A Mind Forever Voyaging

Welcome to A Mind Forever Voyaging (which, for brevity's sake, will henceforth be referred to as AMFV). In this story, you will be PRISM, the world's first sentient machine. Before you "boot up" your disk, make sure you read the short story in the first part of the booklet. The story begins in the world of 2031, a world on the brink of chaos. The economy of the United States of North America (USNA) has been stagnating for decades. Crackpot religions are springing up all over the place. Crime and urban decay are rampant. Schools have become violent, chaotic places ill-suited for educating children. Today's youth frequently use joybooths to "tune-out" the world, leading in the extreme case to joybooth suicide, where a psychological addict wastes away in his or her private nirvana.

The global situation is even grimmer. The calcuttization of the Third World has almost reached its limit, causing extreme overpopulation and poverty. This has created a climate ripe for East Bloc adventurism, exploiting instability and fanning the numerous flash points around the globe. The superpower race to build an impenetrable missile defense has ended in a tie, with the foreseeable but unforseen result that an even more dangerous arms race has begun -- a race to build miniature nuclear weapons, some as small as a cigarette pack, and smuggle them into enemy cities -- a race which threatens to turn the USNA into a giant police state.

Things are bad, and it appears that they can only get worse. So when Senator Richard Ryder, along with a small group of leaders from government, business, and the universities, announces the Plan for renewed national purpose, everyone is only too willing to embrace it.

Only one thing stands between the Plan and its adoption: a test of its validity. That's why you have been "awakened" from your simulated life and had your true nature revealed to you several years ahead of schedule. You have been chosen to use your unique abilities to enter a simulation of the future, based on the tenents of the Plan, in order to check its effectiveness. The eyes of the world are on you.

Source:

Unknown Source

"If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not..." -Shakespeare

IT'S 2031. The world is on the brink of chaos. In the United States of North America, spiraling crime and unemployment rates, decayed school systems and massive government regulations have led to a lazy, contentious society.

To reverse this critical situation, government and industry leaders have developed a Plan combining the economic freedom and strong moral values of the 1950's with the technological advancements of the 21st century. Will the Plan ensure peace and prosperity? Or will it set the earth on a suicide course to destruction?

As the world's first conscious, intelligent computer, only you can visit places that have never been seen before. Only you can view the future. And only you know what must be done to save humanity.

A major departure for Infocom, A Mind Forever Voyaging is reminiscent of such classic works of science fiction as Brave New World and 1984. You'll spend less time solving puzzles, as you explore realistic worlds of the future.

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From the back of the box

New Release: A Mind Forever Voyaging

A Mind Forever Voyaging, the first advanced-level science Fiction story from Infocom, is for true text-adventure buffs. Why? Because it has more locations to visit (several hundred), more things to do, more responses, and a large vocabulary (1800+ words) than any of our previously released products.

The story takes place in 21st-century Rockvil, South Dakota. The United States of North America has fallen prey to incredibly high unemployment and crime rates. Political indifference, perhaps caused by backward educational systems or diminishing national resources, has swept the nation. Exploiting this opportunity, Senator Richard Ryder has develop [sic] the Plan for a Renewed National Purpose, stressing patriotism and a return to American values as they were at the country's peak, the 1950s. The public, desperate for a change, embraces the Plan, but many high government officials are unsure whether it will succeed. That is where you come into the picture.

You are PRISM (Perelman-Randu Introductory Soliptic Machine): the first intelligent, self-aware computer. You have been created to enter a simulation of Rockvil, years in the future, and return with recordings of what life would be like if the Plan were to be introduced. While you're busy exploring the future, the scientists and programmers who created you are honing and perfecting the simulation's parameters. Thus, as the story progresses, you can travel further and further in time, watching Rockvil prosper as the Plan succeeds, or perish as it fails. Only you can tell on what course the country sets itself by adopting the Plan.

While there are several puzzles to keep players on their toes, designer Steve Meretzky (author of Planetfall and Sorcerer, and co-author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) concentrated more on immersing the player in a vast, highly detailed, realistic world; a vision of the destiny of mankind. A Mind Forever Voyaging represents Infocom's greatest step yet away from games, and toward true fiction: a serious, often chilling, look at the future of the human race, reminiscent of such great works of science fiction as 1984 or Brave New World.

What makes an epic game like this possible? Interactive fiction "plus," the latest development system from Infocom, designed to complement our currently-used "classic" system. "Plus" will be available for most machines that have 128K or more of internal RAM, allowing us to more than double the size of our products. In fact, the entire Zork trilogy could have fit into one game if we'd had the "plus" system at our disposal in 1981. Thus, large projects, like A Mind Forever Voyaging, are now entirely within our capabilities. Unlike the new Whopper, or New Coke, this revolutionary gaming technology promises to please the tastes of even the most discriminating player, allowing for more of just about everything (game bugs being no exception). Finally, this size increase should not be seen as "the beginning of the end" of our support for machines with under 128K of memory. Owners of smaller computers can rest assured that we will continue to produce plenty of products for their machines, using the "classic" system.

Meretzky began work on the project by writing a short, intriguing fictional piece, which introduces the player to the concept of artificial intelligence, as well as to the main characters and themes of the story. This short story, part of an issue of "Dakota Online Magazine," is found in the game package, along with the instruction manual, a full-color map of Rockvil, a "21st-century" plastic pen, and a Class One Security Mode Access Decoder.

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From The New Zork Times, VOL.4 No.2 Summer 1985

You

are about to see the fantastic worlds of Infocom unfold before your very eyes.

A MIND FOREVER VOYAGING Marking Infocom's entry into the realm of serious science fiction such as 1984, this excitingly different story contains fewer puzzles to solve and more mind-blowing avenues to explore. As the world's first conscious, intelligent computer, you must simulate the future to predict whether a radical new political plan will bring peace and prosperity... or set the world on a suicide course. Featuring Interactive Fiction Plus.

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From the first Infocom fold-out catalog, 198?

A MIND FOREVER VOYAGING

It's 2031. The world is on the brink of chaos. In the United States of North America, government and industry leaders have developed The Plan for Renewed National Purpose. Will the Plan ensure peace and prosperity? Or will it set the earth on a suicide course to destruction? As the world's first conscious, intelligent computer, only you have the ability to enter a simulation of the future and test the Plan's effectiveness.

A MIND FOREVER VOYAGING is reminiscent of such classic works of science fiction as Brave New World and 1984. You'll spend less time solving puzzles, as you explore realistic worlds of the future.

"AMFV uses the expanded memory to breathtaking effect, creating a richly imaged anti-Utopian futureworld... AMFV isn't '1984', but in some ways it's even scarier."

-Newsweek

"An ambitious departure from anything Infocom has done before and a major event in software entertainment."

-Games magazine

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From PASSPORT To The United Products of Infocom 1986

TAKE THEIR WORDS FOR IT!

“When someone asks me what my computer can do, I show them an Infocom game.”

Marion, 26, Research Technician

Dayton, Ohio

“Every Infocom game breaks new ground in the art of game design. The craft has reached the level of an art form, primarily because of Infocom.”

COMPUTER GAMING WORLD magazine

“You folks design the best text adventures. Better than chess or a good movie, it’s like a fine wine.”

Christopher, 29

St. Ann, Missouri

“Infocom, your products are the stuff that dreams are made of!”

Sandi, 31

Napa, California

“The passion that players bring to these games comes from the same source as all fiction-induced pleasure—the projection of self into another world and the desire to learn what happens next as the adventures unfold. Only in this case, it’s up to you to determine what happens next.”

ROLLING STONE magazine

“I’m not an avaricious person, gathering unto me great gobs of wealth does not make my soul stir, but the challenge of saving the world or rescuing a person is where it’s at.”

David

Lancaster, California

“Your games are great! I swear I enter a time warp when I begin to play. Thanks for creating this wonderful form of entertainment.”

Adrian

Naperville, Illinois

“Keep it up, Infocom!”

Don, 15

Glendale, Wisconsin

Source:

Inside Cover of Box - Commodore 128 (United Kingdom)