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® “All the Grues New Zork Area Weather That Fit, We Print” The New Zork Times Warmer: high - 25, low - 56 VOL. 3. . . .No. 2 SPRING 1984 INTERNATIONAL EDITION INFOCOM INTRODUCES SEASTALKER™

FIRST JUNIOR-LEVEL INTERACTIVE FICTION

InfoNews Roundup

Seastalker, a new adventure in the Inside the Seastalker package, you tradition of Jules Verne's 20,000 will find a submarine logbook, which Leagues Under the Sea, will make its serves as the manual. There are also appearance in June. Its arrival marks eight top-secret Infocards, Infocard a number of firsts for Infocom. decoder film (which can be used to As the first of the new Junior- reveal the clues), a nautical chart of Level series, it has been written to be Frobton Bay, and a special Discov- the best introduction to our line of ery Squad decal. interactive fiction for preteens. While still offering a good challenge Infocom Poster to our older customers, it includes a number of Infocards (clue cards) Many of you have asked us to Inside the Seastalker package you’ll find a submarine logbook, nautical chart, which will help the younger players produce a poster of the back cover of special decal, and top-secret Infocards with decoder film. get through the game. the "Our Circuits, Ourselves" bro- In another major development in chure. Your wish has been granted. the evolution of interactive fiction, a A stunning poster has been created noted outside author has collaborated of the man and computer walking off with a member of the Infocom staff into the sunset, bordered in black. in producing the game. That author, The 22" by 28" poster is full color Jim Lawrence, has authored nearly and is shipped rolled in a mailing FRANK ANSWERS 60 books — many of these were tube. It is being made available ex- ghosted for series like Tom Swift, clusively to readers of The New Zork TO THE TEN MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Jr., The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Times. and the Bobbsey Twins. Jim worked with Infocom's Stu Update on the Macintosh Galley, whose first effort, The ™ 1. Why are your games so diffi- 2. Why are some games more diffi- Witness , was recently named "The For those of you who are upgrad- cult? cult than others? Best Adventure of 1984" by ing to the new Macintosh or know Electronic Games magazine. Stu and someone else who is, Infocom's Although our games are interactive It's often hard to tell how difficult a Jim worked for nearly a year to put entire line of interactive fiction titles fiction, they're more than just stories: game is going to be until many Seastalker together, a longer time will be available in early July. they are also a series of puzzles. It is people begin playing it. During than for any other Infocom product Judging from the number of requests these puzzles that transform our text 1983, when we doubled the number to date. Much of the effort went into for information on our software from an hour's worth of reading to of game titles, we also began putting additional features that make the availability for the Mac, this is going many, many hours' worth of think- our games through much more wide- story easier for newcomers to inter- to be a hot-selling system. ing. It is these puzzles that cause a spread play-testing. Because we try active fiction to play. player to suddenly leap out of bed in to incorporate any reasonable The story is this: An alarm sounds. HP 150 and TRS-80 the middle of the night and run to his suggestions from our testers, includ- You are told that there's something Color Computer computer because he just thought of ing suggestions for adding hints to terrifying in the depths of the ocean a possible solution to a problem. problems they found difficult, the below, and that it threatens the Infocom will soon be shipping a The value of our games is that they 1983 games were generally a bit Aquadome, the world's first undersea new version of its MS-DOS 2.0 will provide many hours of stimulat- easier than our earlier games. research station. Your specially products that will be compatible with ing mental exercise. If the puzzles Beginning later this year, we will equipped submarine, the Scimitar, is many more computer systems, were significantly easier, then many be rating our interactive fiction ready. But wait — you haven't even including Hewlett-Packard's HP 150 people would no longer find them according to four categories of diffi- tested the Scimitar in deep water, Touch Screen Computer. Also watch challenging. For those people who culty. We will continue producing and the crew of the Aquadome may for TRS-80 Color Computer versions find the level of difficulty too chal- games in each of these categories in ™ have a traitor in its ranks. Mystery, sometime this summer. lenging, InvisiClues booklets are order to provide for everyone from intrigue, and adventure await you as always available to provide hints. the neophyte to the hard-core fan. you face the underwater world of . . .more Frank answers on page 2 Seastalker. . . .more InfoNews on page 3 PAGE 2 THE NEW ZORK TIMES SPRING 1984

. . .Frank answers this is starting to sound like one of tant item in a large portfolio of about interactive fiction here, not continued from page 1 our ads, stop and think for a moment. material that comprises an interactive some glorified Eliza program that Each of our games lasts hundreds of fiction game. pretends to converse with the user moves, and at each move there are but actually "understands" nothing 3. Why aren't hint booklets in- literally thousands of possible re- that is being said. Our games cluded with the game? sponses. Add some magic, or some 8. Why are your disks copy- actually understand every input they Two reasons, the first being characters wandering around the protected and backup-limited? claim to understand. These inputs temptation. Even though the answers game doing their thing, and the result As mentioned in the preceding fall within the rules outlined in the are printed in invisible ink, the is staggeringly complex. paragraph, software piracy is a game manual, and if you stick to temptation to look up the answer to a Infocom's interactive fiction pro- problem rampant in our industry. these rules, you should almost never problem immediately after getting grams are among the most complex When disks are copied for other than end up using a word the game stuck would be too great for many programs available for micro- legitimate back-up reasons, the doesn't understand. people. After all, one of the great computers (and that includes all producer is denied revenue (not to This problem is always most acute joys of interactive fiction is the re- programs, not just entertainment mention the fact that it's illegal). On for people playing one of our warding feeling of finding a solution programs). The writing and perfect- a wide scale, piracy results in higher mystery games for the first time. on your own after several hours of ing of an average piece of Infocom's prices as the constant development Despite all the warnings in the exercising the logic and imagination interactive fiction takes nearly a cost must be spread over a smaller manual, people always want to grab of your brain. year, and even that speed is only number of buyers. Therefore, copy- Baxter, shake him, and ask him The second reason is cost. If possible due to our powerful devel- protection helps legitimate consum- WHY WERE YOU RUNNING InvisiClues were included, the price opment system. (Deadline™ author ers like you, as well as us, by foiling DOWN THE HALL DURING THE of the game would have to be and Infocom V.P. Marc Blank is piracy. SCREAMING, or WHERE WERE increased slightly to cover this extra fond of saying that Deadline would Also, remember that Infocom will YOU AT 8:00 PM ON THE NIGHT cost. People who don't want or need have taken five years to write with- replace any defective disks for no BEFORE THE MURDER. After all, the hint booklet would not be pleased out our development system — and charge within the first 90 days after this is how Columbo or Hercule to have to pay this extra amount. then it would only have been ready purchase, and for a $5 charge after Poirot always questions the suspects. to run on one type of computer.) For that. However, since we use the Well, if the game were to try to 4. Why don't your games have Sorcerer™, which was released a few highest quality disks, this isn't a handle every conceivable question of graphics? months ago, nearly two thousand frequent occurrence. this complexity, it would occupy 20 We have nothing against graphics individual "bugs" were located and disks and take 15 years to write and per se. However, given the quality of fixed. These ranged from minor test. Just play it by the rules, folks. graphics currently available on home typos to game-crashers. Right up 9. Why aren't your games larger? Stick to WHERE IS THE computers, we would rather use that until the day the disk masters were People with more powerful home SMOKING GUN and TELL ME disk space for additional puzzles and sent out we were still arguing about computers frequently ask us this ABOUT DOCTOR BLANK. richer descriptions. After all, as our whether a bat has paws, claws, or question. That answer is that we famous "brain ad" says, the world's talons. But I digress. want our games to be available on a best graphics generator is your own Another reason is our elaborate wide number of systems. Our current j BONUS QUESTION j imagination. packaging, which costs a lot to size limit is around 110,000 bytes. If design and a lot to produce. (See the we increased this limit, then our 11. Why don't you provide a 5. Why are there so many "red next question.) games would be unable to run on a vocabulary list with each game? herrings" in your games? One final reason our prices are so number of machines, including the If you think about it, including a People accustomed to standard high is — that our prices aren't that Atari 400/800, the TRS-80 Model I, list of all the words a game under- adventure games, where every item high! Fifty dollars may seem like a and the Osborne 1. Of course, thanks stands would run the risk of giving you run across has one (and only lot of money for a game, but divide to our ingenious ultra-neato com- away problems. Here's an example one) purpose, may find our games a that amount by the 30 or 40 hours pression techniques, we get a heck of that you shouldn't read unless you've bit disorienting. Some objects will you'll probably be spending with that a lot into those 110,000 bytes. completed Zork I: What if you were have several uses, and many items game, and it actually works out to perusing a vocabulary list for Zork I will have no purpose at all — "red fairly inexpensive entertainment! and you noticed the words ECHO, herrings." Since the player has to 10. Why is the vocabulary of your ODYSSEUS, RAFT, DIAMOND? determine not only where something 7. Why are your packages so games so limited? The enjoyment of figuring out the is useful, but even whether it is use- elaborate? Hey! First of all, our games under- Loud Room, cyclops, pile of plastic, ful at all, this increases the player's Because our games are more than stand a heck of a lot more words than and coal mine problems has just been mental stimulation. In addition, these games, they're fiction. The purpose anything our competitors have ever reduced by these "give-aways." red herrings add to the realism of the of the package and the many items produced. Secondly, you're talking Also, we like to remain enigmatic. game. After all, if you really found you'll find inside them are to get you yourself stranded on a doomed into the mood of the game before planet or exploring an ancient pyra- you even put the disk into your drive. mid, is it likely that every object you Also, there's a pretty limited ® ran across would have one (and only amount of space on a floppy disk. By one) use? (Hint: The answer is not putting necessary background infor- The New Zork Times "yes.") mation into the documentation and Chairman Albert “Al” Vezza packaging, we save room on the disk Managing Editor Michael “Mike” Dornbrook 6. Why are the prices of your for the important stuff — the Contributing Editor Steven “Steve” Meretzky games so high? descriptions and puzzles of the game One reason that our interactive itself. Semi-Contributing Editor Marc “Mark” Blank fiction costs a little more than your Finally, our packages are an Non-Contributing Editor David “Dave” Anderson run-of-the-mill computer game is all attempt to discourage the piracy that Art Director Brian “Brian” Cody the honing and perfecting that goes is devastating the software industry. Production Manager Angela “Angela” Raup on here at Infocom. Before you think The disk is merely the most impor- © 1984 Infocom, Inc. SPRING 1984 THE NEW ZORK TIMES PAGE 3

Rooms: Rooms: Ways of Vocab- Size Takeable Infocom Scoreboard Games internal external Dying ulary (bytes) Objects

Did you know that Zork I has more 10 rooms. And in several games, for Zork I 110 110 28 698 84,868 59 rooms and takeable objects than any various arcane reasons, there are Zork II 86 81 50 628 89,136 49 other Infocom game, yet is one of the rooms that can never be entered. Zork III 89 105 30 563 81,626 23 smallest in size? Were you aware The third column lists the number

that Sorcerer is not only the largest of different ways to die in each Enchanter 74 8 17 718 109,234 31 game, but also the most dangerous? game. For Suspended™, this refers to Sorcerer 84 110 70 1011 109,734 41 The following chart shows some the number of different ways that interesting statistics about the first you (the person in the cylinder) can Starcross™ 86 84 39 561 84,740 23 eleven Infocom games. The first be killed, not the individual robots. Suspended 63 61 6 676 105,492 32 column shows the number of rooms The fourth column tells the number in each game as far as the game's of words in each game's vocabulary Planetfall 105 105 41 666 109,052 49 own internal programming is — that is, the words that the game Deadline 51 49 2 656 108,454 37 concerned. This sometimes differs will understand in your inputs with the apparent number of rooms without saying "I don't know that Witness 31 28 2 711 104,704 18

(second column). For example, the word." The fifth column shows the Infidel 77 8 40 613 93,556 49 Royal Puzzle in Zork III seems like size of each game (most recent 31 rooms, but internally it's actually release) in bytes. This figure is occasionally mislead- objects (inflated, uninflated, and just one room. The Desert in Infidel™ The last column shows the number ing: for example, the raft in Zork I is punctured). seems infinite, but it's actually just of takeable objects in each game. actually three different takeable

imagination and produce a wonder- cont’d . . .InfoNews fully eerie feeling of foreboding. INFOCOM HOROSCOPE from page 1 "It is hard to imagine a veteran of

Zork being disappointed with this HELLHOUND (March 21 to April 18) j Don't eat any foods with Evening Magazine game. In fact, I played this game names beginning with a G or a Y, such as grapes or yogurt. This is a Salutes Infocom with a hard-core Zorker who good week to learn Latin. suggested that not only would old GRUE (April 19 to May 20) j Procrastination is ill-advised, especially On March 21 the New England Zorkers love it, but also so might a if you were considering software purchases. Avoid zoos and art edition of Evening Magazine number of dyed-in-the-wool museums. Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts featured a segment on Infocom's j interactive fiction starring Marc because of the spell-casting element DRYAD (May 21 to May 24) This is a good time to experiment with hair replacement techniques. Consider selling any kitchen appliance Blank. It was filmed on location at and the role-playing nature of the that you've had for over six years. Infocom and highlighted our entire game. Enchanter represents the j line of programs. If you're not in highest kind of entertainment value DORN (May 25 to May 27) Don't go swimming if you've eaten in New England, you may get to see it in terms of cost vis-a-vis the time the last thirty minutes. Wear a scarf if it's less than forty degrees anyway — each of the "editions" of spent with the program .... It is just outside. Call your mother. the television magazine (called PM this kind of entertainment quotient BROGMOID (May 28 to November 19) j If you've ever robbed any Magazine in some areas) picks up that guarantees a game's eventual banks, today is a good day to apologize and start life anew. Sell all interesting segments from around the success in the marketplace. En- your U.S. Steel stock at once. country. Let us know if you see it. chanter, like Zork, is quite deserving BLOODWORM (November 20) j Wait 24 hours, then buy all the of that success." U.S. Steel stock you can get your hands on. Do not taunt snakes or bus drivers. YIPPLE (November 21, until 3:00 p.m.) j Give flowers to your mate. Popular Computing Steve Meretzky Awarded Buy a house. Eat three cookies. Fly to France. Challenge your dentist Salutes Enchanter to a duel. Video Review magazine in its April SURMIN (November 21, after 3:00 p.m.) j Spend time with a sick The May 1984 issue of Popular 1984 issue named Steve Meretzky friend. This is crucial. If necessary, take a healthy friend and expose Computing included a review of "Game Designer of the Year" in him/her to a contagious disease. Enchanter™: recognition of his first work of inter- ™ ROTGRUB (November 22 to January 3, January 18 to March 20) j "...Enchanter develops a sense of active fiction, Planetfall . Steve An old business partner will meet you in the fruit and vegetable aisle realism both in the text and story accepted the award at a ceremony at of the supermarket. Be wary: if you chat there too long, the store will line. Marc Blank and his co-author New York's Savoy Plaza hotel. be sold out of casaba melons. Dave Lebling have created a special KOBOLD (January 4 to January 17, except where prohibited by law) kind of mood through their very j Don't marry anyone named Waldo or Matilda this week. Next week, graphic descriptions — flies buzz Demos on the Way marry only people named Waldo and Matilda. about, rats scurry at your feet, even j wandering dogs cross the adven- In early June, Infocom's new Inter- ORC (anyone born in Cleveland on a national holiday) Avoid read- turer's path at odd times .... In active Fiction Tutorial and Zork I ing your horoscope today. It will only be misleading, dangerous, and possibly even fatal. Enchanter, the sun comes up and Demo will begin appearing in goes down, the moon lights the night computer stores across the country. NABIZ (all redheads born during a total eclipse) j Talk to strangers. sky, and the stars shine in the Be sure to tell any of your friends Frequent dark alleys. Cross the street without looking both ways. Eat midnight hour. These realistic who have not yet experienced this quickly without chewing well. Don't call your mother. descriptions stimulate the player's unique form of entertainment. PAGE 4 THE NEW ZORK TIMES SPRING 1984

software (Lotus), and entertainment above.) software (Infocom). Spinnaker managed to score 12 InfoSports Roundup Infocom squeaked past Lotus, who runs against us but was crushed A recent article about Infocom Cambridge! These two programming recently defected to Kendall Square under the weight of the hard-hitting described the software industry as meccas clash time after time — on from its quarters in Fresh Pond. (In InfoSluggers who scored 18 runs. "split like the medieval papacy the softball diamond. fact, Lotus was in our very building, Leading this pack of sluggers was between Cambridge and the West Infocom finished with a hard- one floor above us. Our 6-5 victory, none other than Product Manager Coast." Here at Infocom, we've fought 2-3 record in a six-team high- over a company four times our size, Mike Dornbrook (the "Mike" of the always felt that the software industry tech league which included the was our revenge for a year of pound- Zork Users Group, for you former was split — between the Fresh Pond leading companies in educational ing footsteps and constant furniture ZUGroupies), who finished the and Kendall Square sections of software (Spinnaker), business re-arrangement from the floor season with a perfect 1.000 batting average (2 for 2). Among the ------(CUT ON DOTTED LINE) ------regulars, Product Testing Supervisor "Hollywood Dave" Anderson led with a season average of .875 (7 for 8) and 3 home runs. Vice President NEW ZORK TIMES PUZZLE NUMBER 2 of Development Marc Blank was 11 for 18, giving him an average of .611. Blank also slugged a team- NOTE: Due to the late mailing of the Winter ’84 issue, the deadline for Puzzle Number One has been extended to July 1, leading 10 RBI's. 1984. The solutions to Puzzle Number One and Puzzle Number Two will both appear in the Summer ’84 issue. It's springtime again, and as the

InfoSluggers are training themselves The following transcript contains references to all of the first eleven Infocom games — into shape, all the oddsmakers and except one. Identify that game. Answer: ______fans are thinking the same thing: will Lotus and Spinnaker avenge their ignominious defeats or will Infocom Living Room once again prevail? Don't miss the This is a large and impressive room, whose furnishings bespeak the great personal wealth of the Robners. next InfoSports Roundup! A wood pile sits beside a huge fieldstone fireplace. Grouped in front of the fire are a glass-topped coffee table and a rattan davenport and club chair, with cushions covered in a print showing bamboo plants in the style of Japanese brush-painting. There is a doorway to the east, a wooden door with strange gothic lettering to the west, which appears to be nailed shut, a trophy case, and a large oriental rug in the center Zork is a registered trademark of of the room. Infocom, Inc. Enchanter, Sorcerer, Starcross, Suspended, Planetfall, >EAST Deadline, Witness, Infidel, Kitchen Seastalker, and InvisiClues are trade- You are in the kitchen of the white house. A table seems to have been used recently for the preparation of marks of Infocom, Inc. food. A rat nest fills one of the ovens, and cobwebs are everywhere. There is some rotting food in a garbage heap in one corner. A window to the east is slightly ajar. Sitting in the sand, bulging a little, is a beaten-up knapsack.

>OPEN THE KNAPSACK Opening the knapsack reveals a canteen. Infocom >TAKE THE CANTEEN Taken. Poster

>INVENTORY You are carrying: Offer a fancy violin, a disfigured device, 22” x 28” poster of a canteen. back cover of Info- The canteen contains: com’s “Our Cir- a quantity of high-protein liquid cuits, Ourselves” >CLIMB THROUGH THE WINDOW brochure. Full color Forest picture of man and This is the forest primeval, conifers and cycads in rank profusion. Here and there huge trees thrust upward computer walking through the forest canopy. One particularly large tree is to port of here. A hellhound is racing straight toward you, its open jaws displaying rows of razor-sharp teeth. off into sunset, bordered in black. Stunning! Shipped CONTEST RULES: PRIZE: A copy of Seastalker. rolled in mailing 1. All entries must be submitted on this form. No tube. Order on the copies accepted. Please enclose your name, address, telephone enclosed order 2. All entries must be received by August 1, 1984. number and the system you’d want Seastalker to run 3. Up to ten prizes will be awarded for correct on. Return to Infocom, NZT Puzzle, 55 Wheeler St., form. Catalog num- answers. If more than ten correct answers are Cambridge, MA 02138. ber INF-POS, price received, a drawing will be held to determine the $5.95 (includes winners. Void where prohibited by law. shipping).