Jacaranda Jim

Graham Cluley 1987

Aka:: Derek the Troll
Language:: English
Authors:: Graham Cluley
Platforms:: PC
Genres:: Humour, Science fiction
Entered by:: Amby, Gunness
Added:: 23-04-2013
Edited:: 13-10-2014

Synopsis

Plot

Following an attack on his cargo-ship by an army of homicidal beechwood armchairs Jacaranda Jim is forced to crash land on the strange world of Ibberspleen IV. Rescued from the burning wreckage by the mysteriously smug Alan the Gribbley, Jim has to do battle with manic-depressive deckchair attendants, the Ibberspleen Post Office and a very sinister network of dank caves.

What is the secret of the floating sphere?
Why has Alan been hypnotised?
What would you do with a cucumber, a gin-spitting pirate and a piece of gristle? No, don't answer that.

All this, and more, is revealed in Jacaranda Jim.

Notes

Jacaranda Jim was first written in about 1987 whilst I was studying at Guildford College of Technology in the UK. Originally it was written on the PRIME minicomputer under the name "Derek the Troll" (Derek was the character who was eventually named Alan the Gribbley).

Derek was named after a lecturer who gave the accountancy module of the computer course I was taking - the lecturers didn't take kindly to me lampooning a lecturer, and so Derek was renamed Alan the Gribbley (the "real" Alan was a mature student on the course with a ghastly beard who always carried a copy of PC Tools around with him). Of course, Alan the Gribbley still had sprinklings of accountancy about him - and can often be heard muttering the magic word "invoices".

During my time at Guildford I was introduced to the IBM PC for the first time, and the game was ported (and further developed) on that platform.

[from the author's website].