Levy_S-Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●Seize ShipsHijack AirplanesTravel Throughout the Solar SystemClash with Innocent BystandersBe Pursued by KGB AgentsGet Accosted in Dark AlleysBattle Pirates on the Open SeaBe Seduced in a BarDine at Your Favorite RestaurantMeet Prominent People Within the Computer IndustryCast Magical Spells at Evil CreaturesVisit the Castle of Lord BritishExplore Deep Dark Deadly DungeonsBurglarize MerchantsSlay Vicious CreaturesCharge Through Impenetrable Forces andGrow to Wield the Most Powerful Magic Known to ManGarriott had embodied the metaphor of the computer creating and populating aprivate universe into a game which allowed the player to live in the world of LordBritish's imagination. Moving the character that you created by designatingpersonality traits, you gained powers, tools, transportation craft, weapons ... andamong the murderous Ores and evil wizards, you might also chance uponcharacters based on real people, many of them friends of Richard Garriott'scharacters who, in keeping with their real personalities, would give you crypticinformation that helped to solve the riddle.Richard Garriott might have displayed Joycean ambition and intricacy, but headmittedly lacked literary skills: "I can't spell, have no grammar techniques, andhave read less than twenty-five books in my life." This embarrassed him at first,but now he told himself that the computer was a viable artistic form. And inpeddling Ultima 2 to a new publisher, his prime concern, besides a nonnegotiable30 percent royalty rate, was that the package and marketing be artisticallyconsistent with the virtuoso computer program contained therein. This wouldrequire a large, professionally illustrated box, a cloth map of the universe withlines designating time warps, special cardboard cards holding the dozens ofcommands available to players, and an elaborate, oversized manual in which eachof the sixteen pages resembled a faded sheepskin document.None of these demands discouraged software publishers from attempting to signthis most bankable of hackers. Ken Williams pursued him relentlessly, smelling