Infocom: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:19, 20 March 2025

One of the seminal IF companies of the 1980s, which was also responsible for the Z-machine, Infocom was formed by ten members of MIT's Dynamic Modelling group in 1979. Best known for a number of games including Zork and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the company merged with another game company, Activision, in 1986. In 1989 Activision effectively dissolved what was left of Infocom.

The Imps

Authors of games at Infocom were called Implementors, or Imps.

Additionally, there are authors and collaborators who may or may not have been called Imps but who contributed to the writing of Infocom products:

Links

General Info

The Infocom Documentation Project - cleaned-up game documentation.
The Infocom Gallery - scans of original product material.
The Infocom Homepage.
Two separate sites called Infocom - The Master Storytellers.
invisiclues.org - notable for a wide collection of contemporary articles about Infocom, and an online Infocomics player.
The Museum of Computer Adventure Game History's page.
The Infocom section on Paul David Doherty's Adventure Page.
- Infocom Fact Sheet - History, list of all game versions etc.
The Infocom Bugs List.
The Obsessively Complete Infocom Catalog, by Andrew Plotkin.
historicalsource on GitHub includes Infocom game source code, recovered from the "Infocom drive".
Down From the Top of Its Game - The Story of Infocom, Inc. A detailed report from 2000 by Hector Briceño, Wesley Chao, Andrew Glenn, Stanley Hu, Ashwin Krishnamurthy, and Bruce Tsuchida. (Mirror.)
Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe.
Infocom page - at Lysator.
infocom.elsewhere.org - mostly mirrors of other sites.
Infocom material at the IF Archive.
Infocom at Wikipedia.
Infocom page at MobyGames.
Infocom games (archive) on Baf's Guide.
Infocom at TV Tropes Wiki.
Infocom at Zork Wiki.

Discussion

Infocom Trivia Quiz (archive) by Graeme Cree. From XYZZYnews #5.
You Know You've Played Too Much Infocom When... (archive) by Doug Atkinson. From XYZZYnews #6 (archive).
GeekList: Fond memories of nights spent typing (a look at Infocom's games) - at BoardGameGeek.
Discussions about Infocom and its history on the rec.arts.int-fiction newsgroup.

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-A US company that sold interactive fiction. It was formed by ten members of MIT's Dynamic Modelling group in 1979. Best known for the games <i>Zork</i> and <i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>, the company merged with another game company, Activision, in 1986. In 1989 Activision effectively dissolved what was left of Infocom. One of the seminal IF companies of the 1980s, and responsible for the [[Z-machine]].
+__NOTOC__
+One of the seminal IF companies of the 1980s, which was also responsible for the [[Z-machine]], '''Infocom''' was formed by ten members of MIT's Dynamic Modelling group in 1979. Best known for [[Infocom games|a number of games]] including <i>Zork</i> and <i>Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i>, the company merged with another game company, [[Activision]], in 1986. In 1989 [[Activision]] effectively dissolved what was left of '''Infocom'''. <!-- (Definition by SG) -->
-(Definition by SG)
+==The Imps==
+Authors of games at Infocom were called Implementors, or ''Imps''.
+* [[Dave Anderson]]
+* [[Michael Berlyn]]
+* [[Marc Blank]]
+* [[Amy Briggs]]
+* [[Liz Cyr-Jones]]
+* [[Stu Galley]]
+* [[Dave Lebling]]
+* [[Steve Meretzky]]
+* [[Brian Moriarty]]
+* [[Jeff O'Neill]]
+Additionally, there are authors and collaborators who may or may not have been called Imps but who contributed to the writing of Infocom products:
+* [[Douglas Adams]]
+* [[Bob Bates]]
+* [[Jim Lawrence]]
 ==Links==
-* [http://www.infocom-if.org/ Infocom: The Master Storytellers] - Extensive material on Infocom.
+===General Info===
-* [http://www.if-legends.org/~pdd/infocom/fact-sheet.txt Infocom Fact Sheet] - History, list of all game versions etc.
+* [[The Infocom Documentation Project]] - cleaned-up game documentation.
-* [http://mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2000/infocom/ Down From the Top of Its Game - The Story of Infocom, Inc.] &nbsp;A detailed report by Hector Brice&ntilde;o, Wesley Chao, Andrew Glenn, Stanley Hu, Ashwin Krishnamurthy, and Bruce Tsuchida.
+* The [[Infocom Gallery]] - scans of original product material.
-* [http://wurb.com/if/company/1 Infocom games on Baf's Guide]
+* The [[Infocom Homepage]].
-* [http://www.xyzzynews.com//infocombugs.html The Infocom Bugs List] by [[Graeme Cree]].
+* Two separate sites called [[Infocom - The Master Storytellers]].
-* [http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.5d.html Infocom Trivia Quiz] by [[Graeme Cree]]. From [http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.5.html XYZZYnews #5].
+* [https://www.invisiclues.org/ invisiclues.org] - notable for a wide collection of contemporary articles about Infocom, and an online Infocomics player.
-* [http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.6i.html You Know You've Played Too Much Infocom When...] by [[Doug Atkinson]]. From [http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.6.html XYZZYnews #6].
+* [https://www.mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getcompany=infocom The Museum of Computer Adventure Game History's page].
-* [http://www.mobygames.com/browse/games/c,2/j,22/?o=2a100 Infocom index at MobyGames] - MobyGames is a computer games documentation and review site.
+* The Infocom section on [[Paul David Doherty]]'s [http://pdd.if-legends.org/ Adventure Page].
-[[Category:Glossary]]
+** [http://pdd.if-legends.org/infocom/fact-sheet.txt Infocom Fact Sheet] - History, list of all game versions etc.
-[[Category:IF publisher]]
+* [[The Infocom Bugs List]].
-[[Category:Infocom]]
+* [https://eblong.com/infocom/ The Obsessively Complete Infocom Catalog], by [[Andrew Plotkin]].
-[[Category:Zork]]
+* [https://github.com/historicalsource/ historicalsource on GitHub] includes Infocom game source code, recovered from the "Infocom drive".
+* [http://mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2000/infocom/ Down From the Top of Its Game - The Story of Infocom, Inc.] A detailed report from 2000 by Hector Briceño, Wesley Chao, Andrew Glenn, Stanley Hu, Ashwin Krishnamurthy, and Bruce Tsuchida. ([http://infocom.elsewhere.org/mit-class-history/ Mirror].)
+* [https://yois.if-legends.org/ Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe].
+* [https://www.lysator.liu.se/adventure/Infocom.html Infocom page] - at Lysator.
+* [http://infocom.elsewhere.org/ infocom.elsewhere.org] - mostly mirrors of other sites.
+* [{{ifarchive index link|infocom/}} Infocom material] at the [[IF Archive]].
+* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infocom Infocom] at Wikipedia.
+* [https://www.mobygames.com/company/22/infocom-inc/ Infocom page] at [[MobyGames]].
+* {{link|deadurl=http://wurb.com/if/company/1|archive=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112231832/http://wurb.com/if/company/1|Infocom games}} on [[Baf's Guide]].
+* [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/Infocom Infocom] at TV Tropes Wiki.
+* [http://zork.wikia.com/wiki/Infocom Infocom] at Zork Wiki.
+===Discussion===
+* {{link|deadurl=http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.5d.html|archive=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309092530/http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.5d.html|Infocom Trivia Quiz}} by [[Graeme Cree]]. From [http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.5.html XYZZYnews #5].
+* {{link|deadurl=http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.6i.html|archive=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801013206/http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.6i.html|You Know You've Played Too Much Infocom When...}} by [[Doug Atkinson]]. From {{link | deadurl=http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.6.html | archive=http://web.archive.org/web/20160801013653/http://www.xyzzynews.com/xyzzy.6.html | XYZZYnews #6}}.
+* [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/16223 GeekList: Fond memories of nights spent typing (a look at Infocom's games)] - at BoardGameGeek.
+* [[Past_raif_topics:_Miscellaneous#History_/_Infocom|Discussions about Infocom and its history]] on the [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.int-fiction rec.arts.int-fiction] newsgroup.
+[[Category:Publishers]] [[Category:Infocom| ]]