Gateway (computer Game)
''Frederik Pohl's Gateway'' is a 1992 interactive fiction video game released by Legend Entertainment, and written by Glen Dahlgren and Mike Verdu. It is based on Frederik Pohl's Heechee Saga, Heechee universe. It was followed by a sequel ''Gateway II: Homeworld'', in 1993. In 1996 Legend Entertainment List of commercial video games released as freeware, made the game available for free download from its website. Gameplay Synopsis Setting A century in the future, humans land on Venus and colonize it. Below the surface, thousands of miles of artificial tunnels are discovered. They are believed to have been built thousands of years ago by an alien species known as the Heechee, but little else is known about them until an explorer discovers a Heechee ship, intact and operational, in one of the tunnels. Rather than report his findings, he climbs in and activate it. The ship launches and goes into "TAU Space," a faster-than-light travel method. It arrives at a huge space station ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Legend Entertainment
Legend Entertainment Company was an American Video game developer, developer and Video game publisher, publisher of computer games, best known for creating Adventure game, adventure titles throughout the 1990s. The company was founded by Bob Bates and Mike Verdu, both veterans of the interactive fiction studio Infocom that shut down in 1989. Legend's first two games, ''Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All the Girls'' and ''Timequest,'' had strong sales that sustained the company. Legend also profited from negotiating licenses to popular book series, allowing them to create notable game adaptations such as ''Companions of Xanth'' (based on ''Demons Don't Dream'' by Piers Anthony) and ''Gateway (video game), Gateway'' (based on Gateway (novel), the eponymous novel by Frederik Pohl)''.'' Legend also earned a reputation for comedic adventures, with numerous awards for ''Eric the Unready'' in 1993. As the technology of the game industry changed, Legend continued to expand its game en ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light (also FTL, superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light (). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero rest mass (i.e., photons) may travel ''at'' the speed of light, and that nothing may travel faster. Particles whose speed exceeds that of light (tachyons) have been hypothesized, but their existence would violate causality and would imply time travel. The scientific consensus is that they do not exist. "Apparent" or "effective" FTL, on the other hand, depends on the hypothesis that unusually distorted regions of spacetime might permit matter to reach distant locations in less time than light could in normal ("undistorted") spacetime. As of the 21st century, according to current scientific theories, matter is required to travel at slower-than-light (also STL or subluminal) speed with respect to the locally distorted spacetime region. Appar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Computer Games Magazine
''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1990, Issue 1) and ''Computer Games Strategy Plus'', but changed its name to ''Computer Games Magazine'' after its purchase by theGlobe.com. By April 2007, it held the record for the second-longest-running print magazine dedicated exclusively to computer games, behind '' Computer Gaming World''. In 1998 and 2000, it was the United States' third-largest magazine in this field. History The magazine's original editor-in-chief, Brian Walker, sold ''Strategy Plus'' to the United States retail chain Chips & Bits in 1991. Based in Vermont and owned by Tina and Yale Brozen, Chips & Bits retitled ''Strategy Plus'' to ''Computer Games Strategy Plus'' after the purchase. Its circulation rose to around 130,000 monthly copies by the mid-1990s. By 1998, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fahrenheit 451 (video Game)
''Fahrenheit 451'' is an interactive fiction game released in 1984 and based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury. Originally released by software company Trillium, it was re-released in 1985 under the company’s new name Telarium. The player's goal is to help Guy Montag, the main character from the novel, to evade the authorities and make contact with an underground movement. Bradbury contributed to the game by writing the prologue and responses of the game's intelligent computer "Ray". Publication history The plot and text of the game were written by Len Neufeld (known for his previous authorship of books in the ''Be an Interplanetary Spy'' interactive novel series), working under the aegis of Byron Preiss Visual Publications. The game was released for the Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Macintosh, MSX and Tandy computers. Plot At the ending of ''Fahrenheit 451'', former Fireman Guy Montag is a fugitive, wanted for murder for killing his super ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rendezvous With Rama (video Game)
''Rendezvous with Rama'' is an interactive fiction computer game with graphics published by Telarium (formerly known as Trillium), a subsidiary of Spinnaker Software, in the year 1984. It was developed in cooperation with Arthur C. Clarke and based upon his 1973 science fiction novel ''Rendezvous with Rama''. Reception German reviewers recognized the complexity of the storyline and the various possibilities of interaction with non-player characters.Boris Schneider-Johne, Heinrich Lenhardt: ''Science Fiction-Adventures'', Happy Computer 5/1985, p.145ff. See also * Fahrenheit 451 (video game), ''Fahrenheit 451'' (video game) * ''Rama (video game), Rama'', 1996 computer game also based on Clarke's novel References External links Rendezvous with Rama at ''Museum of Computer Adventure Game History'' by Howard Feldman * * 1980s interactive fiction 1984 video games Adaptations of works by Arthur C. Clarke Apple II games Biorobotics in fiction Commodore 64 games DOS games ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Busywork
Busy work (also known as make-work and busywork) is an activity that is undertaken to pass time and stay busy but in and of itself has little or no actual value. Busy work occurs in business, military and other settings, in situations where people may be required to be present but may lack the opportunities, skills or need to do something more productive. People may engage in busy work to maintain an appearance of activity, in order to avoid criticism of being inactive or idle. Educational settings In the context of education, busy work allows students to work independently, to test their own knowledge and skills, and to practise using new skills learned in the educational setting.(1901Plans for busy work – Boston Primary Teachers' Association – Google Books/ref> It can consist of various types of schoolwork assigned by a teacher to keep students occupied with activities involving learning and cognition while the teacher focuses upon another group of students. The functional ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Planetfall
''Planetfall'' is a science fiction themed interactive fiction video game written by Steve Meretzky, and the eighth title published by Infocom in 1983. The original release included versions for Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, TRS-80, and IBM PC compatibles (both as a self-booting disk and for MS-DOS). The Atari ST and Commodore 64 versions were released in 1985. A version for CP/M was also released. Although ''Planetfall'' was Meretzky's first title, it proved one of his most popular works and a best-seller for Infocom; it was one of five top-selling titles to be re-released in Solid Gold versions including in-game hints. Planetfall uses the Z-machine originally developed for the Zork franchise and was added as a bonus to the "Zork Anthology". The word ''planetfall'' is a portmanteau of ''planet'' and ''landfall'', and occasionally used in science fiction to that effect. The book ''Planetfall'' written by Arthur Byron Cover, uses the game image on the cover, and is marketed "In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Starcross (video Game)
''Starcross'' is a 1982 interactive fiction game written by Dave Lebling and published by Infocom. The game was released for the IBM PC (as a self-booting disk), Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, TRS-80, TI-99/4A, and later the Atari ST and Amiga. It was Infocom's fifth game and first in the science fiction genre. ''Starcross'' takes place in the year 2186, when the player's character is a lone black hole miner exploring an asteroid belt. It sold 90,315 copies. Gameplay The player's ship, the ''Starcross'', is fitted with a mass detector to look for "quantum black holes", which are such powerful sources of energy that one could provide a wealth of riches. When the mass detector finally discovers an anomaly, however, it is not a black hole but something else entirely: a massive craft of unknown origin and composition. The player must dock with the mysterious ship and gain entry to its interior. Once inside, the player discovers a wide variety of alien plant and animal sp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Charles Ardai
Charles Ardai (born 1969) is an American entrepreneur, businessperson, and writer of award winning crime fiction and mysteries. He is founder and editor of Hard Case Crime, a line of pulp-style paperback crime novels. He is also an early employee of D. E. Shaw & Co. and remains a managing director of the firm. He was the former chairman of Schrödinger, Inc. Early life A New York native and the son of two Holocaust survivors, Ardai told NPR in a May 2008 interview that the stories his parents told him as a child "were the most grim and frightening that you can imagine" and gave him the impression "there was a darker circle around a very small bit of light," something that enabled him to relate to his own characters' sufferings. While in high school, Ardai enjoyed reading pulp fiction and worked as an intern at Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. After graduating from Hunter College High School in 1987, he attended Columbia University, where he graduated ''summa cum lau ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through the 1990s and became one of the largest dedicated video game magazines, reaching around 500 pages by 1997. In the early 2000s its circulation was about 300,000, only slightly behind the market leader ''PC Gamer''. But, like most magazines of the era, the rapid move of its advertising revenue to internet properties led to a decline in revenue. In 2006, Ziff announced it would be refocused as ''Games for Windows'', before moving it to solely online format, and then shutting down completely later the same year. History In 1979, Russell Sipe left the Southern Baptist Convention ministry. A fan of computer games, he realized in spring 1981 that no magazine was dedicated to computer games. Although Sipe had no publishing experience, he formed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paradox
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically unacceptable conclusion. A paradox usually involves contradictory-yet-interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time. They result in "persistent contradiction between interdependent elements" leading to a lasting "unity of opposites". In logic, many paradoxes exist that are known to be invalid arguments, yet are nevertheless valuable in promoting critical thinking, while other paradoxes have revealed errors in definitions that were assumed to be rigorous, and have caused axioms of mathematics and logic to be re-examined. One example is Russell's paradox, which questions whether a "list of all lists that do not contain themselves" would include itself, and showed that attempts to found set theory on the identification ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), education (such as medical or military training) and business (such as virtual meetings). Other distinct types of VR-style technology include augmented reality and mixed reality, sometimes referred to as extended reality or XR, although definitions are currently changing due to the nascence of the industry. Currently, standard virtual reality systems use either virtual reality headsets or multi-projected environments to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual environment. A person using virtual reality equipment is able to look around the artificial world, move around in it, and interact with virtual features or items. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets consisting ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |