text adventure
Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...
s.Sinclair User 37 /ref> Written by Graeme Yeandle, it was published on the
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...
by Gilsoft in December 1983. Although available to the general public, it was used by several games companies to create best-selling titles; over 450 commercially published titles for the ZX Spectrum were written using ''The Quill''.
Development
Yeandle has stated that the inspiration for ''The Quill'' was an article in the August 1980 issue of '' Practical Computing'' by Ken Reed in which Reed described the use of a database to produce an adventure game. After Yeandle wrote one database-driven adventure game, ''Timeline'', for Gilsoft, he realised that a database editor was needed, and it was this software which became ''The Quill''.
After the original ZX Spectrum version was ported to the
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...
,
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
,
Atari 8-bit computers
The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...
,
Apple II
Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...
, and Oric computers. Versions were also published by CodeWriter, Inc. in North America (under the name of ''AdventureWriter'') and a version by Norace in Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian and Swedish. A French version was also made by Codewriter. In 1985 Neil Fleming-Smith ported ''The Quill'' to the
BBC Micro
The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...
and
Acorn Electron
The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was introduced as a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers, to provide many of the features of that more expensive mach ...
computers for Gilsoft. Although not credited in the article, Chris Hobson submitted a patch to ''Crash'' magazine which allowed the Spectrum version to save to a Microdrive. This was published in th September 1986 edition
''The Quill'' only allowed for the creation of text-only adventures, using a text interpretation process known as a ''verb–noun''
parser
Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is a process of analyzing a string of symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar by breaking it into parts. The term '' ...
. Later an add-on called ''The Illustrator'' was made to let the user include
graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...
in the adventures. Further add-ons included ''The Press'', ''The Patch'', and ''The Expander'', which enhanced the engine by adding text compression, split-screen text and graphics, and more efficient use of available RAM.
Reception
''The Quill'' was generally very well received by the computer press at the time of its release. ''Micro Adventurer'' described it as "a product ..to revolutionise the whole microcomputer scene" and rated it "10 out of 10", while ''
Computer and Video Games
''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...
'' described it as "worth every penny of the £14.95 price tag", while '' CRASH'' said it was "almost ludicrously underpriced for what it does and, more importantly, what it allows others to do". '' Sinclair User'' praised the documentation and the complexity that was comparable to existing adventure game parsers, and in a later 1984 review said that "''The Quill'' produces programs on a par with handwritten commercial programs".
''The Quill'' was awarded "Best Utility" in the ''CRASH'' Readers Awards 1984.
Sequel
Following the success of the original, a second generation ''Quill'' was produced with more capabilities and sold under the name '' Professional Adventure Writer'' for the ZX Spectrum and
CP/M
CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/Intel 8085, 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Dig ...