Trinity

Trinity gets both its name and plot from the site of the explosion of the first nuclear device. On July 16, 1945, in a stretch of New Mexico desert known as "the journey of death," man first released the deadly power of the atom. The project's code-name was Trinity. Your mission is to journey back through time and space to that history-altering day and change man's destiny.

But before you can begin, you must unravel the mysteries of London's Kensington Garden. Afterward, you must untangle a multitude of riddles in the world beyond the garden's white door.

If you are familiar with other electronic adventure stories like the three Zork's, you'll have no trouble maneuvering through this one. Trinity is an all-text thinking game and input is via the standard Infocom full-sentence parser. You are given information through sentences printed on the screen, and your typed response to those prompts influences what will happen next.

Adhering to the adage that you shouldn't fix anything that isn't broken, Infocom breaks little new ground with this interactive adventure. There are no graphics -- instead, the visions you "see" are those created in your mind. And because it is designed for the Commodore 128 using an 80-column display and accesses the 1571 disk drive, conversing with Trinity is faster and easier than earlier electronic adventures.

The program also has an expanded vocabulary and immensely improved recognition library. It will sensibly respond to almost any command. Even improper capitalization of words doesn't confuse it. Plus, if you mistype a word in a sentence, you no longer have to retype the entire command like most other text adventures. Instead, Trinity will respond that it doesn't understand the mistyped word. You can then correct the word by typing "OOPS" followed by the correctly spelled word, and Trinity will automatically insert the correction, reread the sentence, and respond. Anyone who has been frustrated at having to retype lengthy commands because of a single typo will appreciate this feature.

The physical value of using an 80-column display is evident as soon as you issue your first command. Trinity's responses can be more descriptive and informative than 40-column novels because the large screen can hold twice the text. This space allowed author Brian Moriarty the freedom to sprinkle his narrative with adjectives that inject life into the story. The result is a novel which reads more like a piece of literature than a computer printout. This added space is also important because many of the story's passages are lenghty and would have strained the restrictions of a smaller screen.

As is true with all electronic novels, the adventurer here is free to decide what will happen next and influence the story's ending. But Trinity has a plus. In addition to being a great adventure game, it is filled with strange and weird wonders. Once you're beyond the white door, you'll experience a sometimes terrifying, sometimes beautiful, and other times humorous world.

For those who want to record their conversation with the program, there is an option to have all the information sent to the printer as well as screen. You can also save your point of play at any time (maximum of four different places), so you can go back and continue "reading" from that point.

Most adventurers will also like the inclusion of a running total of your accumulated points. The program also alerts you when you uncover an object important to the completion of Trinity. If you are one of those experienced adventurers who spurns any help, you'll be happy to know that you can turn this feature on or off. But personally, I need all the help I can get.

Trinity's commands include what have become industry standards, such as "inventory" to check what you are carrying; "look" to check the details around you; and "again" if you want to repeat your action again.

One nice feature is the ability to string commands together. For instance, if you want to go north one move, east two moves and then pick up the stone, rather than issuing four different commands, you can string them all together like this: "Walk north, walk east, walk east and get stone." Or, after you become comfortable with issuing commands, you could abbreviate the command like this: "n,e,e and get stone." But be careful with this rapid movement option. The first time I tried it, I promptly stepped off the side of a cliff to my death -- I turned east when it should have been west.

Although Trinity will work with the 1541 disk drive, I highly recommend using the 1571 drive instead. The speed gain means the difference between enjoying a fast-reacting adventure or dozing off while the older drive updates information.

Trinity comes with a 26-page illustrated manual which includes examples of transcripts, a sample map, a list of recognizable verbs, important commands and a quick reference guide. The game also contains a poster-size Trinity site map, a sundial, and instructions for folding paper cranes (all items which have significance in the adventure).

Now if you can only decipher the importance of those items, you'll have little trouble weaving your way back to 1945. If not, you're just like the rest of us -- in for a lot of challenge, frustration, surprises and even a few laughs.

If you are somewhere between a novice and expert adventurer, and are looking for a challenging adventure and have a couple of weeks to spare, you should find the unraveling of Trinity a rewarding, entertaining experience. The only question you need to ask yourself before you begin the quest is this -- what will you do if you reach July 16, 1945, before the device is exploded? Should you change history?

Before you begin exploring the world beyond Kensington Gardens, let me give you some advice.

1. As always, keep a map of your travels. Unless you have the memory of an elephant, you will have no chance of finishing the quest without a detailed map. Save your spot often, so you can quickly retrace your steps if need be. I also suggest you keep a running list of items you find, even if you discard them. The item which seemed useless 20 steps ago may be the key to finishing later. If you recorded where you left it, you may be able to retrieve it.

2. Double-inspect every area. Try to move things -- if they budge, chances are they are important to finishing the story. Keep trying to loosen them and take them with you.

3. Experiment with Trinity. There is a lot to enjoy here which has nothing whatsoever to do with solving the puzzle. For instance, try stepping on the grass in Kensington Gardens where the "Keep Off the Grass" sign is posted. Strange things happen. And of course, experimentation may turn up facts which are important, as well.

4. Ask questions of the people you meet. For instance, if you don't know what a gnomon is, ask the lady feeding the pigeons. Or if you don't know what a perambulator is, ask.

5. Keep track of time by glancing often at your wristwatch. Many of the events in Trinity are either triggered by time or must be completed before a particular time.

6. But above all -- think. And try to think in a weird way. For instance, once you know what a perambulator is, and if for some reason you decided to get inside one, how would you get it to move? Well, like any good Englishman, you should think of the wind as a great source of energy. Perhaps if you had an umbrella and opened it, the wind might make the thing roll. That's a free hint. Think weird.

7. For those who have trouble escaping the Gardens, a few hints. The umbrella and perambulator are your vehicles out. But before you can use them, you must change the direction of the wind. The key to changing its direction is easy if you feed the birds. And watch out for a ruby, a loose gnomon and a roadrunner. (Yes, a roadrunner in downtown London!)

Thanks to André St-Aubin for transcribing and donating this article.