![[U. S. A.]](images/flags/usa.gif) Interplay Productions
Located in Los Angeles, CA (earlier Irvine, CA).
They used a system called Advent 2 to create their games.
They are or have been distributed by Activision, Inc and Electronic Arts.
They distribute New World Computing and Amazing Media.
 Mindshadow
Type: DG (a few animations)
Written 1984 by Bill Heineman.
Runs on:
Notes: The user interface is similar to the early Legend released - a
picture window, lists of nouns and verbs, and a window for
reading and entering text. It also features a compass rose.
This was sold in at least three different packages: a 8.5" x
9" flat folder, a 5.5" x 7.5" x 1.25" box, and a plastic case.
Comments: Mindshadow was the
first original game Interplay ever did. Based loosely on the old
Robert Ludlum novels, it focused on the main character losing his
identity and trying to claim it back. It was a very unique game
concept at the time and one of the clever aspects was that players
would enter THINK NOUN and each time the player entered a word that
related to the past, part of your memory came back. You actually won
when you reclaimed your whole past.
The Tracer Sanction
Type: DG (a few animations)
Written 1984.
Runs on:
Notes: It has the same split-screen format used by the early On-Line
Systems games and the SAGAs - graphics taking most of the
screen, a few lines at the bottom for text input.
It was packaged in a 5.5" x 7.5" x 1.25" box, similar to the
one Mindshadow came in.
Borrowed Time
Type: BG (some animation)
Written 1985 by Brian Fargo [story], Michael Cranford [story], David Lowery [graphics], Curt Toumanian [graphics] and Greg Miller [graphics].
Runs on:
Notes: The user interface is like the early Legend games - a picture
window, lists of nouns and verbs, and a window for reading and
entering text. Common commands could be entered with icons.
Should be possible to finish without the documentation.
It was packaged in a flat folder, 8.5" x 9".
Tass Times in Tonetown
Type: Bitmap graphics/BG/MUSIC (some animation)
Written 1986 by Michael Berlyn [story], Muffy Berlyn [story], Brian Fargo [story], Steve Nielsen [story], Bill Heineman [graphics] and Todd Canasta [graphics].
Runs on:
Notes: Includes four-page tabloid newspaper. It has a split-screen
interface with pictures and text entry. Common commands could
also be entered with icons. Can be finished without the
documentation.
It was packaged in a 7" x 9" x 1" box.
Comments: Travel to the _very_ strange town Tonetown in another dimension
to save your grandpa from a hideous crocodile creature named
Franklin J. Snarl and your dog who has learned to talk.
Lord of the Rings
Type: Moving character graphics/Point-n-Click/Music
Written 1991 by Rusty Buchert, Scott Bennie, Brian (Fargo?) and Bruce (Schlickbernd?).
Runs on:
Notes: Puzzle-oriented RPG.
Lord of the Rings II: The Two Towers
Neuromancer
Type: Moving character graphics/Point-n-Click/Music
Written 1988 by Bruce Balfour, Mike Stackpole, Brian Fargo and Devo [music].
Runs on:
Notes: Based on William Gibson's cyberpunk novel. Timothy Leary gave
some assistance to this project according to the manual.
Comes on one 3 1/2" disk for Apple IIGS. The package includes
a fold-out reference card, "PAX Verification Code Wheel" and an
18-page manual.
This was Interplay's first release under their own name, after
being distributed by Electronic Arts and Activision,for a
few years.
Comments: It's all about hacking into computer bases and upgrading your
internal software. It is an RPG but with a lot of adventure
elements, though the control system isn't too sophisticated (but
it's great fun, anyway).
Package blurb: Nowadays, hacking in somewhere you don't belong can get you
in trouble. In a hundred years, it will get you killed...
You got 30 megs online, three viruses, six icebreakers and a
smart-mouth ROM construct riding shotgun.
As you go hacking in hard on the immense icy-hard crystal of
the new database, something stirs within it. Artificial intelligence?
'You know,' says your ROM construct, 'maybe the ice here is
so hard not just to keep cowboys like you out, but 'cause
they wanta keep something else in.'
And then you remember: They're called Als 'cause they don't
care when they kill you.
It's party time in Cyberspace.
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary
Type: Moving character graphics/Point-n-Click/MCG/PNC/MUSIC (some action elements)
Written 1992 (1993?) by Bruce Schlickbernd [producer] and Jay Patel [programming].
Runs on:
Notes: This game was also released in an enhanced CD-ROM version.
Star Trek: Judgement Rites
Type: Interactive graphics
Runs on:
 Interplay's 10 Year Anthology
Written 1994.
Notes: This is a compilation for PC. It containes Mindshadow,
Tass Times in Tone Town, The Bard's Tale, Battle Chess,
Wasteland, Dragon Wars, Castles, Lord of the Rings, Star
Trek: 25th Anniversary, Another World.
 Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy
Type: Point-n-Click
Written 1998.
Runs on:
Comments: Very myst like adventure that you really never understand.
Based on the works of an artist.
 Voyeur
Written 1993.
Runs on:
Comments: Game in which you are looking into a large house through the
windows. You must record vital information about a mystery
unfolding inside and call the police before anyone dies.
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