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Hitchhikers' Guide Books

I'd just like to point out to all the people who are annoyed with the inconsistencies between the different instances of HHGG - they're all inconsistent with each other. But for the record, the BBC TV series was least inconsistent with the original radio series, and the recent movie brought back some ideas that have not been seen since the radio series.

But the series is different from the books, which is different from the TV series, which is different from the stage play, which was different from the movie. So don't complain. Inconsistency is one way that more ideas get included, and it's an essential part of the whole zeitgeist.

So there.
 
That is it! Proof that it is fact! I mean if it was fiction then Mr Adams would have been able to make them all consistent with each other. However because it is based on historical fact then certain statements would appear to be inconsistent with other statements because they are from different points of view.
 
The difference between the two books is that the Bible is inconsistent in many critical areas. The guide is only inconsistent in the details.
 
arthwollipot said:
But the series is different from the books, which is different from the TV series, which is different from the stage play, which was different from the movie.
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Not to mention the LP version, too, which was different again, but closest to the radio version.

My order of preference would be radio, book, movie, TV. That may be because I heard the radio version first, and just didn't feel the TV version did it justice.
 
My first exposure to HHGG was actually the computer game, but I had a hard time getting through it, initially.

I didn't complete that game until after I had read the first four books (the fifth was not written, yet), and thought the game would be just as delightfully funny!
Well, only some of it was.

I remember borrowing audio tapes of the HHGG radio series, from a friend in HS, and thinking it was mildy amusing, but I still liked the books better.

I thought the TV was mostly clunky. I watched it on PBS a couple of times.

And, that the movie was very... "meh", to put it as mildly and politely as possible.

Now, I got a copy of virtually every version of the HHGG ever made, including the comic books! (I don't have the official towel, yet, but I hardly think it counts, actually.)

Did I mention my Douglas Adams fan site? http://www.mitchlampert.net/FanPages/DAdams/Index.aspx
I know it needs work, but the content should keep you well informed.
 
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is definitive. Reality frequently gets it wrong.

In all seriousness, if I could bring back one person to life, I think it would be Douglas Adams. Or Jimi Hendrix. I don't think DNA would mind.
 
Raja said:
I would've posted again sooner, but I was busy feeding an alleged 'cheese sandwich' to the dog, who then promptly ignored a passing microscopic space fleet.

I also seem to have disintegrated my common sense node again.

Anyone for a cup of no tea?
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So long as it's not that substance that the Nutrimatic dispenses, which tastes almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.

I think you lose 30 points if you actually drink it.
 
Jon. said:
In all seriousness, if I could bring back one person to life, I think it would be Douglas Adams. Or Jimi Hendrix. I don't think DNA would mind.
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I'd like to bring back Jim Henson.

Both he and Adams died way too early, and both of their deaths were eclipsed in the news media by the death of a celebrity singer that same week. (Perry Como in the case of Adams, Sammy Davis Jr. in the case of Henson.)
 
Wowbagger said:
My first exposure to HHGG was actually the computer game, but I had a hard time getting through it, initially.
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I had the game, too. I won a free copy of it in a contest. It was one of those all-text games which were rather clunky to work with. Basically you just throw out a lot of comments to see what sticks. Most of the time the computer responded by saying that it didn't understand.

Steve S.
 
brodski said:
But quickly, the world's abbout to end.
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What, is it Thursday already?


Wowbagger said:
You're right, it was less than 1 decade, not several decades.

(But, it sure felt like several decades, at the time.)
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[Marvin]Yeah, well, the first few decades were the worst. The next few weren't so great either. After that, it just got depressing.[/Marvin]


Beady said:
Are you saying the Bible is right?
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Well, it certainly can't be said to be "harmless".....
 
steve s said:
I had the game, too. I won a free copy of it in a contest. It was one of those all-text games which were rather clunky to work with. Basically you just throw out a lot of comments to see what sticks. Most of the time the computer responded by saying that it didn't understand.

Steve S.
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If you were just throwing stuff out there at random, then I can see how you'd think they were "rather clunky." However, if you were very observant (and, in my case, had set the responses to "verbose"), you'd have a good idea as to what works before you typed in your commands.

And besides, some of the "I don't get it" responses are very funny. You even NEED to have at least one mistaken entry to win the game.

(Isn't it fun reading all the footnotes?)

You can play an illustrated version of the game at the BBC Radio 4 website.
 
steve s said:
I had the game, too. I won a free copy of it in a contest. It was one of those all-text games which were rather clunky to work with. Basically you just throw out a lot of comments to see what sticks. Most of the time the computer responded by saying that it didn't understand.

Steve S.
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That very game is hosted online by the Good Ol' BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game_nolan.shtml

(link for edition two - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game_andrew.shtml )
 
I saw it as a stage play in London back in the early 80's. Being sat in the front row I was rudely accused by the cast of being a telephone sanitiser.
 
steve s said:
I had the game, too. I won a free copy of it in a contest. It was one of those all-text games which were rather clunky to work with. Basically you just throw out a lot of comments to see what sticks. Most of the time the computer responded by saying that it didn't understand.

Steve S.
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Ah, the good old Infocom "text adventures" of the Zork genre. Come on, the parser wasn't *that* bad; at least it permitted some adjectives and more readable grammar than most other games that made you shoehorn every command into "verb object" structure. Trying to confuse it was half the fun (e.g. in Zork I, try something like "put the box in the bag. put the bag in the box." rather than "put the box in the bag. take the box from the bag. put the bag in the box").

I actually loved those games. Lacking any graphics or real-time response pressures your imagination could assemble the game world freely. Like any bit of prose, the quality of writing made all the difference in the world. The first one I played was "Planetfall", authored by the same guy who did the H2G2 game (Meretzky IIRC?). I was really impressed by the way the robot Floyd's annoying, childish, disruptive antics, instilled an emotional attachment which really added to the intensity of the endgame.

You can download the common parser engine and the p-code (Z-code?) for most of those old games. Alas, I don't have the link handy and filters here at the office complicate my quick Googling efforts.

DLS

DLS
 
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