~8 minute readDimmerr Dungeons
The Lost Treasures of Infocom
You gaze at yourself in the mirror, turning side to side, and then twisting yourself at an angle to get a glimpse of the back. You think about changing, then change your mind, reconsider, and then finally decide that you look just fine. Besides, apparel, no matter how luxurious or how homespun, is bound to make no difference to Morggon. He is, after all, a dwarf, and a royal dwarf at that, although Maeve has told you never to mention that in his presence as there is a tragic story in his past. Unfortunately, she has never told you that story, and Morggon is hardly the talkative sort. He is, however, a fearless warrior and a steadfast friend, and everyone at the RealmsHead is devoted to him, so you would like to be on his good side.
Maybe the present you selected for his birthday will help. Anxiously, you glance once more at the sealed chest in the corner. 1t isn't overly large, but it weighs a great deal.
"Small but muscular," the salesman at the Shailan Bazaar told you, "just like your dwarven friend. You've got a real bargain there, that's for sure. Oh, by the way, don't open it yourself. You might let its secret out, and that would ruin the surprise. See ya!"
You might feel better, if the salesman hadn't vanished in a puff of smoke two seconds later. Still, the chest is compelling.... If only your magic skills were a bit better, you could test it for traps. Your hand reaches out, touches the lock, then draws back at the sound of footsteps in the hall. They are light steps, almost airy, the sound of elven boots. On an impulse, you throw open the door and confront the walker.
Lariel fails to look even mildly surprised. She simply smiles at you, an action which leaves most mortals breathless. You are no exception, as you still haven't grown used to her beauty.
"You look worried," she continues, "and Maeve is already downstairs. Could I help?"
"Yeeeesss," you stammer as you point toward the chest. While she moves closer to it, you recover enough to explain your concern. "From the bazaars of Shaila?" she says, stretching her tapering fingers along both sides of tire leather bindings. "Morggon should be most flattered that you traveled that far for his sake. Be at ease. There are 110 traps here, and I sense all inner light that gleams truly golden. I would hurry down with it, for I believe it is a treasure fit for any Dwarven Prince."
Later that evening, you reflect on how right she was as you and Maeve sit comfortably watching Morggon decide which adventure he will begin first.
"Wherever did you find that wonderful package?" she asks. "You couldn't have pleased Morggon more. He's always complaining that so many adventurers assume that great dwarf strength means tiny dwarf brain, and he is a great lover of puzzles. Oh, to think we thought Infocom might have died forever.
"Silly, I suppose, to assume that glitz and speed would completely drown out the voices of all those who love a good story, but we did so worry that the software companies' need for such large profits to meet escalating production costs would create more and more products that sought to please only the most common denominators. When Lucasfilm boldly advertised, a bit sarcastically, the 'illiteracy driven parser,' many of us who are long-time adventurers felt so old and tired that we thought to vanish into the mists. I imagine that avid readers felt the same when proponents of television announced that books would be dead in two or three years. Certainly, there has been a marked drop in literacy in some parts of the mundane world, such as the Westland called America, but many of the inhabitants there still read, and there are those among them who prefer to view Masterpiece Theatre instead of The Simpsons, so I suppose all is not lost."
She smiles toward Morggon. "Not lost at all. Just look at the wealth of that documentation alone; a manual of nearly 300 pages, and an accompanying hint book which is even larger! But of course, it would have to be to properly support the full twenty adventures contained in the oversized box. Before Morggon opened it, I would never have guessed it contained software!
"A great many favorites lay within, all the excursions into the world of Zork, the Enchanter trilogy (which Marco and Lariel are fairly itching to try), mysteries from Moonmist to Deadline, some of the most compelling space epics, and such offbeat charmers as Infidel, Ballyhoo and Lurking Horror.
"Yet, despite the quantity, the whole set will take up very little of anyone's hard drive, and as much or as little can be installed as you would like. That is one feature of the beauty of text games, although Beyond Zork has a few graphic elements, and Zork Zero does feature some very nice illustrations. Most of the pictures, however, must exist in the players' minds, the greatest canvases of all. Fortunately, the inclusion of all those wonderful map sheets eliminates the need for having to create those in our heads, and they're such fun to read!"
Morggon is juggling the two sets of disks now, mumbling to himself and staring intently at both monitor screens. He gives a decisive nod, pulls on his dark beard, and begins loading the Amiga disks on to his hard drive. Lariel and Marco pounce on the MS-DOS version and boot up Spellbreaker.
Maeve laughs. "I also think it was so sweet of that salesman to include both formats in your package, although others will not have that luxury and will have to decide when they buy. The day I freed my 486 monster, I thought I should own a rare combination indeed, but it seems the Amiga/MS-DOS pairing is wending its way into many domiciles of both nobles and merchants. In fact, several pilgrims passing through the Inn have asked us to provide advice on format selection. It does seem as if Morggon has made the prudent choice in this case. The Amiga format allows text and background to be rendered in any color combination by tailoring the Workbench. This is a welcome relief from the harshness of the MS-DOS white text on black. Also, if you own a larger machine with a faster processor, you will need to install ANSI.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS file, which will make the Infocom adventures run quite smoothly, but may wreak unexpected havoc with other denizens on your hard drive, particularly if NANSI.SYS is also present. For example, the graphics in Civilization became quite uncivilized, and the sound effects of Shanghai II turned dragon's snorts until one tester removed the ANSI.SYS from the start up. Naturally, there are ways around this difficulty, but if you have your choice of both formats, why bother? In both cases, installations to hard drives is simple, and there is no copy protection anywhere, although you will need that wonderfully lavish documentation in many cases.
"Enough of this technical prattle, young one. Tell me how you managed to acquire the King's ransom it must have taken to purchase such a find."
You tell her honestly that it cost you nowhere near what she might guess, that the price on its placard was only $69.95, and that you were able to haggle the salesman down to under $55.00.
She laughs at that. "No wonder he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Let us hope Shaila's bazaars teem with such chests, for I believe that there will be a rush of travelers headed that way on the morrow, and well worth the trip, for they will discover the endless vistas of intrigue and imagination open only to those, who, in spite of profiteers and marketeering, hold on to their ability to read, reason and rejoice."
The cursor on the Amiga monitor blinks eagerly, but Morggon pauses, rises and crosses the room to stand before you.
"For many reasons," he says in his gruff yet kind voice, "I never entered the original lands of Zork. Since you are new to adventuring, I thought the same might be true in your case." You nod agreement, afraid that speech might cause him to stop talking.
"Then, since it is my birthday, and I am told I am to be indulged, might I have the pleasure of your company on this excursion? There is much to find and do, and two great minds are surely better than one."
You see the twinkle in his eyes, and realize that he is not as grim a character as you thought. Maeve squeezes your hand and pushes you forward. As you head off to the Great Underground Empire, you can feel her pleasure. There are all sorts of treasures in these Realms, some visible, some hidden, some bought in the Shailan Bazaars and some, those most worth having, beyond them all.
[Reviewer's Note: It was impossible for me to rate this package under the current system, as there is no sound, and no actual "graphics." However, these truly are treasures, and I believe every adventurer, new or old, should own this package in the format of his or her choice (Amiga, MS-DOS or Mac). It is an incredible bargain not to be missed, and it has my HIGHEST recommendation! Even though the Distinctive Adventure Award has become fairly commonplace, I think this is one adventure package that truly deserves it.
Also, for those interested, the package contains: Zork, Zork II, Zork III, Beyond Zork, Zork Zero, Enchanter, Sorcerer, Spellbreaker, Deadline, Witness, Suspect, Lurking Horror, Ballyhoo, Infidel, Moonmist, Planetfall, Stationfall, Suspended, Starcross and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Yes, this does mean that some of my personal favorites, such as Wishbringer, Border Zone and Hollywood Hijinx are missing, along with the rest of the Infocoms that also deserve notice. Okay, we can forget about Nord & Bert â a painful memory at best. I hope that this means that we can look forward to a second Infocom collection. Register your support now â buy this one!!
This article appeared in
Enchanted Realms
May 1992
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.
