PCW, Page 137 Are you searching for the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything? Forget it! Tony Hetherington has found it in Infocom's humorous and impressive adaptation of Douglas Adams' Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
In 1978 a radio series was broadcast on Radio 4 called The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. There then followed a second series and a book of the same name. Then a second book was written which was followed by another. Meanwhile it had become a television series and also a stage play. Now it's a computer game.
It is, however, unlike any other computer game that I have played. Published by the American software house Infocom, The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy has all the trademarks of the excellent interactive fiction series, but there is a slight difference.
The game disk is accompanied by the demolition orders for your home and planet, a 'Don't Panic' badge, a piece of fluff, a small polythene bag (with which to attack microscopic space fleets) and the exceedingly useful peril-sensitive sunglasses - which you naturally cannot see through.
Adams is said to have enjoyed a number of Infocom's adventures and thought it would be a good idea to do one based on Hitch-hiker's. He initially contacted the company via a bulletin board and further discussions followed in a series of English pubs (which was cheaper, although response time may have been slower) before Steve Meretsky was given the job of programming (Steve had previously written the In adventures Planetfall and Sorcerer).
The resulting game is a curious mix of the humour and imagination of Douglas Adams and the depth and quality of an Infocom adventure. It is also a difficult adventure to solve.
Strategy
As with the other Infocom adventures, Hitch-hiker's Guide consists of a series
of logical problems which form the plot of a story in which you are the leading character. Your degree of success in tackling these problems determines the consequent route of the story.
You play the part of Arthur Dent and awaken one morning in a darkened room to discover that you have a dreadful hangover. On clambering out of bed and taking an aspirin you begin to feel slightly better: the irony of your situation is that this day will turn out to be the worst day of your life. In the next half hour your house is due to be demolished by a bulldozer (because it's simply in the way) and the Earth is scheduled to be destroyed by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass.
Just in time you and your friend, Ford Prefect, whom you always thought was from Guildford but is actually from a small planet near Betelgeuse, hitch a lift on the Vogon spaceship and the advencontinues.
If you've seen any of the previous versions of Hitch-hiker's and are now assuming that the game has the same plot and solution, don't. You're in for quite a surprise.
Although the characters are the same, and you'll come across similar creatures, places and situations, the difference is that you have to take a leading role rather than be lead through the action. A good comparison is The Hobbit by Melbourne House, wherein you play the part of Bilbo who is helped and ~ through the story but takes the leading role in the game.
Therefore, it's up to you to find the answers to the obstacles which are placed in your way: you do, however, have some help in the dubious form of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This is an electronic book that you can consult about many things - but don't be too surprised if the editor for the section you require was out at lunch when the guide was compiled. As already stated the problems which you have to solve are logical and have logical solutions-but only if you apply the rather strange logic that exists in Hitch-hiker's.
To illustrate: the problem of getting a babel fish out of the babel fish dispenser. In the book and radio series Ford merely pops one into your ear but in the game you're not so lucky. After consulting the guide you realise that putting a babel fish in your ear is an excellent idea as it will allow you to understand and be understood by anyone or anything in the galaxy. Consequently you are determined to get one so you press the button on the dispenser, but the fish shoots out the slot across the room and through a hole in the wall. You notice that there's a hook above the hole, so you hang your dressing gown on the hook in order to block the hole, and try again. But this time the fish hits the gown and falls down a drain. Not to be defeated in your objective you cover it with a towel. However, when the next fish lands on the towel, before you've had time to do anything, a cleaning robot charges in, picks up the fish and disappears through a robot panel near the floor. After some frantic hair-pulling you borrow Ford's satchel and place it in front of the panel and confidently depress the button.
Unfortunately, your lap of honour is interrupted by the following message:
"A single babel fish shoots out the slot. It sails across the room and hits the dressing gown. The fish slides down the sleeve of the gown and falls to the floor, landing on the towel. A split- second later, a tiny cleaning robot whizzes across the floor1 grabs the fish, and continues its breakneck pace towards a tiny robot panel at the base of the wall. The robot ploughs into the satchel, sending the babel fish flying through the air in a graceful arc. A small upper-half-of-the-room cleaning robot catches the babel fish and exits."
Don't be surprised if your computer acts strangely. At one stage I was informed that there was an exit to port but when I tried it, I was told that I couldn't go that way. In frustration I typed 'starboard' but was told that I could and had gone port and that it had lied before!
And don't be too easily deterred: your progress through the game will undoubtedly improve as you tune into the game's 'brand of logic', a state which I only achieved half-way through the third sleepless night spent hitchhiking.
To help you get there, here's a brief description of some of the characters and creatures in Hitch-hiker's.
Ford Prefect is a researcher for the guide but unfortunately stayed on earth slightly longer than intended (six years) during which time he updated the guide's entry about earth from 'harmless' to 'mostly harmless'. For some reason beyond his apprehension he saved you, Arthur Dent, from the earth's extinction but then recovered his senses.
Together you are thrown into space by the Vogons where, just before you expire, you are picked up by the Improbability drive propelled spacethe 'Heart of Gold'. The new owner of this ship is Zaphod Beeblebrox whom you once saw looking normal at a party, but now he has two heads. He is also the president of the galaxy for which he got himself elected with the sole object of stealing the new Heart of Gold.
On board ship you meet Trillian, whom you previously knew as Tricia MacMillian and first met at the same party. This is an incredibly improbable situation but, after all, the Heart of Gold is driven by the Improbability Drive.
The ship is also populated by proof the Sirius Cybernetics Corporawhose attempts to install Genuine People Personalities into machinery has unhappily resulted in Marvin the paranoid robot and an overprotective computer called 'Eddie'.
During your adventures you will also meet the Vogon captain who is green and blubbery and recites poetry (aaagh!), a warlike alien wearing black-jewelled battle shorts, and the incredstupid but equally dangerous and ravenous Bug Blatter Beast of Traal. This incredibly stupid monster thinks that if you can't see it, it can't see you!
If you try something a little silly (which could be the answer, so it's always worth a try), it doesn't respond with the all-too-usual 'You can't do that.' Instead it either gives you a helpful error message or passes a comment which can range from 'You're letting things get to you too much, try and relax' through to 'Are you sure you're allowed to be playing with this computer?'
Well, how do you solve the problems in Hitch-hikers? Here are a few tips that I've gleaned from the game.
Once you have tuned into the game's peculiar logic, you should ensure that you read everything carefully (includthis review). Every word and object in Hitch-hiker's are there for a reason-even if the reason is only to confuse you. Also you should consult the guide about anything and everything as it contains some important hints. Be prepared to try anything no matter how dangerous or silly it may at first seem; but before you do, use the game's save facility so that you can restore it if things don't turn out too well.
Finally, don't assume for one moment that the game is the same as the book or radio series; even your main objective is different.
Prices and availability
The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is available on disk for numerous machines including the IBM PC (this was the version used for the review copy), Apple II, Macintosh, DEC Rainbow, HP15O and 110, Commodore 64 and Atari. Most versions cost £34.50 with the last two being slightly cheaper at £30.20.
Documentation
The guide is in a class of its own and even contains footnotes to its entries. These, of course, can be read and usually contradict what the guide has just told you. Just for fun I decided to read through the footnotes. When I came to footnote 10 the computer responded with: 'Isn't it fun reading through the footnotes?'
Conclusion
The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first Infocom adventure to have a strong outside influence in the shape of Douglas Adams. This has undoubtedly improved an already impressive format and produced a genuinely funny and challenging game. Infocom classes Hitch-hiker's as a Standard Level game but it's hard Standard and more difficult to solve than some of the company's Advanced material.
There will be two groups of people who will particularly relish this game: the 'Hitch-hikers' for whom this will be their first Infocom adventure; and the Infocom adventurers who will be introduced to the humour of Adams. Those lucky people who already know both won't be disappointed.
Last but not least, the Washington Post once said: 'If it's 2am it must be Infocom.' On the experience of the last few days I'd like to add: 'If it's 4am it must be Hitch-hiker's.
UK distributors include Softsel on (01) 8442040.
Thanks to Jeremy Smith for transcribing and donating this article.
Last revised: Thu Dec 11 22:03:56 EST 1997 / Peter Scheyen <pete@csd.uwo.ca>
