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Portal was a mix between a game and an interactive novel. It was published for the Amiga computer in 1986 by Activision, written by Rob Swigart, produced by Brad Fregger and programmed by Nexa Corporation. Versions for the Macintosh, Commodore 64, Apple II, and the IBM PC were later released.
Plot outline
The player, taking on the role of the unnamed astronaut protagonist, returns from a failed 100 year voyage to 61 Cygni to find the Earth devoid of humans. Through an on-line terminal the player contacts Homer, a living computer, and together one has to discover what has happened before it is too late.
The game features little interaction, it is more like exploring a set of links to unlock more pages explaining parts of what happened.
Novel
A hardcover novel, comprised mostly of the text from the interactive novel with some new additions, was written by the same author, Rob Swigart and first published by St. Martin's Press in 1988. A softcover edition was released by Backinprint.com in 2001.
Comic book
A comic book adaptation of the story was begun in 2005 and should be released the following year in time for the 20th anniversary of the interactive novel's Amiga release.
External links
Activision games | Amiga games | Mac OS games | Commodore 64 games | Apple II games | DOS games | Science fiction novels | Comic book titles
"Portal (interactive novel)"