- *** THE HISTORY OF ADVENTURE (ABRIDGED) *** -
- ** By: W. I. Zerd ** -
ADVENTURE was originally developed by William Crowther, and later
substantially rewritten and expanded by Don Woods at Stanford Univ.
According to legend, Crowther's original version was modelled on an a
real cavern, called Colossal Cave, which is a part of Kentucky's Mammoth
Caverns. That version of the game included the main maze and a portion
of the third-level (Complex Junction - Bedquilt - Swiss Cheese rooms,
etc.), but not much more.
Don Woods and some others at Stanford later rewrote portions of the
original program, and greatly expanded the cave. That version of the
game is recognizable by the maximum score of 350 points.
The latest additions were done throughout 1978-80 by David Long at the
University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business. Long's additions
include the seaside entrance and all of the cave on the "far side" of
Lost River (Rainbow Rm - Crystal Palace - Blue Grotto - Rotunda - beyond
Joshua's wall, etc., etc.). The surface has also been greatly increased
to include a much more varied landscape containing swamp, marsh,
seashore and meadowland areas. Most recent additions include the great
Castle of Aldor, the Elephants' Burial Ground, Leprechaun Rock and more.
The current cave is more than double the size of the Woods model, and
moreover the puzzles and treasures are somewhat more "dense", (and more
difficult!) in the current version. During the expansion process, the
code was almost entirely rewritten to permit more generalized handling
of objects and to interpret a more complex natural English syntax.
Except for a couple of trivial subroutines (to get user-ID's for logging
purposes), ADVENTURE is written entirely in FORTRAN. This is not because
Crowther/Woods/Long love FORTRAN, but because it is almost infinitely
portable. There were indeed moments when it took great strength to
withstand the temptation to whip out some character handling routine in
MACRO, instead of the furshlugginer compiler. For example, there is an
excellent rival game to Adventure, called DUNGEON, developed at M.I.T.,
which is totally non-portable since it is coded in an obscure variant of
two initially obscure compilers, and can only be transported in
executable form between DEC-10's and 20's.
ADVENTURE *is* available for sale! [No DEC-10/20 site should be without
one!] Those interested in obtaining the latest releases of this game
should contact:
>> David E. Long
>> GSB Computing Services
>> University of Chicago
>> 1101 E 58th Street
>> Chicago IL 60637
>> Phone: 312/753-0860.
To determine how out of date your version is, check the release date and
number printed in the opening line of each game. The version number is
parsed thusly: Version (say) 6.1/8 is major version 6, release 1, bugfix
8. The release number is changed only when the cave mapping is altered
or when new items are added. The major version number is incremented
after adding extensions large enough to affect the overall flavor of the
game.
Thanks are owed to Roger Matus and David Feldman, both of U. of C., for
several suggestions, including the Rainbow Room, the telephone booth and
the fearsome Wumpus. Further thanks go to J. R. Carlson, Bob Silverman
and John Rager for many debugging suggestions. Most thanks (and
apologies) go to Thomas Malory, Charles Dodgson, the Grimm Brothers,
Dante, Homer, Frank Baum and especially Anon., the real authors of
ADVENTURE.
** Copyright (C) 1978, 1979, 1980 University of Chicago **
==========================================================================
The billboard reads:
Welcome to Adventureland! Visit beautiful Colossal Cave!
Open year round for your enjoyment!
- - - - - - - - - - - -
( 7-Mar-1980 ) 6.04 is released. Expansion of the castle continues
-- it is far from complete. Several unique new features and puzzles
have recently been designed and are now being implemented.
The format of most hints has been altered. I hope you agree that the
new hints are more in keeping with the flavor of the game.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
( 3-Mar-1980 ) There is a slight bug on the perfume.
For full score, you must drop it somewhere, look, and take it again.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
( 25-Feb-1980 ) Adventurers may now enter the Castle Keep, although
construction continues within. Some scoring bugs have been fixed.
Who will be first to discover the secret of the black bird?
- - - - - - - - - - - -
( 19-Jan-1980 ) Congratulations to Robert Silverman, the first
adventurer to set foot in the Courtyard of Aldor's Castle.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
( 18-Jan-1980 ) Many minor glitches have been fixed. Logging and
audit features have also been improved. Big Wizard is watching you!
- - - - - - - - - - - -
( 12-Jan-1980 ) Great thanks to Eric Weber for the wonderful play on
words found at the seaside entrance.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
( 1-Jan-1980 ) Greetings! We welcome the new year with a new wing
of the cave, a major milestone towards V6. Experienced adventurers
should reexplore surface areas and rooms around the Gothic Cathedral.
This version has many small bugfixes and an improved syntax parser.
The game should remain fairly stable for the next few months while
the interior of the castle is completed.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
ADVENTURE is for sale! [No DEC-10/20 site should be without one!]
Those interested in the latest release of this game should contact:
; see above
** Copyright (C) 1978, 1979, 1980, University of Chicago **