Collection of Internet/Collection of Internet.iso/faq/rec/games/interact/part_2

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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att-out!cbfsb!cbnewsf.cb.att.com!forbes
From: [e-mail] (Scott Forbes)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction,rec.arts.int-fiction,comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure,comp.sys.mac.games,comp.sys.amiga.games,comp.sys.atari.games,rec.games.misc,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: rec.games.int-fiction Frequently Asked Questions, part 2 of 3
Summary: This is the FAQ for rec.games.int-fiction
Keywords: interactive fiction games frequently asked questions FAQ Infocom
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 7 Jun 93 20:04:11 GMT
Expires: Thu, 15 Jul 1993 12:00:00 GMT
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Organization: I see no organization here
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Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.games.int-fiction:2296 rec.arts.int-fiction:2821 comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure:1263 comp.sys.mac.games:27236 comp.sys.amiga.games:33842 rec.games.misc:41229 rec.answers:1120 news.answers:9141

Archive-name:  games/interactive-fiction/part-2
Last-updated:  06 Jun 1993


Inside the Barrow
You are inside an ancient barrow hidden deep within a dark forest.
The barrow opens into a narrow tunnel at its southern end. You can
see a faint glow at the far end.
A strangely familiar brass lantern is lying on the ground.
A sword of Elvish workmanship is on the ground.

A strange little man in a long cloak appears suddenly in the room.
He is wearing a high pointed hat embroidered with astrological
signs.  He has a long, stringy, and unkempt beard.

The Wizard draws forth his wand and waves it in your direction.
It begins to glow with a faint blue glow.  The Wizard, in a deep
and resonant voice, speaks the word "FAQ!"  He cackles gleefully.


    This is the Frequently Asked Questions list for the group
    rec.games.int-fiction, a USENET newsgroup for the discussion
    of Interactive Fiction games and related topics.  To read a
    specific question, use your newsreader's search function on
    the string "(n)", where n is the question number.

#   This article is Part 2 of a three-part FAQ, and contains entries
#   regarding Infocom and the _Lost Treasures of Infocom_ packages.
#
#   Part 1 contains entries about rec.games.fiction and about this FAQ.
#
#   Part 3 contains information about the ftp.gmd.de software archive,
#   mirror archive site wuarchive.wustl.edu:/doc/misc/if-archive, and
#   about other sources for publicly available interactive fiction.
#
#   All three of these articles may be FTP'd from the FAQ archive at
#   rtfm.mit.edu, or from the interactive fiction archive at ftp.gmd.de.


    2.0  Infocom
        2.1  Whatever happened to Infocom, anyway?
        2.2  Lost Treasures of Infocom I
        2.3  Lost Treasures of Infocom II
#       2.4  Lost Treasures on CD-ROM
#       2.5  Infocom products *not* in the LToI packages
#       2.6  Missing or hard-to-find information in LToI packaging
#       2.7  Zmachines, vocabulary listers and other programs

    New questions in this FAQ or questions with updated information are
    marked with a pound sign, as are changed lines in the text below.


>AIMFIZ FORD PREFECT
As you cast the spell, the moldy scroll vanishes!

After a momentary dizziness, you realize that your location has
changed, although Ford Prefect is not in sight...

Dark
You can make out a shadow moving in the dark.

>LOOK AT SHADOW
The shadow is vaguely Ford Prefect-shaped.

Vogon Hold
This is a squalid room filled with grubby mattresses, unwashed
cups, and unidentifiable bits of smelly alien underwear. A door
lies to port, and an airlock lies to starboard.

Ford removes the bottle of Santraginean Mineral Water which he's
been waving under your nose. He tells you that you are aboard a
Vogon spaceship, and gives you some peanuts.

>ASK FORD ABOUT INFOCOM
A long silence tells you that Ford Prefect isn't interested in
talking about Infocom.

Ford yawns. "Matter transference always tires me out. I'm going to
take a nap."  He places something on top of his satchel. "If you
have any questions, here's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
(Footnote 14). Ford lowers his voice to a whisper. "I'm not
supposed to tell you this, but you'll never be able to finish
the game without consulting the Guide about lots of stuff." As he
curls up in a corner and begins snoring, you pick up the Guide.


>CONSULT GUIDE ABOUT INFOCOM
The Guide checks through its Sub-Etha-Net database and
eventually comes up with the following entry:

    "Whatever happened to Infocom, anyway?"                        (2.1)
#   This info is taken from [what was once] the comp.sys.ibm.pc.games FAQ,
#   with thanks to Infocom's Stu Galley for passing it along:

    [Thanks to Dave Lebling (Infocom co-founder) for the definitive
     info on this]

    ...

    Infocom never went out of business.  It went deeply into debt to
    develop a database product (named Cornerstone) that was a commercial
    flop.  It went shopping for a merger and found Activision, which
    later changed its name to Mediagenic.  What did happen is that
    in May of 1989 Mediagenic closed down the "real" Infocom in
    Cambridge, MA, and laid (almost) everyone off.  All the releases
    up through Zork Zero, Shogun, Journey, and Arthur were developed
    in Cambridge.

    Mediagenic licensed the UK rights to the games to Virgin Mastertronic
    about two years ago.

    Mediagenic went nearly bankrupt, was taken over by outside investors,
    and taken through a so-called "pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy" in
    January, 1992.  As part of that process, they changed their name back
    to Activision, moved from Silicon Valley down to LA, and recently
    merged with a company owned by the investors (called The Disc Company).

You begin to feel distinctly groggy.


>CONSULT GUIDE ABOUT LOST TREASURES OF INFOCOM I                   (2.2)
The Guide checks through its Sub-Etha-Net database and
eventually comes up with the following entry:

    "The Lost Treasures of Infocom" is a collection of 20 Infocom
    games available for $39.95 through most retail and mail-order
    outlets.  The package is available for the IBM PC, the Apple
    Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga.  Games in LToI I include:

    Zork I         Enchanter      Deadline       Starcross
    Zork II        Sorcerer       Witness        Suspended
    Zork III       Spellbreaker   Suspect        Planetfall
    Zork Zero      Ballyhoo       Infidel        Stationfall
    Beyond Zork    Moonmist       Lurking Horror Hitchhiker's Guide

#   The LToI 1 package is now available for the Apple IIgs through
#   the Big Red Computer Club, which sought and received permission
#   from Activision to port the games to the IIgs.  For more info,
#   contact the Big Red Computer Club at [had it a minute ago...].

    The package includes a manual which contains photocopies of all
    the original manuals and game pieces (such as the trading cards
    from "Spellbreaker", which are needed to solve a puzzle in the
    game), but some information is missing -- see section 2.5 below.

    The package also contains a hint book, which looks like
    somebody took all the Invisiclues booklets and typed them into
    a text file. The hint book is riddled with spelling mistakes,
    formatting errors and other problems, but in most cases the
    mistakes are not serious enough to keep you from using it.

    See also the entry on "Lost Treasures of Infocom II".

You begin to feel indistinctly groggy.


>CONSULT GUIDE ABOUT LOST TREASURES OF INFOCOM II                  (2.3)
The Guide checks through its Sub-Etha-Net database and
eventually comes up with the following entry:

    "Lost Treasures of Infocom II" contains most (but not all) of
    the remaining Infocom text adventure games, and retails for
    $29.95 through retail and mail order outlets.  Games include:

    Seastalker     Wishbringer    A Mind Forever Voyaging
    Trinity        Cutthroats     Hollywood Hijinx
    Bureaucracy    Border Zone    Plundered Hearts
    Sherlock       Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It

    This package contains photocopies of the original packaging,
    but does NOT contain a hint book:  Instead it contains a
    1-900 number which you can call to receive hints.

#   According to recent USENET articles the LToI 2 package is not
#   available for the Commodore Amiga, due to relatively low sales
#   of LToI 1 on the Amiga.  However, given the number of publicly
#   available zmachines for the Amiga (see below), it should be
#   possible to purchase the IBM or Macintosh version of LToI 2 and
#   extract the data files for use on an Amiga (or other machine).

You begin to feel very indistinct.

>EAT PEANUTS
You feel stronger as the peanuts replace some of the protein you
lost in the matter transference beam.


>CONSULT GUIDE ABOUT LOST TREASURES CD-ROM                         (2.4)
The Guide checks through its Sub-Etha-Net database and
eventually comes up with the following entry:

#   CD-ROM versions of the Lost Treasures of Infocom I and II are
#   available for $49 and $[??], respectively.  The LToI I CD-ROM
#   is identical to the disk-based version of the package, but the
#   LToI II CD-ROM includes the games Shogun, Arthur and Journey
#   in addition to the eleven games listed above in LToI 2.
#
#   Both Macintosh and IBM PC versions of the games are included
#   on the CD-ROMs.

An announcement is coming over the ship's intercom.  "Ed tgrykonx
jcavfluu nx jchotha otoyefti ltruvupirbi swrotrueft ochoollzitchogrya
rd tfudeftd t ow ctrufudx jp wkonvuphuvd te h oulpkonz zollcava ri li
lo ti l oe hfudx jirbtrugrys gvupp work oo sthaquio ta btoyr gkonr ga
r or gz zr gi skwazitz zkwaa rerl ow cfluirbwroorktoyfimthad tulp oe
he hfluo simbchogryr gu ni s."


>CONSULT GUIDE ABOUT OTHER INFOCOM PRODUCTS                        (2.5)
The Guide checks through its Sub-Etha-Net database and
eventually comes up with the following entry:

    There are a handful of games and other Infocom products that are
    not included in any of the LToI packages.  These products range
    from hard-to-find early Infocom products to non-IF games made by
    Activision and marked under the Infocom brand name; information
    and sources for these products would be greatly appreciated.

 #  For more information about Infocom products, version numbers
 #  and Infocom products that were never released, see Paul Smith's
 #  "Infocom Fact Sheet", which is periodically posted here and is
 #  also available via the ftp.gmd.de archive (see part 3 of this FAQ).

    _The Infocom Sampler_  (pre-1984?)
    This was the first of three demo products written by Infocom,
    containing (we think) excerpts from Zork I.  The existence of
    this sampler is deduced mainly because a later version of the
    Sampler has serial number "ID2", suggesting an earlier "ID1".
    Any information about this product would be appreciated.

    _The New Zork Times_ / _The Status Line_  (1983? - 1988)
    The legendary Infocom newsletter.  The mid was changed in mid-
    1986 due to threatened legal action by The New York Times, a
    lesser-known newspaper serving a smaller area (Infocom promptly
    began using old newspapers for packing material when shipping
    games to their customers; by coincidence the NYT was the paper
    of choice for this purpose).  Thirteen issues were published
    under the name 'NZT'; one issue (Spring 1986) was titled '****'
    and the remaining ten were published as 'TSL'.  The newsletters
    are now collector's items, and a complete set is rare.

    _Cornerstone_  (Fall 1984)
    Infocom's one and only attempt at a commercial business product
    (see section 2.1, above); probably of interest only to purists.
    IBM PC version only; description in Winter 1985 NZT.

    _The Infocom Sampler_  (1985?)
#   This was the second of three samplers, containing excerpts from
#   Zork I, Planetfall, Infidel and The Witness, and also containing
#   a unique two-room puzzle that involved catching a butterfly.
#   Available for virtually every computer on the market in 1985
#   (including the Osborne, Kaypro II, TRS-80 Color Computer, etc.)
#   but incredibly rare today.  Superceded in 1987 by the third and
#   final Infocom Sampler (see below).

    _Fooblitzky_  (Summer 1985)
    A graphical game involving deductive logic, by Marc Blank,
    Michael Berlyn, Brian Cody, Poh C. Lim and Paula Maxwell.
    IBM PC, Apple II, Atari XL/XE series.

    _Leather Goddesses of Phobos_  (Summer 1986)
    Activision chose not to include the original LGoP in either of
    the Lost Treasures packages, possibly to prevent confusion with
    the inferior sequel (see below) that was published at about the
    same time.  A coupon in the LToI II package offered the IBM PC
    version of this game for an additional $10; versions for other
    machines, including the Apple II, Macintosh, Atari and Amiga,
    are difficult to obtain.

    _The Infocom Sampler_  (Fall 1987)
    Third and final sampler containing puzzles from Zork I, Trinity,
    Leather Goddesses of Phobos and Wishbringer.  IBM PC, Apple II
    and Commodore 64.

    _Infocomics_  (1988)
    At least four of these $12 'comic books' were published:
      Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen
      Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams
      ZorkQuest I: Assault on Egreth Castle
      ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom
    Many believe that this is the point where Infocom-as-a-publisher
    ended and Infocom-as-a-brand-name-for-lesser-products began.
    IBM PC, Apple II, Commodore 64/128.

#   _Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth_  (Fall 1988)
    Activision purchased the rights to this Macintosh game from
    Simulated Environment Systems in late 1988, and reworked the
    text and user interface.  The game is a graphical RPG similar
#   to a number of D&D-type games on the market.  Infocom planned
#   to release this game for the Apple IIgs and IBM, but only the
#   Macintosh version was ever published.

    _BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception_  (Fall 1988)
    Activision now sells this game and its sequel (_BattleTech: The
    Crescent Hawk's Revenge_) as part of a three-game package of
    BattleTech-related games.  Developed by Westwood Associates.
    "Available in November [1988] for the IBM, in February [1989]
    for the Commodore 64/128, and in [Spring 1989] for the Apple II
#   series and the Amiga."  The IBM and Amiga versions have been
#   sighted; the status of the Commodore and Apple II version is
#   unknown.

    _Shogun_  (Winter 1988?)
#   A graphical IF adventure based on the James Clavell novel, by
#   Dave Lebling.  Available as part of the LToI 2 CD-ROM package
#   for the Macintosh and IBM PC; versions for the Apple IIe and
#   Amiga were also published, but are now rare.

    _Circuit's Edge_
#   IBM, Amiga.  No other information available at press time.

    _Mines of Titan_
#   IBM, Amiga, Apple IIe.  No other information available.

    _Journey_
#   A fantasy adventure by Marc Blank.  Available as part of the
#   LToI 2 CD-ROM package for the Macintosh and IBM PC; versions
#   for the Apple IIe and Amiga were also published.

    _Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur_
#   By Bob Bates, the author of _Sherlock_.  Available as part
#   of the LToI 2 CD-ROM package for the Macintosh and IBM PC;
#   versions for the Apple IIe and Amiga were also published.

#   _Leather Goddesses of Phobos II:  Gas Pump Girls Meet the
#     Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X_
    This 1992 offering from "Infocom" had more in common with
    Leisure Suit Larry than with the original Leather Goddesses.
    Available for the IBM PC.

    _Return to Zork_
    This game is scheduled for release in mid-to-late 1993, and
    Activision allegedly promises that it will be faithful to the
    original (challenging) Zork games that preceded it.  No other
    information was available at press time.


Guards burst in and grab you and Ford, who comes slowly awake.
They drag you down the corridor to a large cabin, where they strap
you into large, menacing chairs...

Captain's Quarters, in the poetry appreciation chair
This is the cabin of the Vogon Captain. You and Ford are strapped
into poetry appreciation chairs.  The Captain is indescribably
hideous, indescribably blubbery, and indescribably mid-to-dark
green.  He is holding samples of his favourite poetry.


>ASK THE CAPTAIN ABOUT MISSING GAME PIECES                         (2.6)
One of the guards lightly bashes your skull with the butt of his weapon
and says (Ford translates for you):

    Here is a list of missing or hard-to-find info in the LToI 1
    game package.

    _Ballyhoo_
    The original packaging included an advertisement for a radio
    station, WPDL AM at 1170 KHz.  You will need to tune the radio
    to this frequency (or TUNE RADIO TO WPDL) to get a vital clue.

    _Lurking Horror_
    Your Login ID, an important part of one of the early puzzles,
    is *not* missing from the LToI manual.  It's just hard to find.
    (Hint:  It's written somewhere on your Student ID Card.)

    _Moonmist_
#   Your friend Tamara will make frequent references to the letters
#   she wrote asking for your help; unfortunately, these letters
#   are not included in the LToI package.  The full text of these
#   two letters is available in the file "moonmist-letters" [?]
#   from the ftp.gmd.de archive, with many thanks to Mark Howell
#   for typing in these letters from the original package.

#   _Zork Zero_
#   The original documentation for Zork Zero contained information
#   about the game's on-screen mapping, which may be activated by
#   typing in the command "MAP" at any time during the game.  The
#   exact information contained in the original manual was not
#   available at press time.  [Anybody?]
#
#   _Zork Zero_  (again)
    Some versions of the LToI package may be missing a (vital) map
    of the "Rockville Estates" section of the game.  The map is a
    blueprint of a construction site ("Frobozz Magic Construction
    Company") showing an 8 x 8 grid of octagonal rooms connected by
    lines representing passages.  You cannot win the game without
    the information on this map.

    Some copies of the LToI manual include this map on a page that
    is apparently numbered "40b" (the preceding page is "40a", and
    the next page is 41 -- the page with the map is not numbered),
    suggesting that the map was inserted after the first printing.
#   Early IBM versions of the LToI manual include the map on page 2
#   of the Zork I instructions.

    If your copy of the manual is missing page 40b, and you cannot
    find the map anywhere else in the game package, call Activision
#   technical support at 310-207-4500 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm PST) and
#   explain the situation to them.  They should provide you with a
#   replacement map.
#
#   If all else fails, the ASCII drawing on the next page is a rough
#   but accurate rendering of the "Rockville Estates" blueprint for
#   Infocom's Zork Zero.  This map is provided for use by legitimate
#   owners of the Lost Treasures of Infocom package only.

 0     1     2     3     4     5.... 6.... 7           Goobar -
                           .'    .'    .'              I left my hardhat
 8     9    10    11    12....13    14    15           out in lot 0.
                         : .'          .'              Please pick it up
16    17    18    19    20    21    22....23                  Thanks,
         `.          .'    .'    .'                            Quizbo
24    25    26....27    28    29    30....31
       : .'                .'  :
32    33    34....35    36    37    38....39
 :       .'          .'              : .'       To
40    41    42....43    44....45    46    47....GUH-95
 : `.    .'  : .'    `.          .'    .'
48    49    50    51....52    53    54    55
   `.              : `.        :       `.
56....57....58    59    60    61....62....63
                                          ._____________________________
Work still to be performed in Phase Two:  |Frobozz Magic Construction Co
  * Removal of temporary passages         |       ROCKVILLE ESTATES
  * Installation of emergency exits       |  Phase Two, showing all work
  * Installation of sprinkler system      | completed through 29-Mum-880
  * Construction of Concierge apartment   | 1:440 | drawn by S. Fzortbar


The Vogon Captain says, "Ofudgrythafudo tw cchoe ho tz z ocavtrup
wwroz zl mfluz ztruqui."  A guard grabs you and Ford, and drags you
toward the hold. Ford whispers, "Don't worry, I'll think of something!"

Vogon Hold
In the corner is a glass case with a switch and a keyboard.
It looks like the glass case contains:
  an atomic vector plotter

Ford begins trying to talk the guard into a sudden career change.

>TYPE "HELLO"
The hold of the Vogon ship is virtually undamaged by the explosion of
the glass case. You, however, are blasted into tiny bits and smeared
all over the room. Several cleaning robots fly in and wipe you neatly
off the walls.

    ****  You have died  ****

Your guardian angel, draped in white, appears floating in the
nothingness before you. "Gotten in a bit of a scrape, eh?" he asks,
writing frantically in a notebook. "I'd love to chat, but we're so
busy this month." The angel twitches his nose, and the nothingness
is replaced by...

It is pitch black.  You could be eaten by a zmachine.


>WHAT IS A ZMACHINE?                                               (2.7)
    A zmachine or ZIP (Z-machine Interpreter Program) is a program
    that interprets and runs Infocom game data files.  Infocom used
    a way-ahead-of-their-time implementation scheme that allowed
    them to develop one game that would run on any of 26 different
    computers, using a ZIP program specific to that computer and a
    data file common to all machines.

    Infocom data files are written in Z-code, a compiled version of
    the Zork Implementation Language (ZIL).  ZIL is a dialect of a
    Lisp-like language called MDL.  MDL is ancient history, but ZIL
    and several reverse-engineered ZIPs live on.  Here is a list of
    available ZIPs and related programs, provided by Paul D. Smith:

    _zorkword_ by Mike Threepoint <[e-mail]>
        Current version: 9
        Prints the vocabulary list from any Z-Code version game

    _zmachine_ by Matthias Pfaller <[e-mail]>
        Current version: 2.24
        Plays most Z-Code v.3 games (except games with sound)
        Supports UNIX termcap, MS-DOS and Amiga systems
#       Supports sound on the Amiga only

    _infocom_ by InfoTaskForce
        Current version: 4.01 + 2 patches
        Plays all Z-Code v.1 to v.5 games.  Includes features to print
        vocabulary lists, object trees, and header info for all Z-Code
        versions.  Supports UNIX termcap and curses and MS-DOS systems

    _pinfocom_ by Paul D. Smith <[e-mail]>
        Current version: 3.0
        Plays all Z-Code v.3 games.  Includes features to print
        vocabulary lists, object trees, and header info for all Z-Code
        versions.  Supports UNIX termcap and terminfo, MS-DOS, and
        Amiga systems.  Basically does everything ITF 4.01 does and
        more (command-line restore, enhanced command-line editing
        commands, stellar Amiga interface, etc.) but only works for
        v.3 games.

    _zip_ by Mark Howell <[e-mail]>
        Current version: 1.0
        Plays all Z-Code v.3 and v.4 games. Supports UNIX termcap and
        curses as well as MS-DOS and Amiga systems.

#   "Infocom toolkit" by Mark Howell <[e-mail]>
#       Current version: 18 Oct 92
#       C source files for dumping vocabulary, version, font, graphic
#       and other information from Infocom games, for converting IBM
#       bootable disks into story files, and for disassembly of story
#       files to Z code assembly language.

    All of the above files can be found in the ftp.gmd.de archive,
    under the /if-archive/infocom/interpreters directory.  See the
#   "FTP" section in Part 3 for more details.

>N
Oh, no!  A lurking zmachine slithered into the room and devoured you!

    ****  You have died  ****

Press any key to continue