Ferret
? 1982
- Language:
- English
- Systems:
- PL/I
- Platforms:
- Mainframe , PC
- Genres:
- Fantasy, misc.
- Entered by:
- Gunness, iamaran, Kozelek, Strident
- Added:
- 30-10-2020
- Edited:
- 28-02-2023
Synopsis
Notes
Huge, Zork-like game with 1,700+ rooms and thousands of objects.Written by a number of unknown authors in 1982 in PL/I for a Data General mini-computer, the game was - for all intents and purposes - inaccessible to the public until 2022, when it was ported to IBM Visual Age PL/I for Windows.
Listed here with a date of 1982, reflecting just the original early version of the game, the actual adventure should perhaps be considered as having a forty year development period with the final game significantly different to that early release. According to this article in the blog Renga in Blue, a new version (10.01) of this game was made in 2022, making it at last finishable; with additional iterations made after that, in response to players' feedback. The official website installer seems to triggers modern virus/trojan detectors, so the author of the blog made a bare-bones version with the install elements taken out.
There is a Facebook group in support of the game.
In 2023, Jason Dyer completed the whole game as part of his All the Adventures project and you can read the complete journey on his blog here.
Resources (Upload file)
[+] Users who have solved this game
10.01 is now available from the jugglingsoot home page. I really can't recommend this game highly enough if it's an old style puzzlefest / narrative epic that you're after. If downloading the full version my Norton stripped out ferret.exe but I chose to have it replaced in the Norton options and all works perfectly. Just remember to run ferret.bat and not ferret.exe or the game will exit when you die (and trust me you will umpteen times).
I am currently fighting my way through Phase 5.
Version 10.10 released on 22nd November 2022.
I am still assaulting Ferret and have now made it to 1395 points and Underlord status. The game is very tough but extremely engrossing and has that difficult blend of puzzle and story just about right. 10.30 is the current version.
Well; I have finally made it to the end game with 1665 points out of 1670 and an Odyssean saga it was too. Having believed for many years that nothing could be more exhausting than the Phoenix mainframe games and nothing could be tougher than Quondam I have been proven wrong on both counts.
Uploads pending writers' approval.
The Ferret writers have okayed any uploads of maps etc.