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TAKE THEIR WORDS FOR IT!
"[HITCHHIKER'S] is the greatest [work of interactive fiction] I've every [played]. The [descriptions] were especially delicious!"
RESTAURANT GUIDE
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(Click on photo to enlarge)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is what Infocom calls interactive fiction; a text-based (completely void of graphics and images, except for what you create in you mind!) adventure game.
The game is based on the best-selling science-fiction book, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams, and which is the first episode in a five-part trilogy.
In the game you control the character of Arthur Dent, the human who is plucked from Earth just before its destruction and roams the galaxy with a range of aliens, robots, towels, and no tea!
The story was first made popular as a 12-part radio series in 1978, which fuelled interest in the books and spawned a television adaptation, which is available on VHS tape, laser disc and now on DVD!
Restaurant at the End of the Universe is (or was going to be) Infocom's sequel to Hitchhikers. Douglas Adams had written some bits of it, and various Infocom authors actually did code the opening scene (on Magrathea). It was thought that Douglas was too busy to work on it seriously, and probably a little bored by the whole HHGTTG thing at that time. He also felt more inspired by some of the Infocom authors than others, and so even less work got done when the authors he wasn't inspired by were assigned to that particular project.
To run the game, you need a top-of-the-line computer... that's top-of-the-line in 1982!
These look *very* dated by today's standards...
IBM PC, PCjr, XT, AT (PC DOS 2.0 OR HIGHER) (5-1/4" DOUBLE-SIDED DISK, 64K) and MS-DOS 2.0 (or higher) compatibles; TI Professional, Wang, Sanyo, Leading Edge, AT&T, and many others
Infocom also produced "invisi-clues" (sold separately, about $8 bucks, if I remember correctly) these were 5.5"x8.5" booklets that contain helpful (in *some* cases!) hints you could use when you were completely baffled; you needed a special marker pen that you would use to highlight the desired clue to make it visible. These booklets also contained maps that would help guide your way through the game.
Hitchhiker's Map...
The BBC Television Series on DVD:
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (1981) - If you have never seen the television series (it used to air on PBS stations, mostly during pledge drives) you are in for a treat! On the other hand if you have heard the BBC radio series, you might be mildly disappointed by the video adaptation; the production vales here are reminiscent of another popular BBC-TV series Doctor Who... kind of campy, but very enjoy never the less! Buy this today (even if you are only a casual fan of Douglas Adams work), before it goes out of print and becomes a much sought after collectable item, like the CD of the radio series and the laser disc set! Presented on a 2-disc special edition.
The Books:
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Join Douglas Adams's hapless hero Arthur Dent as he travels the galaxy with his intrepid pal Ford Prefect, getting into horrible messes and generally wreaking hilarious havoc. Dent is grabbed from Earth moments before a cosmic construction team obliterates the planet to build a freeway. You'll never read funnier science fiction; Adams is a master of intelligent satire, barbed wit, and comedic dialogue. The Hitchhiker's Guide is rich in comedic detail and thought-provoking situations and stands up to multiple reads. Required reading for science fiction fans, this book (and its follow-ups) is also sure to please fans of Monty Python, Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, and British sitcoms.
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - This sequel to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy finds Arthur Dent, reluctant space adventurer, joining Zaphod Beeblebrox--two-headed former president of the galaxy--Zaphod's dead great-grandfather, sexy cadet Trillian, and paranoid Marvin in the search for the ultimate hot spot for an evening of apocalyptic entertainment and fine dining, where the food (literally) speaks for itself.
Life, the Universe and Everything - Join Arthur Dent, earthling, "jerk", kneebiter and time-traveler; sexy space cadet Trillian; mad alien Ford Prefect; unflappable Slartibartfast; two-headed, three-armed ex-head Honcho of the Universe Zaphod Beeblebrox... and learn to fly. Is it the end? With Douglas Adams it's always up in the air!
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Arthur Dent is out of his bathrobe, in love, and wondering why the dolphins said...So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. Was the earth really demolished? Why did all the dolphins disappear? What is God's final message to His creatures? Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and the new voivoid gang are off (by commercial airline) on a wacked-out quest to answer these truly unimportant questions.
Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams is back with the amazing, logic-defying, but-why-stop-now fifth novel in the Hitchhiker Trilogy. Here is the epic story of Random, who sets out on a transgalactic quest to find the planet of her ancestors.
Book 6?... there were 6 parts after all!
The Salmon of Doubt : Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time - On Friday, May 11, 2001, the world mourned the untimely passing of Douglas Adams, beloved creator of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, dead of a heart attack at age forty-nine. Thankfully, in addition to a magnificent literary legacy-which includes seven novels and three co-authored works of nonfiction-Douglas left us something more. The book you are about to enjoy was rescued from his four computers, culled from an archive of chapters from his long-awaited novel-in-progress, as well as his short stories, speeches, articles, interviews, and letters. In a way that none of his previous books could, The Salmon of Doubt provides the full, dazzling, laugh-out-loud experience of a journey through the galaxy as perceived by Douglas Adams. From a boy’s first love letter (to his favorite science fiction magazine) to the distinction of possessing a nose of heroic proportions; from climbing Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume to explaining why Americans can’t make a decent cup of tea; from lyrical tributes to the sublime pleasures found in music by Procol Harum, the Beatles, and Bach to the follies of his hopeless infatuation with technology; from fantastic, fictional forays into the private life of Genghis Khan to extended visits with Dirk Gently and Zaphod Beeblebrox: this is the vista from the elevated perch of one of the tallest, funniest, most brilliant, and most penetrating social critics and thinkers of our time. Welcome to the wonderful mind of Douglas Adams.
A compilation of the first five books:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide - At last, the complete Hitchhiker series in one volume! Five novels, including the new bestseller Mostly Harmless -- plus a bonus story, Young Zaphod Plays It Safe!
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