One could argue that instead of 1975 with Adventure, the history of interactive fiction began in 1971 with The Oregon Trail.
The Apple II version is the most familiar, but the earliest was an all-text simulation.
60 PRINT “THIS PROGRAM SIMULATES A TRIP OVER THE OREGON TRAIL FROM”
65 PRINT “INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI TO OREGON CITY, OREGON IN 1847.”
70 PRINT “YOUR FAMILY OF FIVE WILL COVER THE 2000 MILE OREGON TRAIL”
75 PRINT “IN 5-6 MONTHS — IF YOU MAKE IT ALIVE.”
80 PRINT
85 PRINT “YOU HAD SAVED $900 TO SPEND FOR THE TRIP, AND YOU’VE JUST”
90 PRINT ” PAID $200 FOR A WAGON.”
Even though The Oregon Trail does not have room-exploration, it tells a story in text, and the strategy interaction is duplicated in modern days by some works in Twine (the most notable possibly being Horse Master). Porpentine’s Begscape falls in the same genre but deconstructs it.
Read the rest of this entry »
July 3rd: French circus ship ‘Circ Du Mer’. No casualties. Booty: half-ton impractical costumery. Three tons carnival tickets. Troupe of trained monkeys. Assured tickets good for shiny new penny-farthing if taken to Paris; costumery may be usable as fine napkins. Monkeys to be released at next landfall.
Do not be alarmed: while 1930s adventure novels includes tropes that one might call uncomfortable, this offering from Steph Cherrywell is in essence a very silly adventure romp starring a “modern woman for the Thirties!” with nothing concerning.
Read the rest of this entry »
I remember when I was younger being boggled by a part in the gamebook GrailQuest 4 (circa 1985) called “The Wallbanger Ritual”. Enacting the spell (in the book) required wearing a peaked cap (for real), burying a paper with the word WALLBANGER on it (again, in real life) and eating some soup (seriously).
Of course, nobody ever got the real soup, but it made an impression a on me that an interactive narrative would somehow require actions far outside the space of the book. I never have found anything comparable until now: Porpentine’s new work With Those We Love Alive.
Read the rest of this entry »
Renga in Blue 