Line #64 Creator/Infocom


1	[[quoteright:293:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/infocom_logo_3433.jpg]]
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3	Infocom, founded in 1979 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the shining light in the history of commercially-released InteractiveFiction games. Beginning with ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' in 1980, the company released over thirty games, many of which are still played.
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5	The company's strengths included technical innovation (their TextParser was the best in the business, and the z-code data format Infocom created is a popular choice for distributing new IF games to this day), rich storytelling, and creative packaging (most Infocom games shipped with "{{feelies}}", thematically-related props which might form part of the CopyProtection system, constitute clues, give extra background information, or just be included for the lulz).
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7	In 1986, struggling with competition from video games with fancy graphics and badly damaged by an ill-fated foray into the business software market, Infocom was bought by Creator/{{Activision}}. Shortly after the acquisition, Infocom's champion on the Activision board left the company, and his successor [[ExecutiveMeddling spent three years "improving" Infocom]] before pulling the plug in 1989.
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9	These days many of their games are available on {{Abandonware}} sites - indeed the games (being entirely text) are ''incredibly'' small files by today's standards. ''VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984'', which was a very verbose game, is only 128k - smaller than most modern digital pictures.
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11	If you’re interested in a truly deep dive into Infocom history, [[http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/4834 4000 pages]] of Steve Meretzky’s meticulously archived files are uploaded to the Internet Archive. The source code for most of Infocom's games have been recovered by an amazing chain of coincidences and uploaded to [[https://github.com/historicalsource/ Historical Source]] on Github.
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14	!! Infocom was the {{Trope Namer\|s}} for:
15	* {{Feelies}}
16	* InteractiveFiction
17	----
18	!! Recurring tropes in Infocom games:
19	%%* ArcNumber: 69,105
20	%%* DevelopersForesight: Infocom's parsers were incredibly smart, probably due to having more memory to work with as the games didn't have any graphics.
21	%%* EasterEgg
22	%%* FeaturelessProtagonist
23	%%* {{Feelies}}
24	%%* FictionalDocument
25	%%* GuideDangIt: Many of the games were DEVILISHLY hard, but particularly: [[VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984 Babel Fish]]
26	%%* InteractiveFiction
27	%%* InventoryManagementPuzzle
28	%%* KleptomaniacHero
29	%%* LockedDoor
30	%%* SecondPersonNarration
31	* UnwinnableByDesign: Infocom actually [[UnwinnableByDesign/{{Infocom}} have their own page]] for listing their intentionally unwinnable moments. Their games rarely rated ''easier'' than "Nasty", and were more often than not "Cruel".
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33	!!Infocom games with their own trope pages include:
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35	[[index]]
36	* ''VideoGame/{{Bureaucracy}}''
37	* ''VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984''
38	* ''VideoGame/HollywoodHijinx''
39	* ''VideoGame/{{Infidel}}''
40	* ''VideoGame/LeatherGoddessesOfPhobos''
41	* ''VideoGame/TheLurkingHorror''
42	* ''VideoGame/AMindForeverVoyaging''
43	* ''VideoGame/{{Moonmist}}''
44	* ''VideoGame/NordAndBertCouldntMakeHeadOrTailOfIt''
45	* ''VideoGame/{{Planetfall}}'' (and ''Stationfall'')
46	* ''VideoGame/PlunderedHearts''
47	* ''VideoGame/QuarterstaffTheTombOfSetmoth''
48	* ''VideoGame/{{Suspended}}''
49	* ''VideoGame/TombsAndTreasure''
50	* ''VideoGame/{{Trinity}}''
51	* The ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' series
52	** The ''VideoGame/{{Enchanter}}'' trilogy
53	** ''VideoGame/{{Wishbringer}}''
54	** ''VideoGame/ZorkZero''
55	** ''VideoGame/ZorkQuestAssaultOnEgrethCastle''
56	** ''VideoGame/ZorkQuestTheCrystalOfDoom''
57	** ''VideoGame/ReturnToZork''
58	** ''VideoGame/ZorkNemesis''
59	** ''VideoGame/ZorkGrandInquisitor''
60	[[/index]]
61
62	!!Tropes relating to individual games that don't have their own pages:
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64	* BigDumbObject: Forms most of the plot of ''Starcross''.
65	* BookmarkClue: In ''Witness'', one potential clue is a receipt that Hong the butler carelessly used as a bookmark.
66	* CluelessDetective: In ''Ballyhoo''.
67	* CrappyCarnival: In ''Ballyhoo'', T.P. Munrab's Travelling Circus that Time Forgot. Not creepy or scary but somewhat run down and noted for its presence of a strictly old-school [[FreakShow freakshow with midgets and a fat lady]]. Even when the game was made, Munrab's circus would be heavily subject to a lot of criticism concerning exploitation, both of people and animals.
68	* CriminalMindGames: In ''Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels''.
69	* DeadPersonImpersonation: At the beginning of ''Suspect'', [[spoiler:you notice that Veronica Ashcroft-Wellman has been acting strangely... until you eventually discover that your old schoolfriend, Alicia Barron, was posing as Veronica, which means that the real Veronica had already been murdered right before the start of the game.]]
70	* DungeonBypass: If you're quick enough in ''Witness'', you can spot the murderer hiding the evidence in a room and end the game right there.
71	* EverybodyLives:
72	** Including [[spoiler:the villain]] in ''Seastalker''.
73	** This can also occur at the end of ''Ballyhoo'' if you play your cards right.
74	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: ''Suspect'' occurs about roughly 12 hours at the Halloween Ball.
75	* FissionMailed: In ''Ballyhoo'', if you fall "awkwardly" down from the wagon cage, you get a "* You have died.*" message that appears like any normal Game Over screen... except that there is no "Would you like to restore, restart or quit?" message at all. If you move your body and get all items you may have left near the cage, you get this message:
76	-->([[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated The reports of your demise have been grossly exaggerated.]] You suffer little more than injured pride.)
77	* GoingByTheMatchbook: One of the {{Feelies}} in ''The Witness''.
78	* HalloweenEpisode: ''Suspect'' takes place in a Halloween costume ball... at the time that a murder has already occurred... a murder you're falsely accused of committing.
79	* HelloInsertNameHere:
80	** Some computer versions of ''Seastalker'' allow you to type in your first and last name at the very beginning.
81	** ''Bureaucracy'' allows you to fill out your full name along with the name and number of your street, city and state and your PurelyAestheticGender and so forth at the very beginning.
82	* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: ''James Clavell's Shogun'', which James Clavell didn't have an active hand in adapting.
83	* MasqueradeBall: The setting of ''Suspect''.
84	* {{Orientalism}}: ''The Witness'' is a blatant example. Freeman Linder, the man who calls your detective character to his home, is clearly a White man with a ForeignCultureFetish. His home has many Asian touches of decoration and Linder goes on about how he [[GoingNative went native]] during his years over in China. His [[OldRetainer servant]], [[StockForeignName Phong]], is stereotypically dressed in mandarin clothes with the queue hair braid. The story is set in the 1930s so such stereotypes were normal back then.
85	* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: It is in ''Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels'', anyway.
86	* PostModernism: In ''Deadline'', the player finds a novelization of the game within the game.
87	* PublicDomainCharacter: Each of the "Immortal Legends" games. ''Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels'' features Franchise/SherlockHolmes and related characters; ''Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur'' does likewise for Myth/KingArthur.
88	* PurelyAestheticGender: Combined with SchrodingersGun: In ''Ballyhoo'', your player's gender is indeterminate as you explore, but eventually you'll come across a punch-dotted ticket, with a blue dot for male and a pink one for female. Whichever dot you punch out as you put the ticket into the slot retroactively becomes the correct answer.
89	* RedHerring: Lampshaded in ''Deadline''. The dead man's son George acts very suspicious. However, if you enter the dining room when he's there, you will witness him eating a plate of red herrings. [[spoiler:Needless to say, he's innocent of the murder.]]
90	* {{Ruritania}}: Frobnia in ''Border Zone''.
91	* SecretRoom: In ''Deadline'', the [[spoiler:updated will]] is hidden in one.
92	* SdrawkcabName: T.P. Munrab from ''Ballyhoo''.
93	* TelevisionTieInMagazines: ''Magazine/TheStatusLine'' is an online newsletter in which the company gives official announcements about their InteractiveFiction games in the form of interviews with game developers or executives. There's also trivia and news-like articles.
94	* WriteWhatYouKnow: ''The Lurking Horror's'' setting, GUE Tech, is a stand-in for M.I.T, author Dave Lebling's alma-mater. The game reflects a lot of the culture of M.I.T students such as all nighters in a computer lab, hackers who haven't bathed recently, professors complaining about the personal drama between them and their graduate students and vice versa.

Context Creator / Infocom