Softporn
by Sierra On-Line
(On-Line Systems folder)
Softporn was an adult text adventure, the goal of which was simply
to meet and sleep with three women. Originally written independently by
Chuck Benton, the game was passed around to various publishers until Ken
Williams picked it up as part of the On-Line Systems library. Every other
publisher was terrified to sell it, and no self-respecting retailer would
admit to stocking the thing. Even so, On-Line managed to sell 20,000
copies, to about one-fifth of the registered Apple user population at the
time. (Source: The Official Book of Leisure Suit Larry.)
Softporn was largely a novelty product: After about the first year
or so, the novelty wore off, and interest and sales dropped abruptly.
It was Sierra's only all-text adventure, not part of the Hi-Res series,
and written in AppleSoft BASIC. It was also the first computer adventure
to cause a controversy (Ken got hate-mail from a bunch of people, mostly
self-righteous religious types), and it paved the way for Leisure
Suit Larry years later.
Here it is, the infamous cover art. The woman on the right is Roberta
Williams. (Yes, the creator of King's Quest, naked in a hot tub!)
The other two were, at the time, On-Line's bookkeeper and the wife of Ken's
assistant, though I couldn't tell you which is which. The waiter, though
he looks kind of like Ken Williams himself, was hired from a local four-star
restaurant for the shot. Also notice the Apple II computer in the
background.
The On-Line package is the usual paperboard folder, and two varieties of
cover exist, one in color and the other black-and-white. I'm not 100%
certain which came first. I've seen both the Apple and Atari versions
in color, but never the B&W.
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