Universal Hint System

Last updated

The Universal Hint System, better known by the acronym UHS, is a form of strategy guide used for video games, created by Jason Strautmann in 1988. The system is designed to provide hints for solving specific parts of games without including premature spoilers. The strategy guides are primarily distributed in a UHS file format, readable using a UHS reader program.

Contents

Readers

Since the system's creation, UHS readers have been made available for various platforms, including DOS, Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows. The current versions of the official readers are proprietary software products. An official Internet website, UHSWeb went online in 1998, allowing access to UHS guides via web browsers, including text-based web browsers such as Lynx. [1]

In 2006, a platform-independent open source reader written in Java, OpenUHS, began development. As of 2008, it fully supports all hint formats.

As of March 2022, the Nice Game Hints website can be used as a UHS reader. [2] The hint file is uploaded and can then be read in the browser.

Reception

Chuck Miller of Computer Gaming World in 1993 called UHS "a nifty gaming utility that I wish would receive greater, perhaps even universal, support in the gaming community", stating "I heartily recommend the Universal Hint System as an adventurer's resource par excellence". [3]

Current status

The latest additions to UHS database are hints from year 2015 about Blackwell (series). [4] In March 2021 Meghann O'Neill wrote a Gamasutra article about low-spoiler hints for adventure games. In the article, she briefly mentions UHS and states that it is not active anymore. [5]

Nice Game Hints

There is a spiritual successor for UHS available called Nice Game Hints. It contains more modern games but lacks older titles found in UHS. Nice Game Hints (NGH) is purely web-based and does not provide offline reader capability as UHS did.

Related Research Articles

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

<i>Pool of Radiance</i> 1988 video game

Pool of Radiance is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) fantasy role-playing game for home computers, becoming the first episode in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games. The other games in the "Gold Box" series used the game engine pioneered in Pool of Radiance, as did later D&D titles such as the Neverwinter Nights online game. Pool of Radiance takes place in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting, with the action centered in and around the port city of Phlan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Video game genre</span> Classification assigned to video games based on their gameplay

A video game genre is an informal classification of a video game based on how it is played rather than visual or narrative elements. This is independent of setting, unlike works of fiction that are expressed through other media, such as films or books. For example, a shooter game is still a shooter game, regardless of where or when it takes place. A specific game's genre is open to subjective interpretation. An individual game may belong to several genres at once.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action-adventure game</span> Video game genre

An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres.

<i>Planetfall</i> 1983 video game

Planetfall is a science fiction themed interactive fiction computer game written by Steve Meretzky, and the eighth title published by Infocom in 1983. The original release included versions for Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, TRS-80, and IBM PC compatibles. The Atari ST and Commodore 64 versions were released in 1985. A version for CP/M was also released. Although Planetfall was Meretzky's first title, it proved one of his most popular works and a best-seller for Infocom; it was one of five top-selling titles to be re-released in Solid Gold versions including in-game hints. Planetfall uses the Z-machine originally developed for the Zork franchise and was added as a bonus to the "Zork Anthology".

<i>Hugos House of Horrors</i> 1990 video game

Hugo's House of Horrors is a parser-based adventure game designed by independent software developer David P. Gray and published as shareware by Gray Design Associates in 1990. The game follows the character Hugo as he searches for his girlfriend Penelope in a haunted house. The player inputs text commands to solve puzzles and progress through the house. It was inspired by Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, and it was followed by Hugo II, Whodunit? in 1991.

<i>Eamon</i> (video game) 1980 video game

Eamon, sometimes known as The Wonderful World of Eamon, is a game creation system and a role-playing adventure game series created by Donald Brown and released for the Apple II in 1980. The game is a text adventure similar to other early titles like Adventure (1976) or Zork (1980) and to later text-based multi-user dungeons (MUDs), though with many role-playing elements not available in other interactive fiction. Eamon software is non-commercial and is freely available in the public domain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D&D Adventurers League</span> Tabletop role-playing game association

D&D Adventurers League, or simply Adventurers League for short, is the organized play association for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) roleplaying game which is officially administered by D&D's publisher, Wizards of the Coast. Prior to 2014, it was known as the Role Playing Game Association Network. The organization was originally established by D&D's previous publisher, TSR, Inc., in 1980.

<i>Dark Seed</i> (video game) 1992 video game

Dark Seed is a psychological horror point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Cyberdreams in 1992. It exhibits a normal world and a dark world counterpart, which is based on artwork by H. R. Giger. It was one of the first point-and-click adventure games to use high-resolution graphics, to Giger's demand. A sequel, Dark Seed II, was released in 1995.

UHS may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivendi Games</span> Defunct American video game company

Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Associates and Sierra On-Line. Between 1997 and 2001, the company switched parents and names multiple times before ending up organized under Vivendi Universal. On July 10, 2008, Vivendi Games merged with Activision to create Activision Blizzard.

Wadjet Eye Games is an American indie video game developer, voice casting/directing contractor/subcontractor and publisher which specialises in point-and-click adventure games. It was founded in 2006 by Dave Gilbert as a means to publish his own games, but has since expanded to publishing games by other designers as well.

Kongregate is an American web gaming portal and video game publisher. Its website features over 124,000 online games and 30+ mobile games available to the public. The company also publishes games for PC, mobile, and home consoles. It was purchased by GameStop Corporation in 2010 before being acquired by Modern Times Group MT AB in 2017.

Jay Is Games is a game review website that features daily updates and links to casual games, indie games, browser games and flash games of wide interest to casual gamers. It was founded on April 19, 2003 by Jay Bibby, initially as a personal blog, although it later had several contributors.

<i>Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness</i> 2000 video game

Necronomicon: The Dawning of Darkness, also known as Necronomicon: The Gateway to Beyond, is a 2000 video game developed by Wanadoo Edition and released for Windows and the PlayStation video game console.

<i>Machinarium</i> 2009 video game

Machinarium is a puzzle point-and-click adventure game developed by Amanita Design. It was released on 16 October 2009 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, on 8 September 2011 for iPad 2 on the App Store, on 21 November 2011 for BlackBerry PlayBook, on 10 May 2012 for Android, on 6 September 2012 on PlayStation 3's PlayStation Network in Europe, on 9 October 2012 in North America and on 18 October 2012 in Asia, and was also released for PlayStation Vita on 26 March 2013 in North America, on 1 May 2013 in Europe and on 7 May 2013 in Asia. Demos for Windows, Mac and Linux were made available on 30 September 2009. A future release for the Wii's WiiWare service was cancelled as of November 2011 due to WiiWare's 40MB limit.

Old Man Murray (OMM) is a UGO Networks computer game commentary and reviews site, known for its highly irreverent and satiric tone. Founded in 1997, it was written and edited by Chet Faliszek and Erik Wolpaw. Old Man Murray was critical of games that received strong reviews elsewhere, Common targets of OMM news updates included John Romero and American McGee. Old Man Murray was a significant early influence in both the world of game development and internet comedy, and is often considered to have "helped birth online games journalism".

<i>Thimbleweed Park</i> 2017 video game

Thimbleweed Park is a point-and-click adventure game developed by Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick for Linux, macOS, Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Android, and Amazon Luna. The game was revealed on November 18, 2014, along with a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign with a goal of US$375,000, and was released on March 30, 2017.

<i>Cleopatra: Riddle of the Tomb</i> 2007 adventure video game

Cleopatra: Riddle of the Tomb is a 2007 adventure video game by French developer Kheops Studio. Outside of the United States, it is known as Cleopatra: A Queen's Destiny.

<i>Alida</i> (video game) 2004 video game

Alida is a 2004 adventure game developed by Australian indie studio Dejavu Worlds and published by Got Game Entertainment. The game was wholly created by Australian artist and musician Cos Russo.

References

  1. "UHS: About the UHS". Official UHS website. Retrieved September 25, 2006.
  2. "Nice Game Hints is now a UHS reader, too!". Nice Game Hints blog. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  3. Miller, Chuck (October 1993). "Shareware For The Adventurer's Backpack". Computer Gaming World. p. 52. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  4. "Blackwell 1 / About these hints". Official UHS website. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  5. O'Neill, Meghann (March 22, 2021). "How and why to write low spoiler hints for adventure games". Gamasutra. Retrieved May 21, 2021.