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A Mind Forever Voyaging

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A Mind Forever Voyaging
Developer(s)Infocom
Publisher(s)Infocom
Designer(s)Steve Meretzky
EngineZ-machine
Platform(s)Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 128, MS-DOS, Mac
ReleaseRelease 77: August 14, 1985 Release 79: November 22, 1985
Genre(s)Adventure, Interactive fiction
Mode(s)Single-player

A Mind Forever Voyaging (AMFV) is an interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Steve Meretzky and published in 1985 by Infocom. The game was intended as a polemical critique of Ronald Reagan's politics.[1]

Plot

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The start of the game
A map of A Mind Forever Voyaging world by Aaron A. Reed from 50 Years of Text Games project

The story is set in the United States of North America, which is similar to the real-world United States, in the year 2031. The player controls PRISM, the world's first sentient computer.[2]

PRISM is instructed by its creator, Dr. Abraham Perelman, to run a simulation of Senator Richard Ryder's "Plan for Renewed National Purpose". This plan is intended to address the nation's failing economy, the high teenage suicide rate, and to strengthen the nation's position in a nuclear arms race.

PRISM simulates the life of a man called Perry Simm, ten years after the plan has gone into effect. The player experiences some time in Perry's life. The plan appears to have had positive effects. Based on this simulation, the plan is deemed viable and preparations are set in motion.

However, Perelman feels that the ten-year simulation isn't enough, and makes PRISM do a simulation of the situation 20 years after the plan started, and then 30 years. Perelman is concerned by the simulations, but he needs more evidence to discredit the plan, as there are powerful people behind it. PRISM does a 40-year simulation, and with that still not quite satisfying Perelman, a 50-year simulation. The simulations show the situation becoming worse and worse with time.

PRISM goes into sleep mode while Perelman is preparing to present the findings to the government. When it wakes up, the facility is locked down by the military. Senator Ryder comes into Perelman's office and starts shouting at him. PRISM starts recording his words. After Ryder has left, suspicious "maintenance workers" come to the facility and make their way to PRISM's core, but PRISM renders them harmless. Then a news interface becomes available, and PRISM broadcasts the recording of Ryder's intimidation. The plan is thoroughly discredited and Senator Ryder is publicly disgraced.

Development

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Meretzky, the author, said in an interview that his intent with the game was to convey a negative view of Reagan's policies.[1] In another interview, he said that he had hoped for AMFV to cause controversy with its political content, expressing disappointment at the lack of hate mail.[3]

Reception

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Computer Gaming World stated that parts of AMFV are "transcendent".[4] In a 1998 retrospective review, AllGame gave the Macintosh version three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that the game provides fun exploration, but has hardly any replay value.[5] In 2014, Adventure Gamers gave the game four stars out of five in its retrospective review, calling it "bold" and "innovative", but saying that it does not quite reach its goals.[6]

Next Generation listed it as number 66 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time" in 1996, commenting that "This Steve Meretzky triumph is one of the few games ... to attempt something more deep in the interactive entertainment medium than killing or humor. It presents a grim view of a dark future not by telling you about it, but rather by letting you experience it and do things for yourself."[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Scott, J. (2010). "Get Lamp" (Interview). Meretzky: "So that was my mission with A Mind Forever Voyaging. I wanted to kind of to show people what a warmongering, Christian Right-pandering, environment-trashing, rights-trampling asshole Reagan was."
  2. ^ "A Mind Forever Voyaging, Part 1: Steve Meretzky's Interiors". Filfre.net. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "Leather Goddesses of Phobos: Hitchhiker's Guide with Sex". The Status Line. 5 (3): 1. Summer 1986. Archived from the original on December 27, 2004. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  4. ^ Ardai, Charles (August–September 1987). "Titans of the Computer Gaming World / Part IV of V: Ardai on Infocom" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 39. pp. 38–39, 46–47. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  5. ^ Savignano, Lisa Karen. "A Mind Forever Voyaging (Mac) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  6. ^ Watson, Steven (August 15, 2014). "A Mind Forever Voyaging flashback review". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  7. ^ "Top 100 Games of All Time". Next Generation. No. 21. Imagine Media. September 1996. p. 47.
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