Summary

Starship Titanic, penned by Douglas Adams, is a unique blend of humor, adventure, and puzzle-solving. Released in 1998, it takes players on a surreal journey aboard a luxurious, albeit malfunctioning, spaceship. With its memorable characters and innovative gameplay, it remains a beloved title among adventure game aficionados.

Release Year: 1998
Genres: Adventure
Platforms: Mac, PC (Microsoft Windows)
Developers: The Digital Village
Publishers: Simon & Schuster

Introduction

Embark on a journey aboard the Starship Titanic, a masterpiece from the mind of Douglas Adams. This 1998 adventure game invites players into a surreal universe filled with ingenious puzzles, eccentric robots, and the unmistakable wit of Adams himself.

Synopsis

“Starship Titanic” is an adventure game that was developed by The Digital Village and published by Simon & Schuster Interactive. Released in April 1998 for Microsoft Windows and in March 1999 for Apple Macintosh, the game takes players on a journey through space and time aboard the eponymous starship.

The game begins with a loud crash that introduces the player to the Starship Titanic, the galaxy’s most prestigious, most impressive, largest, and therefore most expensive interstellar liner. This ship, which was supposed to be the flying treasure of the universe, has quite obviously gone wrong. The ship’s main computer, Titania, has been sabotaged and gone insane.

The player is tasked with repairing the Starship Titanic by locating the missing parts of its control system. The gameplay involves solving puzzles and speaking with the bots inside the ship. The game features a text parser similar to those of text adventure games, which allows the player to converse with characters.

The game was written and designed by Douglas Adams, the creator of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. In order to achieve Adams’s goal of being able to converse with characters in the game, his company developed a language processor to interpret player’s input and give an appropriate response. Over 16 hours of character dialogue were recorded.

The game’s production designers, Oscar Chichoni and Isabel Molina, who worked on the film “Restoration” (1995), designed the ship’s Art Deco visuals. The game’s voice cast includes Monty Python members Terry Jones and John Cleese.

The player moves on the Starship Titanic by clicking on locations indicated by the cursor. The mouse can also be used to pick up and store items in your inventory and interact with onscreen objects. In the beginning of the game, the player is given a device called Personal Electronic Thing (PET), which serves as a toolbar on the bottom of the screen.

The PET has five modes: Chat-O-Mat, a text parser through which the player can talk with characters by inputting text; Personal Baggage, the inventory in which the player can add or withdraw items; Remote Thingummy, a set of functions to interact with objects and locations; Designer Room Numbers, which indicates the player’s current location; and Real Life, an options menu with settings and a game save/load system.

Despite the game’s innovative features and the reputation of its creator, “Starship Titanic” was released to mixed reviews and was a financial disappointment. However, it was nominated for three industry awards and won a Codie award in 1999. It was re-released for modern PCs in September 2015 by GOG.com.

“Starship Titanic” is a unique adventure game that offers players a chance to explore a beautifully designed starship, interact with a variety of characters, and solve challenging puzzles. Despite its initial reception, the game has left a lasting legacy in the world of adventure gaming.

Characters

The game features a diverse cast, including a bombastic parrot who’s lost its memory, a suite of robots each with their unique personalities and glitches, and the elusive designer of the Titanic itself, who’s hinted at throughout the journey.

Gameplay

Starship Titanic offers a first-person perspective, where players interact with the environment and characters through an innovative dialogue system. Solving puzzles and collecting items are key to progress, with the game’s humor and complexity shining through in its challenges.

Conclusion

Starship Titanic stands as a testament to Douglas Adams’ genius, blending humor, adventure, and puzzle-solving into a memorable gaming experience. Despite its flaws, the game’s creativity and charm have cemented its status as a cult classic.