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  • THURSDAY AUGUST 17 2006 12:39 PM

"BBS" Documentary Producer Turns Eye to Interactive Fiction

Submitted by WilWheaton

Edited by WilWheaton

Tags: zork, infocom, documentary,

Way back in the 1980s, when digital watches were a really neat idea and 1200 baud was equivalent to the speed of light, the most popular games for home computers were Interactive Fiction -- text-based stories like Zork and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which were similar to Choose Your Own Adventure books where players made struggled to get the Babelfish or find a source of light, so they would not be eaten by a Grue.

The damn kids today, with their high-end graphics cards and their high-speed series of Intertubes, and their damn rock-n-roll music may not understand why these games were so influential and popular, and why many of us played them instead of talking to girls or going outside, but thanks to the intrepid work of BBS: The Documentary producer Jason Scott, we can at least force them to sit and watch, Clockwork Orange-style, the history of Interactive Fiction with Scott's latest film, Get Lamp.

Scott's plan is to archive a period in computing history that's at risk of drifting into obscurity.

Text-based games faded from popular culture in the late 1980s as personal computers became advanced enough to process detailed graphics and sound. But early favorites, like the underground adventure series Zork created by MIT students in the late 1970s, still have a cult following. Online repositories like The Interactive Fiction Archive and the Society for the Promotion of Adventure Games also maintain access to early works.

In his upcoming documentary, Scott plans to add filmed interviews of the games' early developers to the collection of archival material. Interview subjects include developers of Zork and Adventure, the first interactive work to gain a following.

A release date for the film has not been announced, but interested parties are encouraged to 

GET WEBSITE
and 
EXAMINE FAQ
for more information.

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Comments
malkav11

malkav11

Saint Paul, MN
July 2003

AUG 17, 2006 01:34 PM

It's worth noting that while many of the early commercial works of IF have drifted into obscurity, there is nonetheless still a thriving IF fan community and hundreds if not thousands of excellent, free, fan-made games (see the links above for more info). And with the recent release of Inform 7, it should be much easier to get in on making them oneself.

I'm in the planning stages of a game myself, but I'm not going to elaborate on it in case things fall through.

The film should be interesting.

mydogfarted

mydogfarted

Oakland, NJ
June 2003

AUG 17, 2006 01:51 PM

Days, probably months of my life were wasted on text adventures in the early 80's. Of course I still remember being really excited when 5.25" DSDD floppies came out. Fuck I'm old.

ASSH0LE

ASSH0LE

Las Vegas, NV
June 2003

AUG 23, 2006 11:18 PM

So, do you remember using your hole puncher and then having to trip the edges with a nail clipper so they wouldn't get hooked in the drive?

SAY "YOHO"

AceT

AceT

Portland, OR
April 2004

AUG 24, 2006 12:47 AM

Dude, digital watches are still a really neat idea.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's Thursday, and I have to hide.

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