Slouching Towards Bedlam
Encyclopedia
Slouching Towards Bedlam is an interactive fiction
game that won the first place in the 2003 Interactive Fiction Competition
. It is a collaboration between Daniel Ravipinto and Star Foster. Slouching Towards Bedlam was finalist for eight 2003 XYZZY Awards, winning four: Best Game
, Setting, Story, and Individual NPC (for the protagonist's cybernetic assistant, Triage). The game takes place in a steampunk
Victorian era
setting. Its title is inspired by a line from The Second Coming
, a poem by W.B. Yeats.
Asylum. From context it appears that the character is Doctor Xavier, a doctor at the Asylum. The Doctor, however, has no memory of his past. After investigation, it becomes clear that a now deceased patient, Cleve Anderson, has infected the player character with a mental virus known as the "Logos
". The virus spreads by spoken language, taking the form of a glossolalic
babble uttered by the vector. The patient tried to stop the spread of the virus by not speaking to others, not realizing that the player character (in the back-plot) had been secretly listening in on the patient. Part of the result of being infected with the virus is that the character recognizes and has access to some ability to control time, as represented by the normally meta-game commands "undo", "save," "restore," and "restart." Throughout the game the player is given cryptic messages that come from the Logos. Investigation can optionally reveal that a secret society accidentally released the Logos while experimenting with magic.
The game has five distinct endings. There are three endings in which the virus is stopped; either by having the player character commit suicide before interacting with any other people (Ending A), by having the player character kill any characters he interacted with before committing suicide (Ending D), or by having the player character kill any characters he interacts with then waiting (Ending E). The virus's end is explained in the endgame for Ending E: the player character goes home and cuts out his own tongue - and asks all his written works to be destroyed, afraid that the Logos will reproduce by writing. There are two endings in which the virus spreads: the player character can willfully transmit the virus over a wireless broadcast (Ending C), quickly spreading it across the world, or the player character can simply infect several other people who will slowly spread the virus (Ending B). Each ending comes with an appendix that provides additional information on it.
Co-author Star Foster was a newcomer to writing Interactive Fiction.
Foster worked professionally in marketing. She died in December 2006.
The two both lived in Philadelphia and met there. They collaborated on
design and development. Actual programming was entirely done by Ravipinto.
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...
game that won the first place in the 2003 Interactive Fiction Competition
Interactive Fiction Competition
The Interactive Fiction Competition is one of the best known of several annual competitions for works of interactive fiction. It has been held since 1995. It is intended for fairly short games, as judges are only allowed to spend two hours playing a game before deciding how many points to award it...
. It is a collaboration between Daniel Ravipinto and Star Foster. Slouching Towards Bedlam was finalist for eight 2003 XYZZY Awards, winning four: Best Game
XYZZY Award for Best Game
This is a list of XYZZY Awards results, grouped by award rather than year. The XYZZY Awards are the annual awards given by the publication "XYZZYnews" to works of interactive fiction, serving a similar role to the Academy Awards for film...
, Setting, Story, and Individual NPC (for the protagonist's cybernetic assistant, Triage). The game takes place in a steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
setting. Its title is inspired by a line from The Second Coming
The Second Coming (poem)
"The Second Coming" is a poem composed by Irish poet William Butler Yeats in 1919 and first printed in The Dial and afterwards included in his 1921 collection of verses titled Michael Robartes and the Dancer. The poem uses Christian imagery regarding the Apocalypse and second coming as allegory to...
, a poem by W.B. Yeats.
Summary
The player character awakens in an office in BedlamBethlem Royal Hospital
The Bethlem Royal Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in London, United Kingdom and part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Although no longer based at its original location, it is recognised as the world's first and oldest institution to specialise in mental illnesses....
Asylum. From context it appears that the character is Doctor Xavier, a doctor at the Asylum. The Doctor, however, has no memory of his past. After investigation, it becomes clear that a now deceased patient, Cleve Anderson, has infected the player character with a mental virus known as the "Logos
Logos
' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...
". The virus spreads by spoken language, taking the form of a glossolalic
Glossolalia
Glossolalia or speaking in tongues is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables, often as part of religious practice. The significance of glossolalia has varied with time and place, with some considering it a part of a sacred language...
babble uttered by the vector. The patient tried to stop the spread of the virus by not speaking to others, not realizing that the player character (in the back-plot) had been secretly listening in on the patient. Part of the result of being infected with the virus is that the character recognizes and has access to some ability to control time, as represented by the normally meta-game commands "undo", "save," "restore," and "restart." Throughout the game the player is given cryptic messages that come from the Logos. Investigation can optionally reveal that a secret society accidentally released the Logos while experimenting with magic.
The game has five distinct endings. There are three endings in which the virus is stopped; either by having the player character commit suicide before interacting with any other people (Ending A), by having the player character kill any characters he interacted with before committing suicide (Ending D), or by having the player character kill any characters he interacts with then waiting (Ending E). The virus's end is explained in the endgame for Ending E: the player character goes home and cuts out his own tongue - and asks all his written works to be destroyed, afraid that the Logos will reproduce by writing. There are two endings in which the virus spreads: the player character can willfully transmit the virus over a wireless broadcast (Ending C), quickly spreading it across the world, or the player character can simply infect several other people who will slowly spread the virus (Ending B). Each ending comes with an appendix that provides additional information on it.
Authors
Slouching Towards Bedlam was Daniel Ravipinto's second publicly released game after 1996's Tapestry. Ravipinto works professionally as a computer programmer.Co-author Star Foster was a newcomer to writing Interactive Fiction.
Foster worked professionally in marketing. She died in December 2006.
The two both lived in Philadelphia and met there. They collaborated on
design and development. Actual programming was entirely done by Ravipinto.
External links
- Z-Code executable for Slouching Towards Bedlam - The original competition release. Requires a Z-machineZ-machineThe 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...
interpreter to use. - Complete solution (walkthrough) by Michael Martin
- Slouching Towards Bedlam - Play online in a Java applet
- Slouching Towards Bedlam at Baf's Guide to the IF Archive. Includes a mini-review by Emily ShortEmily ShortEmily Short is the pseudonym of an interactive fiction writer, perhaps best known for her debut game Galatea and her use of psychologically complex NPCs, or non-player game characters...
- SPAG #35 includes an interview with Foster and Ravipinto, and a review of the game
- Brass Lantern Magic Words: Dan Ravipinto and Star Foster Interview by Andrew Vestal and Nich Maragos