Adventureland (video game)

Adventureland is the first text adventure game for microcomputers,[1] released by Scott Adams in 1978. The game involves searching for thirteen lost artifacts in a fantasy setting. It was very successful and led Adams to form Adventure International,[2] which went on to publish thirteen similar games in the Adventure series, each in different settings.

Adventureland
Publisher(s)Creative Computing Software
Adventure International
Designer(s)Scott Adams
SeriesAdventure
Platform(s)TRS-80, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TI-99/4A, PET, C64, IBM PC, VIC-20, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron, Dragon 32/64, Exidy Sorcerer
Release1978
Genre(s)Interactive Fiction Adventure

Gameplay
1982 graphical re-release

Adventureland is controlled through the use of written commands. These can consist of single word, such as those used for player character movement, including north, south, east, west, up, and down. They can also take the form of simple, two-word verb/noun phrases, such as "climb tree". Although the game can recognize about 120 words, the parser only takes the first three letters into account.[3] This means not only that the parser occasionally misidentifies words, but also that commands can be truncated: "lig lam" would be interpreted as "light lamp."

In order to complete the game, the player has to collect the thirteen lost artifacts: A statue of Paul Bunyan's blue ox, Babe, the jeweled fruit, the golden fish, a dragon's egg, a golden net, a magic carpet, a diamond necklace, a diamond bracelet, a pot of rubies, the "royal honey", a crown, a magic mirror, and a "firestone."

Development

Adventureland, Adams' first program, is similar to the "original" Adventure program, though slightly scaled down in comparison.[4] The source code for Adventureland was published in SoftSide magazine in 1980[5] and the database format was subsequently used in other interpreters such as Brian Howarth's Mysterious Adventures series.[6]

The game was available on a number of platforms, including the Apple II series of computers, and various computers released by Atari, Commodore International, and Texas Instruments. A cut-down, three treasure version entitled 'Adventure 0: Special Sampler' was also made available at a special low price.[7]

In 1982, Adventureland was re-released with graphics, thus enabling the player to view visible representations of the scenery and objects.[8]

Reception

Mark Herro for Dragon commented that "I can't recommend ANY version of Scott Adams' ADVENTURE series highly enough. Beg, borrow, or steal a chance to play ADVENTURE!!!!!"[4]

References
  1. Griffin, Brad (March–April 1983). "Scott Adams Adventures 1–12". ANALOG Computing (10).
  2. "Game Set Interview: Adventure International's Scott Adams", Game Set Watch, July 19th, 2006, retrieved on April 20th, 2009
  3. "Great Scott". GamesTM (88). 2009. pp. 152–157.
  4. Herro, Mark (October 1980). "The Electric Eye" (PDF). Dragon. Vol. 5 no. 4. TSR Hobbies, Inc. pp. 42–43. Retrieved 11 July 2015. Then along came Scott Adams, who converted ADVENTURE for use with home computers. His first program, ADVENTURELAND, is a slightly scaled-down, machine-language version of the 'original' ADVENTURE program. Then he came out with PIRATE ADVENTURE, which has a completely different plot. With the success of these two programs, Scott wrote even more, and he has now become the acknowledged 'king' of the ADVENTURE game, with ten different versions being marketed. And there is talk of more on the way! ...During a game, the computer's video screen in divided into two parts. The upper half of the screen always displays the description of the location the player is in at the moment. It also lists the obvious directions the player may go (there may be other exits, such as climbing a tree if in a forest, or entering a specific location). The bottom half of the screen is reserved for the player's input, such as giving commands. ...there is very little bloodshed of any kind in the Adams ADVENTURE series. It's brain instead of brawn that counts here. Indeed, there are many funny occurrences ...I can't recommend ANY version of Scott Adams' ADVENTURE series highly enough. Beg, borrow, or steal a chance to play ADVENTURE!!!!!
  5. Adams, Scott (July 1980). "Adventureland". SoftSide. p. 36. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  6. Graham, Nelson (2001). The Inform Designer's Manual (PDF). Dan Sanderson. p. 358. ISBN 0-9713119-0-0.
  7. 0:Adventureland Demo "Scott Adams Classic Adventures," (retrieved on May 4th, 2009).
  8. "Scott Adams Classic Adventures", Adventureland, retrieved April 20th, 2009

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