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Xyzzynews Talks with Michael Kinyon Issue #13 The Magazine for Interactive Fiction Enthusiasts After a long hibernation, I’m back with XYZZYnews. There were plenty of gentle—and not-so-gentle!—reminders that you were all wondering when the next issue was going to come out. These came from all directions—inquisitive e-mail messages, third-hand reports about far-flung queries on the IF newsgroups, and no-nonsense demands that I put aside my everyday worries (about work, freelance work, lawsuits, my housing crisis) and get back to the important business of ’zine publishing. Even on Liza Daly’s wonderful new interactive fic- tion MUD, ifMUD, (at http://fovea.retina.net:4001/) I was taken aback to find not only a XYZZYnews room, but also that an angry mob had gathered therein, anxious for the next issue to appear! There are also plenty of reasons I feel guilty about being so tardy about releasing a new issue. I hope you can forgive me these setbacks—for the future, I’ve embarked on a couple of strategies that should help streamline my production process- es. I’m cutting out one version of the XYZZYnews subscrip- tion—namely, the kind that includes the games disk. I was finding that the last part of putting together every issue was always finding the games to include on that issue’s disk and securing permission from the game authors to include in these collections. I’m also eliminating the date on each issue—at least while I’m so far behind my normal bi-monthly print schedule—so that I’m no longer paralyzed by working on an issue for a time period that’s nearly at an end (or already Contents: ended). I’m in the process of working through my subscription Top 10 Picks for IF list and working out appropriate adjustments as necessary for on the Web.................2 folks who’ve paid for the game disks—and this should be the last part where I have to ask you to bear with me. Letters .......................3 An Interview with In the meantime, please enjoy this issue’s articles: C.E. Prolific Playtester Forman’s final submission, and a real treat from Miron Michael Kinyon ...........5 Schmidt on how MUDs are like (and not at all like) text adven- Article: Dungeons, ture games. Dragons, Shovels, and Telepaty—A Brief Look Until next issue, happy gaming! at MUD Design .........11 Bulletin Board...........16 Eileen Mullin [email protected] Winners’ Circle .........16 NEWSBRIEFS…NEWSBRIEFS…NEWSBRIEFS…NEWSBRIEFS… Issue #13 — Top 10 Picks XYZZYnews is published bimonthly by for IF on the World Wide Web Bran Muffin Communications, 160 West 24th Street, # 7C, New York, NY 10011, USA. Email: [email protected]. URL: Adventure WebRing http://www.xyzzynews.com/. Send all http://www.realkids.com/webring.htm inquiries, letters, and submissions to any of the addresses above. Don Woods’ Home Page http://www.clari.net/~don Contents © 1997 XYZZYnews. All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America. Zplet http://adamant.res.wpi.edu/~timbuktu/inform/ Electronic versions: There are informtest.html currently three versions of XYZZYnews made available online. One is in ASCII The TADS Page and can be viewed with any text reader. http://www.tela.bc.ca/tela/tads/ You can also download a .PDF file that mirrors the layout of the print version. Use the Adobe Acrobat Reader (available Fredrik’s Intereactive Fiction Start Kit Page for Windows, Mac, DOS and Unix) to view http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/6116/ the .PDF file; no special fonts or linked ifstart.html graphics are needed. You can obtain Acrobat Reader from ftp.adobe.com in Unearthed the pub/adobe/applications/Acrobat http://unearthed.mit.edu/unearthed/unearthed.html folder, or follow the links from their Web page at http://www.adobe.com. Thirdly, you can also read this issue of Interactive Fiction — Joe DeRouen’s Home Page XYZZYnews on the World Wide Web at http://www.crl.com/~jderouen/textadvs/ http://www.xyzzynews/xyzzy.13.html The Dwarf and the Axe: IF Programmers Page Subscriptions: All electronic versions are http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/3567/ available at no cost. You can obtain either the ASCII or PDF versions by FTPing to the ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/magazines/ Interactive Fiction Primer XYZZYnews directory. To be added to the http://home.earthlink.net/~russbryan/primer.html mailing list, please write to eileen@inter- port.net and specify text-only or .PDF ver- sion. The print version includes a 3.5" Mac An Introductory Invitation To Interactive Fiction or PC disk and is $21 (U.S.) for one year (6 http://www.omnipresence.com/amiga/News/AR/ issues) or $3.50 for a sample issue. For ar413_Sections/feature1.HTML print subscriptions outside the U.S. or Canada, please email or write for rates. All products, names, and services are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Editor: Eileen Mullin Associate Editor: Neil deMause Contributors to this issue: C.E. Forman interactive Fiction — Joe DeRouen’s Home Page Miron Schmidt 2 Issue #13 XYZZYnews LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS… To XYZZYnews: active fiction is being kept AOL folder when the person alive via shareware. And I was who offered to do it for me I am really impressed by your very pleased to find a publica- gets back to me). fine publication. I have down- tion devoted to it. Thanks again, and good loaded all of the back issues XYZZYnews is, in my luck with all your professional and have been slowly devour- opinion, THE best magazine ventures! ing them as I find time. devoted to IF since The New Cheers, My first exposure to IF was Zork Times/Status Line. The —Judith Pintar with Zork when I was about articles (such as “Tales from 14, back in the early ’80s. I the Code Front,” “Gender in owned an AppleII clone, no Interactive Fiction,” etc.) are Hi Eileen, hard drive. I used to write compelling reading, and the quite a few of my own pro- reviews are perfect for anyone Great Web site and ’zine! I was grams, but I was really into who wants to know more amazed that anyone still treats adventure games. I remember about the various shareware IF interactive fiction as a serious saving up all of my nickels available. pastime. The interviews with from my paper route to by And of course, I also great- Lebling et al. were really Zork I! I was never able to fin- ly enjoy the occasional inter- enlightening. I’ve wondered for ish the game because my com- views with the Implementors years what became of those puter went on the blink soon of the classic Infocom games. guys, so it was fascinating to afterwards. And the puzzles and humor run across the rec.arts and I am now in the planning articles are in the best tradi- rec.games. IF subgroups (and (paper) stages of writing my tion of NZT/TSL. XYZZYnews, and your web own game. I want to eventual- In short, I give this publi- site...) while surfing ly enter it into a contest, not cation four stars. Keep up the DejaNews. this year though. good work! I must apologize after the I guess I have rambled on —Chris Lang fact for depositing 100K of enough...Keep on ’venturing. [email protected] unsolicited stuff in your email, —Chris Seguin but this attachment might [email protected] make an amusing stocking- Eileen, stuffer for your new XYZZYnews Web site. :-) I Eileen, Thanks so much for running honestly don’t know what else that interview with me in the to do with it... feel free to Having been a fan of text latest XYZZYnews move it to the appropriate adventures and interactive fic- [September/ October 1996]! binaries group or FTP site for tion since 1983, I was The only appropriate way I IF stuff, or let me know where extremely dismayed by the could think of to thank you for to leave it. damage the Graphics so much good press was to Again, thanks, and keep up Revolution caused to my release an update of the good work! favorite computer gaming CosmoServe with an XYZZY —John Miles genre. Nowadays, it seems a command response plugging [email protected] lot of computer games are not your wonderful ’zine. (okay very interactive, and are little well, I also fixed some bugs Thanks for the kind words, more than vehicles to show and relieved the frustrating and for the game files. off the latest in graphics tech- time pressures). Readers, these files are for an nology. A way of helping Since I was being so indus- Apple II test gamedemo sce- designers sell more SVGA trious between semesters I nario called Mindtrap: “Escape monitors. also updated the Shades of from Belsaena”. They include Since much of today’s Gray game files (yes, XYZZY a .TXT file and two Apple ][ commercial computer gaming plugs you there now too!), and .NIB images attached as a (including Activision’s poor both games have just been .ZIP. Since .NIB files are Apple Zork games) leaves such a sour uploaded to CompuServe IIe disk images, you’ll need to taste in my mouth, I was very Gamer’s forum and gmd.de-if run an Apple II emulator pro- pleased to discover that inter- (and soon to an appropriate gram; see the READ.ME file for XYZZYnews 3 LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS…LETTERS… suggestions on where to down- Attic, get knife, go d, w, open rence of the string “is” has load one.
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