Moonmist

Moonmist is an interactive fiction computer game written by Stu Galley and Jim Lawrence and published by Infocom in 1986. The game was released simultaneously for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TRS-80, TI-99/4A, and Macintosh. It is Infocom's twenty-second game. "Moonmist" was re-released in Infocom's 1995 compilation "The Mystery Collection", as well as the 1996 compilation "Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces".
Jim Lawrence, one of the co-authors of "Moonmist", ghostwrote books in the "Nancy Drew" and "Hardy Boys" series. Galley and Lawrence previously co-wrote "Seastalker" for Infocom.
"Moonmist" is the earliest known video game to feature a gay character.
Plot.
The player's character is a young detective, asked by friend Tamara Lynd to investigate her new home of Tresyllian Castle in Cornwall, England. Tamara has recently become engaged to the castle's lord, Jack Tresyllian. She was very happy until she began seeing what appeared to be The White Lady, a ghost who has allegedly haunted the castle for centuries. As if seeing a ghost wasn't nerve-racking enough, she's also begun to fear for her life. Is Tamara's imagination just overly excited from living in a large old castle, or is someone really trying to kill her? And if her life is in danger, is it from a ghost or someone using it as a disguise?
Gameplay.
The actual game is divided into several quests depending on the player's answer to the question "what is your favorite color?" As such, the game contains green (the easiest), blue, red, and yellow (the most difficult) quests, each with a separate criminal and treasure to locate. Interaction is made through the standard text commands typical of the genre.
The game must be completed by 6:59 am the following day or the game ends without a resolution. It is also possible to die in a few rare instances, though the focus of the game remains on exploration and deduction.
Release.
The "Moonmist" package includes the following physical items:
The official hint book for "Moonmist", which was purchasable by mail order and not included with the game, is printed in invisible ink.
Reception.
"COMPUTE!" wrote that "Moonmist" was a good introduction to Infocom adventures for newcomers, and an example for veterans of how their storytelling had improved from older games. However, "Atari User" expressed disappointment in the game's lack of depth and originality. While acknowledging that Moonmist had "deliberately been made simpler than the usual run of Infocom products", it noted that their earlier "Wishbringer" "was also a beginner's adventure but [..] offered yards more variety, entertainment, humour and challenge".
"Macworld" reviewed the Macintosh version of "Moonmist", calling it "an excellent [example] of text-only interactive fiction." "Macworld" praises the gameplay, stating that ""Moonmist" succeeds in emulating the classic youth mystery novels. Its puzzles and challenges are inventive and playful, and they complement the story without requiring advanced leaps and bounds of logic ... There are four variations of "Moonmist", each different enough so that repeated plays will still be enjoyable." "Macworld" also praises the graphics, stating that ""Moonmist" features excellent pen-and-ink drawings reminiscent of an old-fashioned illustrated novel." "Macworld" expresses that the feelies included with "Moonmist" contribute to the game's gothic atmosphere. "Macworld" however criticizes the inability to scroll back to previously seen text, stating that the game as a result requires the player to take notes.
Legacy.
In 1992, about six years after the original "Moonmist", a remake of the game was developed and published by Japanese software development company SystemSoft for the NEC PC-9801, entitled . There are differences in this enhanced remake: the game recognizes verb commands typed in kana (Japanese syllable system) or Latin alphabet. For convenience, some of the most common verb commands (Look, Take, etc.) can be accessed by pressing a corresponding button, but the player still has to type the name of an object. This remake also helps the player to interact with the environment by displaying a list of objects after the player has typed a command. Also, unlike the original, the remake contains enhanced graphics; every location has a unique background picture, on which the text is super-imposed, like in the PC-9801 version of "Enchanter".