SherbyNet - /page/wikibook/entry.mu

Micron Document

<!DOCTYPE html>

<title>Alien Garden</title>

</head>

Alien Garden

</h1>

</header>

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1274896928">

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output .ib-video-game .infobox-label{white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em}.mw-parser-output .ib-video-game .infobox-above{font-style:italic;font-size:125%}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><table class="infobox ib-video-game hproduct"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above fn">Alien Garden</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="Video_game_publisher" title="Video game publisher">Publisher(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Epyx" title="Epyx">Epyx</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="Video_game_designer" class="mw-redirect" title="Video game designer">Designer(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Bernie_De_Koven" title="Bernie De Koven">Bernie De Koven</a><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="Video_game_programmer" title="Video game programmer">Programmer(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Jaron_Lanier" title="Jaron Lanier">Jaron Lanier</a> Robert Leyland</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="Computing_platform" title="Computing platform">Platform(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Atari_8-bit_computers" title="Atari 8-bit computers">Atari 8-bit</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Release</th><td class="infobox-data">1982</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="Video_game_genre" title="Video game genre">Genre(s)</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Non-game" title="Non-game">Non-game</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Mode(s)</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Single-player_video_game" title="Single-player video game">Single-player</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Alien Garden is a <a href="Non-game" title="Non-game">non-game</a> for <a href="Atari_8-bit_computers" title="Atari 8-bit computers">Atari 8-bit computers</a> published by <a href="Epyx" title="Epyx">Epyx</a> in 1982<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a> by <a href="Bernie_De_Koven" title="Bernie De Koven">Bernie De Koven</a> and programmed by <a href="Virtual_reality" title="Virtual reality">virtual reality</a> pioneer <a href="Jaron_Lanier" title="Jaron Lanier">Jaron Lanier</a>. Designed with an emphasis on the need for experimentation, Alien Garden was described by its creators as an <a href="Art_game" title="Art game">art game</a>,<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a> and ranks among the earliest art games.<a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a> Its release predates Lanier's <a href="Moondust_(video_game)" title="Moondust (video game)">Moondust</a> by a year.<a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Gameplay">Gameplay</h2></div>

Gameplay consists of a side-scrolling world covered in 24 different kinds of crystalline flowers resembling <a href="Selenite_(mineral)#Gypsum_flower" title="Selenite (mineral)">gypsum flowers</a>. The player controls an <a href="Embryo" title="Embryo">embryonic</a> animal as it grows, survives and reproduces through 20 generations. Difficulty is introduced through the lack of instructions in the game. As such, the player must employ trial and error techniques to determine which flowers are edible, which flowers shrink or grow when stung, and which flowers are fatal or explosive when touched.<a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a> The player may use either the organism's tail, stinger, or wings to bump or otherwise make contact with them. To maintain the challenge, the behavior of the flowers changes every time the game is played. To increase the challenge, the score is repeated all along the left and right sides of the scrolling screen. As the score increases, the animal avatar is forced to travel more and more closely to the sometimes deadly crystal flowers.

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Development">Development</h2></div>

Alien Garden was designed by <a href="Bernie_De_Koven" title="Bernie De Koven">Bernie De Koven</a> and programmed by <a href="Jaron_Lanier" title="Jaron Lanier">Jaron Lanier</a> and Robert Leyland for the <a href="Epyx" title="Epyx">Epyx</a> brand of publisher Automated Simulations. This was one of De Koven's first works alongside Ricochet. He described designing these games as "like writing <a href="Poetry" title="Poetry">poetry</a>" and recalled was "very free as there were so few established precedents" despite a 4 <a href="Kilobyte" title="Kilobyte">KB</a> memory restriction.<a href="#cite_note-AJOP-7">[7]</a> He said that Alien Garden allowed him to challenge his own preconceptions of what a game should be. He used it as an example of his newfound freedom of expression in design, calling it "kind of like a trip, like some kind of <a href="Psychedelic_experience" title="Psychedelic experience">psychedelic experience</a> just to sit there with my eyes closed and imagine all these interactions taking place on the screen."<a href="#cite_note-HMP-8">[8]</a>

De Koven desired for Alien Garden to be an alternative to the perilous, alien environments found in other many games of its time. "I wanted to make an alien world, but not one that was necessarily hostile," he said. "A world that had some danger, but also some beauty."<a href="#cite_note-EFWCAG-9">[9]</a> He later characterized Alien Garden as "a kind of <a href="Art_game" title="Art game">art game</a>, one that was beautiful to look at but required exploration to understand how to interact with the 'flowers' in the garden."<a href="#cite_note-AJOP-7">[7]</a> De Koven and Lanier worked together to define the <a href="Computer_graphics" title="Computer graphics">graphical</a> elements due to the memory limitations. The <a href="Score_(game)" class="mw-redirect" title="Score (game)">score</a> on the play field's boundary was designed to take up more of the screen as the game progressed, increasing the challenge for the player.<a href="#cite_note-HMP-8">[8]</a>

De Koven worked for Epyx for a little more than a year and a half prior to joining the <a href="Sesame_Workshop" title="Sesame Workshop">Children's Computer Workshop</a>.<a href="#cite_note-AJOP-7">[7]</a><a href="#cite_note-EFWCAG-9">[9]</a> Lanier was with Epyx for about one year before departing and developing his more well-known art game <a href="Moondust_(video_game)" title="Moondust (video game)">Moondust</a> for Creative Software.<a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a> Leyland left Epyx to program <a href="Murder_on_the_Zinderneuf" title="Murder on the Zinderneuf">Murder on the Zinderneuf</a> for <a href="Free_Fall_Associates" title="Free Fall Associates">Free Fall Associates</a> before a brief hiatus from the gaming industry.<a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Reception">Reception</h2></div>

<a href="Electronic_Fun_with_Computers_%26_Games" title="Electronic Fun with Computers & Games">Electronic Fun with Computers & Games</a> praised the game for its "graphically stunning" visuals as well as the experimentation and strategy required.<a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a> <a href="Computer_Gaming_World" title="Computer Gaming World">Computer Gaming World</a>, however, harshly criticized the graphics, and felt that the lack of color was "particularly disappointing".<a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><div class="reflist">

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.deepfun.com/bernie">here’s Bernie — DeepFUN</a>

</li>

/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("./mw/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("./mw/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("./mw/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("./mw/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}

/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */

</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081227080131/http://gotcha.classicgaming.gamespy.com/epyx.htm">"Epyx"</a>. <a href="GameSpy" title="GameSpy">GameSpy</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://gotcha.classicgaming.gamespy.com/epyx.htm">the original</a> on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2008.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFThomsen2010" class="citation magazine cs1">Thomsen, Michael (8 February 2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/20120905091730/http://www.next-gen.biz/features/art-gaming">"The Art Of Gaming"</a>. <a href="Edge_(magazine)" title="Edge (magazine)">Edge</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.next-gen.biz/features/art-gaming">the original</a> on 5 September 2012.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFPratt2010" class="citation web cs1">Pratt, Charles J. (8 February 2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/the-art-history-of-games-games-as-art-may-be-a-lost-cause">"The Art History... Of Games? Games As Art May Be A Lost Cause"</a>. <a href="Gamasutra" class="mw-redirect" title="Gamasutra">Gamasutra</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190220165014/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27133/The_Art_History_Of_Games_Games_As_Art_May_Be_A_Lost_Cause.php">Archived</a> from the original on 20 February 2019.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFPease1997" class="citation journal cs1">Pease, Emma (14 May 1997). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110716051829/http://www-csli.stanford.edu/Archive/calendar/1996-97/msg00029.html">"Post Symbolic Systems"</a>. CSLI Calendar of Public Events. 12 (28). Stanford Center for the Study of Language and Information. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www-csli.stanford.edu/Archive/calendar/1996-97/msg00029.html">the original</a> on 16 July 2011.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.atariage.com/box_page.html?SoftwareID=3870&BoxStyleID=76">Alien Garden Owners Manual</a>. AtariAge entry. Retrieved 10 November 2008.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-AJOP-7">^ <a href="#cite_ref-AJOP_7-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-AJOP_7-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-AJOP_7-2">c</a> <cite id="CITEREFAmerican_Journal_of_Play_staff2015" class="citation magazine cs1">American Journal of Play staff (Winter 2015). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/ERIC_EJ1053426/page/n13/mode/1up">"Deep Fun and the Theater of Games: An Interview with Bernie DeKoven"</a>. <a href="American_Journal_of_Play" title="American Journal of Play">American Journal of Play</a>. Vol. 7, no. 2. <a href="The_Strong" title="The Strong">The Strong</a>. p. 150. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1938-0399">1938-0399</a>. <a href="OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/226081597">226081597</a>.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-HMP-8">^ <a href="#cite_ref-HMP_8-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-HMP_8-1">b</a> <cite id="CITEREFJuul,_Jesper2017" class="citation web cs1"><a href="Jesper_Juul_(game_researcher)" title="Jesper Juul (game researcher)">Juul, Jesper</a> (August 22, 2017). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201209080707/https://www.jesperjuul.net/handmadepixels/interviews/dekoven.html">"Interview with Bernie DeKoven"</a>. Jesper Juul. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jesperjuul.net/handmadepixels/interviews/dekoven.html">the original</a> on December 9, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2024.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-EFWCAG-9">^ <a href="#cite_ref-EFWCAG_9-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-EFWCAG_9-1">b</a> <cite id="CITEREFWiswell,_Phil1983" class="citation magazine cs1">Wiswell, Phil (June 1983). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_01_No_08_1983-06_Fun_Games_Publishing_US/page/n77/mode/2up">"Phil Wiswell's Gamemakers: The learning game"</a>. <a href="Electronic_Fun_with_Computers_%26_Games" title="Electronic Fun with Computers & Games">Electronic Fun with Computers & Games</a>. Vol. 1, no. 8. Fun & Games Publishing. pp. 78–9. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0746-0546">0746-0546</a>. <a href="OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/10488752">10488752</a>.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFWiswell,_Phil1983" class="citation magazine cs1">Wiswell, Phil (December 1983). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/electronic-fun-with-computers-and-games-volume-2-number-2-december-1983/page/n85/mode/2up">"Phil Wiswell's Gamemakers: Moon Duster"</a>. <a href="Electronic_Fun_with_Computers_%26_Games" title="Electronic Fun with Computers & Games">Electronic Fun with Computers & Games</a>. Vol. 2, no. 2. Fun & Games Publishing. pp. 84–5. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0746-0546">0746-0546</a>. <a href="OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/10488752">10488752</a>.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFLanier,_Jaron2017" class="citation book cs1"><a href="Jaron_Lanier" title="Jaron Lanier">Lanier, Jaron</a> (November 21, 2017). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/dawnofneweveryth0000lani/page/n9/mode/1up">Dawn of a New Everything: Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality</a> (1st ed.). <a href="Henry_Holt_and_Company" title="Henry Holt and Company">Henry Holt and Company</a>. p. 99. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-1627794091</bdi>.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-12"><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFHickey_Jr.,_Patrick2022" class="citation book cs1">Hickey Jr., Patrick (October 6, 2022). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OVOtEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA102">The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 Games: Interviews with Creators and Developers</a>. <a href="McFarland_%26_Company" title="McFarland & Company">McFarland & Company</a>. p. 102. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-1476685076</bdi>.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-13"><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFWiswell1983" class="citation magazine cs1">Wiswell, Phil (May 1983). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_01_No_07_1983-05_Fun_Games_Publishing_US/page/n63">"Alien Garden"</a>. <a href="Electronic_Fun_with_Computers_%26_Games" title="Electronic Fun with Computers & Games">Electronic Fun with Computers & Games</a>. Vol. 1, no. 7. p. 66.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-14"><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFDoum1983" class="citation magazine cs1">Doum, Allen (March–April 1983). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cgw_9/page/n21">"The Atari Arena"</a>. <a href="Computer_Gaming_World" title="Computer Gaming World">Computer Gaming World</a>. Vol. 3, no. 2. pp. 20, 22.</cite>

</li>

</ol></div></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.atarimania.com/pgesoft.awp?version=196">Alien Garden</a> at Atari Mania</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/a8b_cart_Alien_Garden_1982_Epyx_US">Alien Garden</a> can be played for free in the browser at the <a href="Internet_Archive" title="Internet Archive">Internet Archive</a></li>

<li><a href="https://archive.org/details/agm_Alien_Garden" class="extiw external" title="iarchive:agm Alien Garden">Manual</a> at the <a href="Internet_Archive" title="Internet Archive">Internet Archive</a></li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-05-01" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Alien_Garden&oldid=1288329689">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

</div>

</div></div>

</div>

</main>

</div>

</body></html>