"The Dig: Тайна заброшенного мира"

The Dig is a 1995 point and click adventure game developed by LucasArts for PC and Macintosh. Like other LucasArts adventure games, it uses the SCUMM video game engine. It features a full voice acting cast, including voice actors Robert Patrick and Steve Blum, and a digital orchestral score. The game uses a combination of drawn two dimensional artwork and limited, pre rendered three dimensional clips, with the latter created by Industrial Light & Magic. The game is inspired by an idea originally created for Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories series. Unlike other LucasArts adventure games, which typically includes humor, The Dig took a somber approach to its science fiction motif. In the game, the player takes the role of Commander Boston Low, part of a five man team planting explosives on an asteroid in order to avert its collision course with Earth. Discovering the asteroid is hollow, Low and two of his team are transported to a long abandoned complex, filled with advanced technology, on a strange alien world. Low and his companions must utilize xenoarchaeology to learn how the technology works, discover the fate of the alien race that built it, and solve other mysteries to find a way to return home. The Dig received mixed to positive reviews, with critics primarily praising its atmosphere and soundtrack. Multiple reviewers said the game's puzzles were too difficult, and other aspects, such as its graphics, voice acting, and dialogue, received mixed receptions. A novelization was written by science fiction author Alan Dean Foster in conjunction with the game's development.

The Dig is a point and click adventure game, where the player, as Commander Boston Low, uses the mouse cursor to point to people, objects, and other parts of the environment to look at or interact with them, collect and use items in their inventory, and talk to non player characters. The game runs on the SCUMM game engine, and was the eleventh LucasArts game to do so. A minigame can be found on the communicator menu, consisting of "Asteroid Lander", a Lunar Lander like game. During development, there were plans to include role playing game elements, but these were scrapped before the game's release. As a result, the idea was temporarily shelved. Eventually, it was decided the story could be adapted into the adventure game format. The initial video game design meeting was held in 1989 at Skywalker Ranch; it included Spielberg, George Lucas, Ron Gilbert, and Noah Falstein, the latter two of whom had created a video game based on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that had impressed Spielberg. Writing is credited to Spielberg, author Orson Scott Card, who wrote the dialogue, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) created some of the CG imagery. The game was not released until 1995. The original production involved a story that took place in the distant future. In this story, a crew of explorers in a spaceship visit an abandoned planet, discovering signs of an extraterrestrial civilization that left behind technological artifacts. The explorers initially assume that the occupants of the planet had died off, seeing no sign of them, but as the story progresses, the player was meant to discover something very different. This premise is similar to the finished game's story, but contains clear differences. When Moriarty took over, he decided to start again from scratch. This version of the production was more similar to the released game, but it contained one extra character: a Japanese business tycoon and science hobbyist named Toshi Olema, who uses his money to buy his way onto the Attila project crew. Other notable design ideas which were dropped during the game's production include a survival game angle, which forced the player to keep water and food supplies for life support, and exploration of cities on the planet. Although The Dig was announced for release in Q2 1992, it ultimately did not launch until December 1995. The game was re released using the Steam content delivery system on July 8, 2009.

According to LucasArts, The Digs global sales reached 300,000 copies by early 1998, the highest sales of a LucasArts adventure title at the time of its release. However, the company's Bill Tiller later said that upper management considered it a commercial letdown, and speculated that its "budget had run so high that it couldn't make its money back." He remarked, "The whole project had been way over hyped. I think Lucas Arts management thought it would make a bazillion dollars, and when it sold a substantial amount less than a bazillion dollars, they were disappointed." The Digs graphics, voice acting, and writing were given an uneven reception by critics. Its puzzles were generally viewed as more difficult than most LucasArts games. However, the cut scenes were more favorably received, and the music was universally praised. Evan Dickens of Adventure Gamers stated, "The Dig is a lot more reminiscent of Myst than any other LucasArts adventure." Joshua Roberts of Allgame praised the puzzles, saying there were "only a few real brain twisters" and that most could be solved with patience and consideration. Dickens noted that the graphics looked a bit dated. About "Mission to the Asteroid", the opening song, he wrote, "Much of the composition conveys beauty and serenity, yet there is a certain tragic element created with the sweeping chord changes and sometimes elegiac motifs". In 1996, GamesMaster ranked The Dig 75th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time."

Science fiction author Alan Dean Foster, known for having written novelizations of films such as Star Wars and Alien 3, wrote a novel based on The Dig. An audiobook version of the novel was also released. The novel is not completely consistent with the game, and sections of the story are presented from the point of view of the indigenous alien civilization, something not seen in the game. The novel also provides some background detail (such as the reaction on Earth after the discovery of Attila), in addition to explaining several mysteries left unexplored in the game. Publishers Weekly panned the novelization, claiming it was severely restricted by the fact that it was based on a computer game, in which the hero merely collects objects and solves puzzles. The review also said it suffered from stereotypical characters and a "simplistic metaphysics", again blamed on its computer game origins.