[net.micro] More Ultimate Computer Games

dcn (10/26/82)

	One of the most sophisticated computer games ever written
is now available for home computers.  Zork is a large and complex
decendant of original Adventure.  It was first implemented on main-
frame machines, but has been adapted to micros by releasing it in
three parts.

	Zork's most interesting feature is the English-like input
language, which allows for much more flexibility than "take rock"
or "kill dragon".  A short example follows:

	Kitchen
	You are in the kitchen of the white house.  A table
	seems to have neen used recently for the preparation
	of food.  A passage leads to the west and a dark
	staircase can be seen leading upward.  A dark chimney
	leads down and to the east is a small window which is
	open.
	On the table is an elongated brown sack, smelling 
	of hot peppers.  A bottle is sitting on the table.
	The glass bottle contains:
		A quantity of water.
	> PICK UP
	pick up what?
	> ALL BUT SACK
	kitchen table: An interesting idea...
	glass bottle: Taken.
	quantity of water: I can't reach that.
	> TAKE SACK
	Taken.
	> LOOK IN SACK
	The brown sack is closed.
	> OPEN SACK
	Opening the brown sack reveals a lunch, and a
	clove of garlic.
	> TAKE LUNCH OUT
	Taken.
	> TAKE CLOVE THEN PUT BOTTLE IN SACK
	Taken.
	Done.
	> LOOK IN SACK
	The brown sack contains:
	A glass bottle.
	The glass bottle contains:
		A quantity of water

	The other features of Zork include: large vocabulary,
interesting puzzles to solve, other characters (troll, thief),
witty remarks to dumb questions, and figuring out how to win.

	In short, Zork is a small universe to explore and
conquer.  It is a very attractive alternative to the "hack &
slash" variety of "adventures" and the never-ending flow of
arcade games from 15 year old hackers.  For more information,
see the list of articles appended.

				David Newkirk
				ixn5h!dcn


"Zork: A Computerized Fantasy Simulation Game", by P. Lebling,
	M. Blank and T. Anderson, Computer, April 1979, p51-59.

"How to Fit a Large Program into a Small Machine", M. Blank and
	S. Galley, Creative Computing, July 1980, p80-87.

"Zork and the Future of Computerized Fantasy Simulations",
	P. Lebling, Byte, December 1980, p172-182.