Dead Reckoning
We're like clay in the hands of time: born in one form, but with experiences constantly shaping us — until we seem nothing like the way we were at first.
→ Play Dead Reckoning in your browser! ←
A new translation of Olvido Mortal
by Andrés Viedma Peláez
Translated by Nick Montfort
In 2000 Olvido Mortal, a short adventure in Inform, won the 1st Place Prize for Best Adventure in the I Premios Hispanos a la Aventura (First Spanish Adventure Awards) and also won the Estatuilla de Dragón for Best Adventure in the I Concurso Aventuras Breves del CAAD (First Short Adventure Contest of CAAD).
A translation of this adventure called Shattered Memory was entered in the 2001 Interactive Fiction Competition; it was disqualified since it was based on a previously released work. Dead Reckoning is the first translation of Olvido Mortal, and possibly the first translation of any interactive fiction work into English, done by a native English speaker.
You can read a review of Dead Reckoning by Emily Short at IF-Review.
Download Dead Reckoning: deadreck.z5
Please download or read the instructions and credits as well.
Run it in an Interpreter
- Download the story file deadreck.z5. You can also download the file by ftp from the IF Archive.
- If you don't have one, download and install the appropriate Infocom/Inform interpreter for your platform. Interpreters supporting the z5 format include Frotz and Zip, and are available for all common (and many uncommon) operating systems. The list below is outdated, but some links may still be useful.
- For Windows: WinFrotz or the cutting-edge Frotz for Windows.
- For Macintosh: MaxZip for System 9, Zoom or Carbon interpreters for OS X.
- For DOS: Frotz. (The first option.)
- For X-Windows: XZip.
- For Palm: Pilot-Frotz.
- Check the Inform page on interpreters or the interpreter directory at the IF Archive if your platform isn't listed; Frotz is also available for WinCE, Amiga, OS/2, Psion, and Unix in terminal mode, for instance.
- Run the interpreter and, within it, open the story file (deadreck.z5).
Try it on the Web
A Web edition of Dead Reckoning is available for online interaction, as mentioned above.
Try it in Spanish
The Spanish original is available at the Olvido Mortal site of Andrés Viedma Peláez.
Screenshots
The third screenshot contains a mild spoiler, but is included to show how Dead Reckoning combines menu-based and free-form conversation with non-player characters.
