5. Paul Rigby's Moriarty Interview (1991) ========================================= "From here to Trinity...and back again" by Paul Rigby [Adventure Probe, vol. 5 no. 5, May 1991, pages 15-19.] ----- ----- ----- FROM HERE TO TRINITY...AND BACK AGAIN By Paul Rigby "Ay, there's the genius and the wonder of the thing!" - Sherlock Homes No prizes for guessing that the above quotation is borrowed from the works of Conan Doyle and that the good Sherlock refers to that devilish man of the criminal arts, Professor Moriarty. I always thought that it was a great pity that Brian Moriarty (when he was resident at Infocom) did not write "Sherlock: Riddle of the Crown Jewels" adventure for Infocom which was completed by Bob Bates. Imagine the mileage they could have extracted out of that. I know that many adventurers, after playing works such as "Wishbringer", "Trinity" and "Beyond Zork", would consider Brian Moriarty to be a genius of interactive fiction. Brian left Infocom to move to Lucasfilm where he created the animated graphic adventure, Loom. He is now, apparently, knee deep in educational software development at Lucasfilm. Call me selfish, but this move is a bit of a waste for a man of his talent, I reckon. Brian left Infocom just before Dave Lebling and Steve Meretsky departed signalling the beginning of the end of Infocom as an independent development outfit. Effectively, ending a classic era of adventuring - the likes of which we will never see again (but on the other hand - see below). The Americans are an enthusiastic lot. But they love to organise their enthusiasm in a variety of ways. You may have heard of Star Trek, weird and wonderful Guild conventions and conferences. Well, there is such a thing as a Game Developer's Conference. This is a regular event which tends to attract a great deal of well known designers of "thinking" games. So you might see Chris Crawford (Balance of Power), Brian Fargo (The Bards Tale, Necromancer etc), Noah Falstein (Battlehawks) and, yes, Brian Moriarty! One such conference took place in mid 1989 at the Miltpitas Holiday Inn. During this informal gathering (which includes many speakers, a rather tasty meal and friendly chat) Brian spoke on the issue of interactive games and then, later, about his work in general (specifically about his work on "Trinity" but also some points regarding "Wishbringer"). Although taking place many moons ago I thought that Probe readers would be interested in what the great man had to say. Sitting Brian down and offering him lots of drinks to keep him still I asked Brian how he became a game designer at Infocom. "Originally, I worked as a technical writer for Analog Computing. Then in the spring of '84 I went to Infocom as a microcomputer engineer, to work on the interpreters for various micros. I got to be friends with Mike Berlyn, Dave Lebling, Stu Galley and all of those people, and I convinced them that I was going to hold my breath until they made me a designer. I also had two adventure games that had been published in Analog, and they were pretty well received, so that helped too." So where on earth did you get the idea for Wishbringer? "Actually, the first game I did was Trinity. When I became a games designer, Infocom asked me for a synopsis of a game I wanted to do. So I wrote the synopsis for Trinity. They looked at it and they all liked it, but they said it was too ambitious. Of course, at the time we didn't have the Plus system and it would have been very difficult to do that on a normal system. Then the marketing people came over and said "Hey, what we really want is an introductory game". So I said "Okay, I'll do an introductory game. Let's try to think of something neat to put into the box." So contrary to the majority of games design, Wishbringer was actually designed from the packaging? "Yea. I said: "We'll put a magic ring in the box, and we'll do a story about a magic ring". But then I said, "Magic rings have already been done, and the ring would probably be a plastic one. Why don't we put rocks in the box? We could get a cartload of rocks, they'd be cheap, and we'd just put one in every box." Later on, after a measure of games planning, the marketing person asked, "Why don't we make the rocks glow in the dark, since the rock in the game glows?". I said, "Okay, we'll paint the rocks with glow-in-the-dark paint." But the marketing person said, "No, the kids will come and suck the paint off". So someone suggested that we make rocks. Meanwhile, I started to write a game around a glow-in-the-dark rock. That's where Wishbringer came from - it came from a plastic rock." So now you know. Doncha just love trivia? But did Brian enjoy creating Wishbringer, especially with his baby, Trinity, sitting in the wings? "Oh yes, very much. It was nice and it sold really well. It was '85's biggest seller for Infocom by far." Intriguingly, though, Brian stated that a Wishbringer follow-up was on the cards - makes you feel depressed doesn't it? However, back to Trinity. Where did the idea for that classic come from? "Actually, I had the idea in '83, when I was working at Analog and writing adventures there. It's an idea that I'd had in my head for a long time. When the chance came to do it I took the plunge." So was there anything that set off the specific train of thought that brought you to Trinity and what would happen in the game? "I'd read a lot about that in the past, and I've always been interested in that subject. When I started working on the game, I amassed a pretty substantial library on the history of the atomic bomb and nuclear weaponry in general. In the course of writing the game, I also did some original research. I went to the Trinity site itself, visited Los Alamos and a lot of museums and I talked to a couple of people who were actually there. So a lot of the stuff that happens in Trinity is pretty accurate. I think it was the first piece of interactive fiction that attempted to re-create the real place and not just simulate a made-up place." That's all in the New Mexico section of the game? "The Kensington Gardens are relatively accurate too, except for the location called "The Wabe". Every other location there is correct and in the right place, I hadn't seen it before I wrote about it but I have seen it since. That part was written based on maps and photographs." So how long did Trinity take to complete? "It was started in May of '85 and finished in June '86". How much of that time went into the design and how much went into programming? "As usual, most of it was programming. That's usually the case. I'd say that 90% of the time was programming and the other 10% was creative. Our development system was still very programming intensive. It didn't do a lot for you. It did some things but a lot you had to do for yourself. It was quite a bit of drudgery." So what was the most difficult part of the game to write? "The hardest part was the fantasy world: the giant sundial and the shadow moving across. There was all sorts of factors involved, moving that shadow, having it in different rooms, and the doors opening and closing, and then having you be able to control it was very tricky." Was everything mapped out before the coding started? "I usually do, even today, actually, although not all of the designers did. However, when you're making it all up it's easier to do that. The first thing I did was sit down and make a map of the Trinity site. It was changed about 50 times trying to simplify it and get it down from over 100 rooms to the 40 or so rooms that now comprise it. It was a lot more accurate and very detailed, but a lot of that detail was totally useless. So I tried to boil it down to what was absolutely necessary. That map that comes in the package is made from geological surveys and blueprings and is completely accurate." Why write a game that cold be looked upon, by many, as depressing? "Well, it wasn't a pleasant experience, I can tell you that. It was not easy to sit down and write that stuff. As I said I talked to some people who were there and I read a lot of books by people who were there and the one thing they all said about it, the one common theme is that it was inevitable. That if we hadn't of done it, someone else would. They also say that that's not the only thing that's inevitable. History has a lot to teach us. That's the point of the game, because when you're Wabewalker, going through the game, you're literally creating the Book of Hours, you're writing your own history." What statements were you trying to make in Trinity? Did you have a personal statement to make? "I wanted people, when playing the game, to feel their helplessness. Because that's what I felt when I was reading and talking to these people and seeing these places. You could just feel the weight of history on you. Going to the Trinity site and being there and realising what that place means, I just wanted people to feel that weight on them when playing the game. Have it crush them in the end because that's what I got out of my studies and research." There are a couple of spots in the game where you have to do some unpleasant things. Why did you put that in? "That was deliberate. I was amazed to see how many people were actually bothered by the scene with the lizard, because it was them doing it. It's nice to know that interactive fiction could do that, make you feel uncomfortable about killing things. In no other media could I make you feel bad about killing something. Because there is only one medium where I can make YOU do it, and make you feel empathy for a thing that doesn't exist. It's only with interactive fiction that you can explore these emotions." When the game was finished how did you feel about it? "Relieved. As usual. We usually felt that way when a game was finished, but I felt especially relieved. It was hard to live with that game for a year. But I didn't want people to be scared away from the game. A lot of people took a look at the cover and said, "Oh, God, a gloomy game." It isn't gloomy, but it does have a dark undertone to it. It's not like it's the end of the world. But I'm glad I did Trinity. It was nice to know that interactive fiction could make you do things besides give you puzzles and make you laugh. It could also make you think and it could deal with big issues." Brian certainly did make us think with the release of Trinity. Nowadays I know many of you are thinking, and pining, because we may never see the like of Trinity again. However, there is a way to access new material with that essential Infocom feel. You'll need a PC or a PC emulator (for those with Amiga/ST/Archimedes machines), though. The source is a company called Legend, recently created by two ex-Infocom men, Steve Meretsky (creator of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Planetfall etc) and Bob Bates (Sherlock and Arthur). The first release, from Steve Meretsky, owes much to Leather Goddesses of Phobos. Called "Spellbreaker 101: Sorcerers Get All the Girls" it is a text/graphic adventure. The game is big. The PC version I have contains nine (count 'em!) disks taking up a little under four megabytes of code! After loading, the initial screen is divided into three sections, although this can be customised, to some extent, to your satisfaction. Initially, though, a graphic screen, a text message window and a third window chock'a block with verbs, nouns etc appears. You can play the game as a straight text adventure, text/graphic or as a menu driven adventure (mouse support is given), you can also click on the graphics to invoke actions Function keys call other routines such as a beautiful, on-screen, auto-map routine, a help feature and so on. The plot tells us we have just joined Sorcerer University, the game revolves around your studies and social activities during your stay there. Studies include lessons from the masters themselves, including your new found skills in the Simulation Lab. You've also got a mission to complete. As Legend say though, "...it's not some cheapo, Find-The-Missing-Magic-Sword quest either. Were talking END OF THE WORLD type stuff here...". You'll go on field trips to the Island of Horny Women and The Restaurant at the End of the Ocean. With your time off you'll meet interesting people, in the students union, and go to social clubs such as the famous Tappa Kegga Bru. It runs in two modes "Nice" and "Naughty". Legend say that the game is R-rated in Naughty Mode. The game has been selling in the States for a few months, on the PC. Microprose USA are distributing it. I believe that Microprose UK will be bringing it over here. I have heard no specific news of an Amiga version, although rumours say that an Amiga version is "under consideration". Bob Bates will be writing the second Legend adventure using the same interface. The essence of the story being that you chase a villain through time, from 1361 BC through to 1940AD. There are nine time periods involved and six cities serve as relevant backdrops. Bob Bates, talking from the States, commented about its design, "One of the game's attractions is that you'll be able to interact with historical characters such as Mussolini, Churchill and Hitler. These are the kind of puzzles I like to write, putting objects in their native environments, but finding unexpected ways to use them. You can go back into the past and do things that will enable you to solve a puzzle in the future. That's really a neat part of the game, which is not going to be easy (though it will be fair)." Finally, another piece of Infocom trivia. Many Infocom enthusiasts will have heard of the newsletter sent to all registered game owners. Initially known as The New Zork Times and, following protests from The New York Times, to be later knows as The Status Line, it was filled with news and articles relevant to the games, the company and the people in it. However, how many of you were aware that another Infocom newsletter existed? This particular publication, though, was intended solely for private distribution within the company. Known as "InfoDope" it was an underground newsletter that came out once and a while with very sarcastic humour. It's irregular publication normally being caused by a change in the company. Various company people had been lampooned at various times. Finally, an update on where some of the other Infocom lost sheep have disappeared to. Many of the staff are still unaccounted for. Dave Lebling was reported to be working on serious software (spreadsheets and the like) but what happened to Mark Blanc? We know that Elizabeth Langosy (an unsung hero in the Infocom team) has joined Legend with Steve and Bob at the moment, to do a bit of Quality Control. Elizabeth was reportedly working on a Hypercard text/graphic adventure when Infocom crashed so maybe the chaps at Legend could use her talents for future productions. Also ex-Infocom man, Mike Moore has joined Joe Ybarra and Karl Buiter to form a new software house called Sunami Productions.