Amnesia (video game) 2550551 207456837 2008-04-22T21:34:07Z Mhoenig 83153 /* Features */ {{otheruses|Amnesia (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox VG |title = Thomas M. Disch’s Amnesia |image = <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Amnesia.jpg|200px|thumb|center|''Amnesia'', [[Electronic Arts]], 1986<BR>(Cover art by Jim Salvati)]] --> |developer = Cognetics Corp. |publisher = [[Electronic Arts]] |designer = [[Thomas M. Disch]] (Writer) / Kevin Bentley (Programmer) |engine = |released = [[1986 in video gaming|1986]] |genre = [[Text Adventure]] |modes = [[Single player]] |ratings = |platforms = [[MS DOS]] [[IBM PC clone|PC]], [[Apple II family|Apple II]] and [[Commodore 64]] |media = 5¼" [[floppy disc]] |requirements = |input = [[Computer keyboard|Keyboard]] |}} '''''Thomas M. Disch's Amnesia''''' is a [[text adventure]] [[computer game]] created by Charles Kreitzberg's Cognetics Corp., written by award-winning [[science fiction]] author [[Thomas M. Disch]], and [[game programmer|programmed]] by Kevin Bentley using the King Edward Adventure game authoring system developed by James Terry. The game was acquired and [[game producer|produced]] by [[Don Daglow]] and [[video game publisher|published]] by [[Electronic Arts]] (EA) in [[1986 in video gaming|1986]] for the [[MS DOS]] [[IBM PC clone|PC]] and [[Apple II family|Apple II]] systems. A version for [[Commodore 64]] was released in [[1987 in video gaming|1987]]. ==Description== The game begins as the player's character awakens in a midtown [[Manhattan]] hotel room with absolutely no memory. He has no clothes and no money, and doesn't even remember what he looks like. The player soon discovers he's engaged to a woman he can't remember, a strange man is trying to kill him, and the state of [[Texas]] wants him for murder. From here, the player must unravel the events in his life that led him to this point. ==Features== In addition to being a text adventure, the game's major innovation was [[life simulation game|simulating life]] in Manhattan. Disch's model covered every block and street corner south of 110th Street. A hard-copy map of the streets and subways of Manhattan was included in the packaging. Players moved from place to place on foot, and had to reach destinations at the correct time of day to initiate plot developments. Stores opened and closed at the correct times, street lights went on, and other aspects of [[New York]] life were simulated. Almost 4000 separate [[Manhattan]] locations, including 650 streets, were part of the game. ''Amnesia'' also featured the ironic, rich writing style of Disch himself, in distinct contrast to the functional or tongue-in-cheek tone of most text adventures. Disch is one of only three major writers (the others being [[Robert Pinsky]], in [[Synapse Software]]'s ''[[Mindwheel]]'' ([[1984 in video gaming|1984]]) and [[Douglas Adams]], in [[Infocom]]'s [[1987 in video gaming|1987]] game ''[[Bureaucracy (computer game)|Bureaucracy]]'') to create an entirely original feature-length piece of [[interactive fiction]]. However, over half of Disch's novel-length manuscript (possibly the largest ever in a major text adventure computer game) had to be cut from the published version due to the storage limitations of the then-current 5¼" [[floppy disk]] technology. ==Impact== One of the last major text-based games published by a major games company other than Infocom, ''Amnesia'' is also the only all-text adventure ever published by EA (''[[Hound of Shadow]]'', released by EA in [[1989 in video gaming|1989]], also was largely text-based but featured static graphical screens in its displays to establish setting and atmosphere). Although highly praised upon its release for its writing style, the game was only a moderate success. This can largely be attributed to the game's limited power. The other major publisher of text adventures, Infocom, allowed the player a great deal of freedom. ''Amnesia'', however, constrained the player in many artificial manners. For example, in the opening setting, the hotel room, the phone rings. Though the hotel room door is not locked, the player cannot leave the room. The player ''must'' answer the phone in order to proceed. Similar artificial limitations were placed on the player as they traversed the game world. A review in ''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' described the game as being "too much like a novel" as a result. The review also noted the main character would collapse after an unrealistically short amount of time if he didn't eat or sleep frequently.<ref name = "CGW">{{citation | date = Jan-Feb 1987 | author = Scorpia | periodical = [[Computer Gaming World]] | title = Amnesia | year = 1987 | pages = 44-45, 64-65}}</ref> Disch also wrote a [[screenplay]] based on the game's characters and story line and it was optioned to one of the major [[Hollywood]] studios, but the film was never made. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{moby game|id=/amnesia|name=''Amnesia''}} [[Category:DOS games]] [[Category:Apple II games]] [[Category:Commodore 64 games]] [[Category:Electronic Arts games]] [[Category:1986 video games]] [[Category:Interactive fiction]]