Adventure Gamers - Forums

http://imgur.com/a/qWLWD

I grew up on Infocom text adventures. I remember getting new games for Christmas. Opening up those cool boxes and checking out all the goodies inside. Firing up Zork on my Apple II and drawing maps on graph paper. My love for adventure games continued through Sierra, LucasArts, and into the CD-ROM age of Myst and 7th Guest. I played them all. Nearly every.single.one.

I kept many of the boxes and as I grew older and nerdier, I wanted to immerse myself in the nostalgia, firing up many of these games again on DOSBox or their remastered counterparts. And doing so, I had the idea of getting my boxes signed by the designers of the game or perhaps someone who worked on it. So my adventure game autograph project began.

I messaged designers through facebook or email or anywhere else I could find their contact info. I was polite, I promise, and offered to pay all shipping costs and even supply then pen. These designers were incredibly gracious and nice to me, I really appreciate every interaction I had. I linked to the album my collection, which include King’s Quest signed by Roberta Williams, Grim Fandango by Tim Schafer, Monkey Island by Ron Gilbert, Zork by Dave Lebling, Hitchhiker’s Guide by Steve Meretzky, Myst by Robyn Miller, Gabriel Knight II by Jane Jensen, and many many more. I actually ended up shipping some boxes to France, England, and even Australia (for Discworld II!). I think there’s 61 in all! And of course it was the classic BIG BOXES. Loved the art work. Ah those days of going into Babbage’s to find the new adventure game release.

This was several years back, around 2007-2009, but I can’t thank the designers enough for signing my game boxes and making me fall in love with games. If any happen to read this post and can recall my inquiries 6 or so years ago, thanks  

Now I’m passing on my love for gaming stories and design onto my daughter, even showing her the text adventures where it all began. When she was younger we played through King’s Quest and Legend of Kyrandia. It was awesome watching her solve puzzles on her own. It’s always time to stock up on graph paper!

Haha, thanks. Yes, it was months of dedication and trips to the post office but obviously i’m just grateful for all those designers that took the time and effort to do it.

I’ve been in nostalgia mode again lately, shoving all my library onto a laptop in a DOSBox front end. Fired up 11th Hour, don’t think I ever finished it back then. And I see why. Need a MENSA level genius degree to complete these puzzles. Those “object” riddles, what the heck. I dunno how anyone completed this game with no hints or walkthrough. If there’s anyone here that did, I bow down

And thanks for the doc recommendation, will check it out!

Cryptic crosswords aren’t about being a genius, they’re about being familiar with the particular conventions of the genre, as well as being a native speaker.

That’s fantastic!

The Buried in Time box brought back memories.  I bought the game when it first came out and inside was a postcard that you received if you were one of the first hundred to buy it.  I sent it in and received the first disk of the game signed in white ink by all the developers.  It was thrilling and I still have it.

I was able to finish 11th Hour without much trouble as I recall, although I didn’t like the game very much, I can’t remember why - that annoying Stauff voiceover, I suppose.

Edit:  Ah, nostalgia.  I just remembered that the lidded box - I was an early adopter in those days - came with beautifully die-cast cutout cardboard sleeves for each disk which were tied with raffia.  In those days game packaging could be quite spedcial.  I’m glad I kept all my boxes and am sorry that they’re a thing of the past.

Haha it did cost a small fortune. But it was worth it. Had a lot of fun. Only had one meh experience with a designer. But really they all went out of their way to help me and ship all of them back, even if I paid for it and supplied everything, they did effort too and I thank them all.

This is beyond awesome. What a wonderful collection Phod. Who signed the copy of System Shock 2 for you?

Thanks!

Eric Brosius, who did the music, signed it for me. And his wife Terri, who is the voice of SHODAN. I loved the music which is why I contacted him.

I tried to contact Ken Levine but could never hear back. He finally did like months later but I never followed up.