Time Zone (video game)

Last updated
Time Zone
On-Line Systems - Time Zone.jpg
Developer(s) On-Line Systems
Publisher(s) On-Line Systems
Director(s) Roberta Williams
Programmer(s) Rorke Weigandt
Drew Harrington
Eric Griswold
Artist(s) Terry Pierce
Michelle Pritchard
Barry Blosser
Writer(s) Roberta Williams
SeriesHi-Res Adventure
Engine ADL
Platform(s) Apple II, FM-7, PC-88, PC-98
Release1982 (Apple II)
1985 (ports)
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Time Zone is a multi-disk graphical adventure game written and directed by Roberta Williams for the Apple II. Developed in 1981 and released in 1982 by On-Line Systems (later Sierra Entertainment), the game was shipped with six double-sided floppy disks and contained 1,500 areas (screens) to explore along with 39 scenarios to solve. Produced at a time when most games rarely took up more than one side of a floppy, Time Zone is one of the first games of this magnitude released for home computer systems. [1] Ports were released for Japanese home computers PC-88, PC-98 and FM-7 in 1985.

Contents

Gameplay

Time Zone allows players to travel through time and across the globe solving puzzles while meeting famous historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Cleopatra, and Julius Caesar. The game has static pictures and a text parser that understands two-word commands.

Development

The game used the company's existing Hi-Res Adventures engine. Roberta Williams was the designer and writer, and its development took six months and about ten other people—the first example of the modern video game-development model in which programmers, artists, and designers are separate people in a team larger than a few people—worked on the game for a year. Each of the more than 1,300 locations had its own artwork. The company hoped to release Time Zone before Christmas 1981, but did not do so until March 1982. [2] Because of the game's difficulty, Sierra offered a telephone help line that players could call for hints. [3]

Reception

BYTE wrote "The Guinness Book of World Records must be getting ready for a computer game category, if Time Zone is any indication of things to come. Without a doubt, it is the longest adventure game to date". [4] The game received a Certificate of Merit in the category of "Best Computer Adventure" at the 4th annual Arkie Awards. [5] : 32 

Williams' brother-in-law and fellow employee, John, later said, "It frankly wasn't that good". Time Zone sold poorly; the original retail price of US$99 (equivalent to $313in 2023) may make it the most expensive computer game in history after inflation. [2] The game was reissued the year of its release as part of the short-lived SierraVentures line. [6] [3]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberta Williams</span> American video game designer (born 1953)

Roberta Lynn Williams is an American video game designer and writer, who co-founded Sierra On-Line with her husband, game developer Ken Williams. In 1980, her first game, Mystery House, became a modest commercial success; it is credited as the first graphic adventure game. She is also known for creating and maintaining the King's Quest series, as well as designing the full motion video game Phantasmagoria in 1995.

<i>Pinball Construction Set</i> 1982 video game

Pinball Construction Set is a video game by Bill Budge written for the Apple II. It was originally published in 1982 through Budge's own company, BudgeCo, then was released by Electronic Arts in 1983 along with ports to the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64.

The Adventure Game Interpreter (AGI) is a game engine developed by Sierra On-Line. The company originally developed the engine for King's Quest (1984), an adventure game that Sierra and IBM wished to market in order to attract consumers to IBM's lower-cost home computer, the IBM PCjr.

<i>Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress</i> 1982 video game

Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, released on August 24, 1982, for the Apple II, is the second role-playing video game in the Ultima series, and the second installment in Ultima's "Age of Darkness" trilogy.

1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon, Q*bert, Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home system was the Atari 2600. Additional video game consoles added to a crowded market, notably the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. Troubles at Atari late in the year triggered the video game crash of 1983.

<i>Softporn Adventure</i> 1981 video game

Softporn Adventure is a comedic, adult-oriented text adventure game produced for the Apple II in 1981. The game was created by Charles Benton and released by On-Line Systems, later renamed Sierra On-Line. Years later, Softporn Adventure was remade and expanded as Leisure Suit Larry series of adult-oriented video games, and the first entry in that series, 1987's Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, was a nearly direct graphical adaptation of Softporn Adventure. Another graphical version was released as Las Vegas for various Japanese computers in 1986 by Starcraft.

<i>Deadline</i> (1982 video game) 1982 video game

Deadline is an interactive fiction detective 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 computers, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Osborne 1, TRS-80, and later for the Amiga and Atari ST.

<i>Mystery House</i> 1980 video game

Mystery House is an adventure game released by On-Line Systems in 1980. It was designed, written and illustrated by Roberta Williams, and programmed by Ken Williams for the Apple II. Mystery House is the first graphical adventure game and the first game produced by On-Line Systems, the company which would evolve into Sierra On-Line. It is one of the earliest horror video games.

<i>Kings Quest I</i> 1984 video game

King's Quest: Quest for the Crown is an adventure game developed by Sierra On-Line and published originally for the IBM PCjr in 1984 and later for several other systems between 1984 and 1989. The game was originally titled King's Quest; the subtitle was added to the games box art in the 1987 re-release, but did not appear in the game.

<i>Kings Quest IV</i> 1988 video game

King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella is a graphic adventure game developed and released by Sierra On-Line for the MS-DOS, Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, and Atari ST computers in 1988. The player takes on the role of Princess Rosella, daughter of King Graham of Daventry and the twin sister of Gwydion/Alexander, who must save her father and a good fairy and destroy an evil witch. Critically acclaimed, it was one of the first PC games to support a sound card.

<i>Kings Quest VI</i> 1992 video game

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is a point-and-click adventure game, first released in 1992 as the sixth installment in the King's Quest series produced by Sierra On-Line. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, King's Quest VI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie and professional voice acting. King's Quest VI was programmed in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.

<i>Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord</i> 1981 video game

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is the first game in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was developed by Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead. In 1980, Norman Sirotek formed Sir-Tech Software, Inc. and launched a beta version of the product at the 1980 Boston Computer Convention. The final version of the game was released in 1981.

<i>F-15 Strike Eagle</i> (video game) 1984 video game

F-15 Strike Eagle is an F-15 Strike Eagle combat flight simulation game released for Atari 8-bit computers in 1984 by MicroProse then ported to other systems. It is the first in the F-15 Strike Eagle series followed by F-15 Strike Eagle II and F-15 Strike Eagle III. An arcade version of the game was released simply as F-15 Strike Eagle in 1991, which uses higher-end hardware than was available in home systems, including the TMS34010 graphics-oriented CPU.

<i>The Dark Crystal</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Hi-Res Adventure #6: The Dark Crystal is a graphic adventure game based on Jim Henson's 1982 fantasy film, The Dark Crystal. The game was designed by Roberta Williams and was the first Hi-Res Adventure directly released under the SierraVenture label in 1983. Versions were published for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers. An alternate version of the game intended for younger players called Gelfling Adventure was released in 1984.

<i>Prisoner 2</i> 1982 video game

The Prisoner 2 is a video game published in 1982 by Edu-Ware. It is a remake of the 1980 game The Prisoner.

<i>Murder on the Zinderneuf</i> 1983 video game

Murder on the Zinderneuf is a video game designed by Jon Freeman and Paul Reiche III and one of the first six games published by Electronic Arts in 1983. It was developed for the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit computers, and IBM PC.

<i>Wizard and the Princess</i> 1980 video game

Wizard and the Princess is a graphic adventure game written for the Apple II and published in 1980 by On-Line Systems. It is the second installment in the Hi-Res Adventures series after Mystery House. Unlike its predecessor, which featured monochrome drawings, Wizard and the Princess introduced color graphics. Ports for the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64 were released in 1982 and 1984 respectively. The 1982 self-booting disk version for IBM PC compatibles was renamed Adventure in Serenia.

<i>Transylvania</i> (video game) 1982 video game

Transylvania is an adventure video game published by Penguin Software. It was released for the Apple II in 1982 followed by ports to the Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64. A Mac conversion was published in 1984, then versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS in 1985.

<i>Sierra Championship Boxing</i> 1983 video game

Sierra Championship Boxing is a boxing video game developed by Evryware and published by Sierra On-Line in 1983. Versions were released for Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, and Macintosh.

<i>Trolls Tale</i> 1983 video game

Troll's Tale is an adventure video game developed in by Sunnyside Soft and published by Sierra On-Line for the Apple II in 1983. It uses the same engine for Sunnysoft's earlier game Dragon's Keep. Sierra acquired the game from Sunnysoft, along with Dragon's Keep and Bop-A-Bet by April 1983 and appointed Nancy Anderton to manage the publishing of their educational games. Peter Oliphant converted the games for the Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64 and, as a self-booting disk, IBM PC compatibles. Coleco made a deal with Sierra planning to release the game on ColecoVision with a Super Game Module.

References

  1. ↑ "Time Zone: An interview with Roberta Williams". Computer Gaming World . May–June 1982. pp. 14–15.
  2. 1 2 Maher, Jimmy (2012-06-05). "Time Zone". The Digital Antiquarian. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  3. 1 2 Lewis, Jim (November 1983). "Escape to Adventure / These Computer Epics Let You be the Hero". Enter Magazine. pp. 16–20. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Clark, Pamela; Williams, Gregg (December 1982). "The Coinless Arcade - Rediscovered". BYTE. p. 84. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Kunkel, Bill; Katz, Arnie (March 1983). "Arcade Alley: The Best Computer Games". Video . 6 (12). Reese Communications: 32–33. ISSN   0147-8907.
  6. ↑ "IF-Legends.org entry on Sierra On-Line" . Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  7. ↑ "Electronic Fun with Computer & Games - Vol 02 No 04 (1984-02)(Fun & Games Publishing)(US)". February 25, 1984 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ "Jeux & stratégie 17". October 25, 1982 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ↑ "GAMES Magazine #46". December 1983.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.