28 replies to this topic

[Chris++]

Has anyone seen this new documentary about the history of text adventures? Any opinions?

http://getlamp.com/

[Tempest]

Oh yeah. I was keeping track of this for awhile then forgot about it. I wanted to see this at CGE but couldn't make it to the screening. I may have to check this out.

Tempest

[bradjewell]

Chris++, on Wed Sep 8, 2010 4:11 AM, said:

Has anyone seen this new documentary about the history of text adventures? Any opinions?

http://getlamp.com/

It was a great film if you're into interactive fiction and all that.
It was really well done and I ejoyed it alot. I especially liked the Infocom doc.
And I love my coin. ;o)

Edited by bradjewell, Wed Sep 8, 2010 7:23 AM.

[Hatta]

Is there a list of retrogaming/computing documentaries anywhere? It seems like there are a lot of them.

[akator]

I would love to buy the DVD, but $45 is a more than I'm willing to spend on any DVD no matter how much I want to see it

[jmetal88]

akator, on Wed Sep 8, 2010 10:04 AM, said:

I would love to buy the DVD, but $45 is a more than I'm willing to spend on any DVD no matter how much I want to see it

Seriously. I have second thoughts when a DVD I want is $20, even.

[Chris++]

I know; it's a bit steep. He presses and distributes them himself, so that might partially explain it.

Glad to hear it's well done. I've ordered it (one can only drool so much). That's a great idea you've got there, Hatta...I don't know a lot of recent titles offhand, so it's kinda one of those "Someone else really should start that thread" things.

[bradjewell]

Chris++, on Wed Sep 8, 2010 12:58 PM, said:

I know; it's a bit steep. He presses and distributes them himself, so that might partially explain it.

Glad to hear it's well done. I've ordered it (one can only drool so much). That's a great idea you've got there, Hatta...I don't know a lot of recent titles offhand, so it's kinda one of those "Someone else really should start that thread" things.

It's really done well, with fantastic artwork and 2 discs chocked full of IF goodness.
There are tons of IF games on the second disc, and again I have to mention the coin. It's awesome. He really put a lot of work into this and it shows.

I think he did a bang-up job on BBS:the documentary too.

[Chris++]

How awesome. Thanks for the info; that gold- and silver-plated coin does appear to be cool. I've wished for a decent documentary about IF for a long time...I think it's great that he put a separate Infocom-specific history on there as well. And it looks like he even got an interview with Don Woods! He clearly did his homework. I'm excited about watching it.

[carmel_andrews]

Does it cover contributions by british companies (like English software, who programmed the first text adventure to incorporate graphics and made available on tape, slightly before scott adams revised his adventure series with S A G A versions) and also level 9, who took the English software's 'attempt' at tape based text adventures with graphics and made it more professional and also provided disk versions as well, last but not least, you can't do a program about the history of the adventure game without including the work of Magnetic Scrolls (pawn, jinxster, myth and similar) who took the whole level 9 concept of text/graphic adventures to a whole new level

Edited by carmel_andrews, Wed Sep 8, 2010 3:00 PM.

[Chris++]

Whether or not the featured history is expressly American isn't specified in any descriptions of the film/extras, but I can't imagine that Level 9, at the very least, would be ignored -- especially considering that they released a commercial version of ADVENT that was nearly verbatim. (One has to wonder if Crowther/Woods gave permission for that, or received any royalties.)

[carmel_andrews]

Chris++, on Wed Sep 8, 2010 3:07 PM, said:

Whether or not the featured history is expressly American isn't specified in any descriptions of the film/extras, but I can't imagine that Level 9, at the very least, would be ignored -- especially considering that they released a commercial version of ADVENT that was nearly verbatim. (One has to wonder if Crowther/Woods gave permission for that, or received any royalties.)

Sorry, forgot to mention that level 9 originally started by doing text adventures and later went onto adapt those games by incrporating graphics

Also, level 9 weren't the only one's doing their own 'commercial' versions of woods/crowther's adventure, i believe infocom's zork was based on the same game as was the first release by Scott adams

I've even got an icky feeling that channel 8 software (brian haworth & co) also did a version of 'adventure'

It had been said that level 9 were the 'british infocom', not least because they also heavily researched their games and included many locations (apparently the average level 9 game can include anywhere between 1000-5000 different locations, going by an article/interview i saw in a magazine once)

[doctor_x]

if anybody deserves the cash, jason scott does..

buy the dvd.

[Chris++]

The film itself and the Infocom documentary are extremely interesting, but the rap music that (highly incongruously and un-atmospherically) opens the latter is ridiculous. Why everything has to be tainted by this unfortunate aesthetic trend is beyond me. But yeah, the film is a good patchwork of people talking about IF.

[Buyatari]

It is mostly US based perhaps because he is based in the US and had to travel to see these people. I'd say mostly Infocom based but he does cover the early history of how it all got started including the actual cave. Personally I think a bit too much time was spent on the cave but it was interesting. Scott Adams is interviewed as well but to answer your question it is mostly about text only adventures.

There were some things I enjoyed and some I didn't. I felt there were too many interviews from game players with little to add. The Infocom material was very good. With an undertaking such as this each one of us would have a different focus area of what was important to us. It would be hard to cover everything and cover it well even on 2 dvds. If you are mostly interested in the Magnetic Scrolls and Level9 games you may come away disapointed. If you take it in for what it is then you will enjoy it.

[Spoon]

For $45, that doesn't seem like a terrible deal. Two discs on a subject I thoroughly enjoy, plus a really nice coin.

The blog for the movie is quite interesting, as well.

[LoTonah]

I have to say though: the trailer to the movie is horrible! It doesn't even really explain what the movie is about. I was trying to "sell" the movie to my wife (in the sense that if she liked the trailer I could buy it), but that really didn't help at all.

[high voltage]

carmel_andrews, on Wed Sep 8, 2010 2:59 PM, said:

Does it cover contributions by british companies (like English software, who programmed the first text adventure to incorporate graphics and made available on tape, slightly before scott adams revised his adventure series with S A G A versions) and also level 9, who took the English software's 'attempt' at tape based text adventures with graphics and made it more professional and also provided disk versions as well, last but not least, you can't do a program about the history of the adventure game without including the work of Magnetic Scrolls (pawn, jinxster, myth and similar) who took the whole level 9 concept of text/graphic adventures to a whole new level

Level 9 and ES weren't (well) known in the USA, and as Mystery House was the first text adventure with graphics made available on disk via Sierra online, nobody wanted to still use tapes in the USA during the 80s.
Which game did ES do to justify 'the first text adventure with graphics on tape'?

Edited by high voltage, Sat Oct 2, 2010 10:39 AM.

[Buyatari]

high voltage, on Sat Oct 2, 2010 10:34 AM, said:

carmel_andrews, on Wed Sep 8, 2010 2:59 PM, said:

Does it cover contributions by british companies (like English software, who programmed the first text adventure to incorporate graphics and made available on tape, slightly before scott adams revised his adventure series with S A G A versions) and also level 9, who took the English software's 'attempt' at tape based text adventures with graphics and made it more professional and also provided disk versions as well, last but not least, you can't do a program about the history of the adventure game without including the work of Magnetic Scrolls (pawn, jinxster, myth and similar) who took the whole level 9 concept of text/graphic adventures to a whole new level

Level 9 and ES weren't (well) known in the USA, and as Mystery House was the first text adventure with graphics made available on disk via Sierra online, nobody wanted to still use tapes in the USA during the 80s.
Which game did ES do to justify 'the first text adventure with graphics on tape'?

HEY !

I was one of many stuck with a tape drive until the later 80s! I finally updated to a 130XE on clearance and bought a disk drive at the same time but never updated on my TI 994a to disk.

[carmel_andrews]

It was the game called 'stranded' high voltage


Perhaps the people behind these dvd's can make a sequal, featjuring european and UK contributions

Edited by carmel_andrews, Tue Oct 5, 2010 2:30 PM.

[high voltage]

Ah ok Stranded was 84

Edited by high voltage, Tue Oct 5, 2010 3:29 PM.

[high voltage]

Buyatari, on Tue Oct 5, 2010 1:57 PM, said:

high voltage, on Sat Oct 2, 2010 10:34 AM, said:

carmel_andrews, on Wed Sep 8, 2010 2:59 PM, said:

Does it cover contributions by british companies (like English software, who programmed the first text adventure to incorporate graphics and made available on tape, slightly before scott adams revised his adventure series with S A G A versions) and also level 9, who took the English software's 'attempt' at tape based text adventures with graphics and made it more professional and also provided disk versions as well, last but not least, you can't do a program about the history of the adventure game without including the work of Magnetic Scrolls (pawn, jinxster, myth and similar) who took the whole level 9 concept of text/graphic adventures to a whole new level

Level 9 and ES weren't (well) known in the USA, and as Mystery House was the first text adventure with graphics made available on disk via Sierra online, nobody wanted to still use tapes in the USA during the 80s.
Which game did ES do to justify 'the first text adventure with graphics on tape'?

HEY !

I was one of many stuck with a tape drive until the later 80s! I finally updated to a 130XE on clearance and bought a disk drive at the same time but never updated on my TI 994a to disk.

The important platform was the Apple 2 and when the Disk II was released tape software dried up almost in an instant.

[OldAtarian]

Chris++, on Wed Sep 8, 2010 12:58 PM, said:

I know; it's a bit steep. He presses and distributes them himself, so that might partially explain it.

Glad to hear it's well done. I've ordered it (one can only drool so much). That's a great idea you've got there, Hatta...I don't know a lot of recent titles offhand, so it's kinda one of those "Someone else really should start that thread" things.

This is why nothing is made in America anymore. It's too expensive.

[Gibbersan]

I loved the Zork games. Frustrating, but fun.

Also remember playing Pyramid 2000.

[82atari5200]

Personally, I thought the BBS documentary was much better. More fascinating stuff behind the scenes with the ansi art and the hackers, good stuff....