
                             SOFTPORN
                            Version 2.2


CAUTION!
THIS IS AN ADULT GAME. IF ADULT THEMES BOTHER YOU, DON'T PLAY! IF YOU ARE
UNDER 18, DON'T PLAY! (Yes, this is the disclaimer.)

Softporn was the first widely-known adult adventure game. This version
stays as close as possible to the original, while greatly improving the
screen layout. Your goal is simple: "score" three times. Since this is a
text-only game, most of it is in your imagination. 


DIGITAL ANTIQUES
Softporn was written in 1981 (the Paleolithic period of computing!) for
the Apple ][ computer and is, to date, the only game Sierra has ever
published that has absolutely NO graphics. When Time Magazine published
its very first column on computers, the photo it ran with the article was
the cover of Softporn. When there were only 100,000 Apple ][ computers in
the world, Sierra had sold 25,000 copies of Softporn! It was, to say the
least, a phenomenon in the early days of microcomputers.

But, the state of the art then was much different from the state of the
art today. It was a "simpler" time (i.e., you had to work lots harder
because the computer didn't!). So, don't expect much in the way of user
friendliness here.


GAME PLAY
You type a two-word command, like "OPEN DOOR," "PUSH BUTTON," "KISS GIRL,"
or "LOOK SINK." Type anything you can think of! There are some outrageous
combinations! But don't get discouraged if the game doesn't understand
you. It will tell you exactly what it doesn't recognize. That's why this
interface was known as "type-‘til-you-bleed!"

As in most adventure games, if you CAN take something, do so. Later,
you'll be able to USE it somewhere. Some objects may even be used more
than once. And everything has a use, however small. But, unlike more
modern adventures, you cannot carry everything at once, so DROP things
when you need to. Remember where, and it will be there when you return.
 
You begin play with $2,500. 1981 was a time of high inflation; prices in
the game are very high. Your money will quickly diminish and you must find
a way to get more. 


HISTORY
Softporn was created in 1981 by Chuck Benton for the Apple ][ computer.
Note: that's before there was a ][+ and long before the ][e. (And aren't
you glad you don't have to read any more of those cute brackets instead of
regular old Roman numerals?!) When Chuck got his Apple, his goal was to
write database software. To learn how, he knocked out a simple adventure
game as a learning exercise...and Softporn was born. 

This version was revised and programmed by Gary Thompson. Gary first
played Softporn on his Apple back in 1984 and thought it was a great game.
Since it was written in Applesoft Basic, it was easy to read the source
code. Years later, when he got his PC, he used that old Softporn printout
to teach himself BASIC. Later, he again used Softporn as a exercise while
learning to program in C. (See? This game IS educational!) After Sierra
dropped Softporn from its catalog, his shareware version was the only
version available.

When Sierra wanted to update Softporn with 3-D graphics and complete
animation, Ken Williams called on Al Lowe. Al's reaction was "Ken, this
game's so out of date, it should be about a guy in a leisure suit.
Hey...wait a minute..." So Al kept Chuck's puzzles and nothing else,
created a central character named Larry, and added plenty of humor. 

Thus did Softporn begat Larry...and that's why this game is on 
"Leisure Suit Larry's Greatest Hits and Misses."
