Get Lamp

Get Lamp: The Text Adventure Documentary (http://www.getlamp.com/) is an upcoming film project by Jason Scott, scheduled to be in production from 2006-2007, with a final product coming out in 2009. Filming started in February of 2006 with an interview of Mike Berlyn, with pre-production research taking place at least a year before that.

From the Introduction page on the GET LAMP website:

"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." [1]

News and Historical Points

• May 2002: Jason Scott registers GETLAMP.COM.
• October 2005: Scott announces GET LAMP production and opening of website.
• December 2005: The Get Lamp Adventurer's Club, a pre-order page for the documentary, added to the Get Lamp website. 50 groups or individuals sign up, raising $5,000 for the production.
• February 2006: Filming/Interviews begin.
• January 2007: Editing begins, with filming continuing.
• January 2008: Jason announces that filming has completed, although a number of postdated interviews occur.
• March 2010: Get Lamp previews at PAX East 2010.
• July 2010: Jason announces GET LAMP arrives shortly.

Interviewees

People filmed for the documentary include:

Ernest Adams Scott Adams Richard Bartle Bob Bates Chuck Benton Mike Berlyn Marc Blank David Cornelson Brendan Desilets Jeremy Douglass Michael Eilers Michael Feir Frank Fridd Michael Gentry Richard Hewison

Dennis G. Jerz Demian Katz Dave Lebling Steve Meretzky Jonathan Meyers Lance Micklus Nick Montfort Brian Moriarty Stuart Moulthrop Peter Nepstad Debee Norling Paul O'Brian Alexandre Owen Muñiz Andrea Packard Robert Pinsky

Andrew Plotkin Jon Radoff Dan Ravipinto Aaron Reed Michael J. Roberts Jason Scott Austin Seraphin David Shaw Robb Sherwin Mike Sousa Robert Supnik Edward Packard Noah Wardrip-Fruin David Welbourn Donald Woods

Links

• Get Lamp - Homepage.
• See the Get Lamp trailer (also in high definition) from March 2008 at Vimeo.
• I GOT THE LAMP - People in GET LAMP - a Facebook group.

News stories about the film

• "Text Games Get Film Treatment", Wired News, August 17, 2006.
• "There is a Shiny Brass Lamp nearby", Weblog entry by Scott, October 20, 2005.
• GET LAMP Artwork and Poster. New artwork by Lukas Ketner can be previewed and bought as a poster.