<!--
	Title: Four Minds Forever Voyaging, Part Two
	Author: Sean Masterson
	Source: Zzap!64, #14
	Date: June 1986
	Transcription by Steve Derby
-->

<p class="article-sidebar-dark larger" style="font-weight: bold;">
Very few games get reviewed in magazines or journals outside the specialist
computer press like ZZAP! You won't find many platform game reviews in
The Times or in Punch. But you could find an Infocom review. Infocom
started working in the late seventies, formed out of an Artificial Intelligence
development team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and grew
rapidly into the most respected software house in the world.
</p>

<p class="article-sidebar float-left smaller" style="background: var(--dark); color: #EFCF6F; padding: 0.5em 1em;">
The famous American adventure games writing outfit
INFOCOM is generally shy and retiring, but in
<a href="/library/zzap64-four-minds-forever-voyaging">last
month's</a> phone interview marathon with Dave Lebling
and Steve Meretzky, SEAN MASTERSON learned
something about how Infocom go about designing
their games. In this concluding part, the receiver is
handed over to two more vital cogs in the infocom
machinery.
</p>

<img class="float-right-narrow" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-four-minds-forever-voyaging/sword-helmet-cartoon.png" alt="A sketch of a sword and helmet">

## PART THREE: STU GALLEY<br>(SENIOR GAME DESIGNER)

When Stu Galley came on the line, I asked him how
the company actually worked. One of the things
that has been said about Infocom is that there are
no real bosses. 'Yeah, I think that's fair to say.
Anyway, in my group, as game designers, we're
very co-operative. I think there's very little difference
in status.

<img class="float-left" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-four-minds-part-2/deadline-corpus-delicti.png" alt="'Corpus Delicti' from Deadline's packaging">

'Typically, the whole process of game design
takes nine to twelve months. Say from conception
to end. The concpetion will start with an idea --
either one that the designer has himself or from
talking with a collaborator or whatever. But in many
ways I think it's like writing a long work of fiction,
anything that takes that long. Starting with the
process of outlining, typically the designer will
write a synopsis of a few pages, sort of an outline
and it tells the important ideas and features that this
game will have. And that's passed round for
comment and we get together once there's the go
ahead. Then we spend two or three months making
the first draft of the program so to speak.

<p class="article-sidebar-dark float-right larger" style="font-style: italic;">
One of the things that I discovered about younger players is that
they use a big variety of different sentence structures, sort of more
colloquial or more ungrammatical inputs.
</p>

'Our group meets once a week at least, for
lunch and talking over the status of different games
that are being developed and whatever other issues
have to be discussed. You know, usually, at least
one or two things -- er design issues are brought up
that need to be discussed. Even at the early stage,
the conceptual stage, a meeting like that can be
really useful for er ... I was just trying to finish my
sentence and I forgot the word ... brainstorming!'

Stu had a first for the company with *Seastalker*.
Given the company's reputation for producing
complex, high level adventures, were there any
complications writing a junior game?

<img class="float-right-narrow" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-four-minds-part-2/deadline-cover.png" alt="Deadline cover">

'No, I think it's something of a higher standard
to write a simpler game because I wanted the
program to respond intelligently to the kinds of
inputs that the younger players are apt to use. We
did a bit of testing with some actual live kids here in
the office and er ... one of the things that I
discovered about younger players is that they use a
big variety of different sentence structures, sort of
more colloquial or more ungrammatical inputs.
And I wanted to be able to do something helpful
with a situation like that while at the same time, sort
of ... I didn't want to accept really ungrammatical
commands because I wanted to set a good example
to the player.

On the other hand, I found that kids could and
would use commands that adults would never think
of. So in a way, I think that the standard of friendliness
and fun was maintained as far as I can see.

'I think that all kinds of people play it. I don't
have any market research at my fingertips or sales
research but I know that, I've seen reviews of the
game in magazines written by adults and they often
regard it as just as puzzling just as much fun.'

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-four-minds-part-2/deadline-pills.png" alt="Pills from Deadline packaging">

Stu sounded so enthusiastic -- I assumed he
got a great deal of pleasure from his work. 'Yes, yes
I do. It's funny, it's almost like a dream fulfilled but
up until a few years ago, I had no idea that this was
what my dream was because I had no examples to
go by.'

I was surprised to hear about his immediate
reactions after a game had been finished. I had
assumed there would be a celebratory mood but
apparently this was not the case. 'Well frankly the
immediate feeling is a bit of a let down. I think, of
course there's a feeling of relief that, you know it's
like finishing a year at university, getting all of the
exams out of the way. I'd say a let down because
there's no immediate feedback -- whether you did
a good job or not. Once the programming is
finished, then there's a couple of months at least,
before there's feedback from players or reviewers.
It really would be more like six months to a year
before one gets the feeling of job well done or
whatever.'

<p class="article-sidebar-dark float-right larger" style="font-style: italic;">
It's almost like a dream fulfilled but up until a few years ago, I had no idea
that this was what my dream was because I had no examples to go by.
</p>

<img class="float-left-narrow" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-four-minds-part-2/seastalker-packaging.png" alt="Seastalker packaging">

So what did he have planned for the future?
Were there any exciting ideas for a new game? 'Yes
there is actually. Let's see. I'm not too sure how
much I should say about this as it might turn into a
product. I've at least one -- probably several.
Personally I'd like to reach new segments of the
audience by making each new game innovative or
appealing in a different way from all the others so
that someone who had maybe tried *Zork* or tried a
mystery and not gotten excited about it might find
something really interesting in a different sort of
game.

'I think all categories of popular fiction would
be fun to make into games. Personally I would like it
to be just interactive fiction. Well, writing interactive
fiction plus is a two edged sword, because
while you have a lot more room to do things in you
also have the problem of taking on a bigger project
and having a lot more work to do to get all the
details right. I sort of prefer a smaller scope,
something more like a stage play instead of a movie.
I think the confines are helpful in some ways.

'Well actually I did work on a game that I spent
about six months on and then decided to shelve it,
so to speak -- to put it aside. The problem there,
was that the story line wasn't sufficiently well
developed to make it really interesting. I guess I had
a vision of a certain kind of atmosphere in the
writing that was rather hard to bring off and after
some testing in house here, it became clear that
that it would need some significant changes to
make it work right. I'm glad we're able to do that
and we don't have to forge ahead with something
that doesn't really work well.'

<p class="article-sidebar-dark float-left larger" style="font-style: italic; text-align: right;">
American software companies don't comment on new products until they're
officially announced. The reason for that is the product may be under
development and although the company may intend to release it
on time, unforseen thing may happen so it just seems safer to keep the
wraps on until it's finished.
</p>

Infocom appear as a very secretive organisation.
I asked Stu whether this profile was
intentional? 'Yes, I think it's generally true of
American software companies particularly that they
don't comment on new products until they're
officially announced. And I think the reason for that
is because of the last question we talked about
where the product may be under development and
although the company may intend to release it on
time, unforseen things may happen and it has to be
postponed or cancelled. So it just seems safer, I
guess, to keep the wraps on a product until it's
finished.'

When I asked Stu what his favourite game was
hi pointed out that one of them wasn't an Infocom
game. No problem, said I, just tell us what they are.
'It's just that the other times I've been asked that
question, usually Infocom games are excluded.
Okay, it's very hard to say, really. It's like asking a
parent to pick a favourite child. Each are favourites
in different ways. I still enjoy *Witness* for certain
aspects of it, although I now feel that I could have
done it a lot better. That was my first one.

'*Seastalker* is similar. I like certain things about
it very much, I like the game I'm working on right
now in many ways. There are a lot of different things
about it. Er ... I'm looking at my shelf full of
packages here! I like *Hitch Hikers*. That's a lot of fun.

'As far as non-Infocom games, I think my
favourite is *Loderunner*. The thing that I like about it
is that it's the huge variety of the scenes derived
from this very small set of building blocks and it
reminds me in a way of mathematics -- one of my
favourite subjects, because it's like taking those
small set of axioms and deriving elaborate mathematical
structures from them. But *Loderunner*'s the
way to do it visually.'

## PART FOUR: CARL GENATOSSIO<br>(ART)

Finally, I spoke with the man responsible for all
those crazy bits and bobs that proliferate in an
Infocom game box. He can introduce himself. 'I've
been with the company since last April. And before
that I was actually working for the ad agency that
Infocom had at that time. I guess I would say that
I've been working on Infocom packaging over two
years. I'm 31.

'I came to the company last year to start a
creative department for packaging and other
related material that we produce and I had worked
at the agency where we develop most of the crazy
packaging for Infocom, so I knew everything there
was to know about the product before I started
here, kind of a nice transition to come from the
agency to here. And you know, it's been a real good
experience working here directly with the people
because everyone is so creative so, it's a totally
creative environment. I'm not at a lack for having
any ideas what to do. Just from talking to the people
around here, you know.'

One of the clever aspects of game packaging is
the way Infocom hide protection within the package
rather than the program. Carl commented on
this. 'Well that's worked out better on some games
than on others. Sometimes we'll get a real good
idea for an anti-pircay device. I don't know if you
have seen *AMFV*. The secret decoder wheel in that
is really essential to play the game. It's something
like 360 random number access combinations. It's
not something you can xerox a copy of. It's not
something you can pass on to a friend and forget
about because, you really need that to play the
game.'

It had occurred to me that the decoder wheel
was similar to *Sorcerer*'s Infotator. 'No that was
done by someone else at the ad agency. That was
prior to my involvement on Infocom games. But
you can see that we do put a lot of thought into
devices that actually, the person who buys the
game would want to have in the first place and it's
essential to playing the game.

<img class="float-left" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-four-minds-part-2/planetfall-packaging.png" alt="Planetfall packaging">

'We probably, out of any software or any
entertainment software company, yeah we
probably spend more on the package than anyone
else does and er -- we have very high quality
printing; again a lot of thought is put behind
everything that goes into the package in general. So
with that in mind, we just put in the extra effort to
make up a protection device that is attractive and
works quite well and fits the mood of the game.'

'Usually, from concept to finally printed package,
it takes about four months. We start out when
the game is in alpha testing. We get a look at the
game when the internal tester takes a look at it. Me
and my copywriter in the marketing department get
a look at the game at that point. We play it for about
a week or so and then we have a creative meeting
with the game writers and the marketing dept.

'We come up with a creative focus for what the
packaging should be as it relates to the game and at
that point it takes about two to three weeks for a
concept for the total package. And once that is
settled, it takes about a month to get art and
photography and typography done and from that
point I'd say that once art has started and all of that
and copy is written, it takes about another month to
put all the boards together to get the material ready
for printing. The printing process takes about eight
weeks.'

One of the most startling visual aspects of older
Infocom games were the box shapes. These have
now been standardised. Carl made several points
about the reasons for this. 'I can speak about the
original packages a bit because I know somewhat
about that. When Infocom first started out as a
company, they had come to the ad agency which at
that time was Giardini-Russell in Watertown
Massachusetts. Anyway, they had come to the
agency at the time and the agency was very big in
the hi tech field and they (Infocom) only had a
very small budget. They said, 'How do we market
and advertise these games?' And based on what the
agency had seen of the games and the amount of
money available, they said, 'Basically, you should
put all of your money into packaging because that's
going to be the thing that's most noticable about
your product' and that's where we started with
these wild packages.

'Now the first games like *Suspended* and *Starcross*
and the *Zorks* (although the *Zorks* had a very
simple package) but the others up to *Seastalker* were
all in very intricately put together packages simply
to be another ... something that people would
want to touch and hold and get into! But what killed
those packages was the fact that the dealers
couldn't stack a flying saucer on a shelf very well!
They kept falling off and rolling in the aisles, you
know?'

So did Carl find any constraints with new
packaging? 'No I don't as a matter of fact. You know
we've standardised the boxes as you can see but
each one of those packages is individual. I approach
them as an individual problem and I find that
there is very little repetition in what I do, even
though the format is the same. I am basically free to
do whatever I want to do. For instance, we're doing
something right now in, we're working on the
*Trinity* game, I don't know if you know about that
one. Well we're doing something new in that the
manual in that game is going to be a comic book. I
don't know how familiar you are with comic books --
are you familiar with the **Classics Illustrated**?'

<p class="article-sidebar-dark float-right larger" style="font-style: italic; text-align: right;">
What killed those packages was the fact that the dealers couldn't stack
a flying saucer on a shelf very well! They kept falling off and rolling in
the aisles, you know?
</p>

No -- unfortunately...

'Well, okay, that's a comic book series that was
out in this country in the late fifties and early sixties
and what they were like were sort of comic book
versions of history books. So this game, *Trinity*
which is a fantasy game, has a lot of reference to
historical information, so we're doing a full colour
comic book in a Classic style. I'm always working
with different people. That's what I think keeps the
packaging fresh and challenging, certainly for me to
work on. I find each one to be just like starting a
whole new thing.'

<img class="float-right" src="/public/img/articles/zzap64-four-minds-part-2/hhgttg-packaging.png" alt="Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy packaging">

Was there a particularly memorable design that
Carl had worked on? 'I would have to say, probably
*Suspect* because of the art style for one. I went with a
literary style -- a high brow literary style and
because of all the pieces that went inside that, the
invitation, the receipt for the costume, the
magazine article -- and the article in particular, I
wanted it to have a look about it so it would actually
look as if it had been ripped from the pages of a
magazine, so we had to make a special bad cut for
that so that it was consistent with every one that we
printed. That one happens to be my favourite and it
was one of the first that had to be designed for the
new format so I feel that it works really well because
I put a lot of thought into it.'

I asked him how was it decided where the
booklet would stop and the bits would start.
'There's a photograph on the back of every package
which shows you what you get inside the box, and
usually those things are not created until after the
package has been printed. So what I have to do is
make mock ups of those things and that's probably
the most difficult part of the whole packaging thing,
creating and photographing those items in an
interesting scene to give you the mood for the
game.

'We try to do something different every time
we work on a game and I guess I don't know how to
answer that except to say that whatever happens,
we're always looking into other things. It's an
ongoing thing from day to day. If I see something in
a magazine or in a toy store or a book store ... I
have a tremendous collection of little items that
might be interesting for something further on down
the line, somewhere, sometime, somehow, you know?

<p class="article-sidebar-dark float-right larger" style="font-style: italic; text-align: right;">
When I'm busy I never keep track of the time because when you're
really rolling on something worthwhile then time doesn't matter.
The way an agency works, they bill by the hour. My time is virtually
unlimited here and I get a chance to do everything that I want to do and sit
down and nit pick without worrying how much time I'm spending on it.
</p>

'When I'm busy I never keep track of the time.
When I first came here they had held the work for
me. They were waiting for me to come in because I
was coming over from the agency. When you're
really rolling on something worthwhile then time
doesn't matter. That's another reason why it made
sense to come here and start this department,
because the way an agency works, they bill by the
hour. My time is virtually unlimited here and I get a
chance to do everything that I want to do and sit
down and nit pick without worrying how much time
I'm spending on it.

'It's a sort of perfectionist's type of job. You can
come here at two in the morning and there'll be
someone here. There's someone working around
the clock. When you get dedicated people like that
and it's a fun job, I mean it doesn't make any
difference how long you ... well, how many hours
you put in and we have a flexible atmosphere as
long as you get your job done and have a good time
with it.'

Time was ticking on and my throat was becoming
dry. Thanking the folks at Infocom, I placed
the the receiver down and made my way to the Bull
Inn to rehabilitate. As the old flatulence bitter
trickled down my throat, I knew that a ball of fluff
would never be the same again.
