InfoNews Roundup

Infocom Introduces Seastalker™

FIRST JUNIOR-LEVEL INTERACTIVE FICTION

Seastalker, a new adventure in the tradition of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, will make its appearance in June. Its arrival marks a number of firsts for Infocom.

As the first of the new Junior-Level series, it has been written to be the best introduction to our line of interactive fiction for preteens. While still offering a good challenge to our older customers, it includes a number of Infocards (clue cards) which will help the younger players get through the game.

In another major development in the evolution of interactive fiction, a noted outside author has collaborated with a member of the Infocom staff in producing the game. That author, Jim Lawrence, has authored nearly 60 books —- many of these were ghosted for series like Tom Swift, Jr., The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and the Bobbsey Twins.

Jim worked with Infocom's Stu Galley, whose first effort, The Witness™, was recently named "The Best Adventure of 1984" by Electronic Games magazine. Stu and Jim worked for nearly a year to put Seastalker together, a longer time than for any other Infocom product to date. Much of the effort went into additional features that make the story easier for newcomers to interactive fiction to play.

The story is this: An alarm sounds. You are told that there's something terrifying in the depths of the ocean below, and that it threatens the Aquadome, the world's first undersea research station. Your specially equipped submarine, the Scimitar, is ready. But wait — you haven't even tested the Scimitar in deep water, and the crew of the Aquadome may have a traitor in its ranks. Mystery, intrigue, and adventure await you as you face the underwater world of Seastalker.

Inside the Seastalker package, you will find a submarine logbook, which serves as the manual. There are also eight top-secret Infocards, Infocard decoder film (which can be used to reveal the clues), a nautical chart of Frobton Bay, and a special Discovery Squad decal.

Infocom Poster

Many of you have asked us to produce a poster of the back cover of the "Our Circuits, Ourselves" brochure. Your wish has been granted. A stunning poster has been created of the man and computer walking off into the sunset, bordered in black. The 22" by 28" poster is full color and is shipped rolled in a mailing tube. It is being made available exclusively to readers of The New Zork Times.

Update on the Macintosh

For those of you who are upgrading to the new Macintosh or know someone else who is, Infocom's entire line of interactive fiction titles will be available in early July. Judging from the number of requests for information on our software availability for the Mac, this is going to be a hot-selling system.

HP 150 and TRS-80 Color Computer

Infocom will soon be shipping a new version of its MS-DOS 2.0 products that will be compatible with many more computer systems, including Hewlett-Packard's HP 150 Touch Screen Computer. Also watch for TRS-80 Color Computer versions sometime this summer.

Evening Magazine Salutes Infocom

On March 21 the New England edition of Evening Magazine featured a segment on Infocom's interactive fiction starring Marc Blank. It was filmed on location at Infocom and highlighted our entire line of programs. If you're not in New England, you may get to see it anyway —- each of the "editions" of the television magazine (called PM Magazine in some areas) picks up interesting segments from around the country. Let us know if you see it.

Popular Computing Salutes Enchanter

The May 1984 issue of Popular Computing included a review of Enchanter™ : "...Enchanter develops a sense of realism both in the text and story line. Marc Blank and his co-author Dave Lebling have created a special kind of mood through their very graphic descriptions -— flies buzz about, rats scurry at your feet, even wandering dogs cross the adventurer's path at odd times .... In Enchanter, the sun comes up and goes down, the moon lights the night sky, and the stars shine in the midnight hour. These realistic descriptions stimulate the player's imagination and produce a wonderfully eerie feeling of foreboding.

"It is hard to imagine a veteran of Zork being disappointed with this game. In fact, I played this game with a hard-core Zorker who suggested that not only would old Zorkers love it, but also so might a number of dyed-in-the-wool Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts because of the spell-casting element and the role-playing nature of the game. Enchanter represents the highest kind of entertainment value in terms of cost vis-a-vis the time spent with the program .... It is just this kind of entertainment quotient that guarantees a game's eventual success in the marketplace. Enchanter, like Zork, is quite deserving of that success."

Steve Meretzky Awarded

Video Review magazine in its April 1984 issue named Steve Meretzky "Game Designer of the Year" in recognition of his first work of interactive fiction, Planetfall™. Steve accepted the award at a ceremony at New York's Savoy Plaza hotel.

Demos on the Way

In early June, Infocom's new Interactive Fiction Tutorial and Zork I Demo will begin appearing in computer stores across the country. Be sure to tell any of your friends who have not yet experienced this unique form of entertainment.

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