<!--
	Title: (NEW ON THE CHARTS) Cutthroats
	Author: Faye Zuckerman
	Source: Billboard
	Date: 24 November 1984
	Transcription by Steve Derby
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<p class="center" style="font-weight: bold;">CUTTHROATS<br>
	#XX Home Entertainment</p>

In Infocom's top-selling adventure game "Cutthroats," the
player is a skilled diver attempting to salvage a sunken treasure
from one of four shipwrecks.

The game's author, Michael Berlyn, who also wrote "Suspended"
and "Infidel," says his brother-in-law's involvement in a
salvage operation off of the Massachusetts shore prompted him
to design a computer game dealing with shipwrecks and sunken
treasure. He admits that he has "very little" scuba diving experience.

"That's why it took me nine months to write it. I had to do a
lot of research and learn about diving," he says. He adds that
most of the information in the text adventure regarding sunken
treasures, shipwrecks and diving is accurate.

Berlyn says he designed the $40 interactive fiction title for
computer users who are not that skilled at text adventures. He estimates
that it takes about 40 hours for a beginner to complete
the adventure. "It is actually two complete stories, so it's replayable,"
he notes.

Jerry Wolper is credited with programming the game. He used
the firm's proprietary "Zil" language, which Berlyn describes
as being able to parse English phrases.
