The resurgence of interest in the gamesblog's Wikigame project has prompted a flood of Interactive Fiction links into the our inbox, including this superb one from PhilWal MichaelBruntonSpall about the development (and ultimately the demise) of the sequel to the classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Milliways: the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
From the article:
A sequel seemed like such a sure thing, they mentioned it in the game's ending. In the final scene, the Heart of Gold sets down on Magrathea and you exit the ship. "Slowly, nervously, you step downwards, the cold thin air rasping in your lungs. You set one single foot on the ancient dust -- and almost instantly the most incredible adventure starts which you'll have to buy the next game to find out about." ... But by May 1985, it seems like Adams lost interest. "In light of my discussions with Douglas yesterday and this afternoon at lunch, I cannot imagine finishing this game for 1985," wrote Marc Blank, Infocom's co-founder. "Douglas' attitude seems to be less than I require in order to do a collaboration."
The rest of the post is an incredible walk through the politics of game development. A must-read. Props to Andy Baio @ Waxy.org for the reportage.
