INNDEMO - A Newly Discovered SCI Demo

[OmerMor]

I just found a SCI demo that I never knew existed for the ImagiNation Network (INN).
Unlike INN itself which used a modified version of SCI (called LSCI or Large Model SCI), this demo used the original SCI interpreter (version 1.001.097).

The demo works fine both in DosBox and ScummVM.

I discovered this demo inside an ISO from archive.org:
CD-ROM Today - The Disc #5 (November 1994)
It's under IMAGINE\INNDEMO.

If you don't want to download the entire ISO, I'm hosting a standalone ZIP archive:
INNDEMO.ZIP

[CTxCB]

I just found a SCI demo that I never knew existed for the ImagiNation Network (INN).
Unlike INN itself which used a modified version of SCI (called LSCI or Large Model SCI), this demo used the original SCI interpreter (version 1.001.097).

The demo works fine both in DosBox and ScummVM.

I discovered this demo inside an ISO from archive.org:
CD-ROM Today - The Disc #5 (November 1994)
It's under IMAGINE\INNDEMO.

If you don't want to download the entire ISO, I'm hosting a standalone ZIP archive:
INNDEMO.ZIP

I didn't know this existed either, I had quite some fun watching how INN was in it's heyday. The only other insight into INN in it's heyday was when I saw a clip of it on an episode of The Computer Chronicles. I've played INN via INNRevival for a number of years before it went offline sometime last year, and I'm still an advocate that there's a space for INN in the online gaming scene if handled correctly, a online game that is "simple enough for my grandmother to play" as Ken Williams said.

[OmerMor]

I agree. And as I said, we're working on rewriting the INNRevival server.

[CTxCB]

I agree. And as I said, we're working on rewriting the INNRevival server.

Great, I'm excited about that.


By the way here is the segment from The Computer Chronicles on INN, broadcast in 1995.

[Kawa]

Awful lotta fonts in there.

[Collector]

I agree. And as I said, we're working on rewriting the INNRevival server.

I thought that was mostly abandoned.

[Kawa]

Fun fact: that file on font numbering schemes that OmerMor posted? This contains most of those font resources... but where the doc says this one's an outline for that one, they don't seem to fit. But whatever~

[OmerMor]

I thought that was mostly abandoned.

It was.
And then it was picked again.
And this time we have Ben, the author of the original version, so I'd say we have a pretty good chance of success.

[CTxCB]

I thought that was mostly abandoned.

It was.
And then it was picked again.
And this time we have Ben, the author of the original version, so I'd say we have a pretty good chance of success.

Do you have enough money to buy the rights of INN from AOL, or whoever they were subsequently passed on to? Not saying you need them, but this could be the first step to a new INN, maybe... I'm hanging out on that hope still, INN was way advanced for the time and the area of what INN is now seems empty and unexplored in the online gaming market now as a result.

[OmerMor]

Do you have enough money to buy the rights of INN from AOL, or whoever they were subsequently passed on to? Not saying you need them, but this could be the first step to a new INN, maybe... I'm hanging out on that hope still, INN was way advanced for the time and the area of what INN is now seems empty and unexplored in the online gaming market now as a result.

I had a correspondence with one of the original INN developers. He told me he tried to get AOL to consider selling it to him when they shut down worldplay, but he couldn't even get them to look at what they had.

I have no idea if I have enough money to buy something which I don't know the price to. But I don't think I'd try to buy it anyway. For me, the challenge of reverse engineering the service is what drives me to do it.

[CTxCB]

Do you have enough money to buy the rights of INN from AOL, or whoever they were subsequently passed on to? Not saying you need them, but this could be the first step to a new INN, maybe... I'm hanging out on that hope still, INN was way advanced for the time and the area of what INN is now seems empty and unexplored in the online gaming market now as a result.

I had a correspondence with one of the original INN developers. He told me he tried to get AOL to consider selling it to him when they shut down worldplay, but he couldn't even get them to look at what they had.

I have no idea if I have enough money to buy something which I don't know the price to. But I don't think I'd try to buy it anyway. For me, the challenge of reverse engineering the service is what drives me to do it.

I understand that, but I wouldn't think it'd be overly expensive even though this is AOL, I'd say... Less than half a million. It seems as if the whole thing is useless to them, as if it's just something they're unnecessarily holding on to because of lack of serious interest. Come on SCIProgrammers, huddle around and start saving up those dollars.

[MusicallyInspired]

I've played INN via INNRevival for a number of years before it went offline sometime last year, and I'm still an advocate that there's a space for INN in the online gaming scene if handled correctly, a online game that is "simple enough for my grandmother to play" as Ken Williams said.

Dave Grossman of LucasArts said that, not Ken Williams.

[CTxCB]

I've played INN via INNRevival for a number of years before it went offline sometime last year, and I'm still an advocate that there's a space for INN in the online gaming scene if handled correctly, a online game that is "simple enough for my grandmother to play" as Ken Williams said.

Dave Grossman of LucasArts said that, not Ken Williams.

http://www.sierrahelp.com/Misc/INNRevival.html states "Sierra On-Line founder Ken Williams wanted to create a network that even his grandmother would find easy to use, and to that end INN featured a unique emphasis on a friendly, graphics-heavy interface."

[Collector]

That was just a quote for the Wikipedia article. I went back to the article to see if it was sourced, but the article has been changed into a redirect to the 1990s entry of the Sierra Entertainment article that only briefly mentions INN.

[OmerMor]

That was just a quote for the Wikipedia article. I went back to the article to see if it was sourced, but the article has been changed into a redirect to the 1990s entry of the Sierra Entertainment article that only briefly mentions INN.

This is the latest version of the Imagination Network article in Wikipedia, before it was changed to a redirect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ImagiNation_Network&oldid=677894116