out into<br />fresh areas<br />and clear<br />my head
	from<br />Hitchhiker."</big></b></div>

	<p>When the third book was released in the United States, <i>Life, the Universe and Everything</i> was immediately
	recognized as heavy-duty philosophy. Therefore it was put on bookstore shelves right next to Carlos Castanada's latest
	book: <i>The Teachings of Ron Don: The Yankee Way to Knowledge</i>. Adams' third book immediately became the darling
	of the coffee table set. They, in turn, had to rush out and buy the first two books since the third one made no sense
	without reading the others first (Now that really is profound.)</p>

	<p>Douglas Adams was (and is) an international celebrity. His U.S. tour was a great success as he was lionized from
	coast to coast. So delighted was he with the overbearing American hospitality, tedious talk shows, and unending dinner
	speeches that he titled his fourth (and supposedly final) <i>Hitchhiker</i> book, <i>So Long and Thanks for All the
	Fish</i>.</p>

	<p>What to do next? Let's see...books, records (of the radio shows), television, stage play (Off-Off-Off-Broadway.
	Liverpool perhaps, or maybe it was the Orkneys), even the obligatory movie contract. "Say", said Adams one night,
	in a not-so-drunken stupor, "How about a computer game version!" (The difference between doing a game or a book,
	Adams says, is that "A game is fun. A book is staring at a piece of paper until your forehead bleeds."</p>

	<p>A quick marketing survey showed him that a small adventure game company in Cambridge, MA (note the auspicious
	location, heavy Karmic influences, and Freudian overtones) named Infocom owned the entire computer text adventure field.
	In fact, Douglas' first introduction to Infocom was through playing <strong>Suspended</strong>, one of the company's
	most mind-boggling games. (Yes, he solved it.) It occurred to him that here was a company with minds as devious and
	eccentric as his own. He decided to approach them about <i>Hitchhiker's</i>. Little did Adams realize that Infocom was
	actually only leasing the highly lucrative field from the Gnome of Zurich. In fact, a check with the Frozboz Chamber
	of Commerce would have revealed that Infocom was in fact a front for a vast Underground Empire. Many an adventure
	game player had disappeared forever into its clutches; their jobs, families, and sanity ensnared by slavering Grues.
	The few that escaped usually wandered around saying "Hello, sailor," of "Frotz," and carrying a strangely familiar lamp.
	The Chaucer of
	<!-- page 78 ends -->
	<!-- page 80 begins --><a id="page80" />
	British humor was about to meet the dreaded Masters of the Purple Prose.</p>

	<p>Initial contact was made ethereally through a transoceanic computer bulletin board. Further discussions were held in
	a variety of British pubs. It is even money that one of them must have been The White Hart in London; so appropriate
	with Arthur C. Clarke's personal table in the far corner, right next to the cheese sandwiches. Another creative locale
	was Huntsham Court, a hotel in the village of Huntsham, near Tiverton, Devon. Adams wrote <i>So Long and Thanks for all
	the Fish</i> there, and a lot of the electronic version of <i>Hitchhiker's</i> as well. He also bought part of the
	establishment. How did that come about? "One night after a few drinks," says Adams, "it seemed like a good idea."</p>

	<p>Adams insisted on only dealing with the game designer who had the greatest stature in Infocom. Steve Meretzky,
	at 6'4" was taller than Marc Blank, so he was drafted.</p>

	<p>Meretzky was one of Infocom's early playtesters, and suffered from a terminal case of "Boy, game design is a snap.
	Why, even I could do a better job in a few weeks than..." So, being highly sadistic, Infocom gave Meretzky a chance
	to design a game. Somehow the few weeks evolved into over a year, but much to everyone's amazement (except Meretzky's),
	the game was fantastic. Who can forget Floyd's tragic death? <strong>Planetfall</strong> earned Infocom a whole
	shelf full of Best Game awards for that year.</p>

	<p>Even with Meretzky's heavy credentials in computer game design (<i>Planetfall</i> and <strong>Sorcerer</strong>,
	another stellar scenario), he found it difficult to see eye-to-eye with Adams on every aspect of the game design.
	(The rumor is that Adams' real height is being kept a media secret in the U.S., because of his literary agent's fears
	that Adams will be shanghied by the Boston Celtics and never write again. He admits to 6'5".)</p>

	<div style="float:right; border-top: black solid 2px; border-bottom: black solid 2px;
	text-align: center; margin-left: 0.5em; font-style: italic;">
	<b><big>"The game<br />design is basically<br />pear-shaped.<br />After the player<br />gets comfortable<br />
	running<br />around the<br />narrow neck at<br />the beginning,<br />the bottom<br />drops out."</big></b></div>

	<p>Luckily for computer adventure fans, the design did not become a battle of the Giants. Mutual respect was earned by
	the exchange of outrageous jokes, a similar fondness for wearing bizarre costumes (you must see Meretzky in his gorilla
	suit at some party), and sporting eye-blinding clothing. Adams is infamous for his day-glo ties that add new meaning
	to the phrase Contact High. Meretzky counters this with a collection of Dali-like Hawaiian floral sport shirts.
	These are the same shirts made famous by Americans travelling overseas in the 50's and 60's before the Geneva
	Convention ban on visual warfare.</p>

	<p>The peril-sensitive sunglasses that were developed for the computer game are actual replicas of those worn by staff
	members who had to sit in on lengthy conferences when both Meretzky and Adams were present. In fact, almost all the
	goodies enclosed with the game originally had other uses: The fluff was really used for earplugs to deaden the impact
	of the puns. The official destruct orders were actually coded hit contracts on Adams and Meretzky put out by the
	bedraggled playtesters. The baggy containing the microscopic space fleet looks suspiciously like the bag provided
	by the airlines in each seat for heavy flying. The sales brochure is really Adams' dummy Swiss company that sells
	digital watches on late night television (remember the Gnome of Zurich). The Don't Panic button is, of course, the
	Unimportant Red Button (can you find the Important Green Button in the packet before the Earth blows up?).</p>

	<p>The only thing in the game package that is what it seems to be is the "No Tea." Historians have long claimed that
	the entire expansion of the British Empire was based on the search for a real cup of tea. To date, they have only
	found Advanced Substitute Tea, which explains the fall of the Pound, the Falklands, the coal mine strike, and
	Stonehenge.</p>

	<p>A few people in the Himalayas have written in and asked whether or not they could enjoy playing the computer game
	without having touched the books, seen the TV shows, felt the play, heard the records, or smelt a computer overheating
	from twelve hours of obsessive playing. To which Adams responded, "42!"</p>

	<p>He further noted, "The game design is esssentially pear-shaped. After the beginning player gets comfortable
	running around the narrow neck at the beginning, the bottom drops out." What an understatement! With the babel fish
	problem, the game shifts into really high gear. Many a seasoned player has been stumped here for hours. It does not
	help that <i>Hitchhiker's</i> is, in Adams' words, "the only game that deliberately lies to you."</p>

	<p>Adams, however, has taken pity on those less brilliant and warped—over Meretzky's pleas to "let them suffer."
	For the first time, an Infocom game actually has hints to solving some of the puzzles built right into the game itself.
	Admittedly, they are mostly obscure, but nonetheless actually there. A perceptive adventurer will spot the clues quickly,
	but even the most dilettante player can grasp them, if they read all the text very carefully, and can visualize the
	entire floorplan of a typical Vogan space ship (copies of the floorplans are available from the traveling bookmobile
	run by Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged).</p>

	<p>The game ricochets all across the universe in a bewildering kaleidoscope of improbable pasts, presents, and futures.
	The scenario design resembles a galactic pinball game. Watch out for the Black Hole or you may never get out again,
	and remember to be careful what you say and do. In Adams's universe causality is paramount. A stone thrown here
	blows up planets over there.</p>

	<p>Meretzky and Adams have designed Infocom's <i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i> as really an artifical intelligence
	test. They will find out just how artificial your intelligence really is. Try to deal with entire ship equipped with
	Sirius Cybernetics Corporation devices, whose motto is Share and Enjoy. This is usually considered sufficient cause
	through the galaxy for immediate self-destruction in order to save your sanity. See how good you are at cheering up
	Marvin, who is a manic-depressive robot. Need to open the screening door? Easy, just show it a little bit of
	intelligence. The clue to salvation may just be the "thing" your Aunt gave you that you can not get rid of no matter
	how hard you try. Then again, maybe not. At the bottom of Adams's pear is the jammed
	<!-- page 80 ends -->
	<!-- page 81 begins --><a id="page81" />
	hatch puzzle. This puzzle will grow on you until it takes over your mind. Beware the Jabberwocks!</p>

	<p>Now that Adams has conquered this new medium (the game is already in the top ten on the overall charts), what are
	his plans? Will he do <i>Son of Hitchhiker</i>, or <i>Hitchhiker, Parts II-XXV</i>? "No," says Adams, "I really feel
	the need to branch out into fresh areas and clear my head from <i>Hitchhiker</i>. I certainly have enjoyed working with
	Infocom and would very much like to do another adventure game, but on a different topic." Adams compares adventure
	games to movie-making in the early 1900's: "It's a real novelty medium and only the people doing them really know
	how great they are."</p>

	<p>Sitting across the breakfast table from Meretzky and Adams is difficult indeed, even wearing the peril-sensitive
	sunglasses. The air between them seems to shimmer and blur. At times they bear a startling resemblance to that maestro
	of self-expediency, Zaphod Beeblebrox. The two heads seem to share the same body. Perhaps Zaphod is the end result
	of the cloned collaboration.</p>

	<p>"Remember," says Adams, leaning over like a conspirator while chuckling diabolically. "To <i>share</i> the real
	feeling of the game, <i>enjoy</i> everything."</p>

	<p>So, now that you have stayed up all night and have solved six impossible puzzles this morning, why not round it off
	with breakfast at Milliway's. Go ahead. If you have just finished this computer adventure game, you have
	definitely earned it!   <b style="background-color:black;color:white;"><small>EG</small></b></p>
	<!-- page 81 ends -->

	<hr style="width:50%; text-align:center; color:gray" />

	<h2>Photos used in this article:</h2>
	<ol>
	<li>Large photo of Douglas Adams, sticking out a hitchhiking thumb with his left hand. Uses all of page 22 with
	his arm extending into page 23.</li>
	<li>Four large book covers, followed by the hitchhiking Adams, run along the bottom halves of pages 24 and 25.
	The book covers are from <i>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>; <i>The Restaurant at the end of the Universe</i>;
	<i>Life, The Universe and Everything</i>; and <i>So Long and Thanks for All the Fish</i>.
	<br />Caption: The four books of the famous <i>Hitchhiker's</i> trilogy: from nuts to fish.</li>
	<li>Black and white headshot of Steve Meretzky, on page 25.
	<br />Caption: Steve Meretzky, co-perpetrator with Douglas Adams of the electronic version of the <i>Hitchhiker's Guide</i>.</li>
	<li>Small black and white headshot of Adams on page 78.</li>
	<li>Black and white photo of Adams scratching his head on page 80.</li>
	</ol>


	<hr style="margin-bottom:4em" /><a id="ardai" />
	<h1>Booted Up Any Good Books Lately?</h1>

	<p>By CHARLES ARDAI</p>

	<div style="float:right; border-top: black solid 2px; border-bottom: black solid 2px;
	text-align: center; margin-left: 0.5em">
	<b><big>Software<br />Companies Take<br />A Novel<br />Approach to<br />New Kinds of<br />Entertainment</big></b></div>

	<p>Until recently, interactive fiction seemed to be getting rather stagnant. After all, every company has already
	gone through the tried-and-true adventure game themes of medieval battles between wizards and dragons, hard-boiled
	detective stories, treasure seeking a la Indiana Jones in perilous old temples and ruins, and science-fictiony searches
	through futuristic, but deserted, planets, asteroids and spaceships many times over; things seemed to be getting rather
	repetitive. Once in a while a really original game would appear, but that was a rare occurence. There's no question
	that what we needed was an influx of new ideas.</p>

	<p>Finding new ideas was harder than it sounds — even Infocom's <strong>Planetfall</strong> and
	<strong>Enchanter</strong> were — as far as their plots were concerned — basically rehashings of old, used
	concepts. It quickly became evident that companies would have to start looking outside the market for a source of
	originality. And so, in a fit of inspiration, or perhaps desperation, several companies simultaneously cast their eyes
	upon their bookshelves.</p>

	<p>The decision to make adventure games out of books should not come as a surprise — players of <i>Dungeons
	& Dragons</i>-type role-playing games have been doing it for years. Books are wonderful as sources of imaginative
	escapist entertainment, but too often readers fall into the "I would have done it differently" syndrome. By their very
	nature, books make readers observers of, rather than participants in, any action that they depict. Only by converting
	a book to a more interactive format, like a role-playing game or a "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" type book, can a reader
	truly take part in the events detailed within its covers.</p>

	<p>However, both formats have problems. Role-playing games almost always require two or more players.
	"Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" books are very limited, lacking both the element of human interaction and the overall
	complexity found in a full role-playing game. What's more, such "interactive books" are much too open to
	unintentional cheating.</p>

	<p>Computer adventure games may not yet be able to duplicate human interaction, but the best of today's technology comes
	pretty close. Certainly, computers can easily mimic the complexity of a role-playing game, and they never allow a player
	to see the solution to a puzzle before he has found it for himself. The connection was made: What better way to boost
	the adventure game industry than to take ideas from the boundless imagination of books?</p>

	<p>Obviously this train of thought, or one very similar, has been passing through the minds of a number of game
	designers and
	<!-- page 27 ends -->
	<!-- page 28 begins -->
	industry executives, since over the past few months various types of book-based adventure games have been turning up on
	the market at a tremendous rate. Epyx was one of the first to enter the field with <strong>Dragonriders of Pern</strong>,
	a strategy adventure based on the bestselling sci-fi series by Anne McCaffrey, and <strong>Robots of Dawn</strong>,
	a futuristic whodunnit mystery game converted from the novel of the same title by Isaac Asimov. Forthcoming is a second
	Pern game called <strong>Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern</strong>, also being released by Epyx. Infocom recently released a
	<strong>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</strong> adventure, based on the hilarious cult classic by Douglas Adams.
	Quicksilva's <strong>The Snowman</strong> has its roots in a novel by Raymond Briggs. And, of course, the entire
	Wyndham Classics and Telarium (nee Trillium) lines of adventure games are based on famous books or were written by
	well-known authors.</p>

	<p>The Telarium games are unique in that they depend more heavily on input from the authors on whose books they are
	based than do the games made by most other companies. Seth Godin, Telarium's founder, explained the company's unusual
	practice of giving the writers an opportunity to play a major role in the creation of each new game. "These games are
	very much like movies and books because they are both visual and literary," he said. "We wanted to go to the people
	who could write that the best. And that's not programmers — it's authors."</p>

	<p>Infocom followed a similar policy when Adams approached them with the idea of a <i>Hitchhiker's</i> game. They gave
	him a free hand in writing the general story and the various encounters, and had ex-science fiction author and designer
	of <i>Planetfall</i> Steven Meretzky write it into an adventure game format. The results of this unique collaboration
	can be seen throughout the game, which is filled with Adams' very distinct sense of humor. Not only does
	<i>Hitchhiker's</i> play well, but it reads well, too. As an experimental way to design an adventure game,
	<i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i> is a success.</p>

	<p>A different point of view is held over at Epyx, where talented game designers and programmers were the ones to
	create both Pern games and <i>Robots of Dawn</i> with little input by the authors whatsoever. According to Robert Votch,
	a representative of Epyx, Anne McCaffrey did meet with the programmers to discuss and offer suggestion for both Pern
	games, the second more so than the first. In addition, she approved the final versions of both games. Still, most
	of the actual design work and programming was done without McCaffrey's presence.</p>

	<p>However, compared with the amount of input that Isaac Asimov had in the <i>Robots of Dawn</i> game, Ms. McCaffrey's
	might as well have written both Pern games singlehandedly. Mr. Votch reported that although the licensing agreement
	was made through his publisher, Dr. Asimov did participate in the design of the game through a set of guidelines that
	he sent in to Epyx. Dr. Asimov contends that he hardly even knew of the game's existence until a copy of the finished
	product found its way to his home — a copy he couldn't even try out since his computer, which he used for word
	processing, is a TRS-80.</p>

	<p>Would Asimov be interested in actually writing a game some time in the future? "Not really," he says. "If it were
	earlier in my writing career, maybe. But as it is, I'm too busy with my writing to start any other projects."
	(At a rate of about one book
	<!-- page 28 ends -->
	<!-- page 29 begins --><a id="page29" />
	every three weeks, Dr. Asimov is one of the nation's most prolific authors.) And his opinion of computer games in general?
	"We are faced with a new technology, and as always, we must accept the products of that technology."</p>

	<p>New technology did indeed play a major role in the creation of these new book-games. Only a few years ago, an adventure
	was considered complex if it contained more than a dozen rooms. Now, recent leaps in technology have made possible
	complex adventures with over a hundred rooms, like Telarium's <strong>Rendezvous with Rama</strong>, a suspenseful game
	which takes place in a gigantic space complex. Telarium's other games are relatively massive, too; Ray Bradbury's
	<strong>Fahrenheit 451</strong>, a sequel to the acclaimed, world famous novel, is set in a futuristic New York City
	with a total of seventy key locations to wander through, and the more traditional <strong>Dragonworld</strong> whose
	medieval city of Kandesh includes sixty accessible areas.</p>

	<p>Similar technical advances have made animated graphic sequences and background music not only a reality, but a standard
	feature of many adventure games. The Telarium and Wyndham games, for instance, all boast outstanding graphics and
	wonderfully atmospheric music.</p>

	<p>Byron Preiss, head of Byron Preiss Video Productions, worked on the production of a number of Telarium games
	including Robert Heinlein's <strong>Starman Jones</strong>, Bradbury's <i>Fahrenheit 451</i>, <i>Rendezvous with Rama</i>,
	for which author Arthur C. Clarke wrote a brand-new surprise ending, and <i>Dragonworld</i> which he co-authored as a novel
	with Michael Reaves. In discussing the games, he explained why it is so much more difficult for an author to write an
	adventure game than it is to write a novel.</p>

	<p>"[When writing an adventure] you have to anticipate a heck of a lot more, to understand the consequences of the
	characters' actions in more than one way. When you do a book, you can just say, 'Okay, this is how it is going to happen,
	and that's it'. When you do a game, you have to realize that someone can do many different things in any given situation.
	You have to pre-guess the players so that the events you put in seem logical."</p>

	<p>On the flip side of these problems, celebrated writer Alan Dean Foster, author of countless movie novelizations and the
	popular <i>Spellsinger</i> series (the fourth volume of which, <i>Perturbations of the Perambulator</i>, is being
	released soon), was faced with some rather unusual difficulties in writing a novelization of the Telarium game
	<strong>Shadowkeep</strong>. The game is a hybrid of <strong>Wizardry</strong>-style action and a typical adventure
	game scenario , which involves saving a mythical world from destruction at the hands of a menagerie of evil,
	<!-- page 29 end -->
	</p>

	<p style="color:red"><i>[Oops. Unfortunately, I forgot to keep pages 74 to 76 when I saved the article. So, um, part of the
	article is missing. Hopefully I or someone else can find a copy archived in a library somewhere and fill in the gap.
	—David].</i></p>

	<div style="float:right; border-top: black solid 2px; border-bottom: black solid 2px;
	text-align: center; margin-left: 0.5em">
	<b><big>Book-based<br />interactive fiction<br />is a whole<br />new field that<br />has taken<br />the
	adventure<br />gaming industry<br />by storm.</big></b></div>

	<p>
	<!-- page 77 begins -->
	even have looked at under other circumstances. In fact, some universities are already using Infocom adventures in
	remedial reading courses. All adventure games encourage reading, and gamers who would otherwise hardly give a book like
	<i>Fahrenheit 451</i> a second glance may be tempted to read it after playing the adventure.</p>

	<p>Book-based interactive fiction is a whole new field of computer software that has taken the adventure gaming industry
	by storm. These games are entertaining, sophisticated and intellectually stimulating, while at the same time being
	exciting and fun to play. And though one can never predict anything with certainty in the constantly changing computer
	industry, it seems that these games have a bright future ahead of them. If nothing else, these games have given new
	meaning to the phrase "computer literacy."   <b style="background-color:black;color:white;"><small>EG</small></b></p>
	<!-- page 77 ends -->

	<hr style="width:50%; text-align:center; color:gray" />

	<h2>Photos used in this article:</h2>
	<ol>
	<li>Page 26 is entirely a painted piece of artwork depicting a black hardcover book with a shiny two-socket panel
	on its front cover. The book floats somewhere in the upper atmosphere high above planet Earth against a starry sky.
	Plugged into the book's upper socket is a long, long red electric cord which spirals from the book down to
	the planet, far below.</li>
	<li>Color photo on the top of page 27: The covers of five Trillium games are displayed:
	<i>Fahrenheit 451</i> by Ray Bradbury; <i>Rendezvous With Rama</i> by Arthur C. Clarke; <i>Dragonworld</i> by
	Preiss/Reaves; <i>Amazon</i> by Michael Crichton; and <i>Shadowkeep</i> by Alan Dean Foster.</li>
	<li>Color photo on page 28: Anne McCaffrey signing a game box for <i>Dragonriders of Pern</i>.
	<br />Caption: Anne McCaffrey, whose sci-fi books are the basis of two games from Epyx.</li>
	<li>Along the top of pages 28 and 29 are four photos:
	<ol>
	<li>Color photo: Game box for Isaac Asimov's <i>Robots of Dawn</i>, publisher: Epyx.</li>
	<li>Black and white photo: Douglas Adams and Steve Meretzky, sitting in front of a computer.
	<br />Caption: Author Douglas Adams and designer Steve Meretzky of the infamous <i>Hitchhiker's Guide</i>.</li>
	<li>Color photo: Game box for <i>Dragonriders of Pern</i> based on the novels by Anne McCaffrey, publisher: Epyx.</li>
	<li>Black and white photo: Byron Preiss standing behind a computer monitor, both facing the camera. The computer
	is currently in the middle of a game session.
	<br />Caption: Byron Preiss with Telarium's <i>Dragonworld</i>.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Color photo on page 29: Arthur C. Clarke typing on a computer, as two men sitting off to one side watch.
	<br />Caption: Arthur C. Clarke, Byron Preiss and D. Harris.</li>
	<li>Black and white photo on page 77: Book cover for Isaac Asimov's <i>The Robots of Dawn</i>.</li>
	</ol>

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