~4 minute readSubterranean Adventures in Zork
Trek through the land of Zork with Barry Miles
INFOCOM ADVENTURES are a special breed, and have become a real cult in the United States. Three of Infocom's games, Zork I, Zork II and Zork III have generated so much interest that they have been published as game books.
In addition, Zork addicts may buy a whole host of aids to assist them in their exploration of the Underground Kingdom. These range from maps onward. (We are seeing the beginnings of this in the United Kingdom, with Melbourne House publishing a book on how to win at The Hobbit).
If you are a bit jaded with ordinary run-of-the-mill verbal adventures, then Infocom is for you. The sophistication of the messages you receive, and the very advanced way in which you communicate with the programs is what makes them different.
None of these games make any use of graphics at all. Some addicts of arcade adventures will find this boring, but those who find it boring to wait while pictures, however interesting, are drawn, will feel otherwise! It all depends if you prefer pictures or words, but if you would rather spend your time reading a novel than watching its television adaptation, then Infocom games could be just your thing. Commodore clearly believe that price has previously deterred a wide range of potential customers from buying these games, and they have reduced the prices drastically.
The Zork Trilogy is best sampled in sequence. Zork I is an intermediate adventurer's game, Zork II caters for the intermediate to advanced player, and Zork III is for the advanced to postgraduate adventurer. As with solving crossword puzzles, you eventually start to see inside the mind of the adventure author. Consequently, game-lore picked up at the easier levels of playing can be invaluable at the higher levels.
In Zork I, The Great Underground Empire, you soon find yourself in a vast subterranean labyrinth, always supposing your tour round the house is thorough enough to discover the window which is ajar. Previously, you are likely to have been told that all windows are closed! However, these are magic circumstances, and in any case, events occur, as time passes, don't they?
As usual, you are after treasure to gain points, and are impeded in your progress by various unfriendly beings. The labyrinth (which you will need to map as you travel) contains bits of written information, and various vehicles for visiting inaccessible and inhospitable areas, plus sundry weapons and containers of limited capacity.
It may seem strange to consider the subject of user-friendliness, where games software is concerned. However, playing an adventure is often a long drawn out affair, and certainly where Infocom is concerned, a highly thoughtful process. You will therefore spend a considerable length of time playing the game. As a result, you will appreciate the steps which have been taken to make life easier for you.
First, you have the advantage of the way in which Zork can understand full sentences. You are able to converse with the program in a higher level language than is usual in such games, and so "Take all but the lamp" or "Drop all but the candle" will be understood.
Only the first six letters of any word are paid attention to by the game, and you can use abbreviations for the sixteen commands available. Additionally, you can choose to reduce the amount of information given to you, by use of the "Brief" or "Superbrief" commands. A full description is obtained by typing "L" or LOOK. Alternatively, all future descriptions become full if you type "verbose".
You can save the game at any point. Canny adventurers will do this when about to embark on any potentially dangerous enterprise!
You can also obtain a continuous printout of all screen displays. This will reduce note-taking to a minimum, and, as the game can be solved in a variety of ways, such a printout can be invaluable.
Interest is maintained by your being able to find out your current score at any time! All in all a very good adventure for those with experience, but too complex for beginners.
In Zork II, The Wizard of Frobozz, the plot thickens. You continue on your merry way, much as before, collecting treasures, and fighting off opponents. However, you now have a Wizard to contend with, who has a rather malicious sense of humour. He casts various spells on you, which impede your progress, and cause you to rely rather heavily on Zork's "WAIT" command. (This command enables you to cause time to pass, so that you may discover what happens).
Since you suffer more trials and tribulations than in Zork I, you may find the medical report, (called up by the DIAGNOSE command) is invoked more frequently too!
If coping with an old Wizard, somewhat absent-minded but nonetheless still effective spell-wise, is your scene, then Zork II should suit you. You also get to slay a dragon, and operate a large balloon, although not necessarily both at the same time!
In Zork III, The Dungeon Master, you pit your wits against the big cheese himself. Before computers came on the scene Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts were at the mercy of the individual who took all the decisions which are nowadays taken by the computer -- the Dungeon Master. In Zork III, you must find out what his devious purpose is.
If you consider yourself to be a pretty slick adventurer, then you owe it to yourself to give at least one of these games a whirl. You may not win, but you are likely to be kept thoroughly amused along the way!
Full marks to Commodore for bringing these games into the realms of the affordable.
This article appeared in
Micro Adventurer
Sep 1984
These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.
