"Get Lamp": New documentary on those old text-based games

[Gil R.]

I thought some of you would be interested to know that a rather lengthy and detailed documentary on the glory days of text-based computer adventure games like "Zork" will be coming out soon, and will be available for purchase from the producer's website. (It's now ready for preorder.) From that website, one can see that this documentary will not be for the faint of heart: it will be based on 80 interviews that came to 120 hours, and since the documentarian's previous project was a 5.5-hour documentary on the history of BBS's it is clear that this will also require more than one bathroom break to get through.

Here's the main website: http://www.getlamp.com
Here's the webpage with the gallery of interviewees: http://www.getlamp.com/cast/ (Click on their photos to find out who the heck they are.)
YouTube trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwZxUGmqSOo
Cool slogan: "Before there was the first-person shooter there was the second-person thinker."

[Disclaimer: I went to high school with the person who made the documentary, but am completely uninvolved, and have only seen him once since graduation. I have zero connection to the project, but figured that enough of you share my interest in the subject that I should post about it. We at WCS will certainly be getting "Get Lamp" and watching it come March, and I'll report on it afterwards, but the fact that it's available for preorder seemed like a good reason to post about it now.]

[leastonh1]

I have some fond memories of the text adventures, especially titles like The Hobbit, Pawn, Guild of Thieves, Kentilla and Subsunk. Melbourne House, Level 9, Firebird, Infocom, Magnetic Scrolls and many other great game developers were famous in their time. Sadly missed. Interactive Fiction (as it's now called) is still pretty popular and I fire up WinFrotz every now and then for a fix [:D]

The documentary looks interesting, but I'm not sure I could sit through it all.

[Gil R.]

I played a bunch of Infocom games, but that was it. I'm not familiar with the others.

I might be mistaken, but I seem to remember reading way back when that "Get Lamp" will also cover to some extent those "Choose Your Own Adventure" interactive books, to which I was briefly addicted in elementary school.

By the way, I've been wondering: is the quote from Lt. Winters in your "signature" actually attested? I had just assumed that was just some clever writing for the "Band of Brothers" screenplay.

[Adam Parker]

ORIGINAL: Jim_H

I have some fond memories of the text adventures, especially titles like The Hobbit...

Glory days!

Who can forget:

"Pick Gandalf up"
<You try to pick Gandalf up and he is too heavy>
"Say to Gandalf pick me up"
<Gandalf walks away>
"Say to Gandalf pick yourself up"
<Gandalf kills you>

[mgarnett]

I still play these games! It's pretty funny, I have a Core 2 Duo SLI computer and I spend time playing text adventures, go figure. Thanks to GOG I'm getting into some old traditional turn based RPG's. I am running through Might and Magic and I am just about start Eye of the Beholder and The Bards Tale series. I don't what makes these games so interesting to play. They are just a ton of fun.

Cheers

MJark

[leastonh1]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.
By the way, I've been wondering: is the quote from Lt. Winters in your "signature" actually attested? I had just assumed that was just some clever writing for the "Band of Brothers" screenplay.

I imagine you're right, that it's something they just added to the script for a bit of humour.

[ilovestrategy]

Dang, that brings back memories!&nbsp;

[Mac67]

I remember playing Voodoo Castle on a Commodore Vic 20 back in the day. Never worked out how to finish it [&:]

Awww, happy daze...