[abecedarius]

I think you're mixing Infocom with some of the much cruder adventure games of the time. Or maybe remembering an unrepresentative Infocom game or part of one.

Not to say Infocom included AI. They just used a lot of talent and playtesting to make games that felt more open-ended.

[kenjackson]

No. I actually went and played Zork again to be sure. Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy had me pulling my hair out as a kid. It was definitely Infocom.

I also, as a kid, write a lot of Infocom-style games, so I can appreciate how good of a job they did. but I've also looked at their source code since it has all been released and I wasn't too far behind them.

[abecedarius]

I forgot about Hitchhiker's -- to be fair, that did seem less like a game/world and more like a big, funny... art piece? I never got back to it after needing hints to make it to the Heart of Gold.