When I was a kid, one of the few games I had for my Commodore 64 was a cracked copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I was a huge Douglas Adams fan, and I should have found this game amazing in every way. The only way I found it amazing was in how amazingly frustrating it was. Even with a supposed “guide book” in hand, I found the game not only unbeatable, but practically unstartable (I never did get the babel fish).
Fast forward a decade or so to my first time away to college when my roommate introduced me to the internet, and in particular a game called Purgatory. It was a MUD, a multi-user dungeon. The interface was just like the text-based games I had played so many of in my youth, but it was a completely different experience. Where those games had been restrictive, this one was liberating; where those had been fun but limited, this one was grand and unlimited. Most importantly, where those had been professional and polished, this one was completely amateurish, and it showed.
Hitchhiker’s had a defined, linear path to victory, and when the story was over (so I’ve been told) it was over. There was also no real way to access help; even the guide book was more use as a coaster than a reference. Purgatory theoretically had an end game, in that once you reached a certain level of accomplishment (and I came so close…) you became part of the creative team that expanded the world rather than playing in it, but nothing prevented you from continuing to participate.
In addition, the paths to reaching that level were as varied as you wanted them to be. You could explore the world in any order you liked, and new sections were being added all the time. They ranged from the traditional, generic fantasy to more obviously plagiarized but still fun fantasy (including an entire section based on David Edding’s The Elenium series) to the bizarre (my favorite zone was based on the Rush albums 2112 and Hemispheres. No, I’m not kidding.) This level of playfulness and creativity was added to by the element of roleplay and interaction with other players, many of whom would willingly assist new players to adjust or advance.
As I look at The Warbler’s Nest and The Dreamhold, I am reminded more of Hitchhiker’s and less of Purgatory, although the feeling of both of those is more of a purgatory than anything else. While the writing feels tight and defined, parsing the story and figuring out “next steps” is often more struggle than entertainment, and the lack of visual or audio clues in the absence of a friendly group dynamic is a flashback I can easily do without.
I’d say that interactive fiction and MUDs are cousins twice-removed. They share many similarities (all text, often with fantasy-based backdrops) but also differences (the main thing being puzzles and narrative).
In case you want to give Hitchhiker’s another shot, you can play it online at Adam’s (still online) website.
I can definitely see for IF and MUDs being related but distinct entities, particularly with IF being more puzzle-heavy, although I would argue that MUDs can have a strong narrative element depending on how they are designed. The one I mentioned in my posed actually was based on a modular design that allowed for multiple zones, most of which had a different, separate narrative. The lack of a cohesive, overarching narrative was more a design choice than a necessity, but there was nothing inherent in the system that prevented creating a cohesive narrative, as can be seen in the cultural descendants of MUDs, the MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Ropleplaying Games) such as world of Warcraft and Evercraft.