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Zork really isn't the best example, just the first (and even then it was just an adaptation of Adventure). The Infocom adventures got far more sophisticated in
by hugh3 15y ago
Zork really isn't the best example, just the first (and even then it was just an adaptation of Adventure). The Infocom adventures got far more sophisticated in every way over the following few years, in terms of prose, setting, gameplay and atmosphere.
I credit adventure games with teaching me to touch type. To this day I can still type "inventory" far faster than any other nine-letter word.
- endgame 15y agoI think that the old MUDs have great potential as a teaching tool. It might be harder in this modern age of fantastic graphics, but if you get someone hooked on a MUD, they usually get a typing speed of 200wpm or so. Further, the persistent nature of the world lends itself to programming. I've been meaning to write a small mudlib and course around MudCore, a server I finished recently. It's at https://github.com/endgame/MudCore https://github.com/endgame/MudCore , if anyone is interested.
- sltkr 15y agoLucky then, that nobody told you you could just type 'i' too. ;-)
- StavrosK 15y agoendgame's comment below is dead, so I'll repost it here because it is very good: I think that the old MUDs have great potential as a teaching tool. It might be harder in this modern age of fantastic graphics, but if you get someone hooked on a MUD, they usually get a typing speed of 200wpm or so. Further, the persistent nature of the world lends itself to programming. I've been meaning to write a small mudlib and course around MudCore, a server I finished recently. It's at github.com endgame/MudCore , if anyone is interested.
- psykotic 15y ago> they usually get a typing speed of 200wpm or so Impressive. The world record sustained typing speed is around 180 WPM. :) Playing MUDs definitely helped my typing speed but so did live chatting with BBS sysops, programming and just general computer use. Most of my computer friends growing up had decent typing speed just from using DOS for everything. Practice makes perfect. I'm always impressed by kids who grew up with mobile phones from an early age and can SMS at lightning speed.
- StavrosK 15y agoIs it? I have a friend who claims 200, I'll ask.
- StavrosK 15y agoCan you give an example of one of the later, better games?
- bartman 15y agoWhile not by Infocom, Photopia is probably the best Interactive Fiction I every played. You can download it at http://www.wurb.com/if/game/255 http://www.wurb.com/if/game/255 (http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/photopia.z5 http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/photopia.... probably being the best choice). It's possible to play it online at http://www.ifiction.org/games/play.php?game=332&mode=html http://www.ifiction.org/games/play.php?game=332&mode=htm..., but it's not as much fun as with the real version. To open the .z5 file you need something like Zoom [1] for Mac, or Frotz [2] for Windows. [1] http://www.logicalshift.demon.co.uk/mac/zoom.html http://www.logicalshift.demon.co.uk/mac/zoom.html [2] http://frotz.sourceforge.net/ http://frotz.sourceforge.net/
- StavrosK 15y agoFantastic, thank you.
- jonhendry 15y agoAnchorhead is sort of a Lovecraftian story. Violet is a fun, short, one-room game. You have to finish writing the last thousand words of your PhD thesis, or your girlfriend Violet will leave you and go back to Australia. Mostly this means you have to figure out how to deal with distractions. The characterization and narration (in Violet's voice) are charming. These aren't Infocom games, they're recent games written for Inform. You should be able to find them online, probably playable in the browser.
- Lazlo_Nibble 15y agoZork was an adaptation of DUNGEON, not Adventure. (Or DUNGEO, as it was called on our PDP-11/34a in high school. Still have my maps!)