Implementer

Implementer was originally the self-given name of the creators of the Infocom text adventure series "Zork". Implementor, often shortened to "Imp", became the title given to game designers and programmers at Infocom. Implementers were inserted as minor characters in several Infocom games. The game "Beyond Zork" also includes a group of characters called Implementors, minor deities who are integral to the plot.

Implementors at Infocom

The original "Zork" Implementers who formed Infocom included Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, and Dave Lebling. As the company grew, the title "Implementor" became a badge of status. Infocom frequently promoted from within, and in particular a number of game testers, including Steve Meretzky, rose to the rank of Imp. [cite web | url = http://web.mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2000/infocom/infocom-paper.pdf | title = Down From the Top of Its Game: The Story of Infocom, Inc. | date = 2000-12-15 | last = Briceno | first = Hector
coauthors = Chao, Wesley; Glenn, Andrew; Hu, Stanley; Krishnamurthy, Ashwin; Tsuchida, Bruce
format = PDF | pages = pp.16–19 | publisher = Massachusetts Institute of Technology | accessdate = 2007-11-26 ] Meretzky was publicly referred to as an Implementor, both in the "About the Author" section of the "Planetfall" manual and in a few issues of Infocom's customer newsletter, "The New Zork Times" (later renamed "The Status Line").

Of special interest in the company culture was the "Implementors' Lunch", said to be "a legendary weekly event garnering all the Infocom game writers." [cite journal | title = They Said It... | journal = The New Zork Times | volume = 4 | issue = 4 | pages = p.3 | date = Fall 1985 | url = http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/NZT/Nztfal85.html#said | accessdate = 2007-11-26 ] Brian Moriarty has said his first Implementors' Lunch "was like being invited to tea at Abbey Road with the Beatles!" [cite web | url = http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/212 | title = Brian Moriarty—Interview | date = September 15 2006 | last = Mamen | first = Erik-André Vik | coauthors = Jong, Philip | work = Adventure Classic Gaming | accessdate = 2007-11-26 ] The Imps used an old "Cornerstone" package, square and blue, as a picnic basket. [cite journal | title = Win the Imps' picnic basket | journal = The Status Line | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = p.4 | date = Summer 1987 | url = http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/Articles/NZT/Tslsum87.html#picnic | accessdate = 2007-11-26 ]

List of Infocom Implementors

* "Hollywood" Dave Anderson
* Tim Anderson
* Bob Bates
* Michael Berlyn
* Marc Blank
* Amy Briggs
* Bruce Daniels
* Stu Galley
* Jim Lawrence
* Dave Lebling
* Steve Meretzky
* Brian Moriarty
* Jeff O'Neill
* Jerry Wolper

In Infocom games

"Zork II"

:This is the Tomb of the Unknown Implementer. A hollow voice says: "That's not a bug, it's a feature!" In the north wall of the room is the Crypt of the Implementers. It is made of the finest marble, and apparently large enough for four headless corpses. Above the entrance is the cryptic inscription: "Feel Free."

The "Enchanter" series

In "Enchanter" the player can find and read "The Legend of the Great Implementers"::This legend, written in an ancient tongue, speaks of the creation of the world. A more absurd account can hardly be imagined. The universe, it seems, was created by "Implementers" who directed the running of great engines. These engines produced this world and others, strange and wondrous, as a test or puzzle for others of their kind. It goes on to state that these beings stand ready to aid those entrapped within their creation. The great magician-philosopher Helfax notes that a creation of this kind is morally and logically indefensible and discards the theory as "colossal claptrap and kludgery."It is possible to cast the ZIFMIA spell ("magically summon a being") on the Implementers, revealing an Easter egg::The implementers of the world, Marc Blank and Dave Lebling, appear before you, looking quite as confused as yourself. They speak::Dave: "What's happening here?":Marc: "Uh, I dunno. YOU wrote this code, not me.":Dave: "Hmm. Another day, another bug. Let's see here...":They disappear a moment later.:Dave's voice: "That should do it."

A related Easter egg is included in "Sorcerer". It's possible to cast the AIMFIZ spell ("transport caster to someone else's location") on the Implementers::You appear on a road in a far-off province called Cambridge. As you begin choking on the polluted air, a mugger stabs you in the back with a knife. A moment later, a wild-eyed motorist plows over you.

Implementors in "Beyond Zork"

In "Beyond Zork", the Implementors inhabit the Ethereal Plane of Atrii, where they busy themselves with luncheons and foster speculation that they created the world. When an Ur-grue steals the Coconut of Quendor (after the adventurer fails to catch it), the Implementors charge the adventurer with recovering the Coconut before the Ur-grue undoes all of magic.

References

External links

* [http://www.infocom-if.org/authors/authors.html The Infocom Authors]