They always had book cover art - usually by a commissioned artist provided only vague notions of what the story is about - most early games didn’t have stories and elaborate cover art was to provide a vibe - for better or worse. Like this notorious ZORK box art:
So it’s a computer game involving a boarded-up white house, a glowing blue sword, and an adventurer gathering treasures underground? Nah, I got it, off to work…
(My favorite part is the adventurer’s swimsuit tan-line.)
Why is that hat not in the game?! I always imagined the house being much smaller. Also, the troll comes across as the victim here…
Ah, I remember when games looked nowhere near as good as the box art, and then later when they equalled and eventually surpassed it in detail. I’m no artist, but I do miss the feelings I’d get from some of that older stuff that didn’t translate literally into what you see in-game.
Not that Zork needs to be any harder, but imagine if there was a multiroom puzzle of how to get the coffin to the trophy case that reflects how large and heavy a coffin of solid gold would actually be… I mean, I understand modern caskets are routinely carried by teams of 6 and we use much lighter materials than gold… And realistically several other treasures would be awkwardly large or heavy… Heck, the trophy case has to be much bigger and much sturdier than one might initially imagine once you think through the implications of a gold coffin… Even a gold-leafed wooden coffin would be rather awkward and probably pretty heavy even if much lighter than a solid gold version… and I’m starting to wonder if its even realistic for the living room floor to support the weight of the fully loaded trophy case… Granted, not the most absurd thing in a computer game ever.
