t Vol. VI, # 7 July, 1989 $2.50 In one era, out the other Activision teleports InfocoIn to California! The little white house has been boarded "Basically we're keeping Infocom as a one will have a lot more graphics and up, the entrance to Zork's Great Under­ separate business unit inside Mediagenic, animation." ground Empire sealed off, and thousands with Rob Sears as General Manager. We Knowledgeable text adventurers have of curious artifacts and red herrings want to keep Infocom going, and with all revelled at the humorous references to In- packed away in boxes: little more than the rumors go­ focom insiders over the two years after Activision's acquisition ing around years, things like the Dom of Infocom, the California-based compa­ now, we're ea­ Beast in Sorcerer, a send-up ny has shut down Infocom's Cambridge, ger to let our il­ of Michael Dornbrook Massachussets, office. First word came at lustrious users (founder of the Zork User the Computer Game Developers Confer­ know that group and head of Infocom' s ence in Sunnyvale, where the author of we're not stop­ marketing until now). Like Planet/all and Zork Zero was seen wear­ ping develop­ Dornbrook, the rest of the ing a badge that said "Steve Meretzky: ment--on the original crew won't be tele­ Make me an offer." contrary, Marc porting to California. Marc Don't panic, however, for according to Blank is actual­ Blank, on the West Coast Joe Ybarra, vice president in charge of ly working on since last year, is working Activision entertainment software, ''The a project for us Joe Ybarra (with optional palm from home on his next Infoc- Great Underground Empire, curiously right now. It's tree growing from top of head) om game, but Dave Lebling, enough, has not been shut down. What's not a Journey se­ Steve Meretzky and Stu Gal­ happened is that we're in the process of quel, at least in the literal sense, and ley, the sole survivors of the Activision relocating it to the West Coast" [far from won't even use the same system. This M. I. T.'s Artificial Intelligence lab, Continued on page eleven birthplace of Zork and the Infocom saga]. "As you might imagine, a lot of the ratio­ nale for doing that is financial. Market The Usurper: Mines of Qyntarr conditions as a whole are not as good as All-text adventures are vanishing faster trepid adventurer with a saved game to in the past And of course for Infocom than sea otters in Prince William Sound fall back on, so I plunged into the cabin and the type of product we've been build­ (a fate that was accelerated even more and grabbed the lantern and saber (just as ing in the past, it's defmitely gotten a lot when an Exxon tanker smashed into the I did in Zork l) and headed for the cave worse. adventure game section of a San Bernadi­ that led to the Mines of Qyntarr. Consolidating on the Coast no Eggheads last week), so devotees of After recovering scraps of parchment, the genre should appreciate Usurper, a notes and assorted other clues, I eventual­ "On the other side, there were a 1985 game finally published this year. ly surmised the long-range goal is to couple of other issues, starting with the The title screen calls this "Book III," track down and deal with King Aken in changes we were making in ZIL (Zork which suggested Books I and II would his invisible castle, which does entail re­ Implementation Language). Many of follow in a series of prequels. But a call covering the previously mentioned Orb of those changes were to get object-oriented to Sir-Tech clarified the situation: the au­ Qyntarr (obviously this did not require a graphics, animation and sound effects thor, Scott Thoman, submitted designer's great deal of surmising). This turns into a into the code. A lot of that was already notes on all three games, and Book III classic "find the treasure and tum it in for ongoing at Mediagenic on the West was chosen as the most exciting way to points" adventure along the lines of Orig­ Coast, so rather than having a 3,OOO-mile start the series. Since then, however, inal Adventure and Zork [. difference between the places where the they've decided against producing anoth­ When it came to picking out puzzles, programming was going on, it was a lot er one (not because it isn't selling, just Thoman chose non-violent solutions for more efficient to put it all under one roof. that it's not selling fast enough, as was dealing with dragons, ogres and a famil­ [Activision changed its corporate name also the case with First Row's Dr. iar-looking Pirate who insists on killing to Mediagenic in 1988, keeping the Acti­ Dumont). you. That much I like. Rather than killing vision name for its entertainment line.] Thoman's tale begins in a forest, or resorting to magic, you'll solve most Last but not least was consolidating all where a nearby sign reiterates King problems with an item or password. the 'people resources' in terms of getting Aken's warning that death lies in store Clues to their whereabouts may be our designing, producing and manage­ "for those who would seek a certain found in notes, the inscrutable utterings ment all under one roof. Orb." But death means nothing to an in- Continued on page thirteen Letters . .. Adventure Hotline .. to the ~ ~ Editor New POB for QB! world from destruction. It's supposed to Dear QuestBusters: Yes, we've moved again-gotta stay one ship in June for IBM, Amiga. ST and C This is just a quick note to let you know I 64. step ahead of those Orcs, you know. All appreeiate the way you responded so correspondence (except for the sUbscrip­ tion cards found in games) should now Epyx's English Mystery soon to someone's suggestion about put­ be sent to QuestBusters, POB 5845, Tuc­ Devon Aire in the Hidden Diamond Ca­ ting the next issue's contents the Journal. son, AZ 85703. per, an animated mystery adventure, is I had wanted to see this kind of thing, out for the C 64 and ST, with IBM, Ap­ too. SSI Moves Too! ple and Amiga versions planned by Linda Fischer While some software companies are Christmas. It looks and plays like a slick struggling through the current slump, oth­ version of Fairlight, the British C 64 Funny you should mention it, because ers are expanding. SSI just moved to larg­ game of a few years back. this time two of the reviews we had er spaces at 675 Almanor Ave., scheduledfor this issue, Shogun and Tan­ Sunnyvale, CA 94086. The new customer Conversions Keep A' comin' gled Tales, didn't arrive in time. That's support number: (408) 737-6810. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? one reason we stopped publishing a has been released for the Amiga. Gaunt­ "Next Issue" section in the first place. Call Me Bonds: Azure Bonds let's out for Mac, with color and sound Hopefully you won't mind an occasional on the Mac II.An ST Piratesis in port. In­ SSI says Curse of the Azure Bonds, the snafu like this, since it is certainly bound sequel to Pool ofRadiance, is scheduled diana Jones and the Temple of Doom, to ship in July for C 64 and IBM. It will Mindscape's action adventure, has been to happen again. And hopefUlly we'll get accept characters from Pool and Hillsfar, converted for IBMs with 512K, and it both those reviews in the August issue. or you can create new ones. Bonds will supports CGA, Tandy and EGA graphics introduce more than 24 new high-level (faster machines recommended for the Dear QuestBusters: spells and lots of new monsters as your last two). Deja Vu II is available for the Will you be doing another Quest for party unravels the riddle of the azure blue GS. Clues any time soon? symbols that suddenly appear on the arms Murray Reinhardt of everyone in the city of Tilverton. A Bug Report: C 64 Magic Candle cluebook is set for the fall. Two bugs cropped up in this conversion: It was going through final layout at ORI­ if you don't have a fast load cartridge, the GIN as we went to press with this issue. Wibann: A Japanese Action RPG title screen freezes up, and there were Lookfor it in July or early August. The problems with dropping and adding char­ Broderbund's Wibarm (pronounced WE­ solutions in Questfor Clues II were listed barm) is a 256K "action role-playing acters in the Knight's Room. The solu­ game" (their first) for IBM science fic­ tion: send in your warranty card and in the June issue, and we'll run them tion fans. You play an intergalactic inves­ you'll automatically get version l.7, the again next month. (This information will tigator armed with a Wibarm, a heavily latest upgrade. be added to the brochure that goes out to, armed vehicle that can be transformed all new subscribers, so we won't have to from an armored robot to a land cruiser The Jetsons and Gary Gygax eat up space in every issue with it.) If you or jet (which sounds a lot like the Trans­ At the World of Commodore Show in L. want to go ahead and order, see page six­ former cartoons) to fight monsters in a A.