Difference between revisions of "Scott Adams"

From TI-99/4A-Pedia
Jump to: navigation, search
(A Short History)
Line 25: Line 25:
  
 
===A Short History===
 
===A Short History===
Time fljes . The copyright date on
+
Time flies. The copyright date on my game, Pirate's Adventure, reads 1978. It seems like yesterday, but it has been two and a half years since I started on my Adventures . . .
my game, Pirate's Adventure, reads
 
1978. It seems like yesterday, but it
 
has been two and a half years since I
 
started on my Adventures . . .
 
At the time I was working as a
 
systems programmer for Stromberg
 
Carlson when I was first introduced
 
to the classic Adventure game written
 
by Crowther and Woods to run on a
 
DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation)
 
PDP-10. After playing for only
 
a few minutes I was hooked. It took
 
almost ten days of early-morning and
 
late-evening sessions before I
 
achieved the coveted score of 350 and
 
the title of Grand Master. I had done
 
it--.I was a bona fide adventurer! Yet
 
it seemed unfair that such a
 
fascinating game was restricted to
 
such an expensive machine.
 
Back then, I had just gotten my
 
Radio Shack TRS-80 Level II computer,
 
and (having recently finished
 
Ply backgammon program) I was
 
looking for another good game to
 
write. The concept of · character
 
strings intrigued me, and I wanted a
 
game that used them. (Up to that
 
point, I had programmed primarily in
 
FORTRAN and assembly language,
 
neither of which can handle strings
 
easily.)
 
Adventure seemed to fit my needs
 
exactly . . But I didn't want to copy
 
someone else's program, and I was
 
afraid I wouldn't get much of an
 
Adventure in a 16 K-byte BASIC
 
computer-especially when the FORTRAN
 
version I played took about
 
300 K bytes!
 
I mentioned the idea of getting
 
some sort of Adventure into my small
 
machine to friends; fortunately, I was
 
not daunted by their laughter. After
 
all, I could remember when it was
 
supposedly impossible to get.a BASIC
 
int~rpreter to run on an 8080
 
  
 +
At the time I was working as a systems programmer for Stromberg Carlson when I was first introduced to the classic Adventure game written by Crowther and Woods to run on a DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) PDP-10. After playing for only a few minutes I was hooked. It took almost ten days of early-morning and late-evening sessions before I achieved the coveted score of 350 and the title of Grand Master. I had done it--I was a bona fide adventurer! Yet it seemed unfair that such a fascinating game was restricted to such an expensive machine.
 +
 +
Back then, I had just gotten my Radio Shack TRS-80 Level II computer, and (having recently finished my backgammon program) I was looking for another good game to write. The concept of character strings intrigued me, and I wanted a game that used them. (Up to that point, I had programmed primarily in FORTRAN and assembly language, neither of which can handle strings easily.)
 +
 +
Adventure seemed to fit my needs exactly. But I didn't want to copy someone else's program, and I was afraid I wouldn't get much of an Adventure in a 16 K-byte BASIC computer-especially when the FORTRAN version I played took about 300 K bytes!
 +
 +
I mentioned the idea of getting some sort of Adventure into my small machine to friends; fortunately, I was not daunted by their laughter. After all, I could remember when it was supposedly impossible to get a BASIC interpreter to run on an 8080
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Revision as of 14:33, 10 August 2018

Scott Adams
Scott Adams with Mythical Monster
Scott Adams with Mythical Monster
Born (1952-07-10) July 10, 1952 (age 73)
Occupation Software Programmer
Website http://www.msadams.com/index.htm

Scott Adams was the co-founder of Adventure Internation Inc. and programmer of many software titles. He programmed, with his wife Alexis Adams, Adventure: Pirate's Adventure. Scott Adams also released the following Adventure series games that could be played with the same cartridge as Adventure: Pirate's Adventure with the additional purchase of a floppy disk or cassette tape:

  • Adventureland
  • Voodoo Castle
  • The Count
  • Strange Odyssey
  • Mystery Fun House
  • Pyramid of Doom
  • Ghost Town
  • Savage Island Part 1
  • Savage Island Part 2
  • Golden Voyage

Byte Magazine Article

The following appeared in the December 1980 issue of Byte Magazine (Volume 5, Number 12). It appears to be written by Scott Adams himself. The article begins on page 192 of that issue of the magazine. [1]

A Short History

Time flies. The copyright date on my game, Pirate's Adventure, reads 1978. It seems like yesterday, but it has been two and a half years since I started on my Adventures . . .

At the time I was working as a systems programmer for Stromberg Carlson when I was first introduced to the classic Adventure game written by Crowther and Woods to run on a DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) PDP-10. After playing for only a few minutes I was hooked. It took almost ten days of early-morning and late-evening sessions before I achieved the coveted score of 350 and the title of Grand Master. I had done it--I was a bona fide adventurer! Yet it seemed unfair that such a fascinating game was restricted to such an expensive machine.

Back then, I had just gotten my Radio Shack TRS-80 Level II computer, and (having recently finished my backgammon program) I was looking for another good game to write. The concept of character strings intrigued me, and I wanted a game that used them. (Up to that point, I had programmed primarily in FORTRAN and assembly language, neither of which can handle strings easily.)

Adventure seemed to fit my needs exactly. But I didn't want to copy someone else's program, and I was afraid I wouldn't get much of an Adventure in a 16 K-byte BASIC computer-especially when the FORTRAN version I played took about 300 K bytes!

I mentioned the idea of getting some sort of Adventure into my small machine to friends; fortunately, I was not daunted by their laughter. After all, I could remember when it was supposedly impossible to get a BASIC interpreter to run on an 8080

References

External Links