text adventure Archives

AppWizard

November 23, 2025

Classic text adventure Zork is going open source, but I’m side-eyeing Microsoft’s announcement about it hard

Microsoft has announced that the classic text adventure game Zork and its sequels are now available as open source software under the MIT License. This initiative follows Microsoft's acquisition of the Zork license through its purchase of Activision, which had previously acquired Infocom. The collaboration involves Microsoft, the Xbox Team, Activision, and digital archivist Jason Scott from the Internet Archive. Zork, Zork 2, and Zork 3 have been available on GitHub for several years, and Microsoft has officially submitted upstream pull requests to historical source repositories. The decision to make Zork open source highlights the game's celebrated writing and narrative depth.

AppWizard

November 22, 2025

‘We cloned Gmail, except you’re logged in as Epstein and can see his emails’ is the most impressively cursed tech project of the year

The 2018 text adventure game "You Are Jeff Bezos" highlights Jeff Bezos's net worth of 6 billion at the time, which has since surpassed 0 billion, prompting discussions on wealth distribution. Jmail is a new platform that allows users to explore over 2,000 emails related to Jeffrey Epstein in a mock Gmail interface, based on documents released by the US House Oversight Committee. Co-creators Walz and Luke Igel used AI technology for optical character recognition to make the emails accessible. Each email is linked to a legitimate document for transparency. Jmail includes a crowdsourced feature for users to highlight notable messages, with some emails receiving significant attention, such as inquiries about Trump and Denmark's financial status.

Winsage

November 21, 2025

Microsoft exec finds AI cynicism ‘mindblowing’

Mustafa Suleyman, head of AI at Microsoft, expressed frustration with skeptics of AI advancements during the company's Ignite event, highlighting a disconnect between Microsoft and its user base. Despite impressive AI capabilities, many developers are skeptical about Microsoft's Copilot, with concerns about the quality of code generated by AI. CEO Satya Nadella claimed that 30 percent of the company's code is now AI-generated. Suleyman's comments suggest a detachment from customer realities, as there is little evidence of user demand for increased AI integration in Microsoft products. The implementation of AI raises questions about balancing innovation with user needs.

AppWizard

November 12, 2025

Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney wades into the Arc Raiders AI voice debate with an imaginary scenario predicting ‘infinite, context-sensitive, personality-reflecting dialog based on and tuned by human voice actors’

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, views generative AI as a significant opportunity for enhancing in-game dialogue, proposing it could create "infinite, context-sensitive, personality-reflecting dialog" shaped by human voice actors. His comments were in response to criticism from freelancer Rick Lane regarding the use of AI-generated voices in the game Arc Raiders. Sweeney believes that AI can enhance human productivity and that competition among game developers fosters better games rather than reducing job opportunities. He argues that the future of AI offers greater opportunities for voice actors compared to traditional roles, envisioning a gaming landscape with dynamic, context-sensitive interactions. Critics, however, question the feasibility of his vision and express concerns about the potential threat to voice actors' livelihoods. Industry responses to generative AI vary, with some leaders embracing it while others remain cautious. Sweeney acknowledges the validity of concerns about the impact of progress on affected individuals.

AppWizard

November 4, 2025

Lethal Company developer says the freedom afforded by text adventure design is why his latest game took 10 years to make: ‘That made it very easy for this project to spiral out of control’

Solo developer Zeekerss has created several notable games, including Lethal Company, It Steals, Dead Seater, and The Upturned. His latest project, Welcome to the Dark Place, is a single-player text adventure that took over a decade to develop. The game draws inspiration from classics like Zork and Kentucky Route Zero and features tailored audio created from edited sound effects and recordings from family and friends. Released in October, it is available for free and has received a 'Very Positive' rating on Steam.