The Fool’s Errand is one of the precious gems of its era, despite - because of? - having been made by a fellow with little intrinsic interest in computers and even less in playing games on them. The first game he made, however, is anything but typical. Taken in this light, the story of Cliff Johnson, a filmmaker who decided to start making computer games instead, may not seem quite so atypical. Other companies could boast architects, psychologists, rocket scientists, poets, and plain old high-school students. Infocom, just to take one example, included among their ranks a construction engineer, a journalist, a science-fiction author, a medical doctor, and two lost literature majors, while Sierra’s two most prominent designers were a former housewife and a former jazz musician. Plenty were the programmers and technologists that you might expect, but plenty of others came from places much farther afield. Long before “game developer” was recognized by universities as a legitimate career to which one could aspire, people from a dizzying array of backgrounds stumbled into the field. “Perhaps,” the sun murmured, “yet things are never as simple as they may seem.”īut the fool had already run back down the hill and did not hear the sun’s parting words. “At last! A path to follow!” cried the fool, happily taking the map. It will aid you in your quest.”Īnd in a flash of light, an aged parchment appeared at his feet. “That may well be true,” spoke the sun, “but I fear that you are already lost. “Well, then,” the fool considered, “I seek the fourteen treasures of the world and I am told that a man who strays from his path is lost.”

“Who dares to interrupt my errand?” he demanded impatiently. Just as one leg dangled over the side of the cliff, the fool hesitated. “Your folly is most curious,” a voice boomed.

But the fool was undaunted and kept at his swift pace, steadily approaching the sheer drop. Soon the trees parted and the path led to a small clearing, ending abruptly at the edge of a treacherous cliff.

“What a marvelous afternoon!” he exclaimed to no one in particular, pausing to appreciate the lovely countryside. A long wooden pole was slung over his shoulder and attached to it was a cloth bundle which carried his life’s possessions. One sunny day, a light-hearted fool strolled along a hilly path, whistling a merry tune.

Fools errand mac emulator