Implementer (video games)

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Implementer was originally the self-given name of the creators of the Infocom text adventure series Zork . Implementor, often shortened to Imp, became the title given to game designers and programmers at Infocom. Implementers were inserted as minor characters in several Infocom games. The game Beyond Zork also includes a group of characters called Implementors, minor deities who are integral to the plot. The term carried over into MUDs, particularly DikuMUDs, where it usually refers to a game's owner or owners, similarly to the term "God". [1] [2]

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Implementers at Infocom

Jerry Pournelle mentioned in BYTE in June 1983 "Zork, the Super Adventure developed by the Gang of Four Implementers at MIT". [3] The original Zork Implementers who formed Infocom included Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, and Dave Lebling. As the company grew, the title Implementor became a badge of status. Infocom frequently promoted from within, and in particular a number of game testers, including Steve Meretzky, rose to the rank of Imp. [4] Meretzky was publicly referred to as an Implementor, both in the "About the Author" section of the Planetfall manual and in a few issues of Infocom's customer newsletter, The New Zork Times (later renamed The Status Line).

The "Implementors' Lunch" was said to be "a legendary weekly event garnering all the Infocom game writers." [5] Brian Moriarty has said his first Implementors' Lunch "was like being invited to tea at Abbey Road with the Beatles!" [6] The Imps used an old Cornerstone package, square and blue, as a picnic basket. [7]

List of Infocom Implementers

Related Research Articles

Infocom was a software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone.

Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the form of interactive narratives or interactive narrations. These works can also be understood as a form of video game, either in the form of an adventure game or role-playing game. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game where the entire interface can be "text-only", however, graphical text adventures still fall under the text adventure category if the main way to interact with the game is by typing text. Some users of the term distinguish between interactive fiction, known as "Puzzle-free", that focuses on narrative, and "text adventures" that focus on puzzles.

<i>Zork</i> Video game series

Zork is one of the earliest interactive fiction computer games, with roots drawn from the original genre game Colossal Cave Adventure. The first version of Zork was written between 1977 and 1979 using the MDL programming language on a DEC PDP-10 computer. The authors—Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling—were members of the MIT Dynamic Modelling Group.

Steve Meretzky American video game developer

Steven Eric Meretzky is an American video game developer. He is best known for creating Infocom games in the early 1980s, including collaborating with author Douglas Adams on the interactive fiction version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, one of the first games to be certified "platinum" by the Software Publishers Association. Later, he created the Spellcasting trilogy, the flagship adventure series of Legend Entertainment. He has been involved in almost every aspect of game development, from design to production to quality assurance and box design.

Dave Lebling

Peter David Lebling is an interactive fiction game designer (implementor) and programmer who has worked at various companies, including Infocom and Avid.

<i>Leather Goddesses of Phobos</i>

Leather Goddesses of Phobos is an interactive fiction computer game written by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom in 1986. Like many other Infocom titles, it was released for Amiga, Apple II, Macintosh, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. This game was Infocom's first "sex farce" and featured selectable "naughtiness" levels ranging from "tame" to "lewd." It was one of five top-selling Infocom titles to be re-released in Solid Gold versions including in-game hints. It was Infocom's twenty-first game.

Tim Anderson is a computer programmer who helped create the adventure game Zork, one of the first works of interactive fiction and an early descendant of ADVENT. The first version of Zork was written in 1977–1979 in the MDL programming language on a DEC PDP-10 computer by Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling. All four were members of the Dynamic Modeling Group at the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science.

<i>Starcross</i> (video game)

Starcross is a 1982 interactive fiction game written by Dave Lebling and published by Infocom. It was released for the IBM PC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, TRS-80, TI-99/4A, and later the Atari ST and Amiga. The game was Infocom's fifth game and first in the science fiction genre. It takes place in the year 2186, when the player's character is a lone black hole miner exploring an asteroid belt. It sold 90,315 copies.

<i>Enchanter</i> (video game)

Enchanter is a 1983 interactive fiction computer game written by Marc Blank and Dave Lebling and published by Infocom. It belongs to the fantasy genre and was the first fantasy game published by Infocom after the Zork trilogy. The game had a parser that understood over 700 words, making it the most advanced interactive fiction game of its time. It was Infocom's ninth game.

<i>Beyond Zork</i>

Beyond Zork is an interactive fiction computer game written by Brian Moriarty and released by Infocom in 1987. It was one of the last games in the Zork series developed by Infocom. It signified a notable departure from the standard format of Infocom's earlier games which relied purely on text and puzzle-solving: among other features, Beyond Zork incorporated a crude on-screen map, the use of character statistics and levels, and RPG combat elements.

<i>Deadline</i> (video game)

Deadline is an interactive fiction video game published by Infocom in 1982. Written by Marc Blank, it was Infocom's third game. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Osborne 1, TRS-80, and later for the Amiga and Atari ST.

Zork: The Undiscovered Underground is an interactive fiction video game written by former Infocom Implementors Marc Blank and Michael Berlyn and implemented by G. Kevin Wilson using the Inform language. The game was commissioned by Activision as a free promotional product to coincide with the release of Zork: Grand Inquisitor. It was released on August 28, 1997.

<i>James Clavells Shōgun</i> 1989 interactive fiction computer game

James Clavell's Shōgun is an interactive fiction computer game written by Dave Lebling and released by Infocom in 1989. Like most of Infocom's games, it was released for several popular computer platforms of the time, such as the Apple II and PC. As the title indicates, the game is based on the 1975 novel Shōgun by James Clavell. It is Infocom's thirty-third game.

<i>Zork I</i> 1980 interactive fiction

Zork: The Great Underground Empire - Part I, later known as Zork I, is an interactive fiction video game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels, and Tim Anderson and published by Infocom in 1980. It was the first game in the Zork trilogy and was released for a wide range of computer systems, followed by Zork II and Zork III. It was Infocom's first game, and sold 378,000 copies by 1986.

Marc Blank

Marc Blank is an American game developer and software engineer. He is best known as part of the team that created one of the first commercially successful text adventure computer games, Zork.

Michael Berlyn is an American video game designer and writer. He is best known as an implementer at Infocom, part of the text adventure game design team.

<i>Zork II</i>

Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz is an interactive fiction video game published by Infocom in 1981. It was written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Anderson. It was the second game in the popular Zork trilogy and was released for a wide range of computer systems. It begins where Zork I left off and leads into Zork III. It is Infocom's second game.

<i>Zork III</i>

Zork III: The Dungeon Master is an interactive fiction video game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels, and Tim Anderson and published by Infocom in 1982. Infocom's fourth game, it's the third game in the Zork trilogy. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, CP/M, IBM PC, MSX, TRS-80, then later for Macintosh, Atari ST, and Amiga.

Zork is an interactive computer game.

Albert Vezza was a computer science professor and a founder of Infocom, one of the earliest computer game companies.

References

  1. ↑ Shah, Rawn; Romine, James (1995). Playing MUDs on the Internet. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 114. ISBN   0-471-11633-5. Sometimes, these players ask the Implementers for immortality. Whether this is granted depends on the trust of the Implementers.
  2. ↑ Hahn, Harley (1996). The Internet Complete Reference (2nd ed.). p.  559. ISBN   0-07-882138-X. Common names for an admin are a GOD, an ARCH, a WIZARD or an IMP (short for implementer).
  3. ↑ Pournelle, Jerry (June 1983). "Zenith Z-100, Epson QX-10, Software Licensing, and the Software Piracy Problem". BYTE. p. 411. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Briceno, Hector; Chao, Wesley; Glenn, Andrew; Hu, Stanley; Krishnamurthy, Ashwin; Tsuchida, Bruce (December 15, 2000). "Down From the Top of Its Game: The Story of Infocom, Inc" (PDF). Massachusetts Institute of Technology. pp. 16–19. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  5. ↑ "They Said It..." The New Zork Times. 4 (4): 3. Fall 1985. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  6. ↑ Mamen, Erik-André Vik; Jong, Philip (September 15, 2006). "Brian Moriarty—Interview". Adventure Classic Gaming. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Win the Imps' picnic basket". The Status Line. 6 (2): 4. Summer 1987. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
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