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| Amnesia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Cognetics |
| Publisher | Electronic Arts |
| Designer | Thomas M. Disch |
| Programmer | Kevin Bentley |
| Platforms | Apple II,Commodore 64,IBM PC |
| Release | 1986: Apple, IBM PC 1987: C64 |
| Genre | Interactive fiction |
| Mode | Single-player |
Amnesia is atext adventure written byscience fiction authorThomas M. Disch and programmed by Kevin Bentley. It was published byElectronic Arts in 1986 forIBM PC compatibles (as aself-booting disk) andApple II. ACommodore 64 version was released in 1987. Disch's ironic, rich writing style is in distinct contrast to the functional or tongue-in-cheek tone of most text adventures. Over half of Disch's novel-length manuscript had to be cut from the published version to fit on a 5¼"floppy disk.[1]
The game begins as the player's character awakens in a midtownManhattan hotel room with absolutely no memory. He has no clothes and no money, and does not even remember what he looks like. The character soon discovers he is engaged to a woman he cannot remember, a strange man is trying to kill him, and the state ofTexas wants him for murder. From here, the player must unravel the events in his life that led him to this point.[2]
In addition to being a text adventure, the gamesimulates life inManhattan. Disch's model covered every block and street corner south of 110th Street. A hard-copy map of the streets and subways of Manhattan is included in the packaging. Players move from place to place on foot, and have to reach destinations at the correct time of day to initiate plot developments. Stores open and close at the correct times, street lights turn on, and other aspects ofNew York City life are simulated. Almost 4000 separate Manhattan locations, including 650 streets, are part of the game.
Programmer Kevin Bentley implemented the game using the King Edward Adventure game authoring system developed by James Terry.[3] Terry's system was written in anApple II version of theForth programming language named Atila.[4] He brought Atila and King Edward to the IBM PC and Commodore 64 soAmnesia could run on those systems. The game was acquired andproduced byDon Daglow of Electronic Arts.[3]
Scorpia ofComputer Gaming World described the game as being "too much like a novel", giving as example the need to answer the phone in the hotel room. The review also noted the main character would collapse after an unrealistically short amount of time if he didn't eat or sleep frequently.[5]Charles Ardai calledAmnesia "a brilliant, witty, and intriguing story", however,[6] and stated that "the text is so rich and the story so interesting that one hardly notices that this is probably the least interactive piece of interactive fiction ever made".[7]Compute! stated that the combination of Disch's writing and Electronic Arts' software "makesAmnesia a text adventure well worth exploring".[8]
Amnesia is the all-text adventure published by EA.[9]
Disch wrote ascreenplay based on the game's characters and story line and it was optioned to one of the majorHollywood studios, but the film was never made.[citation needed]