Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: gmd.de!ira.uka.de!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!destroyer!cs.ubc.ca!newsserver.sfu.ca!sfu.ca!neilg
From: neilg@fraser.sfu.ca (Neil K. Guy)
Subject: Re: Is there a "classic"?
Message-ID: <neilg.726902201@sfu.ca>
Sender: news@sfu.ca
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
References: <1ivmvaINNse3@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 05:16:41 GMT
Lines: 28

cg011@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Mark M Woodward) writes:

>Is there a definitive or classic piece of int-ficition that I can download
>to get a sense of what it is all about?? I sent for and got a couple of 
>files from a gentleman at HP that explains a lot about the theory, but
>would like to see one in action....any suggestions?

 If you're interested in trying out a collection of some of the best
text adventures ever written you might want to look into the "Lost
Treasures of Infocom" collection of games. Infocom, during its heyday
in the 1980s, published a whole series of ingenious and innovative
examples of the text adventure genre, generally acknowledged as being
some of the best around... Unfortunately the company no longer exists,
and Activision/Mediagenic, which sells the Lost Treasures compilations
(there are two volumes of Lost Treasures) is generally acknowledged as
not being ingenious or innovative. Oh, well.

 If you're looking for cheaper ftp-able text adventures you might look
into any of the growing number of text adventures designed with TADS,
the Text Adventure Development System. These include Deep Space
Drifter, Ditch Day Drifter, Unnkulian Unventure I & II and Save
Princeton, all available at an ftp archive near you. All the games
mentioned run on MS-DOS and Macintosh systems.

 And, no, I'm not really associated with any of the names mentioned
herein and I get no kickbacks from anyone for mentioning them. :)

 - Neil K.
