Interview with Robb Sherwin and Cryptozookeeper Preview
Robb Sherwin is the author of Fallacy of Dawn, Necrotic Drift, and other works. His new game coming out soon is called Cryptozookeeper.
The Baron and Inform 7 in the Escapist
Rise of the Videogame Zinesters written by Anna Anthropy
The only thing that bothers me about this article is that the notion of using interactive fiction for an independent view is somehow new.
Maybe the title of the article should be Discovery of the Videogame Zinesters?
Highway Holocast (Joe Dever book)
Joe Dever (of Lone Wolf fame) also wrote a short post-apocalyptic series (4 books).
The first book has now been put online by Project Aon.
You are Cal Phoenix, the Freeway Warrior, champion and protector of Dallas Colony One. A murderous gang of HAVOC clansmen, led by the psychotic Mad Dog Michigan, are bent on destroying your fragile colony as it crosses the wastelands of Texas on the first stage of a life-or-death exodus to the California coast. These bike-riding clansmen are a formidable enemy: armed, cunning, and extremely dangerous, capable of launching a lightning raid at any time, day or night. You will need all your wits about you if you are to defend your people and reach your destination intact!
Hampstead (remake of Spectrum Quill game)
The Alpha version of a new text adventure remake is up.
Here’s a description: (from here)
You start off in your disgusting flat in north-west London watching ‘1-2-3′ on TV (presumably you couldn’t get any lower than that!). Having decided that life surely has more to offer, you begin to progress up the social scale – until you have satisfied all the requirements necessary to attain ‘Hampstead’. The idea is that you’ll be able to pass into said borough and be accepted by the other inmates. Requirements, of course, include such material possessions as a big car and house … and you also need a good job, a nice wife (sexist devils!), and naturally you have to be seen in the right places wearing the right clothes.
(Tip of the hat to Retro Remakes.)
Stealth Releases of the IF-Archive
David Kinder has posted about recent releases to the IF archive, and as usual there’s a bunch of games I never heard of and I suspect may have had no announcement at all.
The Musician, by Phillip Skains.
Iraqi Invasion: A Text Misadventure, Interactive Propaganda by Anonymous.
Housekey, Part I, by Arien Holthuizen
The Care and Feeding of Adjuncts, by Eric Remy
The Airport, an interactive waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, and waiting… by Cascadian_Patriot.
Somewhere, an Interactive Poem by Kazuki Mishima.
Sporkery 1: There Will Be Sporking, by David Hughes.
Teacher Feature, by Paul Equinox Collins.
I know some of these titles the authors might have considered not for the general public, but this many works just slipping by is a bit ridiculous.
Gun Mute
The author of Snowblind Aces has a new “IF shoot-’em-up”.
XYZZY Awards 2nd round voting deadline tomorrow
Just a note that Thursday, March 6th is the deadline for second-round voting for the XYZZY Award finalists.
Real Life: The Greatest Adventure of All
Courtesy GameSetWatch comes a pointer to the Gallery of Undiscovered Entities and specifically a wildly obscure IF game called Real Life: The Greatest Adventure of All.
Real Life: The Greatest Adventure of All, an “interactive novel” by Relational Systems Corporation, is billed as a simulation of life, to help you figure out where you’re going, or perhaps how to avoid getting there.
Also fun on the same website: the original packaging for Mystery House
Roberta and I couldn’t afford typesetting so we cut/pasted words from magazines.
and a map from Infocom’s hint service before the Zork User Group.
XYZZY Awards reminder
The deadline for nominations is tomorrow (Sunday the 24th) at midnight Eastern Standard Time.
Review: Fugue
Emily Short has posted about a new short work, and I have decided to review it. It is short -– as in two minutes or less short -– so you may want to play first and then read this after.
