The Status Line Volume VII Number 2 Formerly The New Zork Times Summer 1988 Change is New mail order firm-really! We are pleased to introduce Triton inevitable. Products Company as the new author- ized Infocom direct marketing center. Don't panic! Veterans in the field of phone and mail orders and fulfillment, Triton, in the We’ve been asking what you'd like words of Vice President Terry Miller, to see in our software. And you’ve “hopes to be the best darn direct mar- responded. You've sent in your keting company you’ve ever seen.” Status Line polls, and answered our Triton was recently acquired by Activi- warranty card questions, phone sur- sion to become the company’s direct veys, and in-package questionnaires. marketing specialists. The results? You want on-screen You'll notice lots of changes in this maps. You want character develop- issue of The Status Line, and most of ment with bar charts. You want those are through the expertise and the color. You want animation. In short, good graces of Triton, our new corpo- you want graphics. rate cousins. Just open to the center of Graphics? From Infocom? The the newsletter, and you'll see some of company that advertised itself as the changes immediately: a postage- “sticking our graphics where the sun paid envelope, special coupons and don't shine”? We know that the very offers, clear concise ordering instruc- idea is anathema to a number of very tions, and who knows what else. loyal Infocom fans. You're afraid But the more you deal with Triton, that our richness of prose, number the more changes you'll see. They have and depth of puzzles, and quality of twenty-five (count them—25!) in- The dedicated operators at our new mail order house are far too busy to pose for plotting will suffer. We'd like to Please turn to page 3 our camera as they courteously assist eager customers. address the concerns of those who feel this way. And we'd like to let the rest of you know that we've lis- tened to your requests and, yes, we Newest Infocomic: ZorkQuest II are making changes. First off, we want to let you know Are you sunburned and tender, blister-red from too long will answer any question, and though it, search out a third that although we're moving away at the beach? Or lethargic, stickier than Scotch tape in the to complete the Triax. The pool shows them Radnor, the from all-text stories, everything heavy-skied humidity that weather reports have the temer- powerful and evil wizard of ZQI. Moog determines to bring you’ve come to know and love about ity to call “dewpoint”? Bored with the long summer, the him to the Zizbit wins. interactive fiction will still be there. ennui of work, the doldrums of those hot, endless after- Meanwhile, the caravan from Egreth is beset by a series We are not compromising on qual- noons when you friends are away on vacation? Well, here’s of calamities. Giant corbies attack the wagon; Acia be- ity, richness, or depth in any way. In the answer to your prayers, the harbinger of those brisk and comes deathly ill; Gurthark is lost in a disastrous attempt to fact we refuse to compromise on any busy, cool autumnal months: a new Infocomic—ZorkQuest cross a raging river; Ryker suddenly discovers his strength of these concerns. What we are do- II: The Crystal of Doom. is gone. Will they complete their journey? What horrors ing is enhancing these features with ZQII picks up shortly after ZorkQuest I: Assault on await them in Accardi-By-The-Sea, where Moog and Slye graphics that exhibit the same atten- Egreth Castle. Our caravan of intrepid adventurers is con- are cooking up an evil such as has never been seen in tion to quality and detail as our tinuing its journey to Accardi-By-The-Sea. The magician Quendor? prose. A new technology is here, and Frobwit is on his way to the Conven- ZQII was written by Elizabeth we're making full use of it. tion of Enchanters and Sorcerers, Langosy, in collaboration with The fact is, a lot has happened in looking forward to telling his friends Rave reviews for graphic artists at Tom Snyder Pro- both hardware and software since about his battle with the evil magi- ductions. Elizabeth, one of our in- Zork I first appeared on the Apple II cian (in ZQI). Acia, proud and beauti- Infocomics house product designers, and artists and TRS 80 Model I back in 1980. ful, is traveling to visit her sickly Turn to page 6 Peter Reynolds, Doug McCartney At that time, personal computers had grandmother; while Gurthark the and Bob Thibeault, also worked to- a limited amount of memory and merchant just wants to get his load of quilts to market. gether to create ZQI. only rudimentary graphic capabili- These three and the cargo are guarded by the scout Ryker, Comic afficandos will recognize the fantastic cover art- ties. Using text to create a vivid en- who is head-over-heels in love with Acia. work of artist Howard Chaykin, author of American Flagg, vironment, Infocom interactive fic- Ahead of them, in Accardi-By-The-Sea, two young Shadow, and Blackhawk. tion stood out for its richness and hoodlums have just stolen a powerful spellbook, the relic Three other Infocomics are already available. ZQI ac- depth in comparison to other enter- of an ancient circle of wizards known as the Zizbits. Moog, quaints us with the caravan of travellers: Gurthark, Acia, tainment software. a recent graduate of the Frobozz Magic Magic Correspon- Ryker and Frobwit. In this tale, the band of adventurers are Today, with the graphic and dence School, ringleads her old pal, Slye, into helping her caught in the talons of a powerful wizard, Radnor, who memory capabilities of computers break into the protected ruins of the old Zizbit city. seeks control of the magic amulet they unknowingly pos- like the Macintosh, Apple IIGS, Using spells found in the magic book, Moog and Slye sess. Amiga, Atari ST, Tandy, and IBM, fulfill two-thirds of a prophecy that foretells a dark and evil Lane Mastodon, accountant turned superhero, appears a we're happy to announce that we can force shadowing the land: a trio of powerful magicians spoof of a sci-fi space opera, battling his Jovian arch- Please turn to page 3 called the Triax. They discover a magic reflecting pool that Please turn to page 3 2 The Status Line Summer 1988 The LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Status Hi guys! home. I have also spent the better part I'm findin it hard to comple Wishbr. It's me again. (You know: ugly, writes of 5 weeks attempting to catch a babel Maybe there's someth wrong with the Line annoying letters, won’t go away...) I’m fish from the Sirius Cybernetic Corp. game). I think that becaus I play your just writing to tell you that I've just Dispenser... games so often (give or take five hours seen your new line of Infocomics. (Do Final point, a real honest-to-God a day), it influe my everyd life, such as Mike Dornbrook you care? Do these letters ever get conversation with my 8-year-old: talkin in class, writin letter, or feedin Publisher read? You have better things to do. STACY: When you write, tell them the dog. Stop this foolish time-wasting!) that your daughter is begging on her Yours Faithf, Stuart A. Kirsch I think it's an interesting idea, in- hands and knees and would do any- Michac Mauzy Washington Bureau Chief triguing. I'd like to express shock and thing for a Zorkmid coin. Newton, MA Hollywood Dave Anderson disappointment at seeing an Infocom DADDY: Would you sleep in your [Don't Panic. Our new games have a Los Angeles Bureau Chief product with graphics, but I can't. I like room tonight without your nightlight? nine-letter parser.—Ed.] the things too much. I work in a soft- STACY: NO!!! The room would be Gayle Syska ware store, and when my manager pitch black, I would get eaten by a Dear Infocom, Editor Emeritus came in and plopped down Lane savage grue, and then I'd never get to It's awful—I work hard, pass my Mastodon, Gamma Force and Zork see my Zorkmid! exams, get to University—and then I Lori Hornung Quest, I picked them up immediately, Robert Kitsis find out it's the wrong Cambridge! Roving Reporter staggered around a bit, stared agape- St. Louis, MO Have you guys ever considered mov- mouthed for a while, then went and put ing? Stu Galley Copy Editor Lane into the IBM we have set up. My Dear People in Wraparound Sleeves, Yours, mind was whirling with possibilities. I am writing in protest to the letter Shane Murphy Steve Meretzky Good? Bad? What's going on? Agh! I from a Ms. Horton in your last issue of Cambridge, England Puzzle Editor was all set to be critical of whatever TSL [Winter/Spring 88.—Ed]. I resent came up onto the screen but it was the statement that all people who play Dear TSL, Writers twenty minutes later before I quit play- interactive games are “glandular, As the respected historian Frobozz Amy Briggs ing with it, then only because my man- mouth-breathing male adolescents Mumbar has pointed out, the adding of Elizabeth Langosy ager told me to get off my butt and get suffering from terminal acne and dan- “G.U.E.” after a year did not be-come Eileen Milauskas to work.