' 'All the Grues The History of - p. 6 InfoNews Roundup - p. 9 That Fit, We Print" Puzzle - p. 12

VOL. 4 ... No. 1 WINTER 1985 INTRA-ATOMIC EDITION : ''The Hottest New Business Product of 1985'' On November lst, at a press con­ Cornerstone also simplifies ference in New York City, lnfo­ data entry. Whenever ·you've com announced Cornerstone;"the entered sufficient characters for first in a new line of interactive Cornerstone to know what you business software. want, it will complete the rest. Cornerstone is a full-featured Corne:

EDITORIAL ed in getting information (ads, press conferences, trade shows, sales literature, newsletters . .. ) to the retailer and consumer. This overhead Thoughts on Software Piracy easily adds another $5 to $10 in cost per unit. Adding all these costs together results in games that cost the manufacturer $13 to $24 to pro­ duce. Since the manufacturer receives an average of 40%, a retail price At Infocom, we take an unusual approach to the prevention of software of between $32 and $60 is required for the product to break even. You piracy. Rather than spending large amounts of time, effort, and money can easily see why prices are what they are and why most software on designing ever-better anti-piracy techniques (our games come vir­ companies ptill can't seem to make a go of it. tually unprotected on a number of machines), we spend our time im­ Ironically, software piracy hurts not only the companies whose proving the games and the packaging in order to make them more of a games are pirated but all of today's honest consumers who will have value. Our thinking is that a game which provides a lot of enjoyment fewer good titles from which to choose. In short, piracy threatens to will be worth spending some money on, and we feel that our games are destroy the industry, pulling down the good companies and the bad somewhat less likely to be pirated on that account. companies alike. The person who feels a game is too expensive can do We are in a fortunate position. Our technology allows us to create what the rest of us do when faced with the same problem - vote with sophisticated works of interactive fiction in less time than others his wallet and not buy it. How many of us would steal a car (even with might take. In addition, our "machine independence" - our ability to the keys in the ignition) simply because it's overpriced? develop a game that will run on dozens of microcomputers - allows Software and its documentation are subject to copyright protection; us to spread our very large development costs (over $300,000 per game) nearly every country in the world provides this protection of "intellec­ over a larger number of total units to be sold. And lastly, consumers tual property." Without it, there would be little incentive to invest consider our interactive fiction to be the best on the market. time and effort in writing games, books, movies, or music. The Unfortunately, most of the other companies in our industry don't copyright promotes these activities by assuring those who undertake have it so easy. They tend to buy their products from independent them that they will be able to reap their rewards (if any) . Penalties are developers, who get an advance against royalties and a percentage of clear: violators are subject to fines of up to $50,000 and prison terms of the revenues; they have trouble differentiating their products from up to 5 years. Since violations are a federal offense, the FBI has become competing ones, increasing advertising costs; and they must translate increasingly involved in the enforcement of the laws. each product from machine to machine if they are to sell large Earlier this year, Infocom was instrumental in the formation of the volumes, which is both costly and time-consuming. All of this has led Software Publishers Association (SPA) . A prime concern of the SPA has to the present sad state of affairs in which very few software companies been to combat piracy. We ask our customers to help Infocom, the rest are profitable. The end result of this trend will be fewer new titles of the industry, and software consumers in general, by reporting released, more me-too products, and less innovation, none of which flagrant violations of the law to us directly or to: Software Publishers are in the consumer's best interest. Association, Suite 1200, 1111 19th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. When pirates offhandedly joke about the "absurdly high price" of 20036, (202) 364-0523. Please include any relevant information, such software as if it were some tremendous windfall to software manufac­ as price lists, phone numbers, and passwords, if such information is turers, they fail to realize that computer software is not"a mass-market available. item. If each game sold millions of units, then the six-figure develop­ We at Infocom take great pride in producing what we believe to be ment and marketing costs would be lowered to less than a dollar per the finest-quality interactive fiction available on personal computers. unit. However, very few games sell as many as 50,000 units (most sell We have always tried to create the best-value product possible, and we far fewer), often leaving a cost per unit of $5 to $10, not even including are grateful for the support of our customers, whom we consider our the cost of manufacturing, which can easily reach $3 to $4 in the small partners in our efforts. Only with the good-faith efforts of both quantities produced. And don't forget the overhead involved in run­ manufacturers and consumers can we all look forward to an exciting ning a business: sales staff, product support staff, and the costs involv- future for home computer software. B Wqe New lnrli Wimes

Managing Editor Michael " Mike" Dornbrook Puzzle Editor Steven "Steve" Meretzky What Editor Barry "BJ" Jacobson Why Editor Paul "Catfish" DiLascia How would you like to join a team of professionals whose claim to fame Sports Editor I see no sports editor here is quality. lnfocom is growing by leaps and bounds, and we need Letters Editor Jennifer Fine professionals in product development, sales, marketing, testing and Ask Jennifer Editor Li'! Jennifer Fine administration. Photo Editor "Shamblin' Steve" Meretzky If you·re looking for a brand new opportunity with proven success. consider a career with lnfocom. But move fast ... while we're still in the Cartoon Editor Jeff " Jeff" O'Neill process of building. History Editor Tim "Chomper" Anderson Our business and game software company offers excellent benefits Suspected Editor "Cheerful Dave" Lebling including health, dental and life insurance, and tuition reimbursement. Editorial Editor Marc "Mark" Blank To find out about job opportunities at lnfocom, please send your Editing Editor Jon "Caesars" Palace resume to Donna McCarron. lnfocom, Inc., 55 Wheeler Street. Production Manager Angela "The Whip" Raup Cambridge MA 02138. We are an equal opportunity employer.

ID 1985 lnfocom, Inc., 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Zork is a registered trademark of Infocom, Inc. Enchanter, Sorcerer, Star­ cross, Suspended, , Deadline, The Witness, Suspect, Infidel, lnFDCDR\ , Cutthroats, InvisiClues, and Cornerstone are trademarks of Infocom, Inc. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a trademark of Douglas Adams. WINTER 1985 THE NEW ZORK TIMES PAGE3 The Shrinkwrapped Falcon by A. Dashiell Meretzky

It was a hot September day, the in a tree. The Four-In-One biggest sales season ever for The week began to speed by kind·where.horseflies:seemto be . Sampler, a promotion meant to Infocom. like calendar pages in a B-movie. making · their last desperate introduce· greenhorns to interac­ Brogmus looked straight at me We signed a quick lease on some mischief before vanishing for the tive fiction, was ready for produc­ for the first time, and I saw how warehouse space outside of town, long, cold"winter. I sat in my of­ tion, but InvisiClues™ hint hollow his eyes were. It was ob­ and that helped the boys dig out vious the man hadn't slept for fice, feet ·perched carelessly · on booklets, being packaged for the from under the avalanche of my cluttered desk; and gazed out first time for sale in stores, were weeks, which clicked with rumors I'd heard about his work­ stored goods. Finished goods the .window . at Charlie the· Hot crowding ilie Samplers off the began to creep off the assembly Dog Man·- ageless Charlie, still assembly line. ing until three or four in the morning. "Normally at this time line. beating leather down Wheeler Brogmus had broken into a of the year, our packaging com­ It was clearer than a new plate­ Street after all these years. cold sweat. "That's not all," he pany would just drag in some ex­ glass window that these steps 1 didn't"have anything to do, or continued, nervously lighting up tra workers for a graveyard shift, weren't enough. Infocom chalked at least nothing ·worth taking my a cigarette. Now I knew things but with local unemployment up record September sales of over feet down off my desk for. I'd just were really serious. I'd never seen bottoming out at three percent, 100,000 games, and by the third finished a job; a game-writing job, Brogmus smoke before. there just aren't any bodies to week in October monthly sales and it'd . paid · a .truckload of I had every right to be worried. hire. The bottom line is simply soared into six figures again. The smackers, · and I was in no hurry Everything Burnin' Ernie had said that we're selling the stuff faster back-order list was longer than to get myself another case. the beer lines at Fenway Park and A horsefly landed on the tip of growing by the day. my shoe. I took aim with a rubber Suddenly, something Brogmus band, but a sudden motion had said as a joke came back to startled it into flight before I me as an idea. I went to him with could shoot. I wheeled around, a plan, and he chewed on it for a and saw Ernie Brogmus standing while before spitting out a terse in my doorway. reply. "Let's go see the boss." I quickly dredged up my men­ Brogmus led me into the office tal file about Brogmus and found of the InfoPrez, a tough cookie that it was pretty thin. ''Burnin' who I knew wouldn't bend an Ernie" he was called by his inch for a hurricane. I quickly laid friends in the trade (of which he out my plan: Sunday shifts using had many) and also by his Infocom employees. We'd boost enemies (of which he had none) . production and morale in one He'd been Infocom's Production dramatic sweep! The InfoPrez Manager since about mid '83. It was reluctant at first; would peo­ was said that not a single game ple accustomed to office work got packaged without Burnin' stand up to the rigors of seven Ernie knowing about it. He had a hours on an assembly line? rep for handling any problem I was betting the rent that they himself without missing a Bumin' Emie Brogmus, Jen, oversees the Infoassembly line. It 's his job as would; I was going for broke. I breath. I knew that if he was ----­ told the InfoPrez that I'd stake Production Manager to know everything - and lie does. coming to me, it could only mean my reputation on it. In the few trouble. Big trouble. weeks I'd been working on this than we can put it together. Will I waved Brogmus over to a so far meant that Infocom was in case, I'd come to appreciate what you take the case?" swivel chair near the window. He hot water up to its disk drives, a bunch of troopers these guys was smiling, but I could see but now he spilled the really bad My first inclination was to say and dames at Infocom were. worry beneath it. Worry, and news. Several computer no. A situation like this was bad Brogmus and I worked late into perhaps a bit of fear. He sat star­ manufacturers had placed large news, a monster; it could devour the night and spread the word ing at the floor. "You look like a orders, one of them for over a fellow's career without a trace. 11 through the grapevine; I posted a man with a problem, I said. 100,000 units. All of them But then I looked at Bumin' sign-up list for volunteers to work "Spill it. II wanted the product, and they Ernie's tired face, and I saw the that first Sunday. I left space on it He did so, at first tentatively, wanted it fast . At the same time, faces of thousands of disap­ for twenty names. By midnight I as though the creatures in the Infocom was preparing to switch pointed customers around the was sawing wood. Zork® poster that dominated my all twelve of its current games world - "Sorry, Ma'am, we're When I got to my office the office wall might be listening and over to new, completely redesign­ all out of Zork II" . .. . "Sorry, next morning at 9:30, the list had jeering, but after a spell the ed packaging. A caravan of trucks son, I couldn't find Seastalkei" thirty-five names and was grow­ hesitation left. His story gushed was lined up at the company that anywhere." Suddenly I heard ing like yeast in an oven. I felt the out, and I saw at once that this does our packaging, burying the myself saying yes. first break in the case; I began to would be no ordinary job. building beneath an avalanche of see the light at the end of a Production was in a worse boxes, manuals, brochures, I knew this wouldn't be some easy one-day nut to crack, so I tunnel. mess than a horse stable after a labels, postcards, catalogs, but­ That first Sunday was a revela­ big meal. Three new products tons, matchbooks, Egyptian checked into a tiny office in the seedy basement section of the tion. These Infoco=ies, forty were coming over ilie next eight stamps - the list was endless. To strong, worked like gangbusters; building where I knew the Pro­ weeks, and all of them looked top it all off, Brogmus explained, and when the quitting bell blared duction types hung out. The like they'd be hot items. On top this was all happening at the at five, I practically had to wrestle smell of hopelessness and despair of iliat, orders for the new Macin­ brink of the Christmas season. each one off the line to lock up hung in the air - the odor of old, tosh version were still backed up Autumn has traditionally been a the place. If I hadn't brought a from the summer, and 3Y2-inch nightmare time for Brogmus, and stale package glue and decaying disks were still scarcer than fish this one was shaping up to be the corrugated cardboard. .. . more Falcon on page 8 PAGE4 THE NEW ZORK TIMES WINTER 1985

Dear Editor, I received my first copy of The Mail Bag New Zork Times a few days ago, and I was particularly pleased with your article, "How the Witness Came to Be," by Stu Dear Editor: Galley. Of all the games you have I received my New Zork written, the Zork series is my Times, Vol. 3, No. 3, yesterday. I favorite. Why not do an article on am now working on Contest how it came to be, for the educa­ Number 3. My 11-year-old son tion of all of the new personal and I are long-time fans of Info­ computer owners, like myself? com, have purchased all of them, I have a TRS-80 Model 4 and and solved most of them. My , Zork 11, and Zork ill. Your loyalty will remain in spite of the games bring a great deal of Listen Up very sad fact I noted in the Times. challenge to me and all my The following public radio stations have already decided to broadcast Do you know, dear Editor, that in friends that have dared to try the Infocom-sponsored Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. These are Puzzle Number One only 1 of 10 them. Keep up the good work. winners was female and in Puzzle the stations which have made a commitment as of December 5, 1984. Emile Deen More are expected to pick it up during the next few weeks. For dates Number Two, again, only 1 of 10 and times of broadcast, check local listings or call the station. If your winners was female. Am I to local public radio station is not listed here (approximately 200 are not), believe: (Your wish is our command. call and point out that there are many interested people in your area. 1) Females don't play Infocoms -Ed.) The show is being provided to them for no charge - all they have to do 2) Females don't enter Infocom is make a time slot available. B contests 3) Females don't get the right To The New Zork Times Editor: ALABAMA Rolla ...... KUMA answer so don't qualify to win Sometimes when I read all of Birmingham .. WBHM Springfield . . . KSMU 4) Females just don't get their the comments that people write Mobile .. . .. WHIL St. Louis. . . KWMU names pulled out of the hat as in to a magazine, I just agree with ALASKA MONTANA winners them and continue reading. Barrow ...... KBR W Missoula. . . KUFM 5) The Times staff - except for However, I recently received my Kodiak ...... KMXT NEBRASKA "Angela" - is male and you summer issue of your New Zork McGrath ...... KSKO Omaha ...... KIOS "guys" fixed the contest!!! Times, and after finishing the Wrangell ...... KSTK NEW YORK Do you want this unfair practice ''Mail Bag'', I just had to offer my CALIFORNIA Binghamton ...... WSKG to continue? Do you want to be own opinion. I work for Hewlett­ Berkeley ...... KPFA Canton ...... WSLU boycotted - girlcotted?? - by Packard and just bought a house Fresno ...... KVPR New York ...... WNYC-FM NOW? How do you propose to and have a family, and as you Los Angeles ...... KCRW-FM Oswego ...... WRVO solve this dilemma? · Pasadena . . . . KPCC might guess, I don't have a lot of NORTH CAROLINA Perhaps I could sew some rib­ Sacramento . . KXPR-FM time to play my Infocom games. Chapel Hill ...... WUNC San Francisco ...... KCSM-FM bon and lace on my contest entry But when your newsletter ar­ Charlotte ...... WFAE (a delightfully feminine thing to COLORADO Fayetteville ...... WFSS rives, it reminds me how much I Denver. ... KUNC-FM do), and you could pick it as a love to play them. I enjoy every NORTH DAKOTA winner; I would win a T-shirt, FLORIDA part of your letter, and people ask Fargo ...... KDSU and you would be absolved. Gainesville ...... WUFT Grand Forks. . .. KFJM me what I'm chuckling about Jacksonville . . . WJCT Oh well, it was worth a try! while I'm reading it. I suppose OHIO Miami . . . . WLRN-FM Frobizz! Frobozz! Frobozzle! that it reminds me of the excite­ Cincinnati ... . WVXU-FM Margaret Sebastian GEORGIA Kent. .. WKSU ment I feel when playing the Atlanta ...... WABE LaGrange, IL OKIAHOMA games, and there are also several ILLINOIS Norman ...... KGOU P.S. I like the new difficulty funny parts to the letter. I can't Chicago ...... WBEZ-FM ratings, packaging, and especially OREGON thank you enough for providing a WNIU-FM Ashland . .KSOR prices!! standard by which all other Edwardsville ...... WSIE Portland ...... KBOO-FM games should be measured, and Peoria ...... WCBU KOAP-FM for giving me hours and days of Rock Island ...... WVIK TENNESSEE (Your letter touched a sore spot. challenge, excitement, and fun! IOWA Memphis ...... WKNO We try vezy hard to keep sex bias I applaud your creativity, Fort Dodge ...... KTPR Nashville . . . . . WPLN out of our games - in most, thoughtfulness, and sense of INDIANA TEXAS there is nothing to indicate the Indianapolis ...... WIAN-FM humor and openness (to the pub­ Corpus Christi . . .. KKED sex of the player. We have found, lic with your newsletter). KANSAS Houston ...... KUHF-FM possibly because of this, that Thank you so very much! T.awrence .. .. KANU KPTF-FM women use Infocom 's interactive Pierceville .. .. KANZ Robert Ross UTAH fiction more than the average Milipitas, CA LOUISIANA Logan ...... KUSU software product. Baton Rouge ...... WRKE Salt Lake. . . KUER Sadly, however, women still MAINE VIRGINIA account for only one out of six Bangor ...... MPBN Harrisonburg . . . . WMRA Infocom users. The five conclu­ Dear Infocom, MASSACHUSETTS WASHINGTON sions you listed are not true. The Here is my entry to The New Boston ...... WGBH-FM Seattle ...... KUOW actual reason is that women have Zork Times puzzle. This one was MICHIGAN Washington, D.C... WETA-FM been underrepresented as com­ too easy: I solved it without even Detroit ...... WDET-FM WEST VIRGINIA puter and software users. DOING the puzzle! The answer MINNESOTA Charleston ...... WVPN We will continue to do our best was pretty obvious. Next time, Minneapolis ...... KBEM WISCONSIN to interest more women in our please make the NZT puzzle a bit MISSOURI Kenosha ...... WBTD products; by doing so, we hope to more challenging. I know you're Columbia ...... KOPN Milwaukee ...... WYMS-FM interest more women in micro­ good at that kind of ;5tuff. Or Point Lookout .. . .. KSOZ Rhinelander ...... WXPR computers in general. -Ed.) perhaps you could hold a WINTER 1985 THE NEW ZORK TIMES PAGES

"creativity" contest, the kind 5. Status of Krill after being Softalk used to offer. defeated: K.R.I.L.L. - (Krill Real­ Speaking of Softalk, does ly Is a Lonesome Loser) anyone at Info-Labs know what Hope you enjoy them. Stay tuned ASK JENNIFER became of Softalk Publishing? All for additonal insanities . .. I got was a "death notice" and a Karl L. Romlke subscription to A+ magazine. I Houston, TX fennifer is one of the dedicated was thinking you'd know, you P.S. Please (perhaps) print these Customer Support represen­ having been one of Softline's in The New Zork Times. Thanks. tatives who answer Infocom 's most prominent advertisers. (Your wish is our command. Technical Hotline, providing I found something in Sorcerer"' -Ed.) support for users who need for your bug department. It is immediate assistance on this: you can open Belboz' jour­ Dear Zorks: technical matters. This month, nal with the key, fine; however, f ennifer provides answers to you can't close it. You get an "it's We liked " Moon" and did some words: some of the most common ques­ already open" message. Call the tions and problems that she exterminator! Grue Moon - I saw him standing alone receives calls about. Hopefully, Is it possible to call somewhere dealing with the most common (hook up in the Source?) to get Without a lamp in his hand Without a light of his own. problems in this forum will help the mainframe Zork via modem? thousands of users avoid expen­ That would be fun to do . I've Grue Moon - you knew just what I lurked there for. sive long-distance phone calls. always wanted to play the You heard me saying a prayer for However, if you have a technical original Zork. Someone I really could snare for. problem other than one of those Are you going to convert the And then there suddenly appeared listed here, don 't hesitate to call old games into the new packag­ before me the Technical Hotline, (617) ing? If not, will the third En­ Someone without any repellent. 576-3190. But try not to call be­ chanter"' match the first two? It I heard somebody whisper "Please tween 2:30 and 3:00; that's when would look nice on my shelf. don't eat me" fennifer is taking her nap. BRING BACK ZORK IRON­ And when I did the moon had ONS! turned to coal. Sincerely, Grue Moon - now I'm no longer Why do I get a "fatal error" when I try to boot my disk? Alexander Eulenberg a-gurgling Without a dream in my heart My daddy told me that these Without a meal of my own. (Concerning the puzzle, your errors are caused by little goblins. wish is our command. As for Sof­ Some of these goblins live in the I've been lurking on the railroad disk drive, and some live in the talk, they were forced into All the live long night. bankruptcy by creditors. It was I've been lurking on the railroad disk itself. If you send me your sad and sudden - they had assets Waiting for Zorkers to come by. disk, I'll give it to Tommy here at but didn 't have enough ready Don't you see the dumb fools Infocom, and he'll tell me cash to pay all the bills when they coming, whether there are any goblins liv­ were unexpectedly demanded. Without repellent, torch, or light? ing in your disk. If there are, we'll We will all miss the Softalk Now my mouth starts a dribblin'. send you a brand new disk Save and Restore aren't working magazines. I'm going to eat those fools alive. without any goblins in it. If there in my game. All of our games are being con­ Zorker won't you come aren't, I'll send you back your That's goblins again. verted to the new packaging, and Zorker won't you come disk. Then you'll have to take all new games will be packaged in Won't you come without a light? your disk drive to the store where I found a bug in the game. the new standard. Zorker won't you come I don't like to hear about bugs; Zorker won't you come you bought it, and have them We have been considering In Won't you come without a light? kick out the goblins. they're really scary. fact T-shirts, but we 're not sure what sometimes at night in bed in the people would prefer. If you would Someone's in the kitchen with Donald. One of the things that was sup­ dark you can hear them scurrying be interested in Infocom T-shirts, around on the floor and you have please write in with your sugges­ Someone's in the kitchen with that posed to be in my game package tions. -Ed.) grue. wasn't in it. to keep your eyes closed absolute- 1y tight with your blanket com­ Someone's in the kitchen with Oops, sorry! Occasionally, Donald pletely wrapped around you or Hey Guys! Cooking up some Zorkers stew. workers on the assembly line else they'll attack and eat you up. goof when they're making up a I was sitting around letting my Arlene and Peter Zajicek But if you call me or send me a package. In fact, I was working on restless mind wander, and came Memphis, TN letter, and tell me the bug and the up with some amusing the assembly line just last month name of the game and the release acronyms. [see story on page 3 - Ed.] Dear Duf, number, I'll pass it along to 1. Flathead is the supreme assembling Deadline'" packages, someone who isn't so afraid of G.R.U.E. - (Great Ruler of the On many games I've noticed and I realized after doing around bugs. Underground Empire) the letters GUE used. What does 700 that I was putting in pieces of 2. Lord Excessive's job descrip­ GUE stand for? my bubble gum instead of ''Pills Can you give me a hint? tion: F.R.O.T.Z. - (Flathead Curious in Luling Texas Found Near the Body." I didn't No! I can't and I won't. And if Reigns Over The Zorkers) tell anyone, though, 'cause I was you don't stop asking me, I'll 3 . The Zork Bank: (Duffy is away on a case, so we afraid they'd spank me. throw a tantrum! I'm only here F.R.O.B.O.Z.Z. - (Flathead's thought we'd try to handle this Anyway, just send me a letter for important tek . . . tek ... Ridiculously Official Bank Of one. GUE is an abbreviation for with some proof of purchase, like technikul matters. If you need Zealous Zorkers) Great Underground Empire, the sales slip from the game, and help playing the game, you can 4. Toughness of solving prob­ where the Zork tiil.ogy is set. It is I'll send along the missing piece. order a hint booklet by calling lems in Zork series: P.L.U.G.H. frequently used after dates; for ex­ It might take me a while, though, (800) 262-6868. By the way, hint (Prevents the Losers ample, 785 GUE would indicate 'cause a lot of the pieces are kept booklets are printed in invisible Underground from Gaining the year 785 of the Great Under­ on top of a cabinet and only the ink which you get to develop Hope) ground Empire. -Ed.) B grownups can reach up there. yourself - they're really neat! B PAGE 6 THE NEW ZORK TIMES WINTER 1985

Why Business Products? humor and wit to the games would make Cornerstone a night­ by Paul DiLascia mare to use. If you told your The Histo: database 11 Show me all the letters When the editor asked me to Cornerstone shares another from Fred," you probably write an article explaining why important quality with our in­ wouldn't be amused if it re­ In the beginning, back in the Infocom has ventured into teractive fiction. And that's its sponded, "F, R, E, D." At Info­ 1960's, DEC (Digital Equipment business products, I thought: emphasis on you, the intrepid com, we beli'eve in using the right Corporation) created the PDP-10, Hmmph. Why business products, player (called, in business circles, interface for the task at hand. a medium-sized computer. The indeed! I could just as well ask, the user). Cornerstone makes you As to the claim that business "10", as it was called, became why games? the architect of your own data­ products are dull, I point out in popular at many research installa­ Nevertheless, this question base and allows you to manipu­ defense that different people have tions, and a great deal of software often arises in the minds of Info­ late information the way you different ideas about what's fun. was written for it, some of which com fans when they learn that want. Cornerstone is designed for Some folks spend their time is still far in advance of systems Infocom - famous for its best­ its users. manipulating bits of information on more modem machines. At selling games, producer of a In developing Cornerstone, th_ey call "price-earning ratios" MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab, whole geme of interactive fiction, we've tried at every step to an­ and "bond equivalent yields"; an operating system called ITS and home of Floyd - has now ticipate what a sane (or insane) others like to keep track of every (Incompatible Time-sharing introduced Cornerstone, its first person might attempt to do next. last X-Men issue in their Marvel System) was written for the 10. business software product. There's a critical difference, Comics collection. Still others ITS was designed to make soft­ They want to know what's go­ however, between Cornerstone delight in comparing tasting ware development easy. The ing on. Business software? Does and the games. While the games notes for different vintages of designers of the system assumed everyone at Infocom now wear a strive to make life difficult - Mouton Rothschild. Judging from that it would have a small, blue pin-striped suit and read the constantly thwarting your best ef­ the early responses, people like knowledgeable, friendly group of Wall Street foumal every morn­ forts, posing enigmas, even leav­ these will be pleased with users, so they did not include any ing? Have we finally lost our ing you dead in some remote Cornerstone. Some testers have security features. marbles - or maybe we've tran­ wasteland - in Cornerstone, told us Cornerstone is what Around 1970, the ARPAnet was scended even ourselves? After all, we've done everything we can they've sought for years. Some invented. ARPAnet made it possi­ business is serious, stuffy, boring. think of to make things easy. even claim it's fun! ble for researchers all over the So I accepted the challenge, country (indeed, all over the You'll never need InvisiClues to At Infocom, our idea of fun is hoping to dispel some of these use Cornerstone, because we've world) to communicate with illusions. producing sophisticated, quality given it a HELP key which sup­ software products that erode the each other, and to use each We began developing Corner­ plies hints and suggestions that other's machines. In those hal­ stone in 1982, over two years ago. barriers between people and corn - are so apropos, it's like having a puters. It's what we do best. cyon days, access was ume­ Infocom's strategy all along was wise friend always near. stricted; you could get on from to compete in the business arena. Cornerstone continues the tradi­ tion. That's why we made it. any machine connected to the We just didn't tell anyone. We There are other differences, net, or by knowing an appropriate knew Infocom's software tech­ too. When people first play - I Yet I fear there remain some phone number. Budding hackers nology could be applied suc­ mean use - Cornerstone, they unsatisfied skeptics who con­ from around the country soon cessfully to business products as sometimes ask why we didn't use tinue to wonder, ''Why business discovered that this made a well as to games. a natural language interface as in products?" For them, I leave this wonderful playground. They also The games are sophisticated our games. The answer is this: quote from Brian Berkowitz, one discovered that there were some programs as far as software goes. Natural language is inherently of the prime movers of Corner­ computers at MIT with some Writing a program that can re­ ambiguous, and ambiguity is just stone: ''We pick the hardest thing neat stuff on them and no securi­ spond intelligently to an arbitrary what you don't want in a data­ to do - and then we implement ty - anyone who could connect verbalization is no easy task. base. The equivocation that adds it." B to the machines could log in. , , and Also around 1970, a language Joel Berez designed a special high­ called MUDDLE (later renamed level language called ZIL (Zork MDL) was developed as a suc­ Implementation Language) and cessor to LISP. It never succeeded an entire development system in fully replacing LISP, but it just so they could write large, developed a loyal user communi­ complex game programs that ty of its own, primarily at MIT's would fit on small microcom­ Project MAC (now called the puters. It's this technology that Laboratory for Computer Sci­ gives Infocom an edge over its ence) and especially in the competition. Dynamic Modelling Group (later A similar technology was the Programming Technology developed to produce Corner­ Division). The Dynamic Model­ stone, our new database system. ling Group (DM), in addition to its It too is written in a specialized other accomplishments, was re­ high-level language, and it too is a sponsible for some famous very sophisticated program. Cor­ games. The first of these was a nerstone comprises over 75,000 multi-player graphics game called lines of code. Some claim it's the Maze, in which players wandered biggest program ever put on a around a maze shooting each single floppy disk. To write Cor­ other. Each user's screen showed nerstone in assembly language the view of the maze that his or would be a Herculean task, not her computerized alter-ego saw, worth attempting by sane mor­ updated in real time. Dave tal~. As it is, it took a staff of pro­ Lebling was among those chiefly grammers over two years to write Brian "Spike" Berkowitz: "We pick the hardest thing to do - and then we responsible (to blame?) for the ex­ Cornerstone. implement it." istence of the game. WINTER 1985 THE NEW ZORK TIMES PAGE 7

new rooms, objects, and creatures (I won't discuss the difficulty of ry of Zork - First in a Series adding new concepts yet). by Tim Anderson Zork, like Adventure, survived only because it was played by The next game of note was people outside the small com­ Trivia (who says research labs II munity that developed it. In the ~ ~ aren't ahead of their time?), an (Q}J"T/(UL case of Adventure, this was possi­ B~ i:: $ Hl!FT ongoing "can you top this" con­ rOOn'I /q_oo11 ble because it was written in test for the truly crazed. Trivia, ,, FORTRAN and could run on If unlike Maze, could be played by (rerf practically any machine. Zork dop) - ~ -""'- network users, and achieved wide ~ ... was written in MUDDLE, which popularity on the ARPAnet. Marc (c.... 11e) ran on only some PDP-lOs. Its Blank wrote the second version, user community was the group of and I maintained/ hacked it; it (~r..lle0'1) "net randoms" that infested the was actually a legitimate test of a • • MIT systems; remember that we database system the group used "2.roonn; had no security at all at this time. for a research project. DM had developed an active ,, community largely because of In early 1977, Adventure swept (."'T'ru.s11 ,e.) I= SHAFT Trivia. Since Trivia was pretty the ARPAnet. Willie Crowther -- dead by the time Zork came was the original author, but Don --- . II ,, ., along, there weren't many other Woods greatly expanded the game - , things for the randoms to do, so and unleashed it on an unsuspect­ ,._ (bi.r;,J. .:::t:. ~ ... they hung around waiting for the ing network. When Adventure ar­ i- /uy) next game. Early players of Zork rived at MIT, the reaction was I " ranged from John McCarthy, the typical: after everybody spent a inventor of LISP (we actually ,.. 1 lot of time doing nothing but -.... -- have a copy of the connectivity solving the game (it's estimated matrix that McCarthy used in­ that Adventure set the entire stead of a map), to twelve-year­ computer industry back two olds from Northern Virginia. No weeks), the true lunatics began to one ever officially announced :I::: $H/tFT think about how they could do it • Zork: people would log in to DM, better. Adventure was written in II see that someone was running a I/" FORTRAN, after all, so it .... .~ _,__ program named Zork, and get in­ couldn't be very smart. It ac­ terested. They would then cepted only two-word com­ ,, "snoop" on the console of the mands, it was obviously hard to 11 TI .. person running Zork, and see that change, and the problems were (T~o.t.,.re.) it was an Adventure-like game. sometimes not everything one ::;::. =I: From there, it only took a little could desire. (I was present when more effort to find out how to , one of the start it up. For a long time, the DM'ers, figured out how to get magic incantation was the last point in Adventure by ex­ Marc Blank's sketch for an underwater problem designed for, but never put ":MARC;ZORK"; people who amining the game with a into, the original Zork. The treasures would have been pearls and a trunk of had never heard of ITS, DM, or machine-language debugger. jewels. PDP- lOs somehow heard that if There was no other way to do it.) they got to something called By late May, Adventure had Marc, Bruce, and I sat down to big as Adventure, and was cer­ ''host 70 11 on the ARPAnet, been solved, and various DM'ers write a real game. We began by tainly less than half the size of logged in, and typed the magic were looking for ways to have drawing some maps, inventing the final version, but it had the word, they could play a game. fun. Marc Blank was enjoying a some problems, and arguing a lot thief, the cyclops, the troll, the Although Zork in June 1977 respite from medical school; I had about how to make things work. reservoir and dam, the house, was infinitely more primitive just finished my master's degree; Bruce still had some thoughts of part of the forest, the glacier, the than, say, Zork I, it still had pret­ Bruce Daniels was getting bored graduating, thus preferring design maze, and a bunch of other stuff. ty much the same flavor. The with his Ph.D. topic; and Dave to implementation, so Marc and I The problems were not as in­ Flathead family was represented, Lebling was heartily sick of spent the rest of Dave's vacation teresting as those that came later: in the person of Lord Dimwit Morse code. Dave wrote (in in the terminal room implemen­ it took time for people to learn Flathead the Excessive, ruler of MUDDLE) a command parser ting the first version of Zork. how to write good problems, and the Great Underground Empire; that was almost as smart as Zork, by the way, was never real- the early parsers wouldn't sup­ and the official currency was .the Adventure's; Marc and I, who 1y named. "Zork" was a port complicated solutions zorkmid. Bruce was responsible were both in the habit of hacking nonsense word floating around; it anyway. What we had done right for the purplish prose where these all night, took advantage of this was usually a verb, as in "zork was all in the "substratum-" were first mentioned. to write a prototype four-room the fweep, 11 and may have been There was a well-defined (and Many of the details of the GUE game. It has long since vanished. derived from "zorch. 11 ("Zorch" easily-changed) theory governing were whimsical (if not silly), but There was a band, a bandbox, a is another nonsense word imply­ interactions among objects, we weren't completely immune peanut room (the band was out­ ing total destruction.) We tended verbs, and rooms. It was easy to to reality. In those days, if one side the door, playing ''Hail to to name our programs with drop in new parsers, which hap­ wandered around in the dark area the Chief"), and a "chamber fill­ the word "zork" until they were pened frequently, since everyone of the dungeon, one fell into a ed with deadlines. 11 Dave played ready to be installed on the and his uncle tried his hand at bottomless pit. Many users and tested the game, saw that it system. writing a parser (Marc finally pointed out that a bottomless pit was pretty awful, and left to By the time Dave got back, became obsessed with it, and in an attic should be noticeable spend two weeks basking in the there was a (more-or-less) work­ wrote the last 40 or 50 of them sun. ing game. It probably wasn't as himself) . And it was easy to add . . . more Zork on page 11 PAGE 8 THE NEW ZORK TIMES WINTER 1985

... Shrinkwrapped Falcon . .. religion. "This is great! Whaddya (continued fro m page 3) say we start dragging these guys in on Saturdays, huh?" His ex­ Suspect Author Suspected buddy of mine along to snap citement was contagious, and by Dave Lebling some shots, I think I'd be con­ soon we had not only a Saturday vinced now that I'd hallucinated shift going, but weekday evening the whole thing. shifts as well. None of the In­ focom people were losing their A few hours after the start of this Finally, the detectives searched The next day, Brogmus was year's Halloween party, my wife like a man who'd just discovered spirit, and they were turning up the body and found another letter with husbands and wives and Janet said, ''Would you mind get­ that pointed to still more mothers and sisters and brothers ting my makeup kit out of the evidence implicating someone and friends, all hungry for some bedroom? I need to touch up my else. The murderer tried to flee, honest labor. blood.'' Since she was costumed but he was captured and handcuf­ November went by like a as a vampire, and the blood drip­ fed on the second floor of the whirlwind. Five weeks after that ping from one comer of her house as he tried to make his first Sunday on the assembly line, mouth was getting a little tired­ escape. Justice was done, just in with Thanksgiving dinner still a looking, I thought nothing of it. I the nick of time. fresh memory, Brogmus came to noticed that the bedroom door In the end, a vast conspiracy see me. He was smiling as was closed, so I knocked first headed by my wife, Janet, and the always, but now the haunted (parties being what they are) . No co-host of the party, Rick Moore, look was gone. He dumped a one answered, so I opened it, and was revealed. While I had been report on my desk. ''Look at there, lying half-dead on the bed, writing Suspect';' Janet had been what our folks have done on the was one of the party guests! With writing this frame-up. While the assembly line: 62,000 games, her last reserve of strength, she Infocom testers were finding bugs plus another 6,000 Samplers and staggered from the room and col­ in Suspect, they were also finding 21,000 hint books!" lapsed onto the living room floor, bugs in the frame-up . And while I It was no surprise to me, and I strangled! was helping to set up the party, told him so. "I knew all along Naturally, I followed her, the conspirators were putting the these folks were solid gold.'' wondering what was going on, final touches on the play. "We're out of the woods," he and no sooner did she die than I For weeks afterward Janet said, "all set to glide through to was accused of killing her. would periodically say, "You're Christmas. How can I thank you Almost immediately, "Sergeant sure you didn't suspect enough?'' Duffy" and the "Detective" ar­ anything?" I never had. "You're thanking the wrong rived on the scene and began I never was a very good guy," I told Brogmus, pointing at making a case for my guilt. In a detective. B the report. "It's those guys and thick Irish accent, the detective dames from Infocom who cast all interrogated a suspicious group of the right magic spells when it my friends and fellow Infocom­ counted. 11 And if any of you good ites. The evidence was over­ Get Graphic people reading this got or gave an whelming, and it was looking Infocom game for Christmas, try pretty grim. There was an (ob­ and keep that in mind. viously forged) incriminating let­ Infocom is going graphic! As for me, I'm back with my ter signed in my handwriting, and Wait - if you're falling off your feet up on the desk just killing (obviously perjured) testimony chair just now, stand up, dust time waiting for the next case, or from people who had seen me yourself off, and sit back down. , at the Infoassembly with the victim in a local sub line, doing his famous imitation of for the horseflies to return in Compose yourself. And then Waldo. June, whichever comes first. shop. compose the graphic we desire - for inclusion in The New Zork Times. Text of Infocom Memo Distributed Since our interactive text (it's November 28, 1984 been said) is worth a thousand pictures, we'd like to reap the Once upon a time, in the little and terrifying, volunteers poured king consulted with his advisors harvest of your imaginations. kingdom of Infoproduction, good forth from every village and every once again. And the king made a Draw a cartoon and send it to us. King Brogmus looked out from department to battle the monster. wise decision to halt the battles, If we print your cartoon in the the window of his castle, across Good King Brogmus, and his for he knew that even though NZT, you'll win the Infocom the goldfish-filled moat, and saw brave knight Sir Eric, led battle volunteers were still streaming in game of your choice. that a danger threatened the land after battle against the mighty from every comer of the land, to Cartoons will be printed 414 - a danger in the form of the ter­ dragon, and each time they continue the campaign might inches wide and 5 inches deep - rible dragon Backlog. wounded it deeply, but each time only arouse the equally terrifying give or take a couple of inches it rose to threaten the kingdom dragon Overstock. - so draw your cartoons propor­ So King Brogmus met with his again. Then, one day, following tionally (but don't fold your en­ wise men, and his soothsayer cut So the heralds went forth tries) . Draw the cartoons in black the greatest and most tiresome throughout the land, thanking open a floppy disk and spilled its battle of all, after the dragon had ink only; no pencil or color illus­ the good people of the kingdom entrails to get a reading of events suffered sixty thousand wounds trations. All submissions become for their help and their courage. to come. Finally, after many (plus another six thousand the property of Infocom, Inc. days, the king emerged from the And King Brogmus looked out Send your cartoons to: NZT wounds in its sampler and twen­ across the moat, content in the catacombs of his castle with a ty thousand wounds in its in­ Cartoons, Infocom, Inc ., plan. knowledge that Backlog would 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, visiclues), it roared a final bellow never threaten the kingdom And the king's heralds went of fire and expired. The kingdom MA 02138 . Make sure you tell us again, and everyone lived happily what game you want to win, forth throughout the land, stop­ was safe at last. ever after. ping at every mailbox and calling And the people rejoiced, and what computer you want it to for volunteers to slay the dragon. ate dragon meat, with stuffing Until the next Christmas run on, and where we should And though Backlog was huge and cranberry sauce, while the season??? B send it. B WINTER 1985 THE NEW ZORK TIMES PAGE9 InfoNews Roundup

InvisiClues Appear Omni Magazine Lauds weeks, and Deadline 116 quarters in Cambridge, weeks. And if you think that's Massachusetts. in Stores Hitchhiker's Guide impressive . .. Games Survey Infocom stories are hard: they The December 1984 issue of have puzzles, mazes, conniving Omni magazine called Infocom's InvisiClues Disappear by Family Computing bad guys, twists, double-twists, version of The Hitchhiker's Reveals All! Guide to the Galaxy "riotous" from Stores red herrings, and hidden clues. The results of a "Games Survey" And that's what makes them so and selected it as one of the Ten That's right! InvisiClues have Best Computer Garnes of 1984. been disappearing from store were published in the December much fun. 1984 issue of Family Computing But sometimes you can get shelves so fast that the lnvisi­ Clues hint booklets have been magazine. Readers were asked to stuck - not just momentarily name their favorite game-making A Dazzling Dozen the number 1 book on Softsel's stumped, but really, truly, hit­ companies. Not surprisingly, your-head-against-the-wall, rip­ In mid-October, Infocom was Hot List ever since their debut on October 8, 1984. When this issue Infocom garnered more votes the-disk-in to-tiny-little-pieces shipping 12 stories. And 13 of than any other company. And we stuck. That's when you need an them were on the top-30 Hot went to press, InvisiClues were number 1 for 10 straight weeks. didn't even vote! InvisiClues hint booklet. List'"! Respondents to the survey also InvisiClues hint booklets are The Hot List shows the best­ chose Marc Blank as one of their available for all Infocom games. selling software week by week, The clues are printed in invisible New Infocom Games favorite game designers. As and is published by Softsel Com­ author of Deadline and co-author ink, so you'll never see a clue ac­ puter Products, Inc., the Hit Charts cidentally. A special marker is in­ of Zork I, Zork II, Zork ill, and country's largest software distrib­ It didn't take long! Cutthroats:• cluded with each booklet, and Enchanter, Marc ranks as one of utor. All of our stories had been The Hitchhiker's Guide to the our favorite game designers too. with it you can develop only the on the Hot List before, and we see clues you want to see. The clues Galaxy, and Suspect are already most of them on the list every on several best-seller lists, in­ Max Sacks Yak Facts generally progress from a gentle week. But the week of October nudge in the right direction to a cluding Softsel's in the United full answer. 15, 1984, was a record for us: States and Frantek's in Canada. A recent poll by CompuNews Until recently, you could buy never before have we had so magazine reveals that a staggering InvisiClues only through the many products on the same list. Infocom Wins Award 97 percent of all interactive fic­ mail, directly from Infocom. But Since most companies are tion garners have no interest in now you can go to your friendly delighted to see even one of their With so many products on the reading about yaks. Only 0.4 per­ neighborhood software dealer and products on the Hot List every Softsel Hot List, Infocom should cent indicated a slight interest in buy your InvisiClues there! Every now and then, you can imagine win some sort of an award, don't reading about yaks, and a mere InvisiClues hint booklet tells you how proud we are. you think? Well, we did! 0.1 percent liked to read "a how points are scored, includes How did we manage 13 out of At the Fall 1984 COMDEX significant amount about yaks." amusing suggestions, and comes 12? Commodore distributes Zork (Computer Dealers' Exposition) Two-and-a-half percent of the with the special marker and a I for the Commodore 64, and held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Softsel respondents refused to answer the complete map of the game. Infocom distributes Zork I for all and Business Week presented In­ question. Infocom Product (Suspended'" and Seastalker hint the other major personal com­ focom with an award inscribed Manager Michael "Max" Dorn­ booklets don't come with maps puters. Both made it to the Hot 11 Most Titles on the Hot List brook immediately announced since maps are included in the List, so Zork I actually appeared (Recreation)." This is the second that Infocom would continue its game package.) Each InvisiClues twice! year in a row that Infocom has long-standing policy of not print­ hint booklet retails for $7.95. When this issue of the NZT received that coveted award. ing anything about yaks in The That's a small price to pay, went to press (in December), Infocom is displaying the New Zork Times. (Actually, especially when you can't eat, Zork I had enjoyed 118 weeks on award in its now-famous Trophy Michael Dornbrook's nickname sleep, or get on with your life the Hot List (the Hot List is only Case, which is located in the is "Mike" or "Mikey." But because you can't solve a puzzle. 118 weeks old), Zork II 114 reception area of Infocom's head- "Max"made a better headline.) B

... Cornerstone disk), and will be available at the (continued from page 1) end of January. The list price will be $495. In the meantime, if you As you can probably tell, we're have any questions, drop us a line pretty excited about Cornerstone. or give us a call at (617) 576-3190. And we're not alone. One major [Editor's note: A free demonstra­ distributor has said that Corner­ tion disk of Comerstone will be stone "will be the hottest new made available in a month. If you business product of 1985." are interested, address your re­ Another has said, "Every once in quest to Bamaby, cl o Infocom, a while, a product comes along 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA that changes the shape of the 02138.j B microcomputer market. Corner­ stone, Infocom's new database management system, is just such At COMDEX in Las Vegas, Infocom a product." strutted its stuff: interactive fiction The first release of Cornerstone and Cornerstone. Thousands of people - retailers, computer manu­ is for the IBM PC, PC XT, PC AT, facturers, press, and end-users and 100% compatibles. Corner­ among them - visited the Infocom stone requires a minimum of booth, picked up DON'T PANIC 256K of memory and two disk buttons, and saw the hottest new drives (or one floppy and a hard business product of 1985. PAGE 10 THE NEW ZORK TIMES WINTER 1985

... Puzzle #5 6,I · 1.J:ie empty cigarette pack in (continued from page 12) Infideli~ a Marlbciro pack. 4,A A bra~s b~li c~ be. fount! in the · · 6,J The-S.S.".Hollyw"ood.is .one of Temple in Zork I: ·. · · the .4 shipW!etks near Hard­ .. scrabble Island. : · 4,B Shakespeare's·Romeo and fuliet · was Dave Lebling's model for 6,K Rotgrubs· are usually around 3 Starcross"' . · · ". · inches. long .. ·· · .. , · 4,C The gold coffin is too large to · 6,L The Technology· Museum in­ put in the trophy case. . eludes a model of a Frobozz 4,D The Weasel's real name is Magic Cave Digger. William Richert. 6,M You rented your· cowboy outfit from a store called Costurnes­ 4,E Marvin is a product of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. To-Go. · 4,F Aragain Falls is the source of 6,N The only exit from the Radia­ the Frigid River. tion Lab is east. . · 6,0 Pete the Rat got his nickname 4,G wrote Planetfall from tattling on a crewrnate. and Suspect. 7,A George Robner's record collec­ 4,H The Wizard of Frobozz only tion includes a Hebrew Prayer casts spells beginning with the letter Z. Service. 4,I Infidel takes place near the Nile 7,B There are 69,105 leaves in the River. leaf pile in the Clearing. 4,J Auda has four grasping 7,C The MCS Starcross was con­ extens10ns. structed in 2178 at the Luna City Docks. 4,K Infocom is located at 66 7,D Cutthroats was a collaboration Wheeler Street. between Michael Berlyn and 4,L Monica's eyes are blue. Phil Wolper. 4,M All of the trees in Zork mare 7,E Monica's mother was named unclimbable. Virginia. 4,N The top speed of the Lawanda­ 7,F Flood Control Darn Number 3 Kalamontee shuttle is 35 . is composed of 370,000 cubic 4,0 One of the cakes in the Tea feet of concrete. Room has purple icing. 7,G Cerberus has three heads. 5 ,A Infidel was the first of 7,H Zaphod Beeblebrox has three ANSWER: Infocom's Tales of Adventure. I~~'-=--=-~~~~~~~_J 400 heads. 5,B The Dining Room of the Rohner 7,I Belboz is a member of the Cir­ mansion has a fieldstone cle of Enchanters. fireplace. Solution to Puzzle Number Three 7. Michelle Forrest 7,J All three Infocom mysteries New York, NY 5,C A babel fish, if swallowed were set in the USA. allows one to understand ~y Here is the solution to the puzzle 8. Robbie Bain language. 7,K Sgt. Duffy handcuffs Stiles to a davenport. from the Summer '84 NZT. The Morristown, NJ 5,D The Snark resembles a giant central column reads ''How cockroach. 7,L Waldo is impervious to the acid 9. Ed Champ mist. many points in Zork Two?" mak­ Lake Grove, NY 5,E Marc Blank's signature appears 7,M The Brass Lantern restaurant is ing the final answer "400" or on one of the Hitchhiker's destruct orders. on the comer of Berez and La "400 points." 10. Tony Yankovsky Vezza. Brooklyn, NY 5,F You can fold up the cot in There were 191 entries of Infidel. 7,N The red goo in the survival kit tastes like cherry pie. which 153 (80%) had the co~ect 11 . Zafer Berkun 5,G The grue repellent in Zork II Sheboygan Falls, WI 7,0 There are eight locations in the answer. The most common in­ smells like old socks and burn­ Land of Shadow. correct answer was "How many 12. Andy Plotkin ing rubber. 5,H The Witness"' takes place on a 8,A In Starcross, the closest robots in Zork Two? Two" (13 Rockville, MD Thursday evening. unknown mass is UM91. entries). The next most frequent 13. Sharon Lynch 5,I The crystal trident is found in 8,B The original Infidel package was wrong answer was ''How many Silverton, OR the Atlantis Room. shaped like a pyramid. points in Zork ill? Seven" (7 en­ 5,J The weasel aliens live near the 8,C The Aquadome blueprints were 14. Margaret Sebastian green airlock. drawn by J. Parker. tries). There were a number of Lagrange, IL 8,D Sam Ostmann is the president humorous wrong answers that 5,K Earl Davis Jackson is the Editor 15. Lewis Morton of The Washington Represen­ of King's Point Realty. were close - ''How many 8,E An amulet can be found at the Merion, PA tat.zve. spells/ vaults/ dogies in Zork 5,L Alligators live in the river near bottom of the lake in Zork ill. Two?" Other answers included 16. Bob Bray the encampment in Infidel. 8,F The berzio potion increases "Fred," "69,105" and "Yes, a San Jose, CA 5,M If you turn on the Linders' radio muscular coordination. at 10:20pm, you will hear Ozzie 8,G On the sub, Tip reads a copy of pelican." 17. Gary Laskowski "Science World." Roseville, MI Nelson's Orchestra. Twenty-five names were 5,N There are skeletons in Zork I 8,H Ford Prefect is a Vogan captain. chosen randomly from the cor­ 18. Richard Ruffner Starcross, Infidel, and Hitch- ' 8,I The Ashcroft's dog is a Dober­ rect entries. Here's a list of St. Louis, MO hiker's Guide. man Pinscher. T-shirt winners: 5,0 Sharon Kemp attended MIT. 8,J The Terror was trapped using a 19. Alex Mueck scroll with the KULCAD spell. Massapequa, NY 6,A Whiz cannot leave the area around the Central Chamber. 8,K There are six Guardians of 1. David Sams 20. Stewart Vachal Zork. 6,B McNabb's pride and joy is his 8,L There are six cars in the Linder Pasadena, CA Yorba Linda, CA . tulip garden. garage. 2. Orn Prakash II 21. Bill Shubert 6,C In Deadline, there is no way for 8,M There are six members of the your character to get killed. Aquadome crew. Holliswood, NY Acton, MA 6,D The robot in Zork II was built 3. Edward Stiles 22. Bill Duba by the Frobozz Magic Android 8,N Veronica Ashcroft's ball was Company. held on Valentine's Day. North Royalton, OH Livermore, CA 8,0 The animals in the Topiary are 6,E In Cutthroats, your watch is 4. Mindy Miller 23 . Jeff Segawa battery-powered. harmless. Clay, NY Kaneohe, HI 9,A The artifact's force field projec­ 6,F Leslie Robner's maiden name tor has four settings. 5. Michael Rosenberg 24. John W. Kennedy, Jr. was Swanson. 6,G Sorcerer is the third game in the 9,B The scroll containing the Pittsburgh, PA Chatham, NJ OZMOO spell is found in the Enchanter series. Gallery. 6. Don Naurocki 25 . Mike Surgent 6,H The brass lantern in the Zork Mission Viejo, CA Lynn, MA series is powered by kerosene. (continued on next page) WINTER 1985 THE NEW ZORK TIMES PAGE 11

9,C According to the Guide, 10,J The AIMFIZ spell is found in peanuts help replace protein Enchanter. lost during matter 10,K Only "Doc" Horvak can give transference. you the Universal Tool. 9,D One character in Suspect is 10,L Admission to Bozbarland is costumed as a giant cockroach. two zorkmids. 9,E Fort Gri.ffspotter is located near 10,M The diary in the Planetfall the ocean. package begins on July 22. 9,F The Treasury of Zork contains 10,N The Heart of Gold's shipboard shares of FrobozzCo stock. computer is named Ralph. 9,G There are two Mirror Rooms 10,0 The Wizard of Frobozz has a in Zork I. stuffed hawk in his Trophy 9,H The pills found near Marshall Room. Robner's body were LoBlo . 11 ,A Rose Ellingsworth lives in 9,1 Your lab in Seastalker is equip- Cambridge, MA. ped with a Computestor. 11 ,B In Zork ill, the waybread is 9,J The Round Room has five ex- originally found at the Cliff its; one is to the Loud Room. Base. 9,K The first number the band 11 ,C The unicorn has a silver key plays in Suspect is hanging from its neck. "Breathless." 11,D The cover price of True Tales 9,L Planetfall includes a brief of Adventure magazine is arcade-style action sequence. $1.50. 9,M The artifact has four docking 11 ,E The Scimitar has two extensor ports. claws. 9,N Floyd's favorite song is "The 11 ,F Senator Asher is the first per­ Ballad of the Starcrossed son to find Veronica's body. Miner." 11 ,G The INVENTORY command is 9,0 The red button in the dam's a feature of every I:nfocom Maintenance Room turns on game. the lights. 11 ,H Cabeza Plana and Mareilon 10,A Tor Books distributes four were ancient cities of Quen­ paperbacks based on the Zork dor. Above, Steve Meretzky (left) and Douglas Adams at a press conference in series. 11 ,1 The pair of candles in Zork I , New York City to promote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Below. 10,B Krill's soul is imprisoned in a if extinguished, can be re-lit. Dorothy Meretzky (Steve 's mother) and Betty Rock (Senior Customer Sales tiny crystal jar. 11 ,J You cannot pick up the Representative at lnfocom) crash the press conference. 10,C The dragon in Zork II guards Linders' cat. the entrance to the Volcano. 11, K An ionic diffusion rasp is 10,D Phong is the Robners' butler. located in the Engine Room of 10,E Zork is a registered trademark the Heart of Gold. of I:nfocom . 11,L Tracks in the snow provide an 10,F Monica's Workshop adjoins the important clue in Suspect. Garage. 11 ,M Tracks in the mud provide an 10,G The Stellar Pano! is a wing of important clue in The the Fourth Galactic Union. Witness. 10,H The Wizard of Frobozz wears a 11,N A seawall protects the mouth fedora . of Frobton Bay. 10,I The bartender in Su spect is 11 ,0 Dimwit, Babe, and J. Pierpont working his way through law Flathead are mentioned in school. Zork II. D

. . . Zork (continued from page 7)

from the ground floor of the outside), but others were dark. house. Dave came up with the The major problem resulted from notion of grues, and he wrote the new concept Marc introduc­ their description. From the begin­ ed: vehicles. In the original game, ning (or almost the beginning, there were rooms, objects, and a anyway), the living room had a player; the player always existed copy of ''US News & Dungeon in some room. Vehicles were ob­ Report,'' describing recent jects that became, in effect, changes in the game. All changes mobile rooms. This required were credited to some group of changes in the (always delicate) implementers, but not necessari­ interactions among verbs, ob­ ly to those actually responsible: jects, and rooms (we had to have one of the issues described Bruce some way of making "walk" do working for weeks to fill in all the something reasonable when the bottomless pits in the dungeon, player was in the boat) . In addi­ thus forcing packs of grues to tion, ever-resourceful Zorkers changes the world you're model­ contents far exceeded what a roam around. tried to use the boat anywhere ling changes practically every­ player was allowed to carry. The The first major addition to the they thought they could. The thing in the world you're boat was two separate objects: the game, done in June 1977, was the code for the boat itself was not modelling. "inflated boat" object contained river section, designed and im­ designed to function outside the Although Zork was only a the objects, but the player carried plemented by Marc. It survives river section, but nothing kept month old, it could already sur­ the "deflated boat" object largely unchanged in Zork I, but the player from carrying the prise its authors. The boat, due to around. We knew nothing about illustrates very well the problems deflated boat to the reservoir and the details of its implementation, this: someone finally reported it of building reality. There were trying to sail across. Eventually turned into a "bag of holding": to us as a bug. As far as I know, minor problems of consistency - the boat was allowed in the reser­ players could put practically the bug is still there. some parts of the river were voir, but the general problem anything into it and carry it [Coming up in the next issue: smllit (and even reachable from always remained: anything that around, even if the weight of the Zork Assumes an Alias.] n PAGE 12 THE NEW ZORK TIMES WINTER 1985

NEW ZORK TIMES PUZZLE NUMBERS

Take a piece of graph paper. Make a grid eleven boxes tall and fifteen boxes wide. Starting at the Puzzle #3 top left comer, number the horizontal rows from 1to11, and letter the vertical columns from Ato 0 . Below are 165 statements, some true, some false. The "coordinates" before each statement The Solution correspond to a box in your grid. The number is the row and the letter is the column. If the statement is true, color in the corresponding box in your grid. If the statement is false, leave and that box blank. The Winners When you have finished, your grid will contain a picture, message, or graphic of some kind that evokes a particular location in a particular Infocom game. To correctly answer the puzzle, just put the name of the location and the name of the game in the answer space below. see page 10

l,A The unicorn is never seen in l,N The orange cable is found inside 2,J McGinty smokes a pipe. 3,G Tricia MacMillan is a native of the Carousel Room. Fred. 2,K Enchanter lnvisiClues is the Earth. l,B The first rod you find on the 1,0 There are four tents in the en­ longest of Infocom's hint 3,H Transit Control Area and alien artifact is the black rod. campment in Infidel"'. booklets. Skywalk Gamma are joined by l,C There is only one exit from the 2,A Waldo, Poet and Whiz all think 2,L The two chalices in the temple a sloping corridor. Room of Nephthys. Iris is cute. alcoves have the same weight. l,D Baxter is Marshall Robner's 3,I The GONDAR spell quenches 2,B Marshall Rohner was killed on 2,M The number of the escape pod fire . brother-in-law. the night of July 8, 1982. you use in Planetfall"' is 42. l ,E The KULCAD spell can be used 2,C Mr. McNabb's first name is 3.J Zork ill takes place in the year only once. 2,N The Mary Margaret and the 948 GUE. Alvin. Night Wind are identically l,F The parrot in the Shanty has a 2,D The famous Gabrillic equipped. 3,K Zoe Bly is the Commander of peg leg. Hyphenated Woman can be the Aquadome. 1, G The lever in the Cryogenic Area 2,0 Three people have solved the found on Accardi-2. "Impossible" version of 3,L The gold coin in Cutthroats revives a clone of you. depicts King Peter II of Spain. l ,H The thief will never steal the 2,E Seastalker is a collaboration be­ Suspended. tween Stu Galley and Jim 3,A Deadline was released before 3,M King Duncanthrax was an platinum bar. Lawrence. l,I Infocom released five new Zork ill: The Dungeon Master. ancestor of Lord Dimwit games in each of 1983 and 2,F The Winding Stair climbs the 3,B Monica Linder has a friend Flathead. 1984. northeast tower of Entharion's named Terry. 3,N Gurthark-tun-besnap resembles castle. l,J The rainbow turtle is discovered 3,C The Planetfall package contains a giant mouse. · 2,G Bozbarland has two roller on the beach. three post cards. 3,0 The ambassador from l,K The Glass Maze has 27 coasters. 3,0 Frank Webster was your boss in 2,H Richard Ashcroft is Veronica's Blow'k-bibben-Gordo has no compartments. Infidel. translator. l,L Floyd's friend Lazarus was a older brother. 3, E Infocom' s technical hotline is cleaning robot. 2,I The Summer '84 New Zork (617) 576-3190. l ,M The Chamber of Ra has an altar Times was printed on white 3,F Cochrane went to the ball ... more Puzzle # 5 on page 10 and five exits. paper. costumed as an astronaut.

ANSWER: Location Game ______

Bulk Rate lnFDCDI\ U.S. Postage C.S. 6237 PAID Farmingdale, NY 11735 Ronkonkoma, NY Permit No. 1126 T-ShirtSize (S, M, L, XL): ______

CONTEST RULES: 1. All entries must be submitted on this form. No copies accepted. 2. All entries must be received by. May 1, 198S. 47246NW5D20312 3. Up to 2S prizes will be awarded. If more than DENNIS NEWKIRK 2S correct answers are received, a drawing 11312 E 200 N will be held to determine the winners. Void 47246 where prohibited by law. HOPE IN

PRIZE: A New Zork Times Puzzle Winner T-Shirt.

RETURN TO: Infocom NZT Puzzle SS Wheeler Street Cambridge, MA 02138