Hitchhiker's Guide's game plan

The Hitchhiker's Guide: Became successful TV series

The best-selling science-fiction book, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, is to be turned into a computer game for the PC.

The game will be based on the novel written by Douglas Adams, and which was the first episode in a five-part trilogy that has sold 15 million copies worldwide.

Swedish-based software group PAN Interactive will develop the game in time for a release in spring 2001.

Marvin: Arthur Dent's paranoid companion

The software company has described it as a 3D arcade "towel 'em up" adventure. It will be along the same lines as Tomb Raider, Mario 64 and Zelda, they said.

The player will control the character of Arthur Dent, the human who is plucked from Earth just before its destruction and roams the galaxy with a range of aliens and robots.

The story was first made popular as a radio series in 1978, which fuelled interest in the subsequent books and spawned a television adaptation.

PAN Interactive's chief executive Henrik Eklund said: "I believe anyone who was a fan of Douglas Adams' original book will fall in love with the addictive gaming qualities and hooks the game has to offer.

"We are very excited about the prospect of the PC adaptation of Hitchhiker."

It will combine the action, adventure and comedy of the original novel, he said.