User's Manual

BrailleNote Apex BT User Guide
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19.14 History of Text Adventure Games.
When computers were first evolving, the terminals that were used to display information did not
allow graphics to be displayed. People still wanted to play games that created scenes and allowed
players to move around in an environment where they could interact with it; wander through caves
and tunnels; find hidden treasure and attack monsters.
The only way that this could be done was by describing to the player what was happening and then
allowing them to type in some actions. The first game that was like this, was called "Adventure". As
you played the game, you walked around houses, caves and tunnels. You also picked objects up,
looked around, fought monsters and solved puzzles. The text adventure had been born.
Note: A copy of "Adventure" is included in the games supplied with your BrailleNote BT. Because
it is quite a difficult game to play, it is not recommended as the first game you try.
Over the next 10 years many text adventures were made and sold to early users of personal
computers. But as graphics improved this type of game became unpopular and nearly disappeared.
However in the late 1990's a group of nostalgic programmers and authors got together and
reinvented the games, calling them Interactive Fiction (abbreviated to IF), a more appropriate
description of what you are doing when you play a game. All the games included with your
BrailleNote BT are classified as interactive fiction where you as the player must unravel puzzles, or
perform certain tasks, all of which causes the story to slowly unfold.
End of Games chapter.