Starcross (computer game)

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Starcross

Developer(s)	Infocom
Publisher(s)	Infocom
Designer(s)	Dave Lebling
Engine	ZIL
Release date(s)	Release 15: September 1, 1982 Release 17: October 21, 1982
Genre(s)	Interactive fiction
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	n/a
Platform(s)	Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TRS-80, TI-99/4A
Media	3½" or 5¼" disk
System requirements	No special requirements
Input	Keyboard

Starcross is a 1982 interactive fiction game designed and implemented by Dave Lebling and published by Infocom. Like most Infocom titles, it was developed for many systems. It was released for DOS, as a PC Booter, Apple II, Atari ST and Commodore 64.

The game was Infocom's first in the science fiction genre. It takes place in the year 2186, when the player's character is a lone black hole miner exploring an asteroid belt. The player's ship, the Starcross, is fitted with a mass detector to look for "quantum black holes", which are such powerful sources of energy that one could provide a wealth of riches. When the mass detector finally discovers an anomaly, however, it isn't a black hole but something else entirely: a massive craft of unknown origin and composition.

The player must dock with the mysterious ship and gain entry to its interior. Once inside, there are a wide variety of alien plant and animal species to discover as well as an array of unfamiliar technology to master.

[edit] Feelies

Infocom's previous release, Deadline, had included several items related to the game and proved wildly popular. Starcross continued the newly-established tradition of feelies with the following items:

Log of the M.C.S. Starcross, a whimsical journal of the player character's experiences on the ship
A letter from the "Bureau of Extra-Solar Intelligence" providing advice for any encounters with alien lifeforms
A partial space map of charted masses, including instructions on how to use the navigation computer

[edit] Notes

The original plans for this game's feelies incorporated "Astronaut Food", which was to be a small package of something edible and presumably freeze-dried. The idea presented legal problems involving health laws, however, and was dropped. The foil-wrapped package is still depicted in a picture of materials included with the game, appearing on the back of the game box.

The first box for Starcross was a round plastic box that resembled a flying saucer disc. This proved too costly to produce and too unwieldy for store shelves and was replaced by more conventional packaging such as the "grey box" format.

Starcross was rated by Infocom as "Expert" level in difficulty. This may be largely due to the scientific orientation of many of the game's puzzles. Other early Expert-level games were Deadline and Suspended.

The game's working title was A Gift from Space.