~6 minute readBrian Moriarty Visits Computer Entertainer
We always enjoy taking time out from our usual routines to meet designers and programmers. Last month, Brian Moriarty of Infocom visited us during a press tour of Southern California on behalf of his new Interactive Fiction Plus program, TRINITY (reviewed in this issue). This is Brian's second Infocom program. (His first, WISHBRINGER, holds the record as Infocom's fastest-selling program.) The 29-year-old author has been with Infocom since 1984. Before that, he was Technical Editor of Analog Computing Magazine. Brian earned his B.A. in English Literature from Southeastern Massachusetts University.
A Confirmed Game Player
When we ushered Brian into the hub of our workplace, we sat him in front of one of our Apples where a game of TRINITY was in progress. Ignoring that for the moment, he glanced around the room, taking in the clutter of machines and software packages. His survey stopped at a shelf of recent adventure games, when he exclaimed, "Oh! You've got my current favorite computer game, 'Rogue.' I love that game!" Now here's a guy who is on tour specifically to promote his own latest work, and the first thing he wants to talk about is some other company's game that has him totally fascinated. You can't help but like someone who is such a confirmed game player, someone whose ego doesn't demand that everyone focus completely on him and his latest creation.
Origins of TRINITY
We really did want to know more about TRINITY, so we asked Brian where he got the idea of writing a game involving the history of atomic weaponry. (The name of the program comes from the Trinity Site at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where the world's first nuclear explosion took place on July 16, 1945. The name also refers to the three-part construction of the game itself.) Brian told us that he had been especially fascinated by this bit of history ever since he read Lansing Lamont's book, Day of Trinity, when he was in high school. "I was very impressed by that book," he said, "and I always wanted to visit the Trinity site." He went on to tell us that the idea of writing an adventure based on that historical event, the beginning of the atomic age, occurred to him while he was working at Analog Computing Magazine in 1983. "We're always making up worlds," he added. "Our games are simulations, and I though it would be interesting to try to simulate a real place, and explore that possibility, and especially a place where your actions could be significant. It seemed to me that the Trinity Site was a really charged location to do that."
TRINITY Was Meant for Infocom
Brian's first two adventures were published in Analog, "Adventure in the Fifth Dimension" and "Crap Shot." About that time he started thinking about working at Infocom, because he "had always been a fan of the Infocom games." He thought about writing TRINITY on his Atari and submitting it to Infocom. "I was very naive," he admits. "Now that I work there, I know that we get dozens of submissions every month like that. Basically, they don't take outside submissions, so I would have failed." But, Brian didn't fail, because he managed to get himself hired. He presented the TRINITY concept when asked what game he would like to do. While the Infocom staff appreciated the innovation of his concept, they felt it was a little too ambitious for his first game. And the marketing people at Infocom were looking for an introductory-level fantasy, so Brian wrote WISHBRINGER. That turned out to be a hit, and Infocom gave him the freedom to work on his pet project, TRINITY.
TRINITY Takes Shape
The development cycle for TRINITY, from research to finished product, took about 13 months. (The typical interactive fiction program from Infocom takes about 9 months.) Brian began his research at the University of Chicago, site of the first atomic chain reaction in 1942, and then went on to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. There he saw Trinity, site of the first atomic explosion on July 16, 1945. (The photograph of Brian next to the Trinity monument, which accompanies this article, was taken on the 40th anniversary of that historic event.) As the game began to take shape, it was pure science fiction, but Brian wasn't happy with its direction because it seemed "too serious and unimaginative." He threw it all away and said, "How can I do this in a way that will be interesting and entertaining? Then I came up with this bizarre concept of a Zork-like world, a fantasy world which is like a Grand Central Station." Here science fiction, history, and fantasy come together in a place where all the atomic explosions that had ever occurred were somehow connected to each other. With a little of Zork, a bit of Alice in Wonderland, some Peter Pan, and quite a lot of Brian's own finely developed sense of fantasy, TRINITY finally came to become what he wanted: a piece of interactive fiction about a serious subject that still manages to be entertaining and full of gentle humor. Brian describes it as "a rather weird game that defies one-sentence descriptions."
Symbolism of the Paper Crane
As for the moral implications of pro and anti-nuclear sentiments, Brian felt strongly that the game should be as neutral as possible. As a result, he avoided taking a strong stand within the game that would clearly point out his personal feelings. He does make a subtle statement, however, which will be clear to those who understand the symbolism of the folded paper crane that becomes a major character in the story. For the benefit of our readers, Brian told us the story of a young Japanese girl who contracted leukemia as a result of radiation poisoning after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the U.S. in 1945. As she lay dying in a hospital, she began folding the one thousand origami cranes that would enable her to get her wish, according to a Japanese custom. The Japanese people took the young girl to their hearts, and thus began the anti-nuclear movement in Japan. Though she didn't finish the cranes before she died, her school friends completed the task and buried the paper cranes with her. Today a statue of a young girl holding a paper crane is the central figure in the Peace Park at Hiroshima, and the Folding Crane Society is an international children's organization devoted to peace. That is the message behind the paper crane in TRINITY.
Serious But Not Solemn
Brian Moriarty is obviously concerned that the message of TRINITY as a whole be understood: "This is not a funeral," he says. "Although this is a serious game, it's not a solemn game." (Having played quite a bit of the game, we can assure you that it is anything but solemn.) Infocom views TRINITY as something of an experiment and an example of the kind of ground-breaking program they feel almost obligated to produce from time to time because of their position of leadership in text games. It will be interesting to see if the experiment succeeds, to see if game players will take to a piece of interactive fiction with a serious theme and historical elements mixed with fantasy and science fiction. The experiment was certainly a success as far as we are concerned, because we found the game both entertaining and thought-provoking. We look forward to many more works of interactive fiction from Brian Moriarty in the future.
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