From: Al <desi...@dgware.com>
Subject: Adventure 751: What Happened to It?
Date: 2000/01/20
Message-ID: <38878F18.558FAC74@dgware.com>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 575459705
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Accept-Language: en
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
X-Complaints-To: ne...@rmi.net
X-Trace: den-news1.rmi.net 948407801 205.238.99.86 (Thu, 20 Jan 2000 15:36:41 MST)
Organization: none
MIME-Version: 1.0
NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 15:36:41 MST
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
A while back I posted the question about Adventure 751 that was
formerly posted on the old Compuserve Forums.
Anyone dug it up yet?
From: Mike Arnautov <mla@mipmip.demon-co-antispam-uk>
Subject: Re: Adventure 751: What Happened to It?
Date: 2000/01/23
Message-ID: <7Qw0DLAJP3i4Ewfw@mipmip.demon.co.uk>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 576655574
X-NNTP-Posting-Host: mipmip.demon.co.uk:193.237.165.253
References: <38878F18.558FAC74@dgware.com>
X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net
X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 948665149 nnrp-02:821 NO-IDENT mipmip.demon.co.uk:193.237.165.253
Organization: xyzzy
MIME-Version: 1.0
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Al <desi...@dgware.com> wrote:
>A while back I posted the question about Adventure 751 that was
>formerly posted on the old Compuserve Forums.
>
>
>Anyone dug it up yet?
Nope. Looks like it is joining the "wouldn't-it-be-nice-to-find-the-
source" list. :-(
--
Mike Arnautov | From the heart
http://www.mipmip.demon.co.uk/mipmip.html | of the sweet peony,
mailto:mla@mipmip.demon.co-antispam-uk | a drunken bee.
Replace -antispam- with a single dot. | Basho
From: "Robin Lionheart" <lion...@mad.scientist.com>
Subject: Re: Adventure 751: What Happened to It?
Date: 2000/01/25
Message-ID: <86ljol$19uj$1@earth.superlink.net>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 577659482
References: <38878F18.558FAC74@dgware.com> <7Qw0DLAJP3i4Ewfw@mipmip.demon.co.uk>
X-Priority: 3
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600
X-Complaints-To: abuse@superlink.net
X-Trace: earth.superlink.net 948851285 42963 209.236.134.184 (26 Jan 2000 01:48:05 GMT)
Organization: SuperLink Internet Services (732) 432-5454
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 20:48:05 EST
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
"Mike Arnautov" <mla@mipmip.demon-co-antispam-uk> wrote in message
news:7Qw0DLAJP3i4Ewfw@mipmip.demon.co.uk...
> Al <desi...@dgware.com> wrote:
> >A while back I posted the question about Adventure 751 that was
> >formerly posted on the old Compuserve Forums.
> >
> >
> >Anyone dug it up yet?
>
> Nope. Looks like it is joining the "wouldn't-it-be-nice-to-find-the-
> source" list. :-(
>
> --
> Mike Arnautov | From the heart
> http://www.mipmip.demon.co.uk/mipmip.html | of the sweet peony,
> mailto:mla@mipmip.demon.co-antispam-uk | a drunken bee.
> Replace -antispam- with a single dot. | Basho
I dug up an old game transcript, which includes this background information.
Perhaps it may help you track down David Long to ask for the source:
> read book
*** THE HISTORY OF ADVENTURE (ABRIDGED) ***
By: W. I. Zerd, F.R.C.W.
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
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.
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, David E. Long