It seemed like such a good idea at the time. As a self-employed computer consultant, working at home was the logical decision: no more long commutes, no expensive office to lease, no boss.
Unfortunately you also have no secretary, no janitor and no weekends. Your living room has become a glorified break room and your only human contact is by Electronic Mail. Thank God for your computer…
Release info:
The original version of CosmoServe, written in AGT, was released in 1991 and updated in 1997.
This is the January 2018 beta re-release of CosmoServe, written in Inform 7.
If you would like to help me get this version released, you can request to join the Judith Pintar Beta Testing Facebook page. Thank you!
CosmoServe recreates online life in the pre-Internet era, when dial-up modems connected desktop computers to commercial bulletin boards which charged hourly fees for the use of their services.
Most of the game is played in a simulated PC operating system; you use DOS commands to run communications software in order to log on to CosmoServe, where you then navigate through online menus.
CosmoServe won the 5th annual Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) game writing contest. The beta version you can play on this site has been ported to the Inform 7 language, with changes made reflecting player feedback over the decades. Type CREDITS from within the game for more information about the history of the game.
CosmoServe was included in David Gerrold’s book and CD, Fatal Distractions. The original AGT version can also be found on its IFDB page.