What ever happened to text adventures?

What ever happened to text adventures? In the gaming world today, with extreme graphics, stereo sound and multi-player this and that, what do those of us who like text adventures do?

Think back to the mid 80's-early 90's. Sitting in front of a black computer screen staring at the blinking cursor as you read your way through outer space or a deep dark dungeon or some foreign land. Letting the written word create a world inside your mind.

I think back to those games with fond memories of hours, days, months even exploring new universes of fun. I miss being so into a game that you lose touch with reality and find yourself still sitting there hours later.

Infocom was the leader in the day. They brought to the world Zork and everything changed. It was followed by Zork’s II, III, IV, Beyond Zork and then years later Zork Zero. They were the grandparents of the games of today.

Countless other games followed Zork - Enchanter and its sequels, Lurking Horror, Infidel, Starcross and so many more... including The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, adapted from Douglas Adams magnificent book. So much fun in so many different forms... and yet, all of them were perfect fun.

You didn't need graphics. You didn't need sound or music. You didn't need dozens or hundreds of others to play with. All you needed was an imagination and time. I miss those days.

Technology has advanced so far that so many of those old Infocom games won't run anymore on today's computers. There are a few that will sometimes run, but not always. In creating a graphic gaming world, I think we've forgotten our roots.

Sure there are MUD's out there that still use the text format, but their popularity has declined over the years... and even there, you are not alone. There is someone there watching you, stalking you, waiting for you to slip up so they can leap out and kill you and make you have to start over.

There are hybrids that use both text and images, like Legend of the Green Dragon and Legend of the Red Dragon... but yet again, there are others there with you.

The purity of being alone, with just yourself to keep you company. No one challenging you. No one fighting you. No one stealing the things you need to complete the game. Relying on yourself to complete the mission, solve the puzzles and win the game. There was a kind of magic to those old games.

Have we gone too far... or is it possible to get back the magic and mysticism of those earlier days? Can we get back the isolated perfection of those wonderful games of yore? I would like to hope so. I would like to think that it's not too late, that someone out there could bring back that wonder and majesty we haven't seen in so long.

Perhaps someone will someday... I can only hope.