External Links
- cosmos97.zip *
latest version
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details. - cosmosrv.zip *
as entered in 5th Annual Softworks AGT contest
This game requires an interpreter program - refer to the game's documentation for details.
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Awards
1st Prize - Softworks AGT Competition 1991
Ratings and Reviews
| Average Rating:   Number of Reviews Written by IFDB Members: 1 |
Difficult but great, November 3, 2013I was a little wary about trying this game out - older games can be both extremely difficult and require a lot of 'guess the verb'.
However the parser here is excellent (though you can't use x for examine) and there are usually several things you can try at any one time.
You play as RJ Wright, a programmer and a plumber, and you have an important project due tomorrow. The game takes place both in Wright's house and on his computer. Using the computer is amazing - DOS is faithfully recreated which is especially fun for those of us who remember using it for years and you also log on to the BBS and exchange messages.
There are many different puzzles, a virus and virtual reality to navigate through and with a great atmosphere and excellent writing there is really only one flaw - the difficulty. The game has a fairly tough time limit and it took me several tries as well as looking at one part of the walkthrough to complete it.
Still it was worth it.
This game seems to only be available for DOS so if anyone has any trouble with this you can follow these instructions:
Download and install DosBox (at dosbox dot com)
Unzip the cosmoserve97 file to your c drive (if you unzip it anywhere else just change the instructions to match)
Go to the Dos Box folder (this will probably be C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox-0.74)
Open DOSBox 0.74 Options in notepad and at the end of the file just under [autoexec] type:
MOUNT C C:\COSMOS97
C:
cosmos.bat
Then when you run dos box the game will automatically start.
4 Off-Site Reviews
Baf's Guide
A dead-on satire of BBS culture, with a small built-in BBS simulation. You're a computer programmer (and plumber), and must get your code working by morning, a task that turns out to involve playing games in virtual reality in order to track down the source of a sinister virus. In the meantime, there are message boards and conferences to explore, a surprising proportion of which turn out to be relevant to the game. Numerous time-sensitive puzzles, internal speaker sound effects, and an endgame that quizzes you on a few details of the game - you will definitely not win this game on one pass. Save frequently and use the built-in hint system.
-- Carl Muckenhoupt
SPAG
I think that Cosmoserve is my favourite non-commercial text game, and certainly the all-time best AGT game. [...] The plot is delightfully interwoven, as the simple task of finding your patch file takes you on a trip through a myriad of forums, file directories, conferences and e-mail encounters. (Graeme Cree)
The novel atmosphere more than makes up for the flat characterization. The puzzles are clever and logically solved, and the plot is tightly written, with only 86 locations. (Donna McCreary Rodriguez)
See the full review
SynTax
CosmoServe is one of the most original ideas I've come across for a long time because about 85% of the game takes place while you're using the computer, either running programs or using the BBS. [...] The author has not only re-created the atmosphere of the BBS so that you really feel you're on-line to one, she's also managed to introduce suitable screen displays and sound effects for using the computer.
See the full review
Xyzzy News
It's an excellent intermediate game with broad appeal for all hackers, text adventurers and BBS addicts. (Melissa Katz)
See the full review
Tags
Game Details
Current Version: Unknown
License: Freeware
Development System: AGT
Baf's Guide ID: 48
| IFIDs: | AGT-03201-0000C54D |
| AGT-03201-0000F7EA |
CosmoServe: an Adventure Game for the BBS-Enslaved on IFDB
Recommended Lists
CosmoServe: an Adventure Game for the BBS-Enslaved appears in the following Recommended Lists:Noteworthy Games Which Aren't Z-Code or TADS Bytecode by Walter Sandsquish
So many text-adventure games have been written with some version of ZIL or Inform or TADS that we might forget other methods get used too. So, here is a list of noteworthy games which don't live on a Z-Machine or a TADS VM. By...
Extremely Online Games by autumnc
Games about being Extremely Online. Games that take place mostly on a simulated internet UI of some sort, games about online culture and relationships.
Games I consider to be excellent by Packhandle Failure
I freakin' love these games, man
Polls
The following polls include votes for CosmoServe: an Adventure Game for the BBS-Enslaved:Games which take place in chat messenger systems or on a digital interface by grimperfect
Specifically, works where the main mechanic is either exploring a in-game digital interface(ala Secret Little Haven) or communicating using a type of chat/text messenger system(think Emily is Away).
Games with unique hint systems by delano
I'm looking for games that offer hints in any way, except for printing them in sequence on the screen. For example: characters that offer hints; objects that, when examined or used in a certain way, suggest actions to the player; etc.
AGT must plays? by Rovarsson
I've recently started playing Cliff Diver 1 and I quit because I got impossibly stuck. I don't want to give u^p on a potential treasure trove though. Recommendations for AGT games?
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