1984: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy(if50.substack.com)
if50.substack.com
1984: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
https://if50.substack.com/p/1984-the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy
95 comments
He posted (on his own usenet fan group) the following:
"The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do' I typed it out. End of story."
But of course nobody is an entirely reliable narrator, and certainly not the author of The Guide so... Maybe?
(Edit: I see a peer respondent already linked it, but I'll leave this anyway)
"The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke. It had to be a number, an ordinary, smallish number, and I chose that one. Binary representations, base thirteen, Tibetan monks are all complete nonsense. I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do' I typed it out. End of story."
But of course nobody is an entirely reliable narrator, and certainly not the author of The Guide so... Maybe?
(Edit: I see a peer respondent already linked it, but I'll leave this anyway)
There's also this little bit from an interview:
Q: About three-quarters the way through the Illustrated Hitchhikers Guide there is a strange illustration of 42 multi-coloured balls lined up in columns 6x7. I can only assume this is the famed "42 Puzzle". My question is, how do you play? What's the puzzle?
DNA: The point of the puzzle was this: Everybody was looking for hidden meanings and puzzles and significances in what I had written (like 'is it significant that 6 * 9 is 42 in base 13?'. As if.) So I thought that just for a change I would actually construct a puzzle and see how many people solved. Of course, nobody paid it any attention. I think that's terribly significant.
Q: About three-quarters the way through the Illustrated Hitchhikers Guide there is a strange illustration of 42 multi-coloured balls lined up in columns 6x7. I can only assume this is the famed "42 Puzzle". My question is, how do you play? What's the puzzle?
DNA: The point of the puzzle was this: Everybody was looking for hidden meanings and puzzles and significances in what I had written (like 'is it significant that 6 * 9 is 42 in base 13?'. As if.) So I thought that just for a change I would actually construct a puzzle and see how many people solved. Of course, nobody paid it any attention. I think that's terribly significant.
This is what's so great about art IMO. You can craft a piece with deep personal meaning, or a totally frivolous piece, and it can be perceived in infinitely many ways by others according to their own worldview and life experience. I wish I could know what it feels like to learn a new interpretation of your own work on a regular basis. Beauty, eye, beholder.
It sounds somewhat equally exciting to, and less frustrating than, releasing software and seeing all the ways people break it.
It sounds somewhat equally exciting to, and less frustrating than, releasing software and seeing all the ways people break it.
Of course, no one wants to believe this. Me neither. I recently turned 42. And, I finally had the guts to start my own business... it's gotta mean something!
If I remember rightly Adams played guitar with Pink Floyd to celebrate his 42nd birthday. Beat that!
Congratulations & good luck. I'm sure it will take you to interesting places!
Congratulations & good luck. I'm sure it will take you to interesting places!
Way to go! :)
Before Hitchhiker's, he'd interestingly already used that number in a sketch for the Burkiss Way [1], which featured a reference to "42 Logical Positivism Avenue".
[1] https://www.buttercookie.de/The%20Burkiss%20Way/Transcripts/...
[1] https://www.buttercookie.de/The%20Burkiss%20Way/Transcripts/...
That's a good one. My favorite is this one:
- F is the 6th letter of the alphabet.
- I is the 9th letter of the alphabet.
- S is the 19th letter of the alphabet.
- H is the 8th letter of the alphabet.
6 + 9 + 19 + 8 = 42. IOW, the dolphins probably manipulated the experiment so that humans would give them more fish.
- F is the 6th letter of the alphabet.
- I is the 9th letter of the alphabet.
- S is the 19th letter of the alphabet.
- H is the 8th letter of the alphabet.
6 + 9 + 19 + 8 = 42. IOW, the dolphins probably manipulated the experiment so that humans would give them more fish.
Michael Drosnin furiously taking notes
When I was in middle school I was sure I had cracked the meaning behind 42. I sent Douglas Adams a letter telling him how much I appreciated the books and laying out in detail how the alphanumeric values of each major character's name related to 42.
He wrote back an exceedingly kind hand-written postcard informing me that he appreciated my curiosity but that there was, in fact, no deeper meaning to 42 other than it was a nice-sounding number.
He wrote back an exceedingly kind hand-written postcard informing me that he appreciated my curiosity but that there was, in fact, no deeper meaning to 42 other than it was a nice-sounding number.
> Adams never revealed the origin of 42
I could swear blind I'd heard/read him saying that it was simply a number that could sound amusing, be pronounced rather incredulously, was big enough for the multiplication at the end not working to work, without being too long to repeat in the actors lines or having an existing "meaning" that he was aware of (so 69 was way out because of reasons, as were things like 88 too for having commonly known (in the UK at the time) bingo calls, etc.).
Then again, my ancestors may have previously sworn blind about the giant mutant star goat thing so you might not want to trust the ponderings of anyone of my lineage...
I could swear blind I'd heard/read him saying that it was simply a number that could sound amusing, be pronounced rather incredulously, was big enough for the multiplication at the end not working to work, without being too long to repeat in the actors lines or having an existing "meaning" that he was aware of (so 69 was way out because of reasons, as were things like 88 too for having commonly known (in the UK at the time) bingo calls, etc.).
Then again, my ancestors may have previously sworn blind about the giant mutant star goat thing so you might not want to trust the ponderings of anyone of my lineage...
Also off-topic, TIFF files use 42 as a magic number in bytes 2 and 3 of the file header:
"The number 42 was chosen for its deep philosophical significance."
"The number 42 was chosen for its deep philosophical significance."
Unlikely to be the source as TIFF was first released 1986 and HHGTTG initial "release" was 1978. Although I'm not sure "the answer" was mentioned in the original radio show.
Right, the TIFF creators were obviously inspired by the Hitchhikers Guide.
Hah, obviously, I misunderstood the intent of your comment, makes much more sense the other way around :)
Just another case of causal inversion.
“Not again!”
“Not again!”
[deleted]
I always assumed it was British random dry humor, much like the show "Look Around You" [1] and more specifically their episodes around "maths" the full episode of which I can not find.
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J9MRYJz9-4
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J9MRYJz9-4
Contrived, but I always liked the idea that a rearrangement of the syllables could be voiced as "tea for two".
> Adams never revealed the origin of 42.
Actually Stephen Fry claims that Douglas Adams told him. But it seems he is taking it to the grave to honor his vow.[0]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrases_from_The_Hitchhiker%27...?
Actually Stephen Fry claims that Douglas Adams told him. But it seems he is taking it to the grave to honor his vow.[0]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrases_from_The_Hitchhiker%27...?
I've heard fry say this before but don't believe him
[deleted]
It would be amusing if this was the case, but would he have been familiar with ASCII and wildcards when he wrote it?
It is rather easy to assume that ASCII and wildcards would be common knowledge since they predate the series while being common knowledge today (at least among those who use computers), but was this true when the series was written? ASCII is by no means the only character encoding scheme and asterisks are by no means the only wildcard character.
It is rather easy to assume that ASCII and wildcards would be common knowledge since they predate the series while being common knowledge today (at least among those who use computers), but was this true when the series was written? ASCII is by no means the only character encoding scheme and asterisks are by no means the only wildcard character.
I remember exactly where I was, about a year ago today, when I realized Deep Thought was an existentialist. B2 Data Structures lab in a building called Fitz. I knew I couldn’t have been the first to realize this, but I couldn’t bear to look it up and see whether or not I’d been preempted.
And it was totally what he meant. The ASCII wildcard-existentialism theory is too consistent with the themes Adams explores through the series to have been an accident.
I fully agree with Musk when he said he regards the Hitchhiker’s Guide as a great work of philosophy, whether or not he was joking. It totally worked for me as I was trying to progress beyond nihilism.
And it was totally what he meant. The ASCII wildcard-existentialism theory is too consistent with the themes Adams explores through the series to have been an accident.
I fully agree with Musk when he said he regards the Hitchhiker’s Guide as a great work of philosophy, whether or not he was joking. It totally worked for me as I was trying to progress beyond nihilism.
Nice. Seriously, humans are the greatest pattern matchers.
It could very well have been chosen at random, but it's just as likely that he simply picked it up as the go-to "silly arbitrary number" from Lewis Carroll, who used it multiple times. "Rule 42" in the court, "Rule 42 of the Code" when hunting the Snark.
it's the number of harrod's earl grey tea.
https://www.harrods.com/en-us/shopping/harrods-no-42-earl-gr...
https://www.harrods.com/en-us/shopping/harrods-no-42-earl-gr...
No, it isn't, because it was written in 1977, almost before the microcomputer – and until the Mac, Adams hated computers.
It's not a binary joke, either.
However, if you add together the numbers on all the faces of a pair of normal 6-sided dice...
It's not a binary joke, either.
However, if you add together the numbers on all the faces of a pair of normal 6-sided dice...
[deleted]
I used to hang with Douglas back in the day and we worked together a bit.
Douglas once told me he got sent a very detailed PhD thesis that described how The Hitchhikers Guide was an elaborate parody of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" (1678). The main evidence was that "Pilgrim's Progress" is known to be partly inspired by a pamphlet called, "The Plain Man's Path to Heaven", written by, get this, a puritan named Arthur Dent.
Douglas was embarrassed to reply that he'd never read "Pilgrim's Progress", or heard of that puritan, and the Arthur Dent name was a complete coincidence.
Things like that happened to him all the time.
Douglas once told me he got sent a very detailed PhD thesis that described how The Hitchhikers Guide was an elaborate parody of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" (1678). The main evidence was that "Pilgrim's Progress" is known to be partly inspired by a pamphlet called, "The Plain Man's Path to Heaven", written by, get this, a puritan named Arthur Dent.
Douglas was embarrassed to reply that he'd never read "Pilgrim's Progress", or heard of that puritan, and the Arthur Dent name was a complete coincidence.
Things like that happened to him all the time.
Wow, this is painful. None of the student or the advisors thought about getting in touch with the author during the whole PhD? How come?
I went through a PhD. Should I have worked on an hypothesis that could be tested just by sending a mail, this would have been about the first thing I would have tried to do I think. You know, just to be sure. And I would not have missed the occasion to communicate with Douglas Adams, of course, at least to make this PhD more worth it!
edit: at least, a multi year effort to produce hundreds of pages filled with absurdity was not completely unfamiliar to Douglas, I guess.
I went through a PhD. Should I have worked on an hypothesis that could be tested just by sending a mail, this would have been about the first thing I would have tried to do I think. You know, just to be sure. And I would not have missed the occasion to communicate with Douglas Adams, of course, at least to make this PhD more worth it!
edit: at least, a multi year effort to produce hundreds of pages filled with absurdity was not completely unfamiliar to Douglas, I guess.
You might even call that... infinitely improbable.
Also off-topic: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
I read both the books and they were good. There was a short lived British TV series starting Stephen Mangan that was great and seemed at least partially based on some events and descriptions in the books, and two seasons of a US TV series on Netflix that was off-the-fucking-wall crazy in a not-quite-Douglas-Adams way, and unique to the point that I was pleasantly surprised that it got a second series. Thoroughly recommend for anyone that considers themselves bored with television. Unique doesn't feel like a strong enough word.
I read both the books and they were good. There was a short lived British TV series starting Stephen Mangan that was great and seemed at least partially based on some events and descriptions in the books, and two seasons of a US TV series on Netflix that was off-the-fucking-wall crazy in a not-quite-Douglas-Adams way, and unique to the point that I was pleasantly surprised that it got a second series. Thoroughly recommend for anyone that considers themselves bored with television. Unique doesn't feel like a strong enough word.
The TV show was great because it really got me feeling that everything was random, then everything was connected in some ridiculously complex way, exactly how it should for a holistic story.
I'd recommend the TV show for anyone that has gotten a bit too good at predicting endings a few episodes before the end. This one doesn't follow the traditional story arcs.
I'd recommend the TV show for anyone that has gotten a bit too good at predicting endings a few episodes before the end. This one doesn't follow the traditional story arcs.
Seconded. Both Dirk Gently series are good, both should have had additional seasons.
I thought I was the only one who actually liked the Netflix version. It was delightfully surreal. At the time, all I found were intensely negative reviews complaining about the fact that the show had nothing at all to do with the books.
Which is admittedly true. But it is still one of those shows where the characters are entertaining enough on their own that you don't even care about the plot, which isn't half bad.
I would not have minded a third season.
Which is admittedly true. But it is still one of those shows where the characters are entertaining enough on their own that you don't even care about the plot, which isn't half bad.
I would not have minded a third season.
The Electric Monk is a masterful character.
The interesting thing (to me) about the first Dirk Gently book is that it was largely a repurposed Dr Who script - in which version Reg was a retired time lord. Such a fun angle on the story!
The 3rd Hitchhiker novel, "Life, the Universe, and Everything", is also a repurposed Dr Who script: "Dr Who and the Krikkitmen".
Heh, which reminds me, it's my head-canon that the sofa in LtU&E is the same one that's in Dirk Gently and in City of Death. Given that it's flotsam in the space time continuum it seems perfectly reasonable :)
Not long ago I got this urge to go back and replay the Hitchhiker's Guide game.
>Then there were the puzzles, and it’s impossible to talk about Hitchhiker’s without talking about the Babel Fish puzzle.
Going through that part again and trying to remember it and figure it all out was a bit of a challenge.
But I don't think the puzzle itself is really all that hard, it's the whole beginning on the vogon ship, all of it, that makes it so hard. You've got a hidden time limit, then the poetry section, then you're thrown back in the room with an active time limit and you're supposed to remember to do the other puzzle quickly that you hopefully noticed while figuring out the Babel fish stuff, or you get a delayed game over that'll leave you wandering aimlessly around the heart of gold scratching your head.
On a related note, if you like Douglas Adams and quirky adventure games, I highly recommend his later game Starship Titanic. I played the hell out of that game when I was young, I don't know if I ever beat it. It's not the classic that hitchhiker's guide is, but if you enjoy Adams and frustrating obtuse adventure games with a strange sense of humour and somehow missed this game, I recommend checking it out.
>Then there were the puzzles, and it’s impossible to talk about Hitchhiker’s without talking about the Babel Fish puzzle.
Going through that part again and trying to remember it and figure it all out was a bit of a challenge.
But I don't think the puzzle itself is really all that hard, it's the whole beginning on the vogon ship, all of it, that makes it so hard. You've got a hidden time limit, then the poetry section, then you're thrown back in the room with an active time limit and you're supposed to remember to do the other puzzle quickly that you hopefully noticed while figuring out the Babel fish stuff, or you get a delayed game over that'll leave you wandering aimlessly around the heart of gold scratching your head.
On a related note, if you like Douglas Adams and quirky adventure games, I highly recommend his later game Starship Titanic. I played the hell out of that game when I was young, I don't know if I ever beat it. It's not the classic that hitchhiker's guide is, but if you enjoy Adams and frustrating obtuse adventure games with a strange sense of humour and somehow missed this game, I recommend checking it out.
Such difficulty was almost forgivable in the Hitchhiker's Guide since you usually ended up meeting a humorous fate, yet it still led to frustration. I recall thinking that you pretty much had to read the book at the time to simply understand the significance of what was coming up on the screen.
Many games had wonderful worlds to explore, but I am firmly in the camp who believes that obtuse puzzles took the adventure out of adventure games (may they be text or graphical) which led to their premature demise. Thankfully modern IF writers seem to live by a different set of rules.
Many games had wonderful worlds to explore, but I am firmly in the camp who believes that obtuse puzzles took the adventure out of adventure games (may they be text or graphical) which led to their premature demise. Thankfully modern IF writers seem to live by a different set of rules.
I'm pretty sure I read the game was "a carefully crafted artificial intelligence test" as in how artificial is your intelligence. :)
"Hitchhiker’s is hard to summarize, but one of its overarching themes is that technology, in the hands of big business and bloated bureaucracies, does not make life better: in fact it makes it far, far worse."
Seems Adams was ahead of his time, I wonder what he would have thought if he were alive today given the antics of Google, Facebook et al.
Incidentally, my printer is called Marvin for obvious reasons (Adams almost mandated that name for these cantankerous devices, especially networked ones).
Seems Adams was ahead of his time, I wonder what he would have thought if he were alive today given the antics of Google, Facebook et al.
Incidentally, my printer is called Marvin for obvious reasons (Adams almost mandated that name for these cantankerous devices, especially networked ones).
He would no doubt comment on the absurdity of companies like Google, the unprecedented level of human talent and inventiveness dedicated to tasks such as allowing us to view pictures of cats, or get into petty squabbles with strangers.
There's also the matter of Google users who inexplicably lose access to their account, and the response is so utterly obtuse it would cause a Vogon to blush.
I would never wish for any Google or Facebook employee to be "First against the wall" but I do admire Adams' unerring prescience in this matter.
There's also the matter of Google users who inexplicably lose access to their account, and the response is so utterly obtuse it would cause a Vogon to blush.
I would never wish for any Google or Facebook employee to be "First against the wall" but I do admire Adams' unerring prescience in this matter.
Given how heavily Adams struggled with procrastination, I wonder how he'd have fared in today's distractopia... he might not've gotten around to writing much. But what I wouldn't give to have him still around even just for the occasional quip.
I have a mental image of people setting great store in which platform Douglas Adams has moved to lately, given his tendency to hop between media and delight in the new and interesting.
I can certainly see him both being delighted by Twitter and also becoming incredibly bored with Twitter, over not too long a time period...
I can certainly see him both being delighted by Twitter and also becoming incredibly bored with Twitter, over not too long a time period...
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by.” - D. Adams
Until my most recent workstation build, my two computers were Deepthought (the higher-end desktop) and Marvin (smaller and more finicky laptop).
Never did think of an appropriate name for the new desktop though.
edit: thanks for all of the suggestions!
Never did think of an appropriate name for the new desktop though.
edit: thanks for all of the suggestions!
The successor of Deepthought is Gaia/Terra/Tellus, so maybe one of those :)
You're welcome. Just a reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0yBf1JKTw8
Heart of Gold?
Earth2.0
You're doing a Microsoft and skipping one version? Why not just "Earth"? Deepthought wasn't Earth.
Earth was the computer before the Vogons destroyed it. Earth2.0 was what Slartibartfast was building for the mice. Just providing computer names from within the book. Deepthought can still exist even if the user replaces it with a new computer.
I wish TV stations would rerun the BBC serialization of Hitchhiker's. I've actually read Adams' books but it'd be nice to see the TV version again. (I used to love Peter Jones as The Book, his matter-of-fact tone made him just ideal for the job.)
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some on YouTube
Adams himself changed every single version from radio, book, TV, film, etc. So you really need to absorb them in all of the formats to get it all
>overarching themes is that technology, in the hands of big business and bloated bureaucracies, does not make life better: in fact it makes it far, far worse.
That is not what I got out of the radio series and book. In my opinion, it is rigidity, legalism, or by the letter vs spirit of the law what The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy warns against. This fits with the author's initial dislike of computers. The Vogon's are a perfect example.
That is not what I got out of the radio series and book. In my opinion, it is rigidity, legalism, or by the letter vs spirit of the law what The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy warns against. This fits with the author's initial dislike of computers. The Vogon's are a perfect example.
I don't think the article explicitly mentions it, but Adams was a rabid Mac fan, and arguably the first in the UK to buy one in 1984. This page (https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~rwest/wikispeedia/wpcd/wp/d/Dougla... has some nice detail about it:
"Adams was a Macintosh user from the time they first came out in 1984 until his death in 2001. He was the second person to buy a Mac in the UK (the first being Stephen Fry - though some accounts differ on this, saying Adams bought the first two, and Fry bought the third). Adams was also an "Apple Master," one of several celebrities whom Apple made into spokespeople for its products (other Apple Masters included John Cleese and Gregory Hines). Adams's contributions included a rock video that he created using the first version of iMovie with footage featuring his daughter Polly. The video can still be seen on Adams's .Mac homepage. Adams even installed and started using the first release of Mac OS X in the weeks leading up to his death. His very last post to his own forum was in praise of Mac OS X and the possibilities of its Cocoa programming framework. Adams can also be seen in the Omnibus tribute included with the Region One/NTSC DVD release of the TV adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide using Mac OS X (version 10.0.x) on his PowerBook G3."
For Mac heads, this too: https://lowendmac.com/2016/douglas-adams-author-and-mac-user...
"Adams was a Macintosh user from the time they first came out in 1984 until his death in 2001. He was the second person to buy a Mac in the UK (the first being Stephen Fry - though some accounts differ on this, saying Adams bought the first two, and Fry bought the third). Adams was also an "Apple Master," one of several celebrities whom Apple made into spokespeople for its products (other Apple Masters included John Cleese and Gregory Hines). Adams's contributions included a rock video that he created using the first version of iMovie with footage featuring his daughter Polly. The video can still be seen on Adams's .Mac homepage. Adams even installed and started using the first release of Mac OS X in the weeks leading up to his death. His very last post to his own forum was in praise of Mac OS X and the possibilities of its Cocoa programming framework. Adams can also be seen in the Omnibus tribute included with the Region One/NTSC DVD release of the TV adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide using Mac OS X (version 10.0.x) on his PowerBook G3."
For Mac heads, this too: https://lowendmac.com/2016/douglas-adams-author-and-mac-user...
There's a certain sense of loss I feel at playing a game that cannot be cheated. In the mid-80's playing interactive fiction there was no way to get help unless you could convince your parents to buy you invisiclues. You had to solve these games the hard way: on your own. Sure, there are games like that today but they require hand-eye coordination or grinding, not involved word-puzzle solving and thinking in many different ways.
I still play interactive fiction every November when the IFComp publishes its games[1].
[1] https://ifcomp.org/
I still play interactive fiction every November when the IFComp publishes its games[1].
[1] https://ifcomp.org/
All of my Infocom games were on bootleg floppies that came with the second-hand Commodore 128 my dad bought for the family when I was a kid. Thankfully at least Zork included some photocopied maps and manuals buried in the pile of papers and user guides that also accompanied the computer.
Still a bit sad that "Hitchhiker's" wasn't in the box of questionable disks we got, but "Planetfall" seemed to be inspired by the story (at least the beginning when you're on the ship, ducking Ensign Blather and trying to avoid death in a safety webbing).
Still a bit sad that "Hitchhiker's" wasn't in the box of questionable disks we got, but "Planetfall" seemed to be inspired by the story (at least the beginning when you're on the ship, ducking Ensign Blather and trying to avoid death in a safety webbing).
There are plenty of games today (probably more than in the 80s) that are all "thinking" based with puzzles, that doesn't require a lot of coordination nor grinding. Myst, The Witness, Obduction and The Talos Principle comes to mind, but I'm sure there are more.
Of course.
Gadget was fun, and Riven was spectacular. Let's not talk about Myst 3, though. :)
Same with Grim Fandango (getting glottis to puke was epic) and Monkey Island.
But they appeared in the time of the internet & yahoo search. Sure Myst was ~1995, but the rise of having answers a click away existed with these games.
Gadget was fun, and Riven was spectacular. Let's not talk about Myst 3, though. :)
Same with Grim Fandango (getting glottis to puke was epic) and Monkey Island.
But they appeared in the time of the internet & yahoo search. Sure Myst was ~1995, but the rise of having answers a click away existed with these games.
Yes! I love the story with video games - it’s the main draw for me, especially as I get older. It often feels like the plot is held up by having to go do six mundane tasks. I’d be happy having a game where you just walk around and talk to people. Have it almost be like a book, but with the added extras of art and music. Maybe there’s a genre for this, and I just don’t know how to look for it properly.
Outside of VNs (visual novels) and IF (interactive fiction) which has already been mentioned, these sorts of games may also be described as walking sims or narrative adventures nowadays.
Some mainstream studios you might want to check out are Dontnod Entertainment (Life is Strange, Tell Me Why), Red Thread Games (Draugen, Dreamfall Chapters), The Chinese Room (Everybody's Gone to the Rapture), Campo Santo (Firewatch) and Fullbright (Tacoma, Gone Home). There is tons of quirkier experimental stuff on Steam and Itch too. Note that some walking sims are more about exploring the environment and there isn't much dialog, while other ones feature more conversations. Dontnod tend to be more on the conversation-y end if that's what you're after.
You could also check out point-and-click adventures, which are a direct descendent of IF. They require a bit more puzzle-solving, but the pacing is often very good in modern (post-2005) games and it's a nice way to experience dialog-heavy stories. A good place to start might be older releases from Daedalic Entertainment or Wadjet Eye Games, perhaps.
Some mainstream studios you might want to check out are Dontnod Entertainment (Life is Strange, Tell Me Why), Red Thread Games (Draugen, Dreamfall Chapters), The Chinese Room (Everybody's Gone to the Rapture), Campo Santo (Firewatch) and Fullbright (Tacoma, Gone Home). There is tons of quirkier experimental stuff on Steam and Itch too. Note that some walking sims are more about exploring the environment and there isn't much dialog, while other ones feature more conversations. Dontnod tend to be more on the conversation-y end if that's what you're after.
You could also check out point-and-click adventures, which are a direct descendent of IF. They require a bit more puzzle-solving, but the pacing is often very good in modern (post-2005) games and it's a nice way to experience dialog-heavy stories. A good place to start might be older releases from Daedalic Entertainment or Wadjet Eye Games, perhaps.
These are all great examples. I would add "Adios", which came out recently, is short and bittersweet, and has some of the best writing I've ever seen in a video game.
I think you're looking for the "visual novel" genre.
By accidents of history, visual novel as a genre is strongly correlated with anime aesthetics and tends to focus on certain story genres that may or may not interest you. However, there's no fundamental reason for this, any more than there's a fundamental reason why "cartoons" in the US became strongly associated with "for children".
Quality is definitely also mixed, as the bar for entry of this style of thing is low. But that also means there's the sort of vibrancy and experimentation you get when there's virtually no "commercial market" functioning as a taste-maker by overwhelming all the smaller groups with big piles of money and raising the consumer's expectation of quality beyond what they can compete with.
By accidents of history, visual novel as a genre is strongly correlated with anime aesthetics and tends to focus on certain story genres that may or may not interest you. However, there's no fundamental reason for this, any more than there's a fundamental reason why "cartoons" in the US became strongly associated with "for children".
Quality is definitely also mixed, as the bar for entry of this style of thing is low. But that also means there's the sort of vibrancy and experimentation you get when there's virtually no "commercial market" functioning as a taste-maker by overwhelming all the smaller groups with big piles of money and raising the consumer's expectation of quality beyond what they can compete with.
It's the "interactive fiction" genre.
"Interactive fiction" is another term for text adventures; they have no art and they do have puzzles. Were you thinking of "visual novels"?
You can play the game here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1g84m0sXpnNCv84GpN...
> “Imagine if everything ever written on a typewriter had been written by the guys who invented the typewriter,”
I had not heard this quote before, and while I enjoyed the article, I would deem it worth reading just for this.
Thanks for sharing!
I had not heard this quote before, and while I enjoyed the article, I would deem it worth reading just for this.
Thanks for sharing!
"It was the ultimate procrastination device, of course, but also a tinkerer’s dream."
Reminds me of one of my favorites of Douglas' quotes: "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
I was also able to get Starship Titanic working a couple years ago... Had an old Compaq computer with Windows 95 as the starting basis. Much fun to revisit.
Reminds me of one of my favorites of Douglas' quotes: "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
I was also able to get Starship Titanic working a couple years ago... Had an old Compaq computer with Windows 95 as the starting basis. Much fun to revisit.
The Digital Antiquarian has a two-part series on HHGG and the events leading up to the Infocom game:
https://www.filfre.net/2013/11/the-computerized-hitchhikers/
https://www.filfre.net/2013/11/the-computerized-hitchhikers/
The Z-Machine (which is the VM that powered the linked game) is also interesting in it's own right: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z-machine
OFC.
Also, recommended modern games to play:
- Anchorhead. Like Alone in the dark, but CLI.
- Spider and Web. Spies-based game based on replaying the same scenes over and over, with gadgets and psychological twists.
- Vicyous Cycles. Same, but in a different way.
- Curses. Time traveling game, medium-hard.
- Jigsaw. Simialr to curser, but much harder.
- Slouch over Bedlam. Victorian setting + steampunk.
Also, recommended modern games to play:
- Anchorhead. Like Alone in the dark, but CLI.
- Spider and Web. Spies-based game based on replaying the same scenes over and over, with gadgets and psychological twists.
- Vicyous Cycles. Same, but in a different way.
- Curses. Time traveling game, medium-hard.
- Jigsaw. Simialr to curser, but much harder.
- Slouch over Bedlam. Victorian setting + steampunk.
Great article. I would definitely recommend checking out 42: the wildly improbable ideas of Douglas Adams[0] edited by Kevin Jon Davies if want more Douglas Adams in your life
[0] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unbounders/42-the-wildl...
[0] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unbounders/42-the-wildl...
You are carrying: no tea
give croissant
I tried the unnoficial Spanish translation and it's really bad.
I may try the original English version, but I think it will be very difficult to grasp some words without WordNet.
I may try the original English version, but I think it will be very difficult to grasp some words without WordNet.
This article was fairly glowing, but the game is extremely difficult. Not only do the puzzles range from hard to "who would ever figure that out?!?" but the interpreter is the old Infocom one that only understands the one wording for any action.
For example, there are 10 objects scattered in the game that you have to collect for a puzzle at the end. They are never mentioned when you look around the room. At the end of the game Marvin will ask you for one of those objects. You might be thinking "ok, so if I miss one I still have a 90% chance of completing the game right.", but the game checks and if you're missing one he will always ask for that one object. You have to collect them all.
There's a bit in the article where the author talks about the clues for the Babel fish puzzle, but even he has to admit that the last part is basically just completely random based on what you happen to have in the inventory. Also, he doesn't mention that the puzzle is timed. If you don't complete it in a set number of moves you die. It is a game that is relentlessly unfair to the player.
I know this is a lot of words about an old game, but the Hitchhikers Guide series was one of my favorite books growing up and I was so excited when my parents bought this for the Commodore 64. I played it many many times, had the Babel Fish puzzle and others down pat, but still only made it maybe 1/3 of the way through the game before getting completely stuck.
For example, there are 10 objects scattered in the game that you have to collect for a puzzle at the end. They are never mentioned when you look around the room. At the end of the game Marvin will ask you for one of those objects. You might be thinking "ok, so if I miss one I still have a 90% chance of completing the game right.", but the game checks and if you're missing one he will always ask for that one object. You have to collect them all.
There's a bit in the article where the author talks about the clues for the Babel fish puzzle, but even he has to admit that the last part is basically just completely random based on what you happen to have in the inventory. Also, he doesn't mention that the puzzle is timed. If you don't complete it in a set number of moves you die. It is a game that is relentlessly unfair to the player.
I know this is a lot of words about an old game, but the Hitchhikers Guide series was one of my favorite books growing up and I was so excited when my parents bought this for the Commodore 64. I played it many many times, had the Babel Fish puzzle and others down pat, but still only made it maybe 1/3 of the way through the game before getting completely stuck.
Original English version in my observation as a non-native speaker uses very simple and straightforward, relying on absurdity of situation and wordplay instead of beautiful language. You should be fine.
The source code for the game is here: https://github.com/historicalsource/hitchhikersguide
Choose your own adventure... I was sure that meant:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Fantasy
but apparently it's another book series.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Fantasy
but apparently it's another book series.
Adams never revealed the origin of 42. [0] So, just because we really don't know, I'd like to think it originates with ASCII table and the asterisk.
0 - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/03/douglas-adams-...