Trinity (video game)

Infobox VG| title = Trinity


developer = Infocom
publisher = Infocom
designer = Brian Moriarty
engine = ZIL
released = Release 11: May 9, 1986Release 12: September 26, 1986
genre = Interactive fiction
modes = Single player
ratings = n/a
platforms = Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 128, MS-DOS, Macintosh
media = 3½" or 5¼" disk
requirements = No special requirements
input = Keyboard

"Trinity" is an interactive fiction computer game written by Brian Moriarty and published in 1986 by Infocom. It is widely regarded as one of the company's best works. Award winning interactive fiction author
Michael S. Gentry described Trinity as "...the pinnacle of craft from the Infocom-era of IF." [ [http://mikegentry.livejournal.com/132894.html No More Lemonade - last Q, last A ] ]

The plot blends historical and fantastic elements as part of a prose poem regarding the destructive power of the atomic bomb and the futile nature of war in the atomic age. The name refers to the Trinity test, the first nuclear explosion, which took place in July 1945. It is Infocom's twentieth game and the last game released by the company when it was solvent.

Plot

As the game begins, the player's character is spending a final day of a London vacation in the Kensington Gardens. The evening flight back to the United States is looking increasingly unlikely for a number of unusual reasons. Hordes of nannies are blocking all exits from the Gardens, and the grass actively resists efforts to be walked upon. Worst of all, a gleam on the horizon soon heralds the unwelcome arrival of a Soviet nuclear missile. Time begins to slow as the missile approaches, and with some ingenuity the player's character finds an incongruous door hovering in mid-air. There's no telling where it may lead, but it can't possibly be worse than the alternative of being at ground zero of a nuclear detonation...

The doorway leads to a strange land, where impossible objects exist. Space and time don't seem to behave in the familiar ways here. Exploring this new environment, the player finds several other mysterious doors, each of which leads to another chapter in the history of nuclear weaponry. After visiting test sites (including ones in Siberia, Nevada, and the Eniwetok Atoll) and Nagasaki just before each device is detonated, the player has one scenario left to deal with. The final door leads to the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, mere minutes before the test-firing that will change the course of history. But something is wrong at the "Trinity" site, and without the player's intervention things will go horribly awry.

Feelies

The packaging for "Trinity" contained several items, called feelies, related to the plot of the game. These feelies included:
* A map of the Trinity site
* A cardboard sundial marked with odd symbols
* "The Illustrated Story of the Atom Bomb", an "educational" comic book laden with ironic statements regarding the feelings of patriotism, idealism, and jingoism surrounding the production of atomic weaponry
* Instructions on how to fold an origami crane (a reference to Sadako Sasaki)

Notes

"Trinity" was given a difficulty rating of "Standard".

The player is witness to, or rather narrowly escapes being a witness to, a number of nuclear explosions in the game. The sites visited, and the markings on the sundial that represent them, are:
* London, near future (fictional, Omega)
* Low Earth Orbit, near future (fictional, Mercury)
* Nevada (underground), 1974 (historical, Pluto)
* Eniwetok Atoll, Pacific Ocean, 1950 (historical, Neptune)
* Siberia, 1949 (historical, Libra)
* Nagasaki, Japan, 1945 (historical, Mars)
* Trinity, New Mexico, 1945 (historical, Alpha)Each of the symbols has a meaning relevant to the incident it represents. Trinity was the site of the first explosion, and is therefore represented by an alpha, which is the first character of the Greek alphabet. The bombing of Nagasaki was an act of war, and Mars is the Greek god of war. The test in Siberia (actually in Kazakhstan) was an example of another superpower attempting to establish balance in the nuclear arms race, and the zodiacal sign of Libra is represented by the scales, making a reference to restoring the balance. The Eniwetok Atoll test took place in the middle of the ocean; hence it is symbolized by Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. The Nevada test is underground, and thus represented by Pluto, god of the underworld. The fictional incident in London was chronologically the latest to take place, and omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. The symbols also appear at the corresponding locations in the "The Illustrated Story of the Atom Bomb" comic, which was included with the game.

The fictional Low Earth Orbit (Mercury) detonation is very likely a reference to the space interceptor subproject of the Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed "Star Wars", contemporary with the game's development.

"Trinity" includes numerous references to British children's literature, including the Alice books of Lewis Carroll, the Mary Poppins books of P.L. Travers and especially J.M. Barrie's novel "The Little White Bird".

The game has 121 locations.

Taglines

"The basic power of the universe has been unleashed." This is an allusion to U.S. President Harry S Truman's press release announcing the destruction of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945: "It is an atomic bomb. It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East."

"Criss-cross time and space in this journey to the dawn of the atomic age."

References

External links

*moby game|id=/trinity|name="Trinity"
* [http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/trinity.html "Trinity" information and overview]
* [http://hometown.aol.com/graemecree/infobugs/trinity.htm The Infocom Bugs List entry for "Trinity"]