Episode 29 - The Robots of Dawn and Souls of Darkon
Ben, Jason, and special guest Dave "Velociraptor" of This Week in Retro take on a double dose of robot-themed games. First up is Souls of Darkon by Andy Walker, published by Taskset and Bug-Byte for Amstrad CPC, Spectrum, and Commodore 64. The robot "Komputa" aids the player on their quest to combat a variety of dread evil forces.
For the main course we take on Epyx's text adventure adaptation of Isaac Asimov's novel The Robots of Dawn, written by Jon Leupp. The team note the substantial departure from the book's plotlines, the surplus of empty offices, and some inconsistencies between the Apple II and Commodore 64 versions.
Ben solves a decades-long gaming mystery, plus there's a cat and a mouse and only one of them survives to the end of the episode!
Souls of Darkon (MobyGames)
Souls of Darkon (MOCAGH)
The Robots of Dawn (MobyGames)
The Robots of Dawn (MOCAGH)
The Robots of Dawn (playable online, C64)
The Robots of Dawn (playable online, Apple)
The Robots of Dawn by Asimov (novel, Wikipedia)
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Episode 28 - A Conversation with Andrew Plotkin
Creator of games including Hadean Lands, Spider and Web, and Shade, as well as a long-time maintainer of Inform and participant in Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation (IFTF) leadership, Andrew "Zarf" Plotkin was also a teenager once. And back then he wrote Inhumane, as covered in Episode 27.
Jason and Nick welcome him to the program discuss the creation of Inhumane, the evolution of his work as a participant in the modern interactive fiction community, and the prospects for another "Infobom" title in that parody vein.
Zarfhome (personal homepage and contact info)
IFDB credits
IFTF
A Change in the Weather
Praser 5
Grimtooth's Traps
Episode image from The Book of Adventure Games II
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Episode 27 - Knight Orc Part 1 and Inhumane
All the way back in Episode 1 we promised to play Level 9's Knight Orc. Ben and Jason chip away at that obligation by playing... the first of three independent-load sections of the game. (We're working on it!) They do their best to navigate the aptly-named "KAOS" engine and assemble rope. (So much rope.)
But first, a clearout of news and listener mail, and a visit to the wry parody of Infidel, Andrew Plotkin's Inhumane. The game is loaded with death traps and unlicensed appearances by famous characters, including a cameo from the villain of Episode 20's Mask of the Sun.
Knight Orc (IFDB)
Knight Orc (playable online, BBC version)
Inhumane (IFDB)
Inhumane (playable online)
Retro Gaming Books collection
How to program a text adventure in C
Dog Star Adventure (IFDB)
Evertop PC
Mystery of Arkham Manor (Spectrum Computing)
Mystery of Markham Manor (IFDB)
Rick Hanson (IFDB)
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Episode 26 - Jacaranda Jim and Beatle Quest
Ben and Jason take on the text adventure distillations of two uniquely British phenomena.
First up is the "prolific musical innovator" genre with Number 9 Software's Beatle Quest, a psychedelic trip into lots and lots of Beatle song concepts and name-checking.
For the main course, the duo explore the "slobs in space" phenomenon through the storytelling of shareware highlight Jacaranda Jim by modern-day InfoSec celebrity Graham Cluley. It's one of Ben's all-time games, but can he convert his American collaborator?
Beatle Quest by Garry Marsh (IFDB)
Beatle Quest (playable online, ZX Spectrum)
Jacaranda Jim by Graham Cluley (IFDB)
Jacaranda Jim (play online or download)
Christopher Drum's Infocom Zork on Cosmopolitan
Graham Cluley's computer security news (YouTube)
Cover photo CC-BY 2.0 khakidoggy
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Episode 25 - Magazine Roundup #2
Tim Gilberts is back for another rummage through the magazine rack, this time with Jason and Dave. We pull a corporate newsletter and three full-length issues, all from the 1982-1984 period.
We look at the first (and only?) newsletter put out by Spinnaker sub-brand Trillium (later Telarium), browse through the general-interest UK mag Personal Computer Games and compare it to a similar American counterpart, Computer Gaming World, before finishing up in the Sierra On-Line sponsored Softline, with none other than Tron on the cover.
Trillium Newsletter v1n1 (1984)
Personal Computer Games #6 (May 1984)
Computer Gaming World Mar/Apr 1983
Softline May 1982
Bill Bowman, CEO of Spinnaker Software (ANTIC Interview #278)
David Seuss, co-founder of Spinnaker Software (ANTIC Interview #305)
Telarium Corp (Mobygames)
Galactic Adventures (The CRPG Addict)
Patricia Mitchell, Thorn EMI (ANTIC Interview #302)
Chris James, Thorn EMI (ANTIC Interview #326)
Journey to the Planet Pincus (Renga in Blue)
Explore classic text adventure games from legendary publishers and authors including Magnetic Scrolls, Level 9, Infocom, Scott Adams, and Interplay. A podcast for fans of GET LAMP, Eaten By a Grue, The Classic Adventurer, Renga In Blue, and Quest For Clues.
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