Enchanter (video game)

Enchanter ( English for " magician" ) is a fantasy text adventure from Infocom from the year 1983. It plays in the Zork universe and was originally intended as Zork IV on the market. It is the first part of the Enchanter trilogy. The other two parts are Sorcerer (1984) and Spellbreaker (1985).

Action

The evil warlock Krill spread chaos and destruction. The "Circle of Enchanters " ( German: Circle of the Magician ) not dared to stop him. In the hope that krill would not perceive him or at least do not consider a threat, a magic - beginners (the player) sent to stop krill. In the course of the game, the player's abilities, however, increase as a magician, thus also the threat of krill.

Gameplay and technology

Enchanter is a text adventure, that is, there is no graphic elements. Environment and events are made and the actions of the player entered as on-screen text also as text using the keyboard. The parser understands the game more than 700 words, what Enchanter made ​​of the date of one of the most technologically advanced text adventures. The system of Spells is partly based on the Earthsea saga by Ursula K. LeGuin and partly on the vancianischen system of role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons rules. As with Vance spells have only in memory are not "stored " before they can be used, and like LeGuin a spell is represented by a nonsense term. This term can then be used in the game as a verb. For example, brings the spell " Frotz " objects to glow; the input > frotz BOOK accordingly brings a book to shine. The game contains 74 rooms and 33 objects.

Trimmings

In addition to the game, the early releases of Enchanter contained a printed, fictional essay " A Brief History of Magic " and an old fashion styled scroll with seal ( rubber ).

Reception

In contemporary reviews, the puzzles and the powerful parser were highlighted positive. The banal story was negatively noted.

The novel by Robin Wayne Bailey Enchanter has a similar plot and plays in the same universe as the computer game, but includes completely different characters. Frotz, a Z -machine emulator, has its name from one of the spells from Enchanter.