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Scott Adams

 

 

 

Scott Adams wrote the first commercial text adventure game for the personal computer. He wrote Adventureland for the TRS-80 in BASIC. Adams based it on Colossal Caves, which was written by Will Crowther and Don Woods on a DEC PDP-10.

 

Adams formed a company called Adventure International in 1978. Between '78 and '84 Adams wrote 14 text adventure games for the Atari, Apple II, C64, Sorcerer, TI, and CP/M (you can download all of Adams' games in one big zip at http://www.msadams.com/Downloads.htm). The games all featured a two word parser (e.g., GO EAST).

 

Adams started selling his Adventureland game by placing a small ad in a computer magazine and sending copies on tape. His first big sale was 50 copies to a Radio Shack in Chicago. In December 1980, Byte magazine wrote an article about Adams' adventure game. At its peak, Adventure International grossed $3 million. It signed a deal with Marvel Comics to release games based on its super heros under the Questprobe label.

 

When the bottom fell out of the video game market in the mid '80s, Adams' Adventure International went out of business. Today Adams is 48 years old, lives in Wisconsin, and works as a senior programmer for Avista, Inc.

 

 

Games:

 

#1 Adventureland (1978)

#2 Pirate's Adventure

#3 Mission Impossible (1979)

#5 The Count (1981)

#6 Strange Odyssey

#7 Mystery Fun House

#8 Pyramid of Doom

#9 Ghost Town

#10 Savage Island, part 1

#11 Savage Island, part 2

#13 Sorcerer of Claymorgue Castle (1984)

#14 Return to Pirate's Island

The Hulk (1984, Questprobe)

Spiderman (1984, Questprobe)

Fantastic Four (1985, Questprobe)

 

-- Karl Mamer

 

 

 

 

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