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delta4.zip *
Contains COLOR1.Z80
Contains the other three parts as well (COLOR2.​Z80, COLOR3.​Z80, COLOR4.​Z80)
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Application
zx.zip *
Contains The Colour of Magic Disk 1.z80
Contains the other three parts as well.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Application
Play Online via archive.org
(Part 1 of 4)
Play this game in your Web browser.
Play Online via archive.org
(Part 2 of 4)
Play this game in your Web browser.
Play Online via archive.org
(Part 3 of 4)
Play this game in your Web browser.
Play Online via archive.org
(Part 4 of 4)
Play this game in your Web browser.
Inform remake *
Contains The Colour of Magic.gblorb
by David Rogers. (Several versions, including a z6 version with graphics.)
Requires a Glulx interpreter. Visit IFWiki for download links.
* Compressed with ZIP. Free Unzip tools are available for most systems at www.info-zip.org.

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The Colour of Magic

by Judith Child, Fergus McNeill, and Colin Buckett

Literary, Fantasy, Satire
1986

(based on 2 ratings)
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Game Details

Editorial Reviews

Baf's Guide


A poor adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel. Much of the game is spent simlpy waiting for things to happen, and the rest is spent fighting with the parser. The story model is unusually fragile, too: you can put in an unwinnable state by leaving a room when something is about to happen. Pratchett's humor shines, but if you've read the book, you've seen it all already. If you're enough of a Pratchett completist to still want to play this, I strongly suggest following a walkthrough from start to finish. The conversation system is a little odd: before you can speak by using the "SAY" command, you have to indicate who you're addressing by using the "TALK TO" command. Uses Discworld directions (Hubward, Rimward, Turnwise, Widdershins) instead of normal compass directions for travel. Features occasional area illustrations that frankly don't add anything.

-- Carl Muckenhoupt

Crash

"The Colour of Magic is a super book (a Corgi paperback) and therefore the Quilled and Illustrated computer game was always going to be something worth playing. But the Delta 4 team of Judith Child and Fergus McNeil have done a really competent job of coding the concept. The text, like the plot, is very close to the book. The pictures are quite good and the presentation (I particularly liked the full moon which parts to accept your input) is very neat. The game comes in four parts which makes the asking price seem very reasonable. Any money spare should certainly be directed towards purchasing the paperback as without it the game, I'm sure, could appear a little mysterious."
See the full review

Your Sinclair

"This four-part adventure begins with Rincewind sitting in a dark corner of the Broken Drum (the pub you can't beat). Rincewind's flat broke and the beer's just flat. Enter Blind Hugh followed by a four-eyed creature, which in turn is followed by a wooden chest trotting in on hundreds of tiny feet. The creature is Twoflower, a tourist, and the chest is his luggage. A certain confusion arises when Twoflower tries to speak, his language being straight out of a phrasebook. Naturally you step in and offer your services, though the landlord tells you the Discworld equivalent of 'Bog off!' Persevere, though, adventure players, as this is where the story really starts.

As this adaptation of Terry Pratchett's fantasy novel has been done for Piranha/Macmillan by Delta 4, you can imagine the results. The combination of Judith Child, Fergus McNeill and Colin Buckett has come up with an adventure that's probably one of the closest I've seen to being truly interactive fiction rather than just problem-solving. I admit to disliking the game the first time I played it, as nothing much seemed to happen, although it did give me a chance to map out Ankh Morpork. On loading it up a second time, however, the story really began to take off."
See the full review

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The Colour of Magic on IFDB

Polls

The following polls include votes for The Colour of Magic:

Games with non-standard directions by Andrew Schultz
I'm wondering about games (primarily parser) with weird directions beyond NW/SW/SE/NE, up, down or inside/outside. I like the example in the Inform docs (Charles S. Roberts) about hexagonal directions but have no clue how to go about...

First and Third Person Second Person Narratives by dacharya64
Not as complicated as it sounds! Interactive fiction is dominated by the iconic second person narrative (*You* find yourself in a room). But this is not the only way that these stories could be told. I'm looking for those games out there...




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