[Announce] Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. now available
Mike Berlyn
Failing physics--again--would be traumatic enough. But now, you're trapped
inside a Particle Accelerator and Reality Translation Integrator, the
product of mad genius meeting mixed metaphors. Originally designed to help
the human mind understand particle physics, the sub-atomic world inside is
a strange blend of mysticism and science, of Zen contemplation and Marx
Brothers movies. Dr. Gregory Dumont has sucked you into his P.A.R.T.I.,
but it's no picnic in there.
Cascade Mountain Publishing is proud to announce the release of Dr.
Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I., their latest full-length interactive fiction
adventure. CMP broke onto the scene last year with the long-awaited
release of Once and Future, the epic adventure tale that re-established
top-quality interactive fiction in the gaming marketplace.
This special release of P.A.R.T.I. revives Dr. Dumont and his bizarre
particle accelerator from a decade-long slumber. The new version includes
an expanded P.A.R.T.I. world, a built-in hint system, and all of the
important
contents of Dr. Dumont's desk and cork board!
The new version of P.A.R.T.I. is available for the first time in the
popular cross-platform Inform format, making it compatible for systems
ranging from palmtops to workstations (and, of course, PCs and Macs for the
more conventional gameplayer.)
Explore the wonders of the Science Art Museum (open 24 hours) on your
PalmPilot! Visit the UnFair in Linux! Thrill to the Kite Races on your
Psion 5! The mysteries of Particle X are in there somewhere, and without
your wits and a Diploma of Thought, jealously guarded by the mysterious
Professor Parti, it's going to be a long day.
Although Dr. Dumont's input was invaluable, P.A.R.T.I. is the brainchild
of the First Couple of interactive fiction, Muffy McClung Berlyn and
Michael Berlyn. The Berlyns are behind a number of breakthrough games,
including Suspended, Tass Times In Tonetown, Infidel, and Oo-Topos.
"We're excited about introducing Dr. Dumont to a whole new class of
undergrads," says Michael Berlyn, co-author and publisher. "We're
dedicated to changing the way people think about text adventures, and I
can't think of a better way to change one's perspective than to step inside
Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I."
This special release of Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. is an
electronic-only product. For $24.00, you can download the game
package from Cascade Mountain's eCommerce server, including an Adobe
Acrobat (PDF) file containing important documentation and "props" from Dr.
Dumont's office.
Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. is available exclusively through Cascade
Mountain Publishing. To order, visit their website at
http://www.cascadepublishing.com and follow the links to software.
Sam Barlow
> The new version of P.A.R.T.I. is available for the first time in the
> popular cross-platform Inform format, making it compatible for systems
> ranging from palmtops to workstations (and, of course, PCs and Macs for the
> more conventional gameplayer.)
"New-Version"? Has this game been released before (sorry if this is a
really stupid question).
> "We're excited about introducing Dr. Dumont to a whole new class of
> undergrads," says Michael Berlyn, co-author and publisher. "We're
> dedicated to changing the way people think about text adventures, and I
> can't think of a better way to change one's perspective than to step inside
> Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I."
What is "Dr. Dumont's.."? Is it a traditional IF game with lots of
physics puzzles or is it "new" IF? Is this "new-version" a polished
version of an old game, or is it something new?
Questions I'd like answered before I part with my cash.
Thanks,
Sam.
Mike Berlyn
Sam Barlow wrote in message ...
>On Tue, 2 Feb 1999, Mike Berlyn wrote:
>
Thanks for your interest. I'll do my best to answer your questions.
> "New-Version"? Has this game been released before (sorry if this is a
> really stupid question).
First, there's no such thing as a stupid questions. :) The original Dr.
Dumont's was written for Infocom by Muffy and me. When they were taken over
by Activision, all outside projects were cancelled, and although the alpha
version had been delivered, they returned the rights to the game to us. It
was then released in 1987 by "First Row Software." The company which
released it folded a few months later due to funding issues (lack of same).
> What is "Dr. Dumont's.."? Is it a traditional IF game with lots of
> physics puzzles or is it "new" IF? Is this "new-version" a polished
> version of an old game, or is it something new?
This release is about twice the size of the original Dumont, with more
characters and topics you can ask them about. Lots of new stuff was added.
Bugs were fixed. This version was extensively tested by a group of hard-core
gamers and IF authors. Reviews from them were very flattering.
Mark Musante ported the original game to Inform for us, and then we spent
several months revising the game.
Dumont is basically a text adventure rather than experimental IF. It has
logical puzzles, a built-in hint system, and about 100 more verbs than the
original. In addition, a lot of "scenery" objects were added to make the
experience more complete. It has a vocabulary of about 850 words (as opposed
to 300 in the original).
We rewrote whole sections of the game and made the characters more "modern"
in that they interact with the player more.
As far as the puzzles themselves are concerned, none of them are really
classical physics problems -- everything in the game is metaphorical and
logical. In essence, knowledge of physics is not required.
-- Mike
Steven Marsh
<mbe...@cascadepublishing.com> wrote:
<snip>
>
>This release [of Dr. Dumont] is about twice the size of the original Dumont, with more
>characters and topics you can ask them about. Lots of new stuff was added.
>Bugs were fixed. This version was extensively tested by a group of hard-core
>gamers and IF authors. Reviews from them were very flattering.
>
<blush> :b
As (I guess) one of the hard-core gamers (check out my "lude" mode!),
I can recommend this game. It's like...
Well, it's most like Mike Berlyn's -other- pieces from Infocom. If
you like Seastalkers, Suspended, and/or Infidel, I think you'll really
like Dumont. It's not a "My God! It's etched my soul!" piece of IF
(like, say, Trinity or Spellbreaker), but it's solid, enjoyable, and
-fun-. (It's one of the few pieces of "serious" IF I've played in
recent years that I'd call fun. Spider & Web was probably the last,
what with all the neat toys to play with.)
<snip>
>As far as the puzzles themselves are concerned, none of them are really
>classical physics problems -- everything in the game is metaphorical and
>logical. In essence, knowledge of physics is not required.
>
Agreed. It has its own little internal logic, which takes some
getting used to (see the excellent article on puzzles recently posted
at the Interactive Fiction Mining Co), but once you do, it's fun to
struggle in that little universe. All told, I think it's most like
Infidel, with its own enclosed world to figure out... except replacing
the unending BLEAK of Infidel with a logical wackiness. And there's
fun characters to interact with. :)
Steven Marsh
ma...@nettally.com
Who places no significance on the fact that his hamster is named
"Tass".
Jason Compton
: Well, it's most like Mike Berlyn's -other- pieces from Infocom. If
: you like Seastalkers, Suspended, and/or Infidel, I think you'll really
: like Dumont. It's not a "My God! It's etched my soul!" piece of IF
Did you mean Cutthroats, perchance? Stu Galley wrote Seastalker.
--
Jason Compton jcom...@xnet.com
www.xnet.com/~jcompton
Steven Marsh
>In rec.games.int-fiction Steven Marsh <ma...@nettally.com> wrote:
>
>: Well, it's most like Mike Berlyn's -other- pieces from Infocom. If
>: you like Seastalkers, Suspended, and/or Infidel, I think you'll really
>: like Dumont. It's not a "My God! It's etched my soul!" piece of IF
>
>Did you mean Cutthroats, perchance? Stu Galley wrote Seastalker.
Yes... yes, I did. I was reading my Infocom Fact Sheet, getting my
InfoFacts straight, and my fingers, my evil fingers, typed in the
wrong game. My appendages shame me.
Steven Marsh
ma...@nettally.com