Dave Lebling
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|American computer game writer (born 1949)}}
{{BLP sources|date=October 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| name = David Lebling
| image = Dave Lebling.jpg
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| caption = Lebling in 2010
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|10|30}}
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| occupation = Video game designer, computer programmer
| spouse =
| known_for = Zork, co-founder of Infocom
}}
Peter David Lebling (born October 30, 1949) is an American interactive fiction game designer (implementor) and programmer who has worked at various companies, including Infocom and Avid.
Life and career
He was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Maryland, and attended MIT, where he obtained a degree in political science before becoming a member of its Laboratory for Computer Science.
After encountering the original Adventure game (also called Colossal Cave), he was fascinated by the concept and—together with Marc Blank, Tim Anderson and Bruce Daniels—set out to write an adventure game with a better parser,{{cite journal |last1=Lebling |first1=P.D. |last2=Blank |first2=M.S. |first3=T.A.| last3=Anderson |year=1980 |title=Zork:A Computerized Fantasy Simulation Game |journal=IEEE Computer |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=51–59 |publisher=IEEE Computer Society |doi=10.1109/MC.1979.1658697 |s2cid=7845131 }} which became Zork. In 1979, he became one of the founders of Infocom.{{cite web|url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_55/332-The-Short-Happy-Life-of-Infocom|title=The Short, Happy Life of Infocom|publisher=The Escapist|first=Lara|last=Crigger|date=July 25, 2006|access-date=October 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127183302/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_55/332-The-Short-Happy-Life-of-Infocom |archive-date=November 27, 2010}}
His games include Zork I, II and III, Starcross, Suspect, Spellbreaker, The Lurking Horror, Maze and James Clavell's Shōgun.
After Infocom's end in 1989, Lebling worked on a GUI spreadsheet program, joined Avid (a company doing special effects for broadcast and film), and designed server applications at Ucentric.
Lebling currently resides in Concord, Massachusetts with his wife. He is a programmer for British defense contractor BAE Systems.
References
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External links
- {{moby developer|id=201|name=Dave Lebling's profile}}
- [http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/ Interview with Dave Lebling] at Adventure Classic Gaming (2001)
{{Infocom games}}
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Category:Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Pioneer Award recipients
Category:American video game designers
Category:American video game programmers
Category:Interactive fiction writers
Category:MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni
Category:People from Washington, D.C.
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