Mystery Science Theater 3000, Adventure 101, Reel 1               "Detective"
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Submitted for your approval:  The first-ever work of interactive fiction
based on the popular Comedy Central TV show "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

I decided to write this game at the suggestion of fellow I-F fan Graeme Cree,
after reading his review of this particular game in SPAG #5.  What you are
about to play is an actual game -- not something I made up just to rip on. 
(If you don't believe me, go to /if-archive/games/pc/detect13.zip and see
for yourself!)  It's been downloaded from GMD and ported from AGT to Inform
by myself, and spiced up with appropriate witty commentary from Mike, Crow,
and Tom Servo.

I took great pains to ensure that the port was just as cheesy as the
original, with all the strange quirks and incorrect spellings intact, as the
large source listing code will show.  Please be aware that this was
intentional, and necessary to preserve a great deal of the humor -- it was
not merely the result of sloppy programming on my part.  The primary value of
the source code is for beginners who need to learn the art of displaying text
with Inform.  It also includes one (extremely simple) puzzle.  And, if nothing
else, the game should serve as an excellent guide for how a text adventure
should NOT be written.

You shouldn't need a walkthrough or any hints for this game -- it's so easy
it's pitiful.  Nonetheless, I've included a step-by-step sequence of moves,
just so you don't miss out on any of the comments.

Be sure to visit each room twice, if possible.  I came up with quite a few
good comments, but often was unable to fit them all in a single room
description without making it appear cluttered.  As a result, I've placed
different comments depending on whether the rooms have been visited before.
I've tried to remain as faithful to the show as possible.  I hope you like it.

                                       -- C.E. Forman
                                          (ceforma@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu)

(Please mail me if you know of any other games that would be worth MiSTing.)

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Files included in this .ZIP:

  READTHIS.1ST -- The file you're reading now.
     INTRO.TXT -- Introductory game text, with Dr. Forrester introducing the
                  experiment.  Read this one before playing.
  WALKTHRU.TXT -- Game walkthrough.
    MST3K1.Z5  -- Z-Code file.  Requires a ZIP interpreter to run.
    MST3K1.INF -- Inform source code, with lots of explanations for
                  beginning Informers.
   VERBLIB.H   -- Inform verb-library header file, with special modifications
                  for this game.

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Mystery Science Theater 3000 and all associated characters are trademark
and copyright 1994 of Best Brains, Inc. and are used here without permission
for satirical purposes only.  Think about it, won't you?  Thank you.