Renga in Blue   Interactive fiction and the All the Adventures project

From the Museum of Computer Adventure Games.

I’m not going to go into the history on this one other than to say Greg Hassett was sort of a rival to Scott Adams, but given he wrote his work between the ages of 12 and 14 he never managed the same leverage. He eventually cranked out 8 TRS-80 games and was prominent enough to make a couple news items in 1980, but past that (and a clone of Asteroids in 1981) his game career essentially wrapped up there. (I get more into biographical detail on later posts.)

The chronology of his games I’m using comes from a sadly now-deleted site at Asio City:

Journey to the Center of the Earth, The House of Seven Gables and King Tut’s Tomb in 1978. Sorcerer’s Castle, Voyage to Atlantis and Enchanted Island in 1979. Mystery Mansion, Curse of the Sasquatch, World’s Edge and lastly Devil’s Palace in 1980.

So, is it based on Verne’s book? That would be “no”:

I AM IN A SHIP. ON A COMPUTER SCREEN IN HERE IT SAYS: SHIP WILL NOT FUNCTION — FRIBULATING GONKULATOR IS BURNED OUT. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE SHIP HAS CRASHED.

I CAN GO: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST

I’m honestly puzzled about the “crashed ship” opening because the rest of the game seems to be a “mimic Adventure” style fantasy. This includes treasures that need to be returned to the ship for points (although this objective is never explained in the game itself — I just tested the idea by taking a gold nugget to the ship, dropping it, and seeing if my score increased).

Not yet complete. Click the map for a full-sized version.

Notice the Maze of Twisty Little Passages, or the parrot in a cage, or the chasm which is crossed via (rot13 here) jnivat n jnaq.

Perhaps the only original contribution I have been able to find is this room:

I’M IN…AL’S DINER??? THERE’S A COKE MACHINE HERE. IT SAYS: ENJOY COCA-COLA. 25 CENTS (NO CANADIAN COINS, QUARTER ONLY)

THERE IS SOME TASTY FOOD HERE.

I CAN GO: WEST

Coke Is It!, circa 1978.

GULP GLUK GULP! (BURP) THAT WAS REFRESHING!

In all seriousness, I am stuck on a hydra that apparently needs food (but more than just the tasty food in Al’s Diner) a troll which straight out kills me.

A VOICE BOOMS OUT: WHO DARES TO ENTER MY PALACE??? (SOUNDS LIKE A TROLL TO ME!)

I CAN GO: WEST

ENTER YOUR COMMAND? W

HORRORS! THE TROLL THROWS AN AXE AT ME! I AM DEAD.

There’s also a “secret passage” leading to a “troll’s palace” except trying to go back the way I came leads to a loop. I am guessing some sort of magic word to escape, although the circumstance resembles a bug more than a puzzle.

(Also: not quite wrapped up with MUD1, but given the lack of a definite goal I’ll be poking at it gingerly while I run through my regular adventures.)