Poking around some old disks this week I found some files I’d downloaded from Compuserve in the early 1990’s, including this gem: a moderated online discussion between some of the biggest names in classic adventure games.

Steve Meretzky (Hitchhiker’s Guide, Leather Goddesses of Phobos)

Ron Gilbert (Indiana Jones, Maniac Mansion)

Bob Bates (author of SHERLOCK and ARTHUR)

Mike Berlyn (SUSPENDED and the upcoming ALTERED DESTINY)

Corey and Lori Cole (HERO’S QUEST, aka QUEST FOR GLORY)

Noah Falstein (INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE)

Dave Lebling (the ZORK trilogy)

Al Lowe (the LEISURE SUIT LARRY games)

Roberta Williams (the KING’S QUEST games)

Coincidentally, a heavily edited version of this was posted earlier this year on The Digital Antiquarian. It’s worth reading for Jimmy Maher’s excellent introduction and footnotes, not to mention some thoughtful comments from his readers (including Corey Cole, one of the conference participants.)

The transcript below is the online discussion as it originally took place, unedited by me, though possibly by others before it was archived on Compuserve. It is messier but I like that it reads like a conversation. You can see participants responding to each others’ points and joking around. And at one point Al Lowe appears to be trying to send commands to his modem.

Note: as the moderator explains early on, participants type “!” to ask for a turn, “…” to indicate they aren’t finished typing yet, and “GA” to yield the floor to someone else.
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