Infocom, Douglas Adams and a piece of history
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Law Bringer
Member # 2984
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written Saturday, April 19 2008 05:20
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Via Slashdot I have found Andy Baio's blog on waxy.org. It appears that Baio has somehow acquired a backup of a network drive that used to belong to Infocom, the text adventure game studio that gave us The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in Zork form. When I finished the game (which has floated around as abandonware for at least a decade) in 2001, I recall being disappointed that the sequel the ending credits promised had never been delivered. Baio has taken some of the emails and design notes that were written between 1985 and 1989, and turned them into a stunning documentary that showed how Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe failed to get off the ground and was finally scrapped when Infocom died in 1989. It's fascinating. Read it. -------------------- The Noble and Ancient Order of Polaris - We're Not Yet Dead. Encyclopedia • Blades Forge • Archives • Stats • RSS (This Topic / Forum) • Blog • NaNoWriMo Did-chat thentagoespyet jumund fori is jus, hat onlime gly nertan ne gethen Firyoubbit 'obio.' Decorum deserves a whole line of my signature, and an entry in your bookmarks. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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Warrior
Member # 6934
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written Saturday, April 19 2008 06:12
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Great stuff, Aran. Thanks for posting it. -------------------- Always try to be true to yourself - unless you suck Posts: 183 | Registered: Sunday, March 19 2006 08:00 |
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Lifecrafter
Member # 375
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written Saturday, April 19 2008 07:35
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Seconded. -------------------- "I liked white better." Posts: 771 | Registered: Tuesday, December 11 2001 08:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Saturday, April 19 2008 08:52
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I loved seeing the ANGAR! And the reading failure on the part of so many commenters as they blindly attacked Bywater for what was a most reasonable post. -------------------- Synergy, et al - "I don't get it." Argon - "I'm at a loss for words..." Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 6785
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written Saturday, April 19 2008 10:17
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Thanks for posting it as I take a minute to pass the last link along to a friend (he doesn't need to do a Slarty long list of things, really) so he can get sidetracked. Now I really need to get around to finishing that game. *sigh* Posts: 4643 | Registered: Friday, February 10 2006 08:00 |
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...b10010b...
Member # 869
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written Saturday, April 19 2008 10:38
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Given some of the terrible games that Infocom churned out at the end of its life (like Shogun, or Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2), it's probably for the best that H2 was never finished. quote:Bywater may have had a point, but he's a pompous, hypocritical Little Englander. Having read some of his other writing, I can confidently say that he deserves whatever scorn is heaped upon him. It takes a special kind of idiocy to write a seven-page screed on what's wrong with society and conclude with the assertion that wanting the world to conform to your own vision of it is a sign of childish immaturity. [ Saturday, April 19, 2008 10:42: Message edited by: Thuryl ] -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 | Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00 |
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Law Bringer
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written Saturday, April 19 2008 10:59
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quote:... heh. I think Bywater had a point in the beginning. Twenty years or not, he should have had the opportunity to weigh in, even if it was just to say "no comment, and if you publish one word I wrote, I'll sue". The story would still have been publishable, if without his plot outlines (in my opinion the best part), everyone would have been happy, more or less. But instead of capitalizing on that - such as by privately demanding his part be taken down, or publically offering a better insight, he commented in a way that came across as arrogant and pompous. As one reader pointed out, he shot himself in the foot. He had every right to take this with ill grace. But if he were savvy about communication, he would not have done so. With some of his comments, he confronted the audience more than Baio. One comment came across to me as "why are you idiots even interested in this? You're too young to have even been alive then!" Is it any surprise that the audience does not exactly take his side? [ Saturday, April 19, 2008 11:07: Message edited by: Arancaytar ] -------------------- The Noble and Ancient Order of Polaris - We're Not Yet Dead. Encyclopedia • Blades Forge • Archives • Stats • RSS (This Topic / Forum) • Blog • NaNoWriMo Did-chat thentagoespyet jumund fori is jus, hat onlime gly nertan ne gethen Firyoubbit 'obio.' Decorum deserves a whole line of my signature, and an entry in your bookmarks. Posts: 8752 | Registered: Wednesday, May 14 2003 07:00 |
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? Man, ? Amazing
Member # 5755
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written Saturday, April 19 2008 11:49
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Actually, I agree about Bywater. He would have been better served to just email Baio with a request to have his part removed. By putting his comments on the record, he is put in an untenable position. At least some of the others, while having a similar attitude, had the hind/foresight to say "Meh" and move on. After all, people that are comfortable within their jobs today have no concern about that past. It may be that Bywater still has some blame issues which are separate from the Infocom saga. And with that, I hold myself wholely to blame for commentating on something about which I know naught. But, given the subject, that seems an acceptable position from which to start. :P -------------------- Synergy, et al - "I don't get it." Argon - "I'm at a loss for words..." Posts: 4114 | Registered: Monday, April 25 2005 07:00 |