GET LAMP: The Text Adventure Documentary

Google Tech Talk (more below)
March 7, 2011

Presented by Jason Scott.

ABSTRACT

Jason Scott will talk about making the documentary and we'll be screening some portion of the film.

http://www.getlamp.com/

In the early years of the microcomputer, a special kind of game was being played. With limited sound, simple graphics, and tiny amounts of computing power, the first games on home computers would hardly raise an eyebrow in the modern era of photorealism and surround sound. In a world of Quake, Half-Life and Halo, it is expected that a successful game must be loud, fast, and full of blazing life-like action.

But in the early 1980s, an entire industry rose over the telling of tales, the solving of intricate puzzles and the art of writing. Like living books, these games described fantastic worlds to their readers, and then invited them to live within them.

They were called "computer adventure games", and they used the most powerful graphics processor in the world: the human mind.

Rising from side projects at universities and engineering companies, adventure games would describe a place, and then ask what to do next. They presented puzzles, tricks and traps to be overcome. They were filled with suspense, humor and sadness. And they offered a unique type of joy as players discovered how to negotiate the obstacles and think their way to victory. These players have carried their memories of these text adventures to the modern day, and a whole new generation of authors have taken up the torch to present a new set of places to explore.

Get Lamp is a documentary that will tell the story of the creation of these incredible games, in the words of the people who made them.

Speaker Info:

Jason Scott ( http://www.getlamp.com/director.html )

Jason Scott is a digital historian and archivist who specializes in early microcomputer history and dial-up bulletin board systems. He is the webmaster of textfiles.com, a collection of BBS-era textfiles that has been open to the public since 1998. In 2001, he began filming a documentary about BBSes called "BBS: The Documentary", an 8-episode mini-series about BBSes spanning 25 years and totalling five and a half hours in length. This documentary series was released on 3 DVDs in early 2005. He has been playing text adventures since he was 10, and to this day does not understand why the rod scares the bird.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• google tech talk
• adventure
• computer games
• zork

[textfilesdotcom]

Hi, everyone, Jason Scott here, the guy with the beard in the video and director of GET LAMP. Just wanted to mention the documentary is available as a 2-DVD set at getlamp.com. Glad everyone's enjoying it!

[bityard]

> GET LAMP

You now have the lamp.

> CLICK LIKE BUTTON

You like this video. Thanks for the feedback!

> ADMIRE JASON SCOTT'S BEARD

That's a fine beard, isn't it?

[itchcity]

these games were integral in improving my reading comprehension and writing when i was 10-14 years old in the late 1990s, and i still play them today. awesome to see this

[apboulton]

A-plus. I'm really happy that this vid exists. I started playing text adventures a few years after their prime but they sure captivated me for a couple of years. Getting the Adventure Game Toolkit from a shareware 5 1/2-inch diskette at the library, printing out its manual and learning how to make my own text adventures... it really takes me back.

[allyssayanniello]

I just want to say how much I admire this video. I've just recently been introduced into IF games for a class I'm in, and this video, with its intensive background information and perspective from the players, really makes me excited about them! Thanks for creating this movie, and giving people a chance to view it on here!

[hulksjedi]

0:35:03. Found him. Great collection!

[hulksjedi]

What second is that guy who has all the maps in folders? I can't find him here.

[DaveyGB]

@OBSysteme I agree with you. I myself am learning basic so that I can write my own games. I feel like they over looked the new text game fans.

[yoanar2]

i've made some of theese my self, it's not much, but a start

im currently working on one that is completely random with random events

would help if any of you played my game (Dungeoner) and gave me a review

it is all at shittysoftware

(.tk)

There is not a single ad on the site, i am not making any money of this

im hust trying to see what appeals to people in a text adventure game

you'll find my email in the info section

it is all written in Python

[dalune]

My friends back in the 90's would sit with MUD for 24-48h straight, sometimes 3days wasn't unheard of

[herooftime1000]

Get ye flask!