Does anyone know if the old hitchhikers gide to the galaxy
adventure/text game is available anywhere on the net?
I know it’s included on the “Classics of Infocom” (or similarly titled) CD-ROM that I had many moons ago. You might want to see if that is still available.
You can also play it online at Douglas Adam’s official web page:
If you’re really sneaky, view source on the page that lets you play the game, go to the part that invokes the z-interpreter java applet (it’ll be buried in the <applet> tag somewhere) and copy the address pointing to the z file (it’ll be called something like hhgg.z8 or sometihng like that). Copy the address into the address bar and download the source file for the game. Then just run it using a free z-interpreter such as WinFrotz and voila, “free” Hitchhiker’s.
Incidentally, they’re apparently working on a sequel to the game. It’s going to be a graphical adventure, like Starship Titanic. Might be cool, might suck. Time will tell…
Oh, and by the way. ftp.asimov.net (that’s a wag, btw, do a search for the “asimov apple archive” on google to get the real url) has most of the old infocom games on apple II disk image. You can either use an apple emulator to run 'em, or better yet use a z file extractor utility to pull the source out of the disk images and run 'em in winfrotz. One of the things that surprised me about the old game is that, even when they run in all caps on an apple, the source still allowed for upper and lower formatting. Weird. Infocom knew all about cross platform apps long before java and html…
I’d still buy the collection cd first if you can find it, if only to let people know that IF is still going strong. 
Are the original maps and hint booklets still available as part of these packages as well? I’m sure they are the invisible ink type, but those stunk anyways (they faded after awhile).
I’m mainly thinking of the Zork series, but I’m sure Infocom was fairlr consistent throughout their software packages.
The Infocom Documentation Project might be able to help you with the Zork games, smoke. The two guys running it have secured permission from Activision to get and make available quality representations of the Infocom docs.
Here’s the link: http://infodoc.plover.net/
I know all the games and hint booklets and maps are out there. I’ve found them here and there. I can’t remember where, but some good search engine time will get you there. Try searching for “interactive fiction”, which is the modern term for these types of games.
The correct name of the collection is: The Lost Treasures of Infocom, and it is (was?) sold by Activision. It came with everything but The Leather Goddesses of Phobos, and included all the hints but they are not in the invisible-ink format - -they’re just all printed up in a booklet 
The Infocom homepage, replete with maps, hints, and more, is available here: http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/
Yes, Hitch-hiker’s Guide is available on several ‘Abandonware’ Sites. I downloaded it the other day. I will not provide a link since most Abandonware is technically illegal and I believe the Mods are already getting a tad irked with the number of posts that they have to delete. If you do a Google search on ‘Abandonware’ you should find it.
Also, HHG is not on the Activision ‘Masterpieces’ CD that I bought last year, neither is ‘Shogun’. ‘Leather Goddesses’ is. This was a UK CD, I don’t know if foreign releases differed.
The CD also includes all the Invisiclues. Just did a Google on ‘infocom invisiclues’ and it turned up several sites that have them on-line.
Enjoy
That damned game! I could never figure out how to get up off the table when I woke up in the spaceship. Of course, I was about 10 last time I played.
–Tim
Go to this link, type in “Infocom”, and it will take you right to Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces by Infocom. I don’t see where it says specifically what games are on it, but apparently it has over 30 Infocom games, plus 6 new interactive fiction games, and it’s only $14.99, which ain’t bad at all. Hell, I think I’ll probably buy it, myself. 
As a second notice, I should point out that according to TPWombat, this collection doesn’t include Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, assuming this is the same collection s/he was referring to, which it seems to be. (It does have Douglas Adams’ Bureaucracy; I can see it pictured on the front cover).
I always wanted a “I got the babel fish” T-shirt, but I never got it. The shirt or the fish.
[BRAG]
I finished the game almost single-handed in 5 days of almost continuous play. I only needed one hint. And this was before the internet so I had no walkthough available!!
[/BRAG]
Heh. Just HAD to gloat. 
“Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces” contains the following games:
Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur
Ballyhoo
Beyond Zork
Border Zone
Bureaucracy
Cutthroats
Deadline
Enchanter
Hollywood Hijinx
Infidel
Journey
Leather Goddesses of Phobos
The Lurking Horror
A Mind Forever Voyaging
Moonmist
Nord and Bert Couldn’t Make Head or Tail of It
Planetfall
Plundered Hearts
Seastalker
Sherlock in the Riddle of the Crown Jewels
Sorcerer
Spellbreaker
Starcross
Stationfall
Suspect
Suspended
Trinity
Wishbringer
Witness
Zork I
Zork II
Zork III
Zork Zero
The disk has an Adobe Acrobat PDF file of the manuals and other documentation. It doesn’t seem to include the Invisiclues, but many if not most of those can be found at the site StephenG posted.
If you’re as slow as I am at figuring these things out this disk will provide you with years of fun!
It does - in Docs\Hints\Hints.pdf. These are, I’m pretty sure, the original Invisiclues.
::SMOOOOOOCH!:: Thanks, Cabbage. I’ve been looking at that package on Ebay, and it’s going for a LOT more than fifteen bucks.
I take full credit for inspiring the computer game version of HHGTG.
Way back in the early days of CP/M and Z80 computers, Douglas Adams came into the store where I worked, he wanted to buy a Kaypro portable. I knew who he was, since I’d heard HHGTG in its original run on BBC Shortwave. So I sold him the computer, and told him I had this cool program I bet he’d like. Then I introduced him to “Adventure” which most of you know as Zork. He liked it so much we gave him a copy (it was freeware originally) and it was a big pain in the ass because we had to copy it from our big machine with 8in floppies via serial cable to the Kaypro. Adams later wrote that his first exposure to Adventure was what started him playing and writing computer games.
And Chas.E takes the lead in the HHGTG Bragging Rights contest…