Chris Crawford on Game Design

Camelot

The castle at Camelot was presented as a series of highly ornate menus. I used a huge Old English font; it was quite striking in those days. Unlike modern menus (remember, this was before the Macintosh), the player moved a cursor up and down along a wide path and clicked the joystick button when his cursor was lined up with the menu entry. By exiting the top of the screen, the player could access the next “room” (menu). Each room had the menu listings on the left, the broad vertical band traversed by the cursor in the center, and a characteristic display on the right. Thus, the Treasury room showed Arthur's wealth and offered him opportunities to increase or decrease tax rates. The Great Hall showed the knights in their social relationships, ...