TECHNOLOGY : Sequel to Popular Computer Game Shown by Makers

What lucky number comes after 7? It’s 11, of course.

Virgin Interactive Entertainment Inc. in Irvine and Oregon-based Trilobyte Inc. showed an early version of “The 11th Hour” computer compact disk game, which is a sequel to “The 7th Guest,” which Computer Gaming World magazine ranks as the most popular game on the CD-ROM (compact disk, read-only memory) format.

Virgin and Trilobyte showed scenes from “The 11th Hour” at the Consumer Electronics Show two weeks ago in Las Vegas. Virgin’s booth, a simulated bar scene where 19 computer and video games were on display, was not lost inside three dazzling pavilions where row upon row of games were on display.

“The 11th Hour” game returns the player to the haunted mansion of mad toy maker Henry Stauf, who is the mystery host of “The 7th Guest.” It picks up the story 70 years later.

As reporter Carl Denning, the game’s player must search for his girlfriend and solve an array of puzzles in the now-decayed Stauf mansion. The 22 rooms of the house were redrawn using three-dimensional computer animation, and the story is set to a chilling musical score.

“The 11th Hour” will feature 60 minutes of video stored on CD-ROM, which is based on the same technology as music CDs and can store text, graphics, video and sound. The game is scheduled for release this spring.