Comments on: Milliways: The Lost Infocom Game

By: Cibbuano

Cibbuano — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 02:20:00 +0000

I just downloaded Spellcasting 101 – a terrific game! It’s a hybrid IF – static images, a little GUI, but it’s easiest playing in all text. It’s a raunchy game, too, with loads of offbeat humour.

You can download it from Abandonia and play it in Ubuntu with dosbox – genius!

By: inle

inle — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 07:28:30 +0000

Dracko: Absolutely right– the triumvirate of Short/Cadre/Plotkin is always the perfect place to start. They each have several works, many quite meaty, several short and sweet. The games themselves run from intricate “classic Infocom” puzzlers to wildly experimental work. All are original, well-written, thoroughly-coded, smart, and thought-provoking.
My starting recommendations: Galatea, Shade, and the aforementioned Photopia. For longer, tougher games, try Spider & Web, Varicella, or Savoir Faire.

By: Janto

Janto — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:57:52 +0000

It’s been years since I last dabbled with IF, but I had a play around with some of the suggested pieces, and came to a couple of conclusions. One, my brain has turned into mush through the passage of time, but my patience has improved enough not to smash the keyboard, and Two, they’re actually pretty good at evoking emotion. Didn’t go deep into Photopia yet, but I really felt engaged and concerned giving first aid.

By: Dracko

Dracko — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:31:00 +0000

JJ: In general, start with the works of Emily Short, Andrew Plotkin and Adam Cadre. Pick whatever sounds interesting to you among their catalogue.

By: Will Tomas

Will Tomas — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:15:02 +0000

It’s a great article, and it’s probably worth checking back on to see the comments if you haven’t already – several of the people involved have since chipped in, which also makes interesting reading.

By: ryan in exile

ryan in exile — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:31:00 +0000

do we know which implementors are involved?

By: Zuffox

Zuffox — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:51:35 +0000

Just need to get something cleared up: It’s a problem for the Qt3 users, when Digg and Kotaku mentions Qt3, but it’s okay for RPS to do it? Because of a good amount of sharp users – and a generally vastly lower user base?

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:26:05 +0000

9:05 is a nice game too, if you want something with a bit of cleverness you won’t find in most regular games.

And if you really want to be impressed (even if the game is a bit tricky for absolute newcomers), Spider And Web.

By: Gloinn

Gloinn — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:07:33 +0000

JJ: What the bunny said. Photopia is the probably the best start. It’s easy and is a good representative for the new breed of IF.

By: JJ

JJ — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:02:35 +0000

Thanks fluffy! I’ll check those out

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:14:05 +0000

That’s a fantastic article. A great piece of research, making good use of an unbelievable find. God knows what else is on there.

By: fluffy bunny

fluffy bunny — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:07:02 +0000

An obvious place to start would be http://www.wurb.com/if/ .

Sort by rating.

Personally I’d point you in the direction of Photopia, Anchorhead, Vespers, Dangerous Curves and Glowgrass.

Oh, and for some experimental fun, be sure to check Aisle (http://www.wurb.com/if/game/431).