Interactive Fiction All-Stars Get Narcoleptic

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Interactive Fiction All-Stars Get Narcoleptic

Posted by simoniker on Tuesday December 30, 2003 @05:53PM from the harlem-globetrotters-of-text-adventures dept.

Thanks to GrandTextAuto for pointing to the newly-released multi-author text adventure called Narcolepsy, spearheaded by multi-XYZZY Award winner Adam Cadre, and featuring contributions from IF luminaries such as Emily Short, Andrew Plotkin, and Stephen Granade. The fairly mysterious readme file promises: "Narcolepsy has several very different plot threads, so even if you get to an ending, you may have only seen a small fraction of what's possible", and the graphics-enabled Blorb-format game should work on a variety of platforms using the correct interpreters.

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I highly endorse the xyzzy award... by xyzzy · 2003-12-30 17:56 · Score: 1, Informative

...and recommend you check out all the games! Plugh!
Wow, that's a pretty impressive group. by Pluvius · 2003-12-30 18:02 · Score: 3, Insightful

Those guys are probably the best authors IF has to offer right now, and they all worked together on one game. I know they say that too many cooks spoil the broth, but I won't be surprised if this game is an exception.

Rob
massive slashdotting by XO · 2003-12-30 18:19 · Score: -1, Redundant

I'd just like to say, that after only 2 comments, and it's already almost 3:00am eastern time, so it's a non-prime slashdot time.. the sites have been slashdotted out of existence.

--
"Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
1. Re:massive slashdotting by Recoil_42 · 2003-12-30 18:47 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  erm... no. check again.
  
  --
  
  Newsie, Moderator, www.tauniverse.com
2. Re:massive slashdotting by XO · 2003-12-31 06:24 · Score: 1
  
  ok, now HOW can this be REDUNDANT? It was the third comment posted!!!!!!! Moderators, get your heads out of your arses!
  
  --
  "Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
Andrew Plotkin is evil. EVIL! by fm6 · 2003-12-30 18:48 · Score: 0, Offtopic

WTF are those tickets????
1. Re:Andrew Plotkin is evil. EVIL! by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-30 19:13 · Score: -1, Troll
  
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  # Important Stuff: Please try to keep posts on topic. # Try to reply to other people's comments instead of starting new threads. # Read other people's messages before posting your own to avoid simply duplicating what has already been said. # Use a clear subject that describes what your message is about. # Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments might be moderated. (You can read everything, even moderated posts, by adjusting your threshold on the User Preferences Page) # If you want replies to your comments sent to you, consider logging in or creating an account. Problems regarding accounts or comment posting should be sent to CowboyNeal.
2. Re:Andrew Plotkin is evil. EVIL! by fm6 · 2003-12-31 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  What do you mean "offtopic"? You ever play "shade"?
3. Re:Andrew Plotkin is evil. EVIL! by fm6 · 2003-12-31 13:07 · Score: 1
  
  No need for the graphic. I know a total asshole when I see one!
I was going to try it... by neonstz · 2003-12-30 18:56 · Score: 3, Funny

...but i fell asleep.
Haven't tried it (yet), but I gotta say... by Mirkon · 2003-12-30 19:14 · Score: 2, Interesting

Andrew Plotkin is amazing. Mac users should try his System's Twilight freeware game, which is somewhere between charming and mind-bending.

If Narcolepsy has even a shade of the stuff Plotkin used in Twilight, conceptually or in puzzles, it can't help but be great.

--
Glog!
1. Re:Haven't tried it (yet), but I gotta say... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-12-30 20:26 · Score: 0
  
  VERY ODD GAME
*BSD IS GROWINK by users.pl · 2003-12-30 19:21 · Score: -1

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Adam Cadre: +++ by X_Caffeine · 2003-12-30 22:13 · Score: 1

I played Adam Cadre's "Shrapnel" a few years ago... it scared the living hell out of me. Play it on a dark and stormy night. If you're an old school IF fan, you'll dig on the Zork 1 references too.

--
// I will show you fear in a handful of jellybeans.
Seems broken by metamatic · 2003-12-31 01:33 · Score: 1

Tried running it under Zoom, and Zoom says: "fatal error (PC = #0) This blorb file is not executable". It unzipped fine, though...

--
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
1. Re:Seems broken by Richard+Poole · 2003-12-31 05:08 · Score: 1
  
  It's in GLUL not in z-machine (strictly speaking this is an over-simplification). You'll need a glul interpreter such as Andrew Plotkin's glulxe to play it. I had to change a couple things to compile one of glulxe's supporting libraries - email me if you'd like a hand with this.
2. Re:Seems broken by metamatic · 2003-12-31 05:21 · Score: 1
  
  Where's the OS X graphical glulxe? I can't find it.
  
  --
  GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
Shade by Painaxl · 2003-12-31 03:20 · Score: 1

Off topic, but Shade by Andrew Plotkin is the craziest IF game I've ever played. Unbelieveable. I couldn't stop playing it while my head was exploding. Follow the link in the blurb on Andrew's name and then click on his name on the next page to find it. It's just... spooky.
Interesting choice of link for Plotkin. by andfarm · 2003-12-31 08:53 · Score: 1

However, this is his home page, rather than a game based around him. (!)

--
TANSTAAFI: There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free iPod.
9:05 by Hard_Code · 2003-12-31 09:42 · Score: 1

I just finished 9:05 (or at least i THINK i finished it). Was this as short as I thought it was (like...ridiculously short)?? Or did I miss something?? I don't get it.

Same with Shrapnel. Um, I think I finished it, but it was so damn short I'm not sure. Maybe I did something wrong.

--

It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
1. Re:9:05 by Reorax · 2003-12-31 11:17 · Score: 1
  
  There are two endings. It's a bit short to have major spoilers, but I'll play it safe anyway. Basically, there are two endings: one that you get by playing the "normal" way, and another by using some clues from the first ending.
  
  --
  This sig is only here so people stop skipping the last lines of my posts.
narcolepsy? i know about it by fatcow · 2003-12-31 15:11 · Score: 0

Interesting.

I know about narcolepsy! I am a medic, and I suffer from it. Despite being a debilitating disease, which is only alleviated by a clear diagnosis, narcolepsy is very ostracised by the rest of the society.

People know very little about it. I only know of the USA Stanford Sleep centre for narcolepsy which has a special interest init.

We'll see.