what do you want your computer to do?

Doublespeak · Post by **Doublespeak** » Wed Jun 20, 2001 10:16 am

Looks like that Windows virus that hit Rikk did a real number on him. Wonder if this is something that is going to stick around for a while? Part of the deal will probably be getting the virus out of him, but what if the can't? Well, there is a bright side to the virus:1. This little quirk (understatement) makes him a more interesting character. 2. He can fly, who wouldn't like to fly?3. He has a girlfriend who is up for anything, so he doesn't have to worry about losing her. Hell it would probably keep her interested.4. Who wouldn't like to spew windows references every couple of words? Only evil people!5. Who knows what other special abilities you gain from it?

Muttley · Post by **Muttley** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 2:49 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Vallie Girl:
 *gasps in glee*
That's wishbringer! I remember that death! It was a horrible death that was brought upon me multiple times.I don't remember ever getting past that point.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Don't recognise wishbringer,but I remember that quote from Adventure (or Colossal Cave) - the very first Adventure game of all, played on mainframes and minicomputers well before the existance of the PC. The action describes what happens if you try to carry on after your lamp has gone out.Muttley
Who had to be told how to get past the dragon

Veryinky · Post by **Veryinky** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 5:09 am

> What is a Grue

The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth. Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale. Here's a icture of a Grue, screenshot from Zork Nemesis <A HREF="http://www.core.binghamton.edu/~mcgrue/intclose.jpg" TARGET=_blank>http://www.core.binghamton.edu/~mcgrue/intclose.jpg</A> ---Actualy it's from Zork, the 2nd adventure game ever made (originaly writen in 1977 in MDL, then ported to fortran in '78) writen by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling all from MIT. The original adventure game was ADVENT writen by Will Crowther a year earlier. There were a lot of knock offs of the original zork serries, but only the "true" ones had that description when you asked what a grue was.If you're feeling nostalgic:The original Zork game, 70k download. Long since released into public domain. <A HREF="http://www.thediscworld.co.uk/zork1.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.thediscworld.co.uk/zork1.htm</A> Walkthrough, hints, maps for zork1... <A HREF="http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pete/Infocom/zork1.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pete/Infocom/zork1.html</A> -Veryinky
(sigh)

Maccabee · Post by **Maccabee** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 6:27 am

yay, Infocom!I loved the Zork games. I even bought the Chose-your-own-adventure book. ((sigh)) I miss the text adventure game genre.Greg
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GodaiYuhsaku · Post by **GodaiYuhsaku** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 7:53 am

Ok all power isn't off i can tell you why.
Where is this being controlled. from the Thack-net with Timm and thack in said net.
which is controlled by a computer which needs?....Wait for it. 
...Power. So most likely they are doing some random black outs as well as possibly taping into security feeds. 
But the other thing is not Everything will be set free in a power outtage i'm sure there is alot of non electrical based protection.------------------

Tuscahoma · Post by **Tuscahoma** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 8:15 am

Wow, I think that would be a fate worse than death, being infected with Windoze 95. Hell, even Windoze NT would be a better fate; at least it doesn't crash as often. Maybe Tim can help him and reformat him and install Linux.Now, does Rikk have the presense of mind to claim Tim and Thack's little switch-throwing as one more example of their power, or will Clippy take him over and try to help Agent Jones with his resignation letter?--Tuscahoma

Doublespeak · Post by **Doublespeak** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 8:23 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Diamond:
Rikk can't fly... or at least he hasn't yet been revealed to be able to fly. Look at that panel more closely- I was fooled too. It's from the POV of Jones on his hover-platform. Rikk isn't hovering above Will, he's sprawled on the catwalk behind him.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Damn, your right! I blame a lack of background. But still, who wouldn't like to fly? <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Maccabee:
yay, Infocom!I loved the Zork games. I even bought the Chose-your-own-adventure book. ((sigh)) I miss the text adventure game genre.Greg<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Not me, I dislike text adventures a lot. I think it is the fact that there is an illusion that you can do whatever you want, when you really can't. This makes them, to me, a little half assed. If there is only one way to do something in a game, I prefer that game to be more linear. I want basic adventure game actions damn you, not a million.I also find talking to people in text adventure games pretty damn awkward. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by GodaiYuhsaku:
But the other thing is not Everything will be set free in a power outtage i'm sure there is alot of non electrical based protection.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>interesting, like what?

Veryinky · Post by **Veryinky** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 9:32 am

If I was the FIB boss, I'd counter that it was proof that they were cocky kids because that power outage is a bad thing. A very bad thing.Because:1) The facility contains deamons that think of humans as "tasty". It holds millions of them. Some in the high-security lockup have been described as being able to wipe out humanity with a thought.2) The locks holding in those deamons are all computer controlled. All the shielding, security systems, and automatic defences would also be computer controled or need power in some way to run.3) The FIB boss accidentaly made a wish that the FIB was destroyed. Note that if all humans on earth die, the condition of FIB being destroyed is still fullfilled. So, because of that wish spell, the now unpowered locks are probably wide open....So they're standing in the dark, outnumbered a million to one by deamons that want to kill, eat, or assimilate them. Spending a few minutes bragging about how smart you are is'nt the best action such a situation.-Veryinky
You are in a cave, it's dark. What do you do?
> N
You can't go that way.
> E
You can't go that way.
> Climb up
There is nothing to climb.
You have been eaten by a grue.
Game over.

Diamond · Post by **Diamond** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 11:45 am

Rikk can't fly... or at least he hasn't yet been revealed to be able to fly. Look at that panel more closely- I was fooled too. It's from the POV of Jones on his hover-platform. Rikk isn't hovering above Will, he's sprawled on the catwalk behind him.

Tuscahoma · Post by **Tuscahoma** » Thu Jun 21, 2001 11:58 am

Which of course just goes to show what happens when I post without thinking it through. I suppose Rikk could then say, no, it's just one floor that's out, but that they're that willing to die rather than be taken by FIB.Course, if you can't put the power back on when Agent Jones ask you to, you're hosed. You have to hope it's just a temp blackout that last long enough to scare Agent Jones and be used as a bluff.Or Rikk could just yell, "Dog Pile Strike!", which would be the team's cue to jump Agent Jones while its dark and take his Nifty Conveyance.--Tuscahoma

Carey · Post by **Carey** » Fri Jun 22, 2001 1:42 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Maccabee:
((sigh)) I miss the text adventure game genre.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>You can download Zork for free at <A HREF="http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/</A> if you're feeling nostalgic, or wonder what all the fuss is about. I have it installed on my PalmPilot, along with a version of the original "Advent", but I haven't gotten very far.

Muttley · Post by **Muttley** » Fri Jun 22, 2001 3:55 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Maccabee said:
yay, Infocom!I loved the Zork games. I even bought the Chose-your-own-adventure book. ((sigh)) I miss the text adventure game genre.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>
veryinky said:
Actualy it's from Zork, the 2nd adventure game ever made
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>My mistake, the grue does first appear in the "mainframe" version of Dungeon (the name vacillated between Zork and Dungeon; the VAX version usually goes under the name of Dungeon). In Adventure you fell into a pit.Adventure page link <A HREF="http://people.delphi.com/rickadams/adventure/index.html" TARGET=_blank>http://people.delphi.com/rickadams/adve ... ex.html</A>
History of Aventure from <A HREF="http://people.delphi.com/rickadams/adve ... story.html" TARGET=_blank>http://people.delphi.com/rickadams/adve ... ry.html</A>
Adventure downloads <A HREF="http://people.delphi.com/rickadams/adve ... loads.html" TARGET=_blank>http://people.delphi.com/rickadams/adve ... ds.html</A>
Interactive Fiction archive ftp site ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/Peter Scheyen's Infocom page <A HREF="http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/" TARGET=_blank>http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/</A> has Zork downloads, and a freeware version of the original mainframe Dungeon. Here I note that Wishbringer (1985) was also an Infocom game, so is a Zork derivative rather than a ripoff <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/smile.gif">Condensed history:
In 1972 William Crowther wrote a computer simulation based on the maps of his cave explorations that also contained elements of his fantasy roleplaying, for a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-10 computer, in FORTRAN. There were other text computer games before Adventure, such as STARTREK and WUMPUS, but nothing like this.In 1976, Don Woods found a copy of Crowther's rudimentary program left on one of the SAIL computers by some unknown Johnny Appleseed, so to speak. He contacted Crowther by the simple expedient of sending email to "crowther@sitename," where sitename was every computer then on the Internet, only a mere handful of sites at the time. After corresponding with Crowther and getting his blessings, Woods greatly expanded the program. Jim Gillogly at the Rand Corporation spent several weeks in 1976 porting the code (with Woods' and Crowther's blessings) from the original FORTRAN source into C for UNIX.Dungeon was created between 1977 and 1979 at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling. It was inspired by the Adventure game of Crowther and Woods, and the long tradition of fantasy and science fiction games. The original version was written in MDL (alias MUDDLE) on another PDP-10. The VAX version was translated from MDL into FORTRAN by Digital engineer who prefers to remain anonymous.Infocom formed in 1979, and Zork I (cut-down to fit on an Apple II or a TRS-80) released 1980.'Adventure' was distributed by DECUS, the Digital Equipment Corporation user group, and was included on the first IBM PC machines. Of course the most widely distributed computer game is Unix, but I'd better not go there had I <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/smile.gif">Muttley

Maccabee · Post by **Maccabee** » Fri Jun 22, 2001 4:07 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Roscoe Mathieu:
Kudos to Muttley for bringing more recruits into the fold.
I love IF. I think it could (and should) coexist with the novel as a work of art. So Far, Delusions, Glowgrass, Babel, Perdition's Flames, Jigsaw...all of these could easily be considered more than games, but more than stories. It's very McCloudian, in that by mixing the interactivity and the strength of writing, not pictures and sound, you make both stronger.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>This is where we really have to miss Douglass Adams. He agreed with this, writing about how the text-adventure game brought back the interactive elements of live storytelling. He tried to push it hard with both The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy game and Spaceship Titanic (or something like that -- He got Terry Jones to write the novelization). Without Doug, there's just no one with the weight to push it forward anymore. Pity <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/frown.gif">------------------
Risus est telum ultimum contra tyrranem. Nullus dictator exercitibus allibus ridiculem vulgi longe resistare potest.

Tom the Fanboy · Post by **Tom the Fanboy** » Fri Jun 22, 2001 10:17 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Roscoe Mathieu:
.....or maybe a giant Myass.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I thought that's where Jones pulled all of the neat FiB stuff that couldn't be explained from. <IMG SRC="http://www.keenspace.com/forums/wink.gif">------------------
Tom the Fanboy
http://www.geocities.com/tee-moss[begin Fans! code]
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