The Status Line Vol,1mP VII NLJll'ber 2 Formwly The New Zork Times Summer 1988 Change is New mail order firm-really! inevitable. We are pleased to introduce Triton Products Company as the new author­ Don't panic! ized Infocom direct marketing center. Veterans in the field of phone and mail We've been asking what you'd orders and fulfillment, Triton, in the like to see in our software. And words of Vice President Terry Miller, you've responded. You've sent in "hopes to be the best darn direct mar­ your Status Line polls, and an­ keting company you've ever seen." swered our warranty card ques­ Triton was recently acquired by Ac­ tions, phone surveys, and in­ tivision to become the company's package questionnaires. The re­ direct marketing specialists. sults? You want on-screen maps. You' II notice lots of changes in this You want character development issue of The Status Line, and most of with bar charts. You want color. those are through the expertise and the You want animation. In short, you good graces ofTriton, our new corpo­ want graphics. rate cousins. Just open to the center of Graphics? From Infocom? Tue the newsletter, and you'll see some of company that advertised itself as the changes immediately: a postage­ "sticking our graphics where the paid envelope, special coupons and sun don't shine"? We know that offers, clear concise ordering instruc­ the very idea is anathema to a tions, and who knows what else. number of very loyal Infocom But the more you deal with Triton, fans. You're afraid that our rich­ the more changes you'll see. They ness of prose, number and depth have twenty-five (count them-25!) The dedicated operators at our new mail order house are far too busy to pose of puzzles, and quality of plotting Please turn to page 3 for our camera as they courteously assist eager customers. will suffer. We'd like to address the concerns of those who feel this way. And we'd like to let the rest of you know that we've listened to Newest Infocomic: ZorkQuest II your requests and, yes, we are making changes. Are you sunburned and tender, blister-red from too long at powerful and evil wizard ofZQI . Moog determines to bring First off, we want to let you the beach? Or lethargic, stickier than Scotch tape in the him to the Zizbit ruins. know that although we're moving heavy-skied humidity that weather reports have the temer­ Meanwhile, the caravan from Egreth is beset by a series away from all-text stories, every­ ity to call "dewpoint"? Bored with the long summer, the of calamities. Giant corbies attack the wagon; Acia be­ thing you've come to know and ennui of work, the doldrums of those hot, endless after­ comes deathly ill; Gurthark is lost in a disastrous attempt to love about interactive fiction will noons when your friends are away on vacation? Well, cross a raging river; Ryker suddenly discovers his strength still be there. We are not compro­ here's the answer to your prayers, the harbinger of those is gone. Will they complete their journey? What horrors mising on quality, richness, or brisk and busy, cool autumnal months: a new Infocomic - await them in Accardi-By-The-Sea, where Moog and Slye depth in any way. In fact we refuse ZorkQuest II: The Crystal ofDoom . are cooking up an evil such as has never been seen in to compromise on any of these ZQI/ picks up shortly after ZorkQuest I: Assault on Quendor? concerns. What we are doing is Egreth Castle. Our caravan of intrepid adventurers is ZQll was written by Elizabeth Langosy, in collaboration enhancing these features with continuing on its journey to Accardi-By-The-Sea. The with graphic artists at Tom Snyder Productions. Elizabeth, graphics that exhibit the same magician Frobwit is on his way to the one of our in-house product design­ attention to quality and detail as Convention of Enchanters and Sor­ ers, and artists Peter Reynolds, Doug our prose. A new technology is cerers, looking forward to telling his Rave reviews for McCartney and Bob Thibeault, also here, and we 're making full use of friends about his battle with the evil worked together to create ZQI. magician (in ZQI). Acia, proud and Infocomics Comic afficandos will recognize it. Turn to page 6 The fact is, a lot has happened beautiful, is travelling to visit her the fantastic cover artwork of artist in both hardware and software sickly grandmother; while Gurthark Howard Chaykin, author of Ameri­ since Zork I first appeared on the the merchant just wants to get his load of quilts to market. can Flagg, Shadow, and Blackhawk. Apple II and TRS 80 Model I back These three and the cargo are guarded by the scout Ryker, Three other Infocomics are already available. ZQI ac­ in 1980. At that time, personal who is head-over-heels in love with Acia. quaints us with the caravan of travellers: Gurthark, Acia, computers had a limited amount Ahead of them, in Accardi-By-The-Sea, two young Ryker and Frobwit. In this tale, the band of adventurers are of memory and only rudimentary hoodlums have just stolen a powerful spellbook, the relic of caught in the talons of a powerful wizard, Radnor, who graphic capabilities. Using text to an ancient circle of wizards known as the Zizbits. Moog, a seeks control of the magic amulet they unknowingly pos­ create a vivid environment, In­ recent graduate of the Frobozz Magic Magic Correspon­ sess. focom interactive fiction stood dence School, ringleads her old pal, Slye, into helping her Lane Mastodon, accountant turned superhero, appears out for its richness and depth in break into the protected ruins of the old Zizbit city. in a spoof of a sci-fi space opera, battling his Jovian arch­ comparison to other entertain­ Using spells found in the magic book, Moog and Slye enemies in Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen. ment software. fulfill two-thirds of a prophecy that foretells a dark and evil Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams, tells how Today, with the graphic and force shadowing the land: a trio of powerful magicians three disparate people, saved from sure death by vastly memory capabilities of comput­ called the Triax. They discover a magic reflecting pool that superior beings, combine their supernatural powers in Please turn to page 3 will answer any question, and through it, search out a third order to defeat the evil overlord of their planet. to complete the Triax. The pool shows them Radnor, the Please turn to page 3 2 Tl'e Status Line Summer 1988 lhe LETTERS T0 THE EDITOR Hi guys! of a mad scientist's home. I have also I'm findin it hard to comple Wishbr. It's me again. (You know: ugly, writes spent the better part of 5 weeks at­ Maybe there's someth wrong with the Status annoying letters, won't go away ... ) tempting to catch a babel fish from the game). I think that becaus I play your I'm just writing to tell you that I've Sirius Cybernetic Corp. Dispenser. .. games so often (give or take five hours Line just seen your new line oflnfocomics. Final point, a real honest-to-God a day), it influe my everyd life, such as (Do you care? Do these letters ever get conversation with my 8-year-old: talkin in class, writin letter, or feedin read? You have better things to do: STACY: When you write, tell them the dog. Mike Dornbrook Stop this foolish time-wasting!) that your daughter is begging on her Yours Faithf, Publisher I think it's an interesting idea, in­ hands and knees and would do any­ Michae Mauzy triguing. I'd like to express shock and thing for a Zorkmid coin. Newton, MA Stuart A. Kirsch disappointment at seeing an Infocom DADDY: Would you sleep in your [Don't Panic. Our new games have a Washington Bureau Chief product with graphics, but I can't. I room tonight without your nightlight? nine-letter parser.---Ed.] like the things too much. I work in a STACY: NO!!! The room would be Hollywood Dave Anderson software store, and when my manager pitch black, I would get eaten by a Dear Infocom, Los Angeles Bureau ChJef 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 see my Zorkmid! exams, get to University-and then I Gayle Syska ZorkQuest, I picked them up immedi­ Robert Kitsis find out it's the wrong Cambridge! Editor Emeritus ately, staggered around a bit, stared St. Louis, MO Have you guys ever considered mov­ agape-mouthed for a while, then went ing? Lori Hornung Roving Reporter and put Lane into the IBM we have set Dear People in Wraparound Sleeves, Yours, up. My mind was whirling with possi­ I am writing in protest to the letter Shane Murphy Stu Galley bilities. Good? Bad? What's going from a Ms. Horton in your last issue of Cambridge, England Copy Editor on? Agh! I was all set to be critical of TSL [Winter/Spring 88.---Ed.]. I re­ Steve Meretzky whatever came up onto the screen but sent the statement that all people who DearTSL, Puzzle Editor it was twenty minutes later before I play interactive games are "glandular, As the respected historian Frobozz quit playing with it, then only because mouth-breathing male adolescents Mumbar has pointed out, the adding Writers of "G.U.E." after a year did not be­ ·Amy Briggs my manager told me to get off my butt suffering from terminal acne and Elizabeth Langosy and get to work.