The Retro Adventurers

Holiday merriment! All the hosts! Return special guests! Minimal editing! Retro Adventurers Dave, Jason, Nick, and founder Ben(!) chat about the year that was, later joined by Scott Adams (Episode 3) and Tim Gilberts (Episode 5)! Hear about Tim Gilberts' Heathkit, Scott Adams' next professional moves, adventures in ADABAS / Natural, and a long-overdue callback to the Clarion Beauty Computer! Ken Reed's Adventure II article in Practical Computing Maze for the MK/14 computer kit PDP-12: HELLORLD! The Beepy handheld computer Adventuron Nick's Cloak of Darkness in AWK Knytt Stories The Book of Adventure Games Tim Gilberts on YouTube Scott Adams Consulting Bubble Bonk Final Pilot Adventureland XL

Chewing the food of sweet and bitter fancy, Jason and Nick ask for a double-helping of Shakespeare text adventures. The chef heaps a challenging amount of "appetizer" Macbeth (1984, Oxford Digital Enterprises) on their plates, but main course Avon (1982/1988, Topologika) has its day. And that day may be foul, and/or fair, as you like it. Macbeth on MobyGames Macbeth on MOCAGH Avon on MobyGames Avon (Playable online, BBC Micro) Avon mainframe source code Topologika Ltd. overview Topologika on The Digital Antiquarian Macbeth solution (almost) The Tempest (1997)  

In this interview episode we're transfixed by the career of Ron Martinez, whose interactive fiction began as a writer for the Be an Interplanetary Spy book series, the Trillium/Telarium home conversion of Rendezvous With Rama, and the design and implementation of Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy powered by his own TRANS Fiction System parser. Since then Ron has had a widely varied career, and a widely varied career since then including pioneering work in NFTs. Ron and Jason discuss the wild experimental days at Electronic Arts, the nature of "post-linear" storytelling and the trade-offs of writing in the Star Trek universe, and Ron's brush with actual immortality. Invention Arts Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy on archive.org Rendezvous with Rama on archive.org Full GET LAMP documentary interview Ron Martinez MobyGames credits

Jason and first-time Retro Adventurer Nick Moffitt sample two courses of text adventure horror, featuring Infocom's "MIT with the serial numbers filed off" The Lurking Horror and Sir-Tech Software's "don't call it a Murder Hospital, call it the" Crypt of Medea. Jason also speaks with Strange Studies of Strange Stories co-host Chad Fifer about how, when, and why the Lovecraftian school of horror became mainstream entertainment fodder. The Lurking Horror Crypt of Medea The Call of Cthulhu (2005 film) The Apple II Mockingboard