Moonmist

Overview

Moonmist was the 22nd game released by interactive fiction pioneers Infocom.

Development

Co-creators Stu Galley and Jim Lawrence had previously collaborated on Seastalker. While Galley was a long-time Infocom employee, Lawrence had been a prolific author of children's books. Much as Seastalker resembles the "Tom Swift, Jr." novels that Lawrence had written, Moonmist resembles the Nancy Drew series, for which Lawrence had also penned several books.

Infocom characterized Moonmist as of "Introductory" level difficulty. As such, its difficulty level is suitable for children, but not as strictly so as Seastalker, which was classified as being "Junior" difficulty.

Story/Gameplay

As in Seastalker, the game begins by asking the user to provide his or her name, which is then used throughout; thus, "you" are the hero. Your friend Tamara has gotten engaged to Lord Jack Tresyllian and moved into his castle in Cornwall, England. Jack's previous girlfriend Deirdre had committed suicide, and Tamara fears that Deirdre's ghost now haunts the castle and is trying to kill her. You show up, along with several other guests, to a dinner at the castle and attempt to solve the mystery. You also discover a treasure left behind by Jack's late father.

Variations

At the beginning of the game, the player is asked to choose a favorite color from among four options (green, blue, red, yellow). Depending on which one is chosen, the solution to the mystery is different. This was an unusual game mechanic for Infocom, which was normally prohibited from providing multiple game modes by the very strict memory limitations of computers at the time. As such, the variations do share much in common other than the actual culprit.

One of the variations alludes to a relationship between Deirdre and another woman. This is often cited as the first example of a LGBT theme in English-language video gaming.

NEC PC-9801 version

In 1992, a version of Moonmist was released for the NEC PC-9801, entitled Moonmist: Shiroki Kifujin no Nazo ("Moonmist: The Mystery of the Noble White Lady"). The "feelies" (see below) were re-written in Japanese, and more "feelies" were added with character descriptions and portraits. The parser could accept Japanese kana, as well as Latin input. The game itself contained a graphical interface to facilitate moving around and interacting with objects; graphical backgrounds for locations; and a version of the game's "InvisiClues".

Feelies

As had become traditional for Infocom, Moonmist's packaging contained collectibles (or, as they were referred to, "feelies") to help set the mood of the game. Moonmist's "feelies" were:

• An iron-on copy of the game's logo.
• Two letters from Tamara.
• "Legendary Ghosts of Cornwall", a 10-page-long booklet of "ghost stories", including the "White Lady of Tresyllian Castle". (This is presented as a library book from Festeron, the setting of Infocom's other "Introductory" level game, Wishbringer.)
• An 8-page-long guide to Tresyllian Castle, including two maps.