Preserving Worlds
Preserving Worlds is a documentary travelogue through aging and beloved virtual worlds. Join us as we explore dated chat environments, appreciate player-created art, and meet people working against obsolescence to keep the communities they care about alive and accessible. Virtual worlds are delicate things, and they can vanish with hardly a trace. Under capitalism, preservation is often the last priority. But even if you manage to archive the offline software, a dead world can only tell you so much. It’s just as important to document how people spent their time within it.
With this series, filmmakers Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil offer an entertaining glimpse into these worlds and create historical records of them that may someday be of use.
-
Preserving Worlds S1: Introduction
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 2 minutes
The members of Marginal Consort met in art school in 1970's Japan. They create elaborate instrumental systems from household items and hardware-store treasures.
Once a year, Marginal Consort meets up to perform. The... -
Preserving Worlds S1 Ep1: WorldsChat
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 14 minutes
WorldsChat is a social virtual world that was launched in 1994, and is still online today. Users can equip avatars and hang out in 3D spaces, conversing with each other over text-based chat. WorldsChat allowed users to...
-
Preserving Worlds S1 Ep2: ZZT
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 28 minutes
In 1991, 21-year-old game developer Tim Sweeney launched a simplistic, already-outdated MS-DOS game that would become, entirely by accident, the most popular hobbyist game development tool of the 90’s.
ZZT's free, r... -
Preserving Worlds S1 Ep3: Myst Online
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 28 minutes
In the mid-2000’s, Cyan Worlds, creators of the massively popular adventure game Myst, released an ambitious online sequel that never caught on the way they'd hoped. Myst Online: Uru Live sought to translate the single...
-
Preserving Worlds S1 Ep4: Doom
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 25 minutes
The first person shooter Doom launched in 1993 and quickly secured its place in popular culture. The game’s creators were unusually mod-friendly, and they set the game up so it was easy and legal for fans to create the...
-
Preserving Worlds S1 Ep5: NeoHabitat
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 28 minutes
Habitat, the first ever graphical massively multiplayer online game, emerged on the Commodore 64 home micro computer in 1986. Because the game was the first of its kind, its developers tried a number of odd experiments...
-
Preserving Worlds S1 Ep6: Second Life
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 30 minutes
Arguably the most well known social virtual world, Second Life started in 2003 and it’s still online today. The software is extremely flexible, and users are able to customize almost every aspect of the experience. The...
-
Preserving Worlds S2 Ep1: RPG Maker - The Dream of the Engine
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2023 • 26 minutes
The illegally cracked and fan-translated version of RPG Maker was one of the most popular hobbyist game engines of the early 2000's. The creator of the cult classic Space Funeral shows us how RPG Maker's collage-like n...
-
Preserving Worlds S2 Ep2: Meridian 59 - A Culture of Absolute Conflict
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2023 • 41 minutes
Meridian 59 was one of the first graphical massively multiplayer online RPGs, and it's still one of the most violent. For almost 30 years, its players have enjoyed all the scheming, backstabbing, and intrigue of a neve...
-
Preserving Worlds S2 Ep3: Hundeparken - A Pixel Talking To Another Pixel
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2023 • 41 minutes
In the early 2000's, the Danish Public Broadcasting Company ran Hundeparken, an entirely non-profit social browser game where cute but crude pixelated dogs could chat, play minigames, and trade rare hats. We spoke with...
-
Preserving Worlds S2 Ep4: Active Worlds - Cyberspace With A Human Face
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2023 • 46 minutes
In the mid 90's, a group called the Contact Consortium brought together technologists, scientists, and artists to try and shepherd early virtual worlds into the mainstream. We spoke with the group's founder about the s...
-
Preserving Worlds S2 Ep5: Furcadia - We're Still Running On One Machine
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2023 • 36 minutes
The 1996 chat game Furcadia is still run by its original creators, and almost entirely staffed by long-time players. One of the game's creators, Dr. Cat, tells us about how they've cultivated a welcoming environment fo...
-
Preserving Worlds S2 Ep6: Gemstone IV / Final Fantasy XIV
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2023 • 55 minutes
The history of online games is short enough that some players have seen nearly their entire evolution first-hand. We spoke with one such player about their history with MMOs, from text-based worlds to the newest one we...
-
Preserving Worlds S2 Ep7: DIY - You Gotta Put in the Work
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2023 • 45 minutes
Anyone who spends too much time on the internet knows that the design of an online space can profoundly influence the types of interactions that occur there. Unsatisfied by the options available on the market, some sma...
