Slog - Comments on Low Production Value Theater

Comment by Young Wipper Snapper

Young Wipper Snapper — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:40:10 -0800

Oh grandpa, won't you be so kind as to tell us all the rousing tale of the Zork? I'm ever so fond of stories about the ol' days!

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:44:49 -0800

Oh my God. You played that shit?

I don't believe you.

Comment by Peter F

Peter F — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:45:10 -0800

I keep trying to talk our designers into turning our MMORPG into a text adventure.

"You see a door..."

Comment by Kyleen

Kyleen — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:47:34 -0800

I'm 24 and have played most of the zork series. Of course I'm also a bit of a nerd. So yea..

Comment by kid icarus

kid icarus — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:48:42 -0800

There is a small mailbox here.

Comment by Bub

Bub — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:49:55 -0800

As a kid, I read Choose-Your-Own-Adventure ripoff books called ZORK. Is there a connection?

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:57:41 -0800

You see a door - and hit it.

"Ow!" says the door.

Do you want to:

A. Open the door
B. Apologize to the door
C. Attack the door with your Wet Noodle
D. Go in a different direction

Comment by leek

leek — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:57:52 -0800

I played ye olde text games. Sniff... so awesome. But I have a version of Zork on my iBook that I try every so often, and I simply can't figure the damn thing out. I need, like, Zork for dummies.

Comment by j bomb

j bomb — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:07:19 -0800

YOU WERE EATEN BY A GRUE.

Comment by JC

JC — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:11:12 -0800

"Hello sailor!"

You can also play new versions of Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy game - now with pictures, courtesy of the BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game.shtml

Comment by bobcat

bobcat — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:11:30 -0800

XYZZY

Comment by Chris

Chris — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:12:03 -0800

Beware the Wumpus!

Comment by Monty

Monty — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:19:47 -0800

@Bub: Yes, there were four tie-in Choose Your Own Adventure-style books. Later on, George Alec Effinger wrote a Zork book that's actually really good.

I think I may have actually played Zork I too much, because I think I can do most of it from memory: North, North, Climb Tree, Get Egg, Down, South, East, Open Window...

Comment by elswinger

elswinger — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:33:11 -0800

I can't remember if I played Zork, but I did play Trinity and Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.

Comment by kentdoggydog

kentdoggydog — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:47:36 -0800

Nerds.

Comment by bobcat

bobcat — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:50:24 -0800

Hunt the Wumpus and Parsec on the TI99 4/a FTW

Comment by bronkitis

bronkitis — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:11:34 -0800

I played Zyll, but same thing. It was the only use I got out of my IBM pc jr. I still crave some text-only role-playing every now and again: arcade games have always paled in comparison to the thrill of hitting ctrl-D over and over again.

Comment by w7ngman

w7ngman — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:19:06 -0800

Kings Quest is so much better.

Or Ultima VII. That shit owned.

Comment by bobcat

bobcat — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:43:29 -0800

You died of dysentery

Comment by kid icarus

kid icarus — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:44:24 -0800

@18 - Ohmygod I LOVED me some old school Sierra On-line games.

Comment by Clint

Clint — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:26:25 -0800

Just what I needed - Another nerdy way to waste some time. As soon as I get home Imma go Load "*",8,1 up some Zork

Thanks!

Comment by sepiolida

sepiolida — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:45:03 -0800

i'm 21 and i love zork! fantastic classics.
and return to zork is great if you're into pictures.

Comment by Lone Adventurer

Lone Adventurer — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:07:19 -0800

BEST. GAME. EVER.

I actually did a project in college that used Python to allow you to play any of the Zork games over the internet through an AIM bot.

Wow, that sounds nerdy even to me.

Comment by ru shur

ru shur — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:45:39 -0800

I second the Ultima 7 ownage; it took forever for RPGs to match it. (Oblivion does much of it right though.)

Comment by PopTart

PopTart — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:36:19 -0800

I thought I had no idea what you were talking about and then I read Will's post @7 and it all came whooshing back to me. Good times...good times.

Comment by Sven

Sven — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:38:51 -0800

9 posts before a Grue comment? I'm disappointed.

Comment by Greg

Greg — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:53:51 -0800

You know what was the shit? Planetfall.

Comment by The Great Tuna

The Great Tuna — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:45:37 -0800

Heh, my girlfriend works for the game studio that made Zork. They're based in Seattle, you know.

Comment by Dawgson

Dawgson — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:36:38 -0800

Paul Constant, giving me the news I want to read.

This is great. I sense wasted days and rusty lanterns ahead.

Now if someone could find me Leather Goddesses of Phobos...

Comment by David Cornelson

David Cornelson — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 07:42:34 -0800

See www.textfyre.com and note the blog at chicagodave.wordpress.com.

Text Rules.

Comment by Josh

Josh — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:31:07 -0800

Alas, the game studio that made Zork hasn't existed since 1989. But anyone who wants to play an Infocom game and can't be bothered to hit up Home of the Underdogs is welcome (for the next few weeks, anyway) to play them by connecting via telnet to 216.254.17.219 and logging in as the user "zork" with no password.

Comment by Josh

Josh — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:43:20 -0800

(The time limitation on that offer is because I don't want to step on David's toes. He's been trying to negotiate the rights to the Infocom games for his own company, and having them out there for free in their original version probably doesn't fit into the business plan.)