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Text File | 1994-11-27 | 15.3 KB | 366 lines

ZORK ZERO Typed in by INSKIPP. Edited by PARASITE. PREFACE More than 90 years have passed since the great wizard Megaboz cast the Curse which destroyed Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive along with the other members of the ruling family, the Twelve Flatheads. Now, the Curse threatens to bring down the Great Underground Empire itself! Wurb Flathead, the current occupant of the throne, has sent a clarion call to the remotest corners of the Empire: half the riches of the kingdom to the person who can allay the Curse. From every province of Quendor, courageous adventurers, scheming charlatans, and wild-eyed crackpots have streamed into the Imperial Capital of Flatheadia. You are one such treasure-seeker, a peasant from an unheard- of village in an obscure province. However, you have an important advantage: an ancestor of yours, a servant in Dimwit's court (who you'll "play" during a brief prologue", witnessed Megaboz casting the Curse, and obtained a small scrap of wizardly parchment from the mage's pocket. This parchment scrap has been passed down from generation to generation, and is now in your possession. Thanks to it, you know what none of the other would-be Cursebusters know; you alone know what must be done to stop the Curse! By the time of your arrival at Flatheadia, most of the treasure-seekers have given up and returned to their homelands. In fact, you discover that most of the population, including all figures of authority, have fled to distant provinces. And when you awake on the hard floor of the castle on Curse Day, you find that even the looters and the most persistent adventurers have departed. In fact, as you begin your desperate quest to find the relics of the Empire you need to stop the court jester, who spins rhymes for your amusement. Always appearing when you least expect him, the jester will confront you with riddles and games, spring some deadly tricks, and give you helpful nudges in the right direction. and throughout, he seems to be laughing at some tremendous joke which you can't begin to fathom... Zork Zero is the prequel to the Zork Trilogy, one of the most popular, best-loved computer games ever written. Zork Zero takes you back to the age of the Flatheads, where you can glimpse the Great Underground Empire during its heyday, and witness its monumental fall. HINTS Zork Zero contains on-line hints! If you ever get stuck, just type HINT and follow the instructions on your screen. The hints generally progress from a gentle nudge to a complete answer. Don't let the presence or absence of hints on a particular subject affect your thinking. In fact, fake hints have been included to discourage this. If you have no will power, and can't stop yourself from looking at the hints too often, you can type HINTS OFF. This will deactivate the on-line hints (unless you RESTART or RESTORE to an earlier point). MAPPING Zork Zero contains an on-screen mapping feature. When you want to see the map, type MAP. The map will show only those locations which you've already visited. Locations will be identified by the icons which appear the first time you visit a room (or when you type LOOK). The map shows only your general vicinity, not the entire geography of Zork Zero. On the map, your current location will blink. If you have a mouse, you can move around the geography by clicking on an adjacent room. If anything interesting happens while you are moving around in this way, you will be automatically returned to the story. You may still want to draw your own map to keep track of where objects are found, and to be able to look at the entire Zork Zero geography at once. To remove the map from the screen and return to the story, simply hit any key. GRAPHICAL PUZZLES There are a number of graphical puzzles in Zork Zero. The interface for them is different from the full sentence input elsewhere in Zork Zero. Instructions will accompany each of these graphical puzzles in the story. Other puzzles include full-screen illustrations. Once you have viewed these, simply hit any key to continue the story. MOUSE CONTROL You can use the on-screen compass rose (which appears in the center of the status line at the top of your screen) to move from location to location. Just click on the appropriate point of the compass rose. In addition, you can use your mouse to move around while using the on-screen mapping feature, and for solving many of the graphical puzzles. FUNCTION KEYS As described elsewhere in this manual, many commands have abbreviations: you can type N instead of NORTH, for instance, or I instead of INVENTORY. With function keys, you can use a single keystroke as an abbreviation for whatever you choose. You can use a function key to abbreviate a long word that you don't like to type (like HIPPOPOTAMUS), or to abbreviate a commonly used command (like RESTORE), or even to abbreviate a whole sentence (like CLIMB THE STAIRS). You start the story with the function keys already set to commonly used commands. To see what the function keys are set to, or to change the settings of the function keys, type DEFINE at the prompt (>) and press the RETURN key. Then use your mouse or up and down arrow keys to highlight the setting(s) you want to change. The vertical bar (|) or exclamation point (!) is used as a n abbreviation for the RETURN key; so changing LOOK to LOOK| means you want the RETURN key automatically pressed when you use that function keys. SPECIAL COMMANDS Below are explanations for a number of useful one-word commands. Most of these commands appear in all Infocom games (like Zork I, Wishbringer, Witness, ect.), but those starred (*) are new. In many cases, these will not count as a turn. Type the command after the prompt (>) and press the RETURN key. AGAIN Beyond Zork will respond as if you had repeated your previous command. For instance, typing HIT THE MONSTER WITH THE TOASTER OVEN then typing AGAIN would be like hitting the monster twice in a row. You can abbreviate AGAIN with G. BRIEF This command tells Zork Zero to print the full description of a location *only* the first time you enter it. On subsequent visits, Zork Zero will print only the name of the location and the objects present. This is how Zork Zero will normally act, unless you tell it otherwise using the VERBOSE or SUPERBRIEF commands. The SUPERBRIEF commands tells Zork Zero to print only the name of a place you have entered, even if you have never been there before. In this mode, Zork Zero will not even print which object are present. Of course, you can always get a description of your location and the items there by typing LOOK. In SUPERBRIEF mode the blank line between turns will be eliminated. This mode is meant for players who are already very familiar with the geography. The VERBOSE command tells Zork Zero that you want a complete description of each location, and the objects in it, every time you enter a location, even if you've been there before. COLOR * If you are playing Zork Zero on a color monitor, you can type COLOR to change the colors on your screen. This command works only on computers which support a color display. CREDITS * You will get a complete list of credits and acknowledgements for all who worked on Zork Zero. DEFINE * This command allows you to change the setting of the function keys. For example, if pressing function key 2 is like typing INVENTORY, you can change this to DROP ALL, or DROP ALL followed by RETURN, or anything else, by using the DEFINE command. See "Function Keys" previously covered in this manual. DIAGNOSE Zork Zero will give you a medical report of your physical condition. HINT * If you have difficulty while playing the story, and you can't figure out what to do, just type HINT. Then follow the directions at the top of your screen to read the hint of your choice. INVENTORY This will list what you are carrying and wearing. You can abbreviate INVENTORY with I. LOOK This tells Zork Zero to describe your location in full detail, and the room's icon (if it has one). You can abbreviate LOOK to L. MAP * This will show you the on-screen map which contains your current location. See "Mapping". MODE * If you desire to turn off the decorative border to speed up game play, you can do so by typing MODE. You can restore these graphics at any time by typing MODE a second time. NOTIFY * Normally in Zork Zero, the game will notify you whenever your score changes. You an turn off this notification feature by using the NOTIFY command. Typing NOTIFY a second time turns the feature back on. OOPS If you accidentally mistype a word, such that Zork Zero doesn't understand the word, you can correct yourself on the next line by typing OOPS and the correct word. Suppose, for example, you typed TAKE THE CLUB FROM THE GIANT and were told "You can't use that word 'giant' in this story." You cold type OOPS GIANT rather than retyping the entire sentence QUIT This lets you stop the game. You can abbreviate QUIT with Q. REFRESH * This command clears your screen and redraws the display. RESTART This stops the story and starts over from the beginning. RESTORE This restores a position made using the SAVE command. SAVE This puts a snapshot of your current position on your storage disk. You can return to a saved position in the future using the RESTORE command. You cannot SAVE during combat. SCORE This command will show your current score and a ranking which is based on that score. The highest score you can obtain in Zork Zero is 1000. SCRIPT This command tells your printer to begin making a transcript of the story as you venture onwards. A transcript may aid your memory but is not necessary. It will work on certain computers. SUPERBRIEF This command tells Zork Zero to give you the sparsest level of description. See BRIEF above. UNDO * You can use this command to back up one move. Suppose, for example, that you found a package but didn't know what was in it. You might type OPEN THE PACKAGE and be told "The package explodes as you open it, damaging your weapons and destroying all your other possessions." You could then type UNDO and you would back up one move. You weapons and other possessions would be intact, and you could try giving the package to an enemy, or leaving it alone, or something else. The UNDO command does not work during combat (when you're fighting a monster, for instance). Note that the UNDO command works only on certain computers with enough memory. UNSCRIPT This commands your printer to stop making a transcript. VERBOSE This command tells Zork Zero to give you the wordiest level of description. See BRIEF above. VERSION Zork Zero responds by showing you the released number and the serial number of your copy of the story. Please include this information if you ever report a bug in the story. WAIT This will cause time in the story to pass. Normally, between turns, nothing happens in the story. You could leave your computer, take a nap, and return to the story to find that nothing has changed. You can use WAIT to make time pass in the story without doing anything. For example, you can wait for a specific time, or wait for an event to happen, etc. You can abbreviate WAIT to Z. SECTION II: ABOUT INFOCOM'S INTERACTIVE FICTION Saving the Story Saving and restoring: It will probably take you many days to complete the game. Using the SAVE feature, you can continue the story at a later time without having to start over from the beginning, just as you can place a bookmark in a book you are reading. SAVE puts a snapshot of your place in the story onto another disk. You should also save your place before trying something dangerous or tricky. That way, even if you get lost or killed in the story, you can return to your saved position. You cannot save during combat (while fighting a monster, for instance). To save your place in the story, type SAVE at the prompt ">", and then press the RETURN key. Then follow the instructions for saving and restoring that the computer asks. Some computers require a blank disk, that has already been formatted, for saves. Using a disk with data on it may result in the loss of that data, depending on your computer. Zork Zero offers from 3 to 7 different SAVEd positions, depending on the type of computer. You can restore a saved position any time you want. To do so, type RESTORE at the ">" prompt. Then follow instructions that the computer asks. You can then continue the story from the point where you used the SAVE command. Quitting and Restarting: If you want to start over from the beginning, type RESTART and press the RETURN key. If you want to stop the game entirely, type QUIT and press the RETURN key. Communicating with Infocom's Interactive Fiction If your computer has a numeric keypad you can use it to move around, rather than typing in the directions (N,E,S,W etc.). ------- ---------- |7|8|9| |NW|N |NE| ------- ---------- |4|5|6| becomes |W |UD|E | ------- ---------- |1|2|3| |SW|S |SE| ------- ---------- The 5 key is for both UP and DOWN. If you are in a location which has both an UP and DOWN exit, the 5 key will act as if you typed WALK AROUND. You can include several sentences on one input line if you separate them by the word THEN or by a period. (Note that each sentence will still count as a turn.) You don't need a period at the end of the input line. For example, you could type all of the following at once, before pressing the RETURN: >READ THE SIGN. GO NORTH THEN TAKE THE CROWBAR AND MALLET The words IT and ALL can be very useful. For example: >TAKE THE APPLE. POLISH IT. PUT IT IN THE BOX. >CLOSE THE HEAVY METAL DOOR. LOCK IT. >TAKE THE SHOE. EMPTY IT. PUT IT ON. The word IT refers to either the last direct object you mentioned or the last object the story mentioned. If there is any confusion, the story will ask you to be more specific. There are three kinds of questions that Zork Zero understands: WHO IS, WHERE IS, and WHAT IS. For example: >WHO IS HOWARD? >WHERE IS THE MAP? >WHAT IS PLUTONIUM? You will meet other people and creatures in Zork Zero. You can talk to some of these beings by typing their name, then a comma, then whatever you want to say to them. Hear are some examples: >LOIS, HELLO >SHOPKEEPER, WHAT IS MY CREDIT? >OLD MAN, TELL ME ABOUT THE PLATYPUS >WILLY, PUT ON THE GLOVE THEN THROW THE BALL Most people in the story don't care for idle chatter. Your deeds will speak louder than you words. Zork Zero recognizes over 1500 words, nearly all that you are likely to use in your commands. However, Zork Zero uses many words in its descriptions that it will not recognize in your commands. For example, you might read, "The full moon is bright and clear, and the trees cast eerie shadows." If Zork Zero doesn't recognize the words MOON or SHADOWS in your input, you can assume they are not important to your completion of the story, except to provide you with a more vivid description of where you are or what is going on.