Remnants of the unreleased sequel to Infocom’s text adventure version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy have been made available to the public by Waxy.org.
Playable prototypes, design docs, source code and a string of e-mails between Infocom designers and management provide a fascinating look at the game’s turbulent, if aborted, development process.
“This is one of the most amazing archives I’ve ever seen, a treasure chest documenting the rise and fall of the legendary interactive fiction game company,” writes programmer and Waxy blogger Andy Baio. “Among the assets included: design documents, e-mail archives, employee phone numbers, sales figures, internal meeting notes, corporate newsletters, and the source code and game files for every released and unreleased game Infocom made.”
Baio got his hands on a copy of the “Infocom Drive,” a complete backup of the defunct Massachusetts gamemaker’s shared network drive from 1989, and used the data to piece together the fascinating history of the unreleased sequel, titled Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
Milliways was in development during the final days at Infocom, and as development budgets tightened, designers found themselves overstretched and projects kept slipping past management’s timetables. Check out the whole saga, with original e-mails — it’s a compelling read.
Milliways: Infocom’s Unreleased Sequel [Waxy.org]
See also:
- First Look: New D&D Stats Leak Onto Web
- Play Old-School Text Adventures on Your DS
- Paraphernalia From the Game|Life Vault, Pennsylvania Edition
- Very Short Stories By Great Game Writers