Scott Adams is the co-founder, with ex-wife Alexis, of
Adventure InternationalAdventure International was a computer game publishing company that existed from 1978 until 1985, started by Scott and Alexis Adams. Their games were notable for being the first implementation of the adventure genre to run on a microcomputer system...
, an early
publisherA video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
of games for home computers.
Born in
Miami, FloridaMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
and currently living in
Platteville, WisconsinPlatteville is the largest city in Grant County in southwestern Wisconsin. The population was 11,224 at the 2010 census, growing 12% since the 2000 Census. Much of this growth is likely due to the enrollment increase of the University of Wisconsin–Platteville...
, Adams was the first person known to create an
adventure-style gameAn adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
for personal computers, in 1978 on a 16
KBThe kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
Radio ShackRadio shack is a slang term for a room or structure for housing radio equipment.-History:In the early days of radio, equipment was experimental and home-built. The first radio transmitters used a noisy spark to generate radio waves and were often housed in a garage or shed. When radio was first...
TRS-80TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
Model I, written in the BASIC programming language.
Colossal CaveColossal Cave Adventure gave its name to the computer adventure game genre . It was originally designed by Will Crowther, a programmer and caving enthusiast who based the layout on part of the Mammoth Cave system in Kentucky...
was a year earlier, but on a mainframe, the
PDP-10The PDP-10 was a mainframe computer family manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation from the late 1960s on; the name stands for "Programmed Data Processor model 10". The first model was delivered in 1966...
. These early text adventure games use a minimal parser, recognizing 2-word commands of the form VERB NOUN. The parser only scanned the first three letters of each command, so inputting SCREAM BEAR, SCRATCH BEAR or SCREW BEAR would be treated identically. Scott had access to an advanced 16 bit computer at home, built by
Richard AdamsRichard Adams is an independent inventor and engineer. Since building and demonstrating a video camera as a child, his work has often garnered media interest.-TV camera:...
, that gave him a jump on game programming in his leisure time.
The
Adventure InternationalAdventure International was a computer game publishing company that existed from 1978 until 1985, started by Scott and Alexis Adams. Their games were notable for being the first implementation of the adventure genre to run on a microcomputer system...
games were subsequently released on most of the major home PC platforms of the day, including
TRS-80TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
,
Apple II seriesThe Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
,
AtariAtari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
8-bit series and
Commodore PETThe Commodore PET was a home/personal computer produced from 1977 by Commodore International...
. Versions of the games were also made for later platforms such as Vic-20 and some also had versions produced with rudimentary graphics.
Games
- Adventureland (1978)
- Pirate Adventure (1978–1979)
- Secret Mission (1979) (see also: Mission: Impossible)
- Voodoo Castle (In collaboration with Alexis Adams) (1980)
- The Count (1981)
- Strange Odyssey
Strange Odyssey was a text-based adventure program written by Scott Adams and Neil Broome .- Description :Published by Adventure International, this text-based adventure game was one of many from Scott Adams....
(1981)
- Mystery Fun House
Mystery Fun House was a text-based adventure program written by Scott Adams, "Adventure 7" in the series released by Adventure International. The game setting was a fun house that the player had to explore in order to locate a set of secret plans, solving puzzles along the way...
(1981)
- Pyramid of Doom
Pyramid of Doom is a text-based adventure program written by Scott Adams.- Description :Published by Adventure International, this text-based adventure game was one of many from Scott Adams, co-written by Alvin Files....
(In collaboration with Alvin Files) (1981)
- Ghost Town
Ghost Town is a computer game developed by Adventure International and released in 1981.-Plot:The player searches a Western ghost town for treasure...
(1981)
- Savage Island, Part I (1982)
- Savage Island, Part II (In collaboration with Russ Wetmore) (1982)
- Golden Voyage (In collaboration with William Demas) (1982)
- Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle (1982)
- Return to Pirate's Isle (Exclusively for TI-99/4A systems) (1983)
- Questprobe
Questprobe is a trilogy of graphical adventure computer games featuring Marvel Comics characters. The three games are Questprobe featuring The Hulk, Questprobe featuring Spider-Man and Questprobe featuring The Human Torch and The Thing....
series:
- Questprobe #1: The Hulk (1984)
- Questprobe #2: Spider-Man (1984)
- Questprobe #3: The Fantastic Four (1984)
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (in collaboration with Phillip Case) (1984)
- Return to Pirate's Island 2 (August 2000)
External links