4 ms·
"At least 20 years" is almost certainly an overstatement. Slippage of what people call it is only to be expected for something that doesn't really formally giv
by zerocrates 3y ago
"At least 20 years" is almost certainly an overstatement.
Slippage of what people call it is only to be expected for something that doesn't really formally give itself a title (ADVENT being more of a filename), and what it does most directly identify itself as became so synonymous with the genre. The game starts up with "WELCOME TO ADVENTURE!!" and then the instructions (if you ask for them) begin "SOMEWHERE NEARBY IS COLOSSAL CAVE..." so the naming is not exactly out of left field.
You can pretty readily find evidence of people calling it "Colossal Cave" and "Colossal Cave Adventure" already in the 80s.
I think the first time I saw it (a Mac port from the early 90s or earlier among a pile of other free/shareware games on a set of floppies), it was called "Adventure," obviously also a popular choice for what to call the game, and my preference.
- cmrdporcupine 3y agoI first played it on a Commodore PET around 83 or so, but later got it for my Atari ST, probably around 87 and it was already called Colossal Cave then.
- musicale 3y agoFrom the 4.2BSD UNIX User's Manual (2/1/1983) Adventure(6) ... DESCRIPTION The object of the game is to locate and explore Colossal Cave ... So certainly before 1983.
- mcv 3y agoI also recall the name Colossal Cave from the mid-80s, although I also remember the name Advent. I think it was called both. One might be the file name and the other the formal name, or something.
- jghn 3y agoSingle anecdata point here. In the early 80s I remember it being called "Adventure" when playing it on Apple 2 and I think IBM PCs. But not sure on the latter.