Planetfall
Encyclopedia
Planetfall is a science fiction
interactive fiction
computer game written by Steve Meretzky
, and the eighth title published by Infocom
in 1983. Like most Infocom games, thanks to the portable
Z-machine
, it was released for several platforms simultaneously. The original release included versions for the PC
(both as a booter
and for DOS
) and Apple II
. The Atari ST
and Commodore 64
versions were released in 1985. A version for CP/M
was also released. Although Planetfall was Meretzky's first title, it proved one of his most popular works and a best-seller for Infocom; it was one of five top-selling titles to be re-released in Solid Gold versions including in-game hints. Planetfall utilizes the Z-machine
originally developed for the Zork
franchise and was added as a bonus to the "Zork Anthology". A review in Computer Gaming World
considered the game a good place to start for those new to interactive fiction.
It has been described as "still lovingly remembered".
The word planetfall is a portmanteau of planet
and landfall
, and occasionally used in science fiction
to that effect.
of the Stellar Patrol. Overbearing superior Ensign First Class Blather assigns the player to mop decks, not exactly the glorious adventures promised by the recruiters on Gallium. But a sudden series of explosions aboard the ship sends the player scrambling for an escape pod, which eventually crash-lands on a nearby planet. There are signs of civilization, but curiously no traces of the beings that once lived there. Eventually encountering a helpful but childlike robot
named Floyd, the player must unravel the mysteries of the single deserted structure on the planet, Resida, and find a way to get back home. As the fate of the planet's former inhabitants becomes clearer, a time limit also imposes itself.
The adventurer does not remain on S.P.S. Feinstein for long. Talking to the alien ambassador and performing the required task of scrubbing the floor don't accomplish much. Wandering to other parts of the ship merits demerits from Blather and an ultimately fatal run-in with the Brig unless the player returns to work. Soon, an explosion occurs and an escape pod door opens. The pod safety netting breaks the player's fall and an escape kit is produced, which proves critical to survival. With great exertion, the adventurer swims out of the pod and climbs up to a mysterious deserted base.
By putting together various clues, slowly the player realizes that the nearly uninhabited island is in fact one of the last remaining landmasses on a planet on the verge of destruction. A deadly plague for which no cure existed threatened to kill off all inhabitants of the world. The inhabitants initiated a planetwide project to place everyone under suspended animation while automated systems of robots and computers worked towards finding a cure. Once the cure was found, the inhabitants could be revived.
By the time the player arrives, it is clear that the project is on the edge of success, but the planet itself is on the verge of destruction. The planetary orbit has decayed, leading to massive global warming and an enormous rise in the oceanic levels. Meteorites bombard the planet with ferocious intensity, and the project to find a cure for the plague is itself threatened by the failure of the main computer and repair systems.
Early on in the game, the player finds what at first appears to be the only remaining inhabitant of the island: Floyd, a childish yet endearing robot. He is both a constant source of comic relief (e.g. "Oh, boy! Are we going to try something dangerous?" when the player saves the game in his presence), and also critical in advancing the plotline. Once Floyd realizes that the aptly named ProjCon repair robot Achilles is non-functional, and that the Project is close to completion, he performs the ultimate sacrifice and gives his life to retrieve the vital Miniaturization Card from the Biolab. As Floyd lies dying, the player sings the "Ballad of the Starcrossed Miner
" to him (itself an allusion to the earlier Infocom game Starcross
).
The adventurer then uses the Miniaturization Booth to access malfunctioning Relay Station #384 and repairs the main computer by removing an offending speck of dust with a laser. After defeating a giant microbe, the adventurer is informed that the primary Miniaturization Booth is malfunctioning and is rerouted to the Auxiliary Booth. Unfortunately, this puts a room full of mutants between the player and the endgame.
With a biomask and the help of the Laboratory's poison gas system, the player makes it through the Biolab but emerges with the mutants on his tail. However, the adventurer makes it to the Cryo-Elevator which is hidden behind a mural. The elevator takes the adventurer to a secret room where the survivors of the infection were cryogenically frozen, just as the entire facility staff is reanimated by the antidote discovered by the ProjCon Computer. The adventurer is proclaimed a hero, Floyd is repaired, and Blather is demoted
.
This cannot all be accomplished in just one day. The adventurer must sleep in a Dormitory each night and eat when nature calls. Taking more than a few days causes the adventurer to succumb to the infection which apparently has ravaged the facility unless the antidote is obtained at the underground site. But even taking the antidote only buys a little time as the planet's water level is rising. To achieve the optimum ending, the adventurer also must repair the three Planetary systems: the Communications System, the Planetary Defense System, and the Course Control System.
A game developers round table on GEnie
concluded that Floyd's death was a sad moment that could make someone cry.
Floyd's death has been described as directly evoking the player's emotions because the story and gameplay are aligned.
The death of Floyd has been described as changing the game to an "evocative theatrical experience" after which "the player feels lonely and bereaved."
The memory of Floyd's death remains with players for years and is remembered as a direct experience.
Floyd's death "convey[ed] a sense of wonder at the unexpected and touching quality of the gesture."
The scene has been described as a minor milestone toward video games as an expressive narrative art.
Game designer Raph Koster
feels that Floyd's death is "cheating" because it occurs in a cut scene.
. Unlike previous titles, it contains a number of useless items, inaccessible locations, and other false clues.
The locked door in the Rec Area can be opened with the combination found in the lab uniform. This area can also be accessed by the teleportation booths. However, the item in this room is not critical to completing the game. Many players speculated that the room contained a paddleball set, but this item does not exist outside of the victory scene, when the adventurer is presented with such a set.
In violation of established conventions of interactive fiction, it is unnecessary—and, in fact, impossible—to bring a light source to light up the dark areas of the map. The game dangles a lamp in the player's face, but it is absolutely impossible to retrieve the lamp and explore the darkened areas; the character dies first from a lethal dose of radiation. Only modifying the game file can allow the player to get the lamp safely. This reveals that all dark locations include such messages as, "You should not be here.", and, "You have just found a major bug."
, Infocom included extra novelty items with their packaged games called feelies. Included with Planetfall was:
The level of main character backstory contained in the feelies is a noted departure from the AFGNCAAP endemic to the other games in the Zork genre
.
, uses the game image on the cover, and is marketed "In the bestselling tradition of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
interactive fiction
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
computer game written by Steve Meretzky
Steve Meretzky
Steven Eric Meretzky is an American computer game developer, with dozens of titles to his credit. He has been involved in almost every aspect of game development, from design to production to quality assurance and box design...
, and the eighth title published by Infocom
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone....
in 1983. Like most Infocom games, thanks to the portable
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
Z-machine
Z-machine
The Z-machine is a virtual machine that was developed by Joel Berez and Marc Blank in 1979 and used by Infocom for its text adventure games. Infocom compiled game code to files containing Z-machine instructions , and could therefore port all its text adventures to a new platform simply by writing a...
, it was released for several platforms simultaneously. The original release included versions for the PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
(both as a booter
PC booter
A PC booter, or booter, is a type of software for home computer era personal computers that was loaded and executed in the bootup of the computer, from a bootable floppy disk, rather than as a regular program; a booter thus bypassed any operating system that might be installed on the hard disk of...
and for DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
) and Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
. The Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
versions were released in 1985. A version for CP/M
CP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
was also released. Although Planetfall was Meretzky's first title, it proved one of his most popular works and a best-seller for Infocom; it was one of five top-selling titles to be re-released in Solid Gold versions including in-game hints. Planetfall utilizes the Z-machine
Z-machine
The Z-machine is a virtual machine that was developed by Joel Berez and Marc Blank in 1979 and used by Infocom for its text adventure games. Infocom compiled game code to files containing Z-machine instructions , and could therefore port all its text adventures to a new platform simply by writing a...
originally developed for the Zork
Zork
Zork was one of the first interactive fiction computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure. The first version of Zork was written in 1977–1979 on a DEC PDP-10 computer by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, and implemented in the MDL programming language...
franchise and was added as a bonus to the "Zork Anthology". A review in Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
considered the game a good place to start for those new to interactive fiction.
It has been described as "still lovingly remembered".
The word planetfall is a portmanteau of planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
and landfall
Landfall (meteorology)
Landfall is the event of a tropical cyclone or a waterspout coming onto land after being over water. When a waterspout makes landfall it is reclassified as a tornado, which can then cause damage inland...
, and occasionally used in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
to that effect.
Taglines
- Stellar Patrol: It's not just a job; it's an adventure!
- Risk your life - on Stellar Patrol!
- STELLAR PATROL: SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT FORCE - But even your expert technical training won't save you now.
Plot
The game starts with the user assuming the role of a lowly Ensign Seventh Class on the S.P.S. Feinstein, a starshipStarship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
of the Stellar Patrol. Overbearing superior Ensign First Class Blather assigns the player to mop decks, not exactly the glorious adventures promised by the recruiters on Gallium. But a sudden series of explosions aboard the ship sends the player scrambling for an escape pod, which eventually crash-lands on a nearby planet. There are signs of civilization, but curiously no traces of the beings that once lived there. Eventually encountering a helpful but childlike robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
named Floyd, the player must unravel the mysteries of the single deserted structure on the planet, Resida, and find a way to get back home. As the fate of the planet's former inhabitants becomes clearer, a time limit also imposes itself.
The adventurer does not remain on S.P.S. Feinstein for long. Talking to the alien ambassador and performing the required task of scrubbing the floor don't accomplish much. Wandering to other parts of the ship merits demerits from Blather and an ultimately fatal run-in with the Brig unless the player returns to work. Soon, an explosion occurs and an escape pod door opens. The pod safety netting breaks the player's fall and an escape kit is produced, which proves critical to survival. With great exertion, the adventurer swims out of the pod and climbs up to a mysterious deserted base.
By putting together various clues, slowly the player realizes that the nearly uninhabited island is in fact one of the last remaining landmasses on a planet on the verge of destruction. A deadly plague for which no cure existed threatened to kill off all inhabitants of the world. The inhabitants initiated a planetwide project to place everyone under suspended animation while automated systems of robots and computers worked towards finding a cure. Once the cure was found, the inhabitants could be revived.
By the time the player arrives, it is clear that the project is on the edge of success, but the planet itself is on the verge of destruction. The planetary orbit has decayed, leading to massive global warming and an enormous rise in the oceanic levels. Meteorites bombard the planet with ferocious intensity, and the project to find a cure for the plague is itself threatened by the failure of the main computer and repair systems.
Early on in the game, the player finds what at first appears to be the only remaining inhabitant of the island: Floyd, a childish yet endearing robot. He is both a constant source of comic relief (e.g. "Oh, boy! Are we going to try something dangerous?" when the player saves the game in his presence), and also critical in advancing the plotline. Once Floyd realizes that the aptly named ProjCon repair robot Achilles is non-functional, and that the Project is close to completion, he performs the ultimate sacrifice and gives his life to retrieve the vital Miniaturization Card from the Biolab. As Floyd lies dying, the player sings the "Ballad of the Starcrossed Miner
Ballad of the Starcrossed Miner
"The Ballad of the Starcrossed Miner" is a poem from the Infocom interactive fiction game Planetfall. It appears at a critical juncture in the game's plot....
" to him (itself an allusion to the earlier Infocom game Starcross
Starcross (computer game)
Starcross is a 1982 interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Dave Lebling and published by Infocom. Like most Infocom titles, it was developed for many systems. It was released for DOS, as a PC Booter, Apple II, Atari ST and Commodore 64. It is Infocom's fifth game.The game was...
).
The adventurer then uses the Miniaturization Booth to access malfunctioning Relay Station #384 and repairs the main computer by removing an offending speck of dust with a laser. After defeating a giant microbe, the adventurer is informed that the primary Miniaturization Booth is malfunctioning and is rerouted to the Auxiliary Booth. Unfortunately, this puts a room full of mutants between the player and the endgame.
With a biomask and the help of the Laboratory's poison gas system, the player makes it through the Biolab but emerges with the mutants on his tail. However, the adventurer makes it to the Cryo-Elevator which is hidden behind a mural. The elevator takes the adventurer to a secret room where the survivors of the infection were cryogenically frozen, just as the entire facility staff is reanimated by the antidote discovered by the ProjCon Computer. The adventurer is proclaimed a hero, Floyd is repaired, and Blather is demoted
Demotion
A demotion is a reduction in an employee's rank or job title within the organizational hierarchy of a company, public service department, or other body. A demotion may also lead to the loss of other privileges associated with a more senior rank and/or a reduction in salary or benefits...
.
This cannot all be accomplished in just one day. The adventurer must sleep in a Dormitory each night and eat when nature calls. Taking more than a few days causes the adventurer to succumb to the infection which apparently has ravaged the facility unless the antidote is obtained at the underground site. But even taking the antidote only buys a little time as the planet's water level is rising. To achieve the optimum ending, the adventurer also must repair the three Planetary systems: the Communications System, the Planetary Defense System, and the Course Control System.
Reaction
The death of Floyd has been discussed numerous times. Meretzky claims that "numerous players" have told him that they cried over the death of Floyd.A game developers round table on GEnie
GEnie
GEnie was an online service created by a General Electric business - GEIS that ran from 1985 through the end of 1999. In 1994, GEnie claimed around 350,000 users. Peak simultaneous usage was around 10,000 users...
concluded that Floyd's death was a sad moment that could make someone cry.
Floyd's death has been described as directly evoking the player's emotions because the story and gameplay are aligned.
The death of Floyd has been described as changing the game to an "evocative theatrical experience" after which "the player feels lonely and bereaved."
The memory of Floyd's death remains with players for years and is remembered as a direct experience.
Floyd's death "convey[ed] a sense of wonder at the unexpected and touching quality of the gesture."
The scene has been described as a minor milestone toward video games as an expressive narrative art.
Game designer Raph Koster
Raph Koster
Raphael "Raph" Koster is an American entrepreneur, game designer, and author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of Ultima Online and the creative director behind Star Wars Galaxies...
feels that Floyd's death is "cheating" because it occurs in a cut scene.
Red herrings
Planetfall was Infocom's first game to make extensive use of red herringsRed herring (plot device)
Red herring is an idiomatic expression referring to the rhetorical or literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance...
. Unlike previous titles, it contains a number of useless items, inaccessible locations, and other false clues.
The locked door in the Rec Area can be opened with the combination found in the lab uniform. This area can also be accessed by the teleportation booths. However, the item in this room is not critical to completing the game. Many players speculated that the room contained a paddleball set, but this item does not exist outside of the victory scene, when the adventurer is presented with such a set.
In violation of established conventions of interactive fiction, it is unnecessary—and, in fact, impossible—to bring a light source to light up the dark areas of the map. The game dangles a lamp in the player's face, but it is absolutely impossible to retrieve the lamp and explore the darkened areas; the character dies first from a lethal dose of radiation. Only modifying the game file can allow the player to get the lamp safely. This reveals that all dark locations include such messages as, "You should not be here.", and, "You have just found a major bug."
Feelies
Beginning with 1982's DeadlineDeadline (computer game)
Deadline is an interactive fiction computer game published by Infocom in 1982. Written by Marc Blank, it was one of the first murder mystery interactive fiction games. Like most Infocom titles, Deadline was created using ZIL, which allowed the easy porting of the game to popular computer platforms...
, Infocom included extra novelty items with their packaged games called feelies. Included with Planetfall was:
- A Stellar Patrol "Special Assignment Task Force" ID card (about the size and shape of a credit cardCredit cardA credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
). The ID number printed on the card is the telephone number of MIT's student newspaper, The Tech, which was in the way of a prank by Meretzky. - 3 interstellar postcardPostcardA postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope....
s - A Stellar Patrol recruiting manual, "Today's Stellar Patrol: Boldly Going Where Angels Fear to Tread"
- A short diary kept by the player's character (in the Solid Gold release, an in-game object included in the player's starting inventory rather than the packaging)
The level of main character backstory contained in the feelies is a noted departure from the AFGNCAAP endemic to the other games in the Zork genre
Zork
Zork was one of the first interactive fiction computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure. The first version of Zork was written in 1977–1979 on a DEC PDP-10 computer by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, and implemented in the MDL programming language...
.
Book
The book Planetfall written by Arthur Byron CoverArthur Byron Cover
Arthur Byron Cover is a science fiction author.Cover attended the Clarion Writer's SF Workshop in New Orleans in 1971, and made his first professional short-story sale to Harlan Ellison's The Last Dangerous Visions...
, uses the game image on the cover, and is marketed "In the bestselling tradition of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
.
External links
has screenshots of Planetfall on a variety of systems and credits for the game.- Planetfall at Infocom-if.org
- Planetfall at the unofficial Infocom Homepage
- The Infocom Bugs List entry for Planetfall