Welcome to Zork version 2.7A!
Known to many as Dungeon, this is the forbearer of the Zork trilogy, written between 1977 and 1979 by MIT students Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling before Infocom was formed. It was inspired by the Adventure game of Crowther and Woods, and the Dungeons and Dragons game of Gygax and Arneson. The original version was written in MDL (alias MUDDLE) and translated from MDL into FORTRAN IV by a somewhat paranoid DEC engineer who prefers to remain anonymous. It was then translated to f77 for UN*X systems, from which it was translated to C. The C translation was done with the help of f2c, the FORTRAN to C translator written by David Gay (AT&T Bell Labs), Stu Feldman (Bellcore), Mark Maimone (Carnegie-Mellon University), and Norm Schryer (AT&T Bell Labs).
Basically a treasure hunt in a cave, it contains mazes, some randomized combat and puzzles. Nearly everything in this game can be found in the Zork trilogy, although some crucial details are different. This version is the approximate equivalent to Zork I + about half of Zork II + the endgame of Zork III. Hats off to Bob Supnik (aka, the somewhat paranoid DEC engineer), who first created a Fortran version from the MDL sources and then sporadically updated it.
This information has been updated for version 2.7A of Dungeon, which is reputed to be the last C version.
As the game tells you:
You are near a large dungeon, which is reputed to contain vast quantities of treasure. Naturally, you wish to acquire some of it. In order to do so, you must of course remove it from the dungeon. To receive full credit for it, you must deposit it safely in the trophy case in the living room of the house.
In addition to valuables, the dungeon contains various objects which may or may not be useful in your attempt to get rich. You may need sources of light, since dungeons are often dark, and weapons, since dungeons often have unfriendly things wandering about. Reading material is scattered around the dungeon as well; some of it is rumored to be useful.
To determine how successful you have been, a score is kept. When you find a valuable object and pick it up, you receive a certain number of points, which depends on the difficulty of finding the object. You receive extra points for transporting the treasure safely to the living room and placing it in the trophy case. In addition, some particularly interesting rooms have a value associated with visiting them. The only penalty is for getting yourself killed, which you may do only twice.
Some useful commands:
Help - provides a quick tutorial.
N, S, E, W - Moving requires direction. Type north or n for north, east or e for east, west or w for west, and south or s for south. The game will describe the directions you are permitted to go. It will tell you, for example, that there are "Exits to the north and east." Keep in mind there are other directions besides the cardinal directions of a compass, which, strangely enough, must be entered as abbreviations (i.e., northeast or north-east is not understood, but ne is...go figure). Also, don't be like Khan Noonien Singh and remember directions exist in three dimensions.
Take (or get) - The command for taking things, such as "take key".
Look - This will give you an explanation of where you are and what is around you. It can also be used in conjunction with other things, such as "look at leaflet".
Save - Saves a game in progress. Each time you save it overwrites the previous save file. Since you're a seasoned hacker, you know where the file is being saved and can easily change the name after saving it, so you can, in reality, save as many times as you want and have separate files.
Restore - Restores a previously saved game. It only restores DSAVE.DAT, so you'll need to manipulate the name if you're trying to restore a particular point in the game.
There are many other commands as well, such as inventory, diagnose, open, close, read, lift, pull, etc. You can find a more detailed list in Appendix 3.
Things to keep in mind:
Actions to take are proceeded by >.
Text from the game appears in this Courier New size 11 font. Nifty, huh?
You get the verbose description of an area the first time you go there:
This is an open field west of a white house with a boarded front door...
The short name of the area is included in square brackets as a point of reference:
[West of House] This is an open field west of a white house with a boarded front door...
Anything without the prompt is high quality narrative. Pay attention to it!
You will find various items along the way. Prior to starting out from your home base, Check yourself! will tell you what you need for that section of the game. Pay attention!
There are many variables in this game that really cannot be completely accounted for in a walkthrough. The best defense is always a good offense: save early and often!
Regarding the Thief:
The Thief (he of the large bag) wanders around in the dungeon and is said never been seen by the light of day. He steals for pleasure (as opposed to profit) and would likely be diagnosed with sadistic personality disorder (SPD) if he ever chose to see a doctor, as he only takes things which you have seen. While preferring valuables, in his haste he may take items that are worthless. He tends to discard items at random, typically things of no value to himself. He may stop in a room when you are present, but is more likely to just wander through and rip you off.
The Thief is difficult to defeat in a fight; if you come upon him, the best choice is to leave immediately. He is easily distracted, so giving him a treasure will also keep him from attacking you for one turn. As you explore and gain points, you become a better match to the Thief; do not attack him too early in the process. The nasty knife from the Attic is a better weapon against the Thief than the sword. As an added bonus, he will do the heavy lifting for you, as whatever treasure he may steal from you or take if you leave it behind will be yours again in the end. The more of your treasure he has, the easier it is to defeat him. It is necessary for the Thief to receive the jewel-encrusted egg at some point during the game in order for you to win.
NOTE: should the Thief steal the torch from you before you have been to the Coal Mine, you have some choices to make. You either restore the game to a point where you still have the torch or you will need to kill him earlier than this walkthrough suggests.
The Way Around:
The map is self-attributed to Steven Roy, and some searching reveals that it was scanned from November 1982 issue of The DEC Professional. I updated it to version 2.6A using as much of the original features from the map as possible. Each chapter will show you only what you know to date...no spoilers, sweetie.
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...
Friday, December 21, 2018
Chapter 1: Box Full of Letters (Wilco, 1995)
You are in an open field west of a big white house with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.
Let's start off on the right foot. A boarded up door means it can't be opened. Don't spend your time looking for a hammer. It is closed and closed it shall remain. Things that are lying around are typically useful somewhere else. Taking and dropping items in a central location (which you will find soon enough) is the best way to assure you have what you want when you want it.
>open mailbox
>read leaflet
Taken.
Welcome to Dungeon!
Dungeon is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it you will explore some of the most amazing territory ever seen by mortal man. Hardened adventurers have run screaming from the terrors contained within.
In Dungeon, the intrepid explorer delves into the forgotten secrets of a lost labyrinth deep in the bowels of the earth, searching for vast treasures long hidden from prying eyes, treasures guarded by fearsome monsters and diabolical traps!
No DECsystem should be without one!
Dungeon was created at the Programming Technology Division of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling. It was inspired by the Adventure game of Crowther and Woods, and the long tradition of fantasy and science fiction games. The original version was written in MDL (alias MUDDLE). The current version was translated from MDL into FORTRAN by a somewhat paranoid DEC engineer who prefers to remain anonymous, and was later translated to C.
On-line information may be obtained with the commands HELP and INFO.
>drop leaflet
>west
[Forest #1] You are in a forest, with trees in all directions around you.
Welcome to the Forest Maze, not to be confused with the Maze or the Coal Mine Maze. Being an adventurer can be…ready for it?...a-maze-ing.
>east
[Forest #4] You are in a forest, with trees in all directions around you. One particularly large tree with some low branches stands here.
Welcome to a clue…ignore nothing that is out of the ordinary.
>up
[Up a Tree] You are about ten feet above the ground nestled among some large branches. The nearest branch above you is beyond your reach. In the branch is a small birds nest. The birds nest contains a jewel-encrusted egg. You hear in the distance the chirping of a song bird.
>take egg
Do not futz with the egg. Yes, you can eventually open it, but then it is rendered useless. In this case, the Thief is our friend.
In Version 3.2B there are additional descriptions:
In the bird's nest is a large egg encrusted with precious jewels, apparently scavenged somewhere by a childless songbird. The egg is covered with fine gold inlay and ornamented in lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl. Unlike most eggs, this one is hinged and has a delicate looking clasp holding it closed. The egg appears extremely fragile.
>down
>east
[Clearing] You are in a clearing, with a forest surrounding you on the west and south. There is a pile of leaves on the ground.
Oh to be in Version 3.2B, now that the leaves have fallen. In that version you could count them, if you were so inclined. You would find there are 69,105 of them, which is another programmer joke: decimal 69 is equal to octal 105, and hexadecimal 69 is equal to decimal 105. I’m telling you, these guys knew how to party! In Version 2.7A, they cannot be counted, but they can be moved.
>move leaves
Done.
A grating appears on the ground.
For the intrepid adventurers of earlier versions, this grate was an absolute necessity as a way out of the underground. We will figure out how to open it later in the game.
>se
[Forest #2] You are in a forest, with trees in all directions around you.
>se
[Canyon View] You are at the top of the great canyon on its south wall. From here there is a marvelous view of the canyon and parts of the Frigid River upstream. Across the canyon, the walls of the White Cliffs still appear to loom far above. Following the canyon upstream (north and northwest), Aragain Falls may be seen, complete with rainbow. Fortunately, my vision is better than average, and I can discern the top of Flood Control Dam #3 far to the distant north. To the west and south can be seen an immense forest, stretching for miles around. It is possible to climb down into the canyon from here.
A dam? Hmmm…must be another way to get there…
>down
[Rocky Ledge] You are on a ledge about halfway up the wall of the river canyon. You can see from here that the main flow from Aragain Falls twists along a passage which it is impossible to enter. Below you is the canyon bottom. Above you is more cliff, which still appears climbable.
>down
[Canyon Bottom] You are beneath the walls of the river canyon, which may be climbable here. There is a small stream here, which is the lesser part of the runoff of Aragain Falls. To the north is a narrow path.
>n
[End of Rainbow] You are on a small beach on the continuation of the Frigid River past the falls. The beach is narrow due to the presence of the White Cliffs. The river canyon opens here, and sunlight shines in from above. A rainbow crosses over the falls to the west, and a narrow path continues to the southeast.
A dead end…likely won’t be the last one we find.
>se
Canyon Bottom
>up
Rocky Ledge
>up
Canyon View
>s
[Forest #5] You are in a large forest, with trees obstructing all views except to the east, where a small clearing may be seen. You hear in the distance the chirping of a song bird.
>west
[Forest #3] You are in a forest, with large trees all around. To the east, there appears to be sunlight.
>north
[South of House] You are facing the south side of a white house. There is no door here, and all the windows are barred.
>east
[Behind House] You are behind the white house. In one corner of the house there is a small window which is slightly ajar.
Breaking and entering is the criminal act of entering a residence or other enclosed property through the slightest amount of force (even pushing open a door), without authorization. At a minimum, forcing the window open and entering the house would be illegal trespass. Since we are looking for treasure, might as well add burglary, as there is intent. Time to decide: go home or go in. Ah yes, you have chosen wisely.
>open window
With great effort, you open the window far enough to allow entry.
>west
[Kitchen] You are in the kitchen of the white house. A table seems to have been used recently for the preparation of food. A passage leads to the west, and a dark staircase can be seen leading upward. To the east is a small window which is open.
On the table is an elongated brown sack, smelling of hot peppers. A clear glass bottle is here. The glass bottle contains a quantity of water.
>take all
>west
[Living Room] You are in the living room. There is a door to the east. To the west is a wooden door with strange gothic lettering, which appears to be nailed shut.
In the center of the room is a large oriental rug.
There is a trophy case here.
On hooks above the mantelpiece hangs an elvish sword of great antiquity.
A battery-powered brass lantern is on the trophy case.
There is an issue of US NEWS & DUNGEON REPORT dated 28-JUL-80 here.
The US NEWS & DUNGEON REPORT contains information regarding the version of the game, and is not worthy of reading.
>read lettering
The engravings translate to, "This space intentionally left blank".
As Sir Nigel Archibald Thornberry would say, "That's sarcasm, isn't it?"
>drop all
>take lamp
The companion to all underground adventurers, this lamp will definitely save your bacon. It has finite power, so turning it off when it is not needed is a good idea.
>east
Kitchen
>save
Saved.
Let's start off on the right foot. A boarded up door means it can't be opened. Don't spend your time looking for a hammer. It is closed and closed it shall remain. Things that are lying around are typically useful somewhere else. Taking and dropping items in a central location (which you will find soon enough) is the best way to assure you have what you want when you want it.
>open mailbox
>read leaflet
Taken.
Welcome to Dungeon!
Dungeon is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it you will explore some of the most amazing territory ever seen by mortal man. Hardened adventurers have run screaming from the terrors contained within.
In Dungeon, the intrepid explorer delves into the forgotten secrets of a lost labyrinth deep in the bowels of the earth, searching for vast treasures long hidden from prying eyes, treasures guarded by fearsome monsters and diabolical traps!
No DECsystem should be without one!
Dungeon was created at the Programming Technology Division of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling. It was inspired by the Adventure game of Crowther and Woods, and the long tradition of fantasy and science fiction games. The original version was written in MDL (alias MUDDLE). The current version was translated from MDL into FORTRAN by a somewhat paranoid DEC engineer who prefers to remain anonymous, and was later translated to C.
On-line information may be obtained with the commands HELP and INFO.
>drop leaflet
>west
[Forest #1] You are in a forest, with trees in all directions around you.
Welcome to the Forest Maze, not to be confused with the Maze or the Coal Mine Maze. Being an adventurer can be…ready for it?...a-maze-ing.
>east
[Forest #4] You are in a forest, with trees in all directions around you. One particularly large tree with some low branches stands here.
Welcome to a clue…ignore nothing that is out of the ordinary.
>up
[Up a Tree] You are about ten feet above the ground nestled among some large branches. The nearest branch above you is beyond your reach. In the branch is a small birds nest. The birds nest contains a jewel-encrusted egg. You hear in the distance the chirping of a song bird.
>take egg
Do not futz with the egg. Yes, you can eventually open it, but then it is rendered useless. In this case, the Thief is our friend.
In Version 3.2B there are additional descriptions:
In the bird's nest is a large egg encrusted with precious jewels, apparently scavenged somewhere by a childless songbird. The egg is covered with fine gold inlay and ornamented in lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl. Unlike most eggs, this one is hinged and has a delicate looking clasp holding it closed. The egg appears extremely fragile.
>down
>east
[Clearing] You are in a clearing, with a forest surrounding you on the west and south. There is a pile of leaves on the ground.
Oh to be in Version 3.2B, now that the leaves have fallen. In that version you could count them, if you were so inclined. You would find there are 69,105 of them, which is another programmer joke: decimal 69 is equal to octal 105, and hexadecimal 69 is equal to decimal 105. I’m telling you, these guys knew how to party! In Version 2.7A, they cannot be counted, but they can be moved.
>move leaves
Done.
A grating appears on the ground.
For the intrepid adventurers of earlier versions, this grate was an absolute necessity as a way out of the underground. We will figure out how to open it later in the game.
>se
[Forest #2] You are in a forest, with trees in all directions around you.
>se
[Canyon View] You are at the top of the great canyon on its south wall. From here there is a marvelous view of the canyon and parts of the Frigid River upstream. Across the canyon, the walls of the White Cliffs still appear to loom far above. Following the canyon upstream (north and northwest), Aragain Falls may be seen, complete with rainbow. Fortunately, my vision is better than average, and I can discern the top of Flood Control Dam #3 far to the distant north. To the west and south can be seen an immense forest, stretching for miles around. It is possible to climb down into the canyon from here.
A dam? Hmmm…must be another way to get there…
>down
[Rocky Ledge] You are on a ledge about halfway up the wall of the river canyon. You can see from here that the main flow from Aragain Falls twists along a passage which it is impossible to enter. Below you is the canyon bottom. Above you is more cliff, which still appears climbable.
>down
[Canyon Bottom] You are beneath the walls of the river canyon, which may be climbable here. There is a small stream here, which is the lesser part of the runoff of Aragain Falls. To the north is a narrow path.
>n
[End of Rainbow] You are on a small beach on the continuation of the Frigid River past the falls. The beach is narrow due to the presence of the White Cliffs. The river canyon opens here, and sunlight shines in from above. A rainbow crosses over the falls to the west, and a narrow path continues to the southeast.
A dead end…likely won’t be the last one we find.
>se
Canyon Bottom
>up
Rocky Ledge
>up
Canyon View
>s
[Forest #5] You are in a large forest, with trees obstructing all views except to the east, where a small clearing may be seen. You hear in the distance the chirping of a song bird.
>west
[Forest #3] You are in a forest, with large trees all around. To the east, there appears to be sunlight.
>north
[South of House] You are facing the south side of a white house. There is no door here, and all the windows are barred.
>east
[Behind House] You are behind the white house. In one corner of the house there is a small window which is slightly ajar.
Breaking and entering is the criminal act of entering a residence or other enclosed property through the slightest amount of force (even pushing open a door), without authorization. At a minimum, forcing the window open and entering the house would be illegal trespass. Since we are looking for treasure, might as well add burglary, as there is intent. Time to decide: go home or go in. Ah yes, you have chosen wisely.
>open window
With great effort, you open the window far enough to allow entry.
>west
[Kitchen] You are in the kitchen of the white house. A table seems to have been used recently for the preparation of food. A passage leads to the west, and a dark staircase can be seen leading upward. To the east is a small window which is open.
On the table is an elongated brown sack, smelling of hot peppers. A clear glass bottle is here. The glass bottle contains a quantity of water.
>take all
>west
[Living Room] You are in the living room. There is a door to the east. To the west is a wooden door with strange gothic lettering, which appears to be nailed shut.
In the center of the room is a large oriental rug.
There is a trophy case here.
On hooks above the mantelpiece hangs an elvish sword of great antiquity.
A battery-powered brass lantern is on the trophy case.
There is an issue of US NEWS & DUNGEON REPORT dated 28-JUL-80 here.
The US NEWS & DUNGEON REPORT contains information regarding the version of the game, and is not worthy of reading.
>read lettering
The engravings translate to, "This space intentionally left blank".
As Sir Nigel Archibald Thornberry would say, "That's sarcasm, isn't it?"
>drop all
>take lamp
The companion to all underground adventurers, this lamp will definitely save your bacon. It has finite power, so turning it off when it is not needed is a good idea.
>east
Kitchen
>save
Saved.
Chapter 2: It Is Pitch Dark (MC Frontalot, 2007)
>up
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Crap. A grue? What the heck is that?
>what is grue?
The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth. Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale.
Great...something else to be worried about at night. FYI, this is not Zork III and there is no can of Frobozz Magic Grue Repellent. Light is your friend.
>turn on lamp
Told you it would be useful.
[Attic] You are in the attic. The only exit is stairs that lead down.
A large coil of rope is lying in the corner.
On a table is a nasty-looking knife.
There is a square brick here which feels like clay.
>take all
>down
Kitchen
>turn off lamp
>west
Living Room
>drop all, take lamp
>take egg, take sword
We're planning on getting treasures, right? Might as well open the trophy case now and be ready.
>open trophy case
Well, now what? We've been outside (as far as we could go) and inside (all of it that we can see). Hmmm…that we can see…is there anything that might be hiding something in here? How about this large rug we're standing on?
>move rug
With a great effort, the rug is moved to one side of the room. With the rug moved, the dusty cover of a closed trap door appears.
Nice…you're getting the hang of it.
>open trap door
The door reluctantly opens to reveal a rickety staircase descending into darkness.
>save
Saved.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Crap. A grue? What the heck is that?
>what is grue?
The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth. Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale.
Great...something else to be worried about at night. FYI, this is not Zork III and there is no can of Frobozz Magic Grue Repellent. Light is your friend.
>turn on lamp
Told you it would be useful.
[Attic] You are in the attic. The only exit is stairs that lead down.
A large coil of rope is lying in the corner.
On a table is a nasty-looking knife.
There is a square brick here which feels like clay.
>take all
>down
Kitchen
>turn off lamp
>west
Living Room
>drop all, take lamp
>take egg, take sword
We're planning on getting treasures, right? Might as well open the trophy case now and be ready.
>open trophy case
Well, now what? We've been outside (as far as we could go) and inside (all of it that we can see). Hmmm…that we can see…is there anything that might be hiding something in here? How about this large rug we're standing on?
>move rug
With a great effort, the rug is moved to one side of the room. With the rug moved, the dusty cover of a closed trap door appears.
Nice…you're getting the hang of it.
>open trap door
The door reluctantly opens to reveal a rickety staircase descending into darkness.
>save
Saved.
Chapter 3: Wanderlust (Paul McCartney, 1982)
Check yourself! You need the sword, the lamp and the egg. Use the inventory command to see what you are carrying and then take accordingly.
You want to give the egg to the Thief at some point, so carry it around until you do.
>down
[Cellar] It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue. Your sword is glowing with a faint blue glow.
A glowing sword is a sign of imminent danger...pay attention to it.
>turn on lamp
The lamp is now on.
You are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passageway leading east, and a crawlway to the south. To the west is the bottom of a steep metal ramp which is unclimbable. The door crashes shut, and you hear someone barring it.
>east
[Troll Room] You are in a small room with passages off in all directions. Bloodstains and deep scratches (perhaps made by an axe) mar the walls. A nasty-looking troll, brandishing a bloody axe, blocks all passages out of the room. The axe crashes against the rock, throwing sparks. Your sword has begun to glow very brightly.
Fantastic. A troll. Not known to be great conversationalists, they require a much more direct approach. In short, you won't get past the Troll while it is conscious. If you knock it out and move on, it will be here waiting for you later. Your best choice is to kill the troll with the sword. Think of it as urban renewal.
>kill troll with sword
Repeat as necessary. There is a finite chance the troll will kill you; if he does, restore and start again. Do not repair!
There are various ways the troll will be dispatched: a final blow and slumps to the floor, your sword removes his head, etc. The particulars aren't as important as the outcome.
Almost as soon as the troll breathes his last, a cloud of sinister black smoke envelops him, and when the fog lifts, the carcass has disappeared. Your sword is no longer glowing.
>save
Saved.
You want to give the egg to the Thief at some point, so carry it around until you do.
>down
[Cellar] It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue. Your sword is glowing with a faint blue glow.
A glowing sword is a sign of imminent danger...pay attention to it.
>turn on lamp
The lamp is now on.
You are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passageway leading east, and a crawlway to the south. To the west is the bottom of a steep metal ramp which is unclimbable. The door crashes shut, and you hear someone barring it.
>east
[Troll Room] You are in a small room with passages off in all directions. Bloodstains and deep scratches (perhaps made by an axe) mar the walls. A nasty-looking troll, brandishing a bloody axe, blocks all passages out of the room. The axe crashes against the rock, throwing sparks. Your sword has begun to glow very brightly.
Fantastic. A troll. Not known to be great conversationalists, they require a much more direct approach. In short, you won't get past the Troll while it is conscious. If you knock it out and move on, it will be here waiting for you later. Your best choice is to kill the troll with the sword. Think of it as urban renewal.
>kill troll with sword
Repeat as necessary. There is a finite chance the troll will kill you; if he does, restore and start again. Do not repair!
There are various ways the troll will be dispatched: a final blow and slumps to the floor, your sword removes his head, etc. The particulars aren't as important as the outcome.
Almost as soon as the troll breathes his last, a cloud of sinister black smoke envelops him, and when the fog lifts, the carcass has disappeared. Your sword is no longer glowing.
>save
Saved.
Chapter 4: The Maze (Dokken, 1995)
>south
[Maze #1] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Welcome to the Maze, not to be confused with the Coal Mine Maze, which you will find later, or the Forest Maze, which you already encountered. Follow the directions to the letter to get out. If you get lost, keep trying or restore.
>east
[Maze #2] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>west
[Maze #4] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>up
[Maze #5] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Beside the skeleton is a rusty knife. The deceased adventurer's useless lantern is here. There is a set of skeleton keys here. A skeleton, probably the remains of a luckless adventurer, lies here. An old leather bag, bulging with coins, is here.
The descriptions are out of order, but you get the general idea. Some poor guy bought the farm in the maze. Told you the lantern had a finite life. Don't bother with the burned out lantern, as there are no battery stores in the area. Taking the skeleton will cause a ghost to appear in the room, banishing your treasures to the Land of the Living Dead. The ghost also mutters obscenities at you as it leaves.
The rusty knife is the most intriguing of the items. Remember that the sword can give you advanced warning about imminent danger. If you pick up the rusty knife, your sword will give a single pulse of blinding blue light. That should be enough for you to know the rusty knife is bad news and drop it. However, you may be inexperienced in the ways of the underground world and be foolish enough to keep it. If you used it to attack someone, your mind is submerged by an overmastering will, you turn the knife on yourself and slit your throat with what is clearly a haunted knife. The sword knows, so pay attention.
Final answer: leave the skeleton, useless lantern and knife alone.
>take coins, take keys
Taken.
>sw
[Maze #6] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>up
[Maze #7] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>east
[Maze #11] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>ne
[Below Grate] You are in a small room near the maze. There are twisty passages in the immediate vicinity. Above you is a grating locked with a skull-and-crossbones lock.
Good thing you had the key.
>unlock grate with key
The grating is unlocked.
>open grate
The grating opens.
>up
[Clearing] You are in a clearing, with a forest surrounding you on the west and south. There is an open grating descending into darkness. There is a pile of leaves on the ground.
We’ve been here before…good thing you moved the leaves or they would have fallen on you as you opened the grate.
>turn off lamp
The lamp is now off.
>sw
Behind House
>west
Kitchen
>west
Living Room
>put coins in case
>drop keys, drop sword
>save
Saved.
[Maze #1] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Welcome to the Maze, not to be confused with the Coal Mine Maze, which you will find later, or the Forest Maze, which you already encountered. Follow the directions to the letter to get out. If you get lost, keep trying or restore.
>east
[Maze #2] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>west
[Maze #4] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>up
[Maze #5] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Beside the skeleton is a rusty knife. The deceased adventurer's useless lantern is here. There is a set of skeleton keys here. A skeleton, probably the remains of a luckless adventurer, lies here. An old leather bag, bulging with coins, is here.
The descriptions are out of order, but you get the general idea. Some poor guy bought the farm in the maze. Told you the lantern had a finite life. Don't bother with the burned out lantern, as there are no battery stores in the area. Taking the skeleton will cause a ghost to appear in the room, banishing your treasures to the Land of the Living Dead. The ghost also mutters obscenities at you as it leaves.
The rusty knife is the most intriguing of the items. Remember that the sword can give you advanced warning about imminent danger. If you pick up the rusty knife, your sword will give a single pulse of blinding blue light. That should be enough for you to know the rusty knife is bad news and drop it. However, you may be inexperienced in the ways of the underground world and be foolish enough to keep it. If you used it to attack someone, your mind is submerged by an overmastering will, you turn the knife on yourself and slit your throat with what is clearly a haunted knife. The sword knows, so pay attention.
Final answer: leave the skeleton, useless lantern and knife alone.
>take coins, take keys
Taken.
>sw
[Maze #6] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>up
[Maze #7] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>east
[Maze #11] You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
>ne
[Below Grate] You are in a small room near the maze. There are twisty passages in the immediate vicinity. Above you is a grating locked with a skull-and-crossbones lock.
Good thing you had the key.
>unlock grate with key
The grating is unlocked.
>open grate
The grating opens.
>up
[Clearing] You are in a clearing, with a forest surrounding you on the west and south. There is an open grating descending into darkness. There is a pile of leaves on the ground.
We’ve been here before…good thing you moved the leaves or they would have fallen on you as you opened the grate.
>turn off lamp
The lamp is now off.
>sw
Behind House
>west
Kitchen
>west
Living Room
>put coins in case
>drop keys, drop sword
>save
Saved.
Chapter 5: Over At The Frankenstein Place (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon, 1975)
The lamp doesn't last forever, so we'll need another light source.
Check yourself! You need the lamp, rope and the egg (unless you already gave it to the Thief). Use the inventory command to see what you are carrying and then take accordingly.
>open trap door
This will be the last time you need to open this door. It could be worse...in version 2.6 and below, there is no opportunity to keep the trap door from closing.
>down
>turn on lamp
Cellar
>east
Troll Room
>north
[East-West Passageway] You are in a narrow east-west passageway. There is a narrow stairway leading down at the north end of the room.
>down
[Deep Ravine] You are in a deep ravine at a crossing with an east-west crawlway. Some stone steps are at the south of the ravine, and a steep staircase descends.
>west
[Rocky Crawl] You are in a crawlway with a three foot high ceiling. Your footing is very unsure here due to the assortment of rocks underfoot. Passages can be seen in the east, west, and northwest corners of the crawlway.
>east
[Dome Room] You are at the periphery of a large dome, which forms the ceiling of another room below. Protecting you from a precipitous drop is a wooden railing which circles the dome.
>tie rope to rail
The rope drops over the side and comes within ten feet of the floor.
Instant staircase!
>down
[Torch Room] You are in a large room with a prominent doorway leading to a down staircase. To the west is a narrow twisting tunnel, covered with a thin layer of dust. Above you is a large dome painted with scenes depicting elfin hacking rites. Up around the edge of the dome (20 feet up) is a wooden railing. In the center of the room there is a white marble pedestal. A large piece of rope descends from the railing above, ending some five feet above your head. Sitting on the pedestal is a flaming torch, made of ivory.
Another light source…sweet.
>take torch
>turn off lamp
The lamp is off now.
>down
[North-South Crawlway] You are in a north-south crawlway; a passage also goes to the east. There is a hole above, but it provides no opportunities for climbing.
>east
Troll Room
>north
East-West Passage
>down
Deep Ravine
>west
Rocky Crawl
>nw
[Egyptian Room] You are in a room which looks like an Egyptian tomb. There is an ascending staircase in the room as well as doors east and south. The solid gold coffin used for the burial of Ramses II is here.
Do not take the coffin. First, you can't get it out the way you came: "This is a crawlway with a three foot high ceiling" and you haven’t found the alternate way out (yet). Second, the Thief will do the heavy lifting for you. There is nothing in the coffin, which is different than in Zork I, where it contains a scepter. "Approximate equivalent," remember? No one said it was exactly the same.
>south
[Viewing Ledge] You are on a ledge in the middle of a large volcano. Below you the volcano bottom can be seen and above is the rim of the volcano. A couple of ledges can be seen on the other side of the volcano; it appears that this ledge is intermediate in elevation between those on the other side. The exit from this room is to the east.
A volcano! This is seriously cool!
>east
Egyptian Room
>up
[Glacier Room] You are in a large room with giant icicles hanging from the walls and ceiling. There are passages to the north and east. A mass of ice fills the western half of the room.
An ice filled room? What melts ice? Yes, a good bourbon whiskey would do it. Let's be more precise: heat melts ice and I have a torch...hmmm. We'll revisit this room.
>north
[Stream View] You are standing on a path beside a gently flowing stream. The path travels to the north and the east. There is a coil of thin shiny wire here.
>take wire
Taken.
>east
[Reservoir South] You are in a long room on the south shore of a large reservoir. There is a western exit, a passageway south, and a steep pathway climbing up along the edge of a cliff.
>south
Deep Ravine
>south
East-West Passage
>west
Troll Room
>west
Cellar
>up
Living Room
>drop all
>take lamp, take torch, take egg, take bottle
>save
Saved.
Check yourself! You need the lamp, rope and the egg (unless you already gave it to the Thief). Use the inventory command to see what you are carrying and then take accordingly.
>open trap door
This will be the last time you need to open this door. It could be worse...in version 2.6 and below, there is no opportunity to keep the trap door from closing.
>down
>turn on lamp
Cellar
>east
Troll Room
>north
[East-West Passageway] You are in a narrow east-west passageway. There is a narrow stairway leading down at the north end of the room.
>down
[Deep Ravine] You are in a deep ravine at a crossing with an east-west crawlway. Some stone steps are at the south of the ravine, and a steep staircase descends.
>west
[Rocky Crawl] You are in a crawlway with a three foot high ceiling. Your footing is very unsure here due to the assortment of rocks underfoot. Passages can be seen in the east, west, and northwest corners of the crawlway.
>east
[Dome Room] You are at the periphery of a large dome, which forms the ceiling of another room below. Protecting you from a precipitous drop is a wooden railing which circles the dome.
>tie rope to rail
The rope drops over the side and comes within ten feet of the floor.
Instant staircase!
>down
[Torch Room] You are in a large room with a prominent doorway leading to a down staircase. To the west is a narrow twisting tunnel, covered with a thin layer of dust. Above you is a large dome painted with scenes depicting elfin hacking rites. Up around the edge of the dome (20 feet up) is a wooden railing. In the center of the room there is a white marble pedestal. A large piece of rope descends from the railing above, ending some five feet above your head. Sitting on the pedestal is a flaming torch, made of ivory.
Another light source…sweet.
>take torch
>turn off lamp
The lamp is off now.
>down
[North-South Crawlway] You are in a north-south crawlway; a passage also goes to the east. There is a hole above, but it provides no opportunities for climbing.
>east
Troll Room
>north
East-West Passage
>down
Deep Ravine
>west
Rocky Crawl
>nw
[Egyptian Room] You are in a room which looks like an Egyptian tomb. There is an ascending staircase in the room as well as doors east and south. The solid gold coffin used for the burial of Ramses II is here.
Do not take the coffin. First, you can't get it out the way you came: "This is a crawlway with a three foot high ceiling" and you haven’t found the alternate way out (yet). Second, the Thief will do the heavy lifting for you. There is nothing in the coffin, which is different than in Zork I, where it contains a scepter. "Approximate equivalent," remember? No one said it was exactly the same.
>south
[Viewing Ledge] You are on a ledge in the middle of a large volcano. Below you the volcano bottom can be seen and above is the rim of the volcano. A couple of ledges can be seen on the other side of the volcano; it appears that this ledge is intermediate in elevation between those on the other side. The exit from this room is to the east.
A volcano! This is seriously cool!
>east
Egyptian Room
>up
[Glacier Room] You are in a large room with giant icicles hanging from the walls and ceiling. There are passages to the north and east. A mass of ice fills the western half of the room.
An ice filled room? What melts ice? Yes, a good bourbon whiskey would do it. Let's be more precise: heat melts ice and I have a torch...hmmm. We'll revisit this room.
>north
[Stream View] You are standing on a path beside a gently flowing stream. The path travels to the north and the east. There is a coil of thin shiny wire here.
>take wire
Taken.
>east
[Reservoir South] You are in a long room on the south shore of a large reservoir. There is a western exit, a passageway south, and a steep pathway climbing up along the edge of a cliff.
>south
Deep Ravine
>south
East-West Passage
>west
Troll Room
>west
Cellar
>up
Living Room
>drop all
>take lamp, take torch, take egg, take bottle
>save
Saved.
Chapter 6: Roundabout (Yes, 1971)
The Round Room is, well, round, and goes, well, around. It spins any direction after you enter the room and will send you to a random place, so turning it off makes the game much easier.
Check yourself! You need the lamp, torch, bottle and the egg (unless you already gave it to the Thief). Use the inventory command to see what you are carrying and then take accordingly.
>open trap door
>down
Cellar
>east
Troll Room
>north
East-West Passageway
>east
[Round Room] You are in a circular room with passages off in eight directions. Your compass needle spins wildly, and you cannot get your bearings.
Welcome to the Round Room, which has seven exits. Keep leaving and entering the Round Room until you reach the Engravings Cave. If you see a treasure along the way, leave it...trust me. Once you make it to the Engravings Cave, you're in like flint! Until then, use these instructions to get back to the Round Room:
North-South Passage: South
Deep Canyon: South
Maze: West, north, east
Winding Passage: east, north, north, west
Grail Room: west
East-West Passage: east
[Engravings Cave] You have entered a cave with passages leading north and southeast. There are old engravings on the walls here.
Finally...we're there!
>read engravings
The engravings were incised in the living rock of the cave wall by an unknown hand. They depict, in symbolic form, the beliefs of the ancient peoples of Zork. Skillfully interwoven with the bas reliefs are excerpts illustrating the major tenets expounded by the sacred texts of the religion of that time. Unfortunately, a later age seems to have considered them blasphemous and just as skillfully excised them.
Interesting...
>se
[Riddle Room] This is a room which is bare on all sides. There is an exit down. To the east is a great door made of stone. Above the door, the following words are written: "No man shall enter this room without solving this riddle--
What is tall as a house,
Round as a cup,
And all the king's horses can't draw it up?".
This one is easy-in-retrospect, but not so straight-forward the first time around. Tall is a measurement direction, which implies up, but it could also go down. Round is, well, round. The king’s horses are not referring to Humpty Dumpty on steroids, but rather something that cannot be moved. (Insert Jeopardy music here). That is correct: the now obvious answer is a well. Note that "a well" does not work...those MIT guys weren't studying English, that is for sure.
>well
There is a clap of thunder, and the east door opens.
>east
[Closet] This is a former broom closet. The exits are to the east and west. There is a pearl necklace here with hundreds of large pearls.
>take pearls
>east
[Bottom of Well] You are in a damp circular room, whose walls are made of brick and mortar. The roof of this room is not visible, but there appear to be some etchings on the walls. There is a passageway to the west. There is a wooden bucket here, three feet in diameter and three feet high.
>look at etchings
o b o
A G I
E L
m p a
Hmmm…
The bucket operates like a boat, so the proper terminology is board or disembark. These instructions will come in handy later.
>board
You are now in the wooden bucket.
Well, now what? You are in a bucket in what, according to the answer, is a well. What can you do with a well? Yes, you could wish, but, that will cost you coins, as is typical for a wishing well. If you wish in the well and have the bag of coins, a whispering voice from nowhere will give you the answer. Unfortunately, wishing makes the coins disappear; you would have better luck finding a snipe than locating the coins once they are gone. Wishes are for fishes, so don’t wish.
So, how do you make a bucket in a well move? There is no crank, no rope, no elevator button. Hmmm...what does a bucket in a well generally contain when you bring it up? Ding ding ding, that's right, water. Good thing you brought the bottle with you.
>open bottle
Opened.
>put water in bucket
There is now a puddle in the bottom of the wooden bucket. The bucket rises and comes to a stop. You are at the top of the well. Well done. There are etchings on the side of the well. There is a small crack across the floor at the entrance to a room on the east, but it can be crossed easily. You are in the wooden bucket. The wooden bucket contains: A quantity of water.
It's better not to ask too many questions...just go with it.
>look at etchings
o b o
r z
f M A G I C z
c W E L L y
o n
m p a
Well, duh.
>disembark
You are on your own feet again.
>east
[Tea Room] This is a small square room, in the center of which is a large oblong table, no doubt set for afternoon tea. It is clear from the objects on the table that the users were indeed mad. In the eastern corner of this room is a small hole no more than four inches high. There are passageways leading away to the west and the northwest.
There is a piece of cake with the words "Eat-Me" on it.
There is a piece of cake with orange icing here.
There is a piece of cake with red icing here.
There is a piece of cake with blue (ecch) icing here.
Mmmm...cake; leave them for the moment.
>save
Saved.
Check yourself! You need the lamp, torch, bottle and the egg (unless you already gave it to the Thief). Use the inventory command to see what you are carrying and then take accordingly.
>open trap door
>down
Cellar
>east
Troll Room
>north
East-West Passageway
>east
[Round Room] You are in a circular room with passages off in eight directions. Your compass needle spins wildly, and you cannot get your bearings.
Welcome to the Round Room, which has seven exits. Keep leaving and entering the Round Room until you reach the Engravings Cave. If you see a treasure along the way, leave it...trust me. Once you make it to the Engravings Cave, you're in like flint! Until then, use these instructions to get back to the Round Room:
North-South Passage: South
Deep Canyon: South
Maze: West, north, east
Winding Passage: east, north, north, west
Grail Room: west
East-West Passage: east
[Engravings Cave] You have entered a cave with passages leading north and southeast. There are old engravings on the walls here.
Finally...we're there!
>read engravings
The engravings were incised in the living rock of the cave wall by an unknown hand. They depict, in symbolic form, the beliefs of the ancient peoples of Zork. Skillfully interwoven with the bas reliefs are excerpts illustrating the major tenets expounded by the sacred texts of the religion of that time. Unfortunately, a later age seems to have considered them blasphemous and just as skillfully excised them.
Interesting...
>se
[Riddle Room] This is a room which is bare on all sides. There is an exit down. To the east is a great door made of stone. Above the door, the following words are written: "No man shall enter this room without solving this riddle--
What is tall as a house,
Round as a cup,
And all the king's horses can't draw it up?".
This one is easy-in-retrospect, but not so straight-forward the first time around. Tall is a measurement direction, which implies up, but it could also go down. Round is, well, round. The king’s horses are not referring to Humpty Dumpty on steroids, but rather something that cannot be moved. (Insert Jeopardy music here). That is correct: the now obvious answer is a well. Note that "a well" does not work...those MIT guys weren't studying English, that is for sure.
>well
There is a clap of thunder, and the east door opens.
>east
[Closet] This is a former broom closet. The exits are to the east and west. There is a pearl necklace here with hundreds of large pearls.
>take pearls
>east
[Bottom of Well] You are in a damp circular room, whose walls are made of brick and mortar. The roof of this room is not visible, but there appear to be some etchings on the walls. There is a passageway to the west. There is a wooden bucket here, three feet in diameter and three feet high.
>look at etchings
o b o
A G I
E L
m p a
Hmmm…
The bucket operates like a boat, so the proper terminology is board or disembark. These instructions will come in handy later.
>board
You are now in the wooden bucket.
Well, now what? You are in a bucket in what, according to the answer, is a well. What can you do with a well? Yes, you could wish, but, that will cost you coins, as is typical for a wishing well. If you wish in the well and have the bag of coins, a whispering voice from nowhere will give you the answer. Unfortunately, wishing makes the coins disappear; you would have better luck finding a snipe than locating the coins once they are gone. Wishes are for fishes, so don’t wish.
So, how do you make a bucket in a well move? There is no crank, no rope, no elevator button. Hmmm...what does a bucket in a well generally contain when you bring it up? Ding ding ding, that's right, water. Good thing you brought the bottle with you.
>open bottle
Opened.
>put water in bucket
There is now a puddle in the bottom of the wooden bucket. The bucket rises and comes to a stop. You are at the top of the well. Well done. There are etchings on the side of the well. There is a small crack across the floor at the entrance to a room on the east, but it can be crossed easily. You are in the wooden bucket. The wooden bucket contains: A quantity of water.
It's better not to ask too many questions...just go with it.
>look at etchings
o b o
r z
f M A G I C z
c W E L L y
o n
m p a
Well, duh.
>disembark
You are on your own feet again.
>east
[Tea Room] This is a small square room, in the center of which is a large oblong table, no doubt set for afternoon tea. It is clear from the objects on the table that the users were indeed mad. In the eastern corner of this room is a small hole no more than four inches high. There are passageways leading away to the west and the northwest.
There is a piece of cake with the words "Eat-Me" on it.
There is a piece of cake with orange icing here.
There is a piece of cake with red icing here.
There is a piece of cake with blue (ecch) icing here.
Mmmm...cake; leave them for the moment.
>save
Saved.
Chapter 7: I Robot (The Alan Parsons Project, 1977)
>nw
[Low Round Room] This is a room with a low ceiling which is circular in shape. There are exits to the east and southeast. There is a robot here. There is a green piece of paper here.
If there are multiples of a thing present you must be clear. In the Living Room, if you said "read" the game would ask you want you wanted to read, as there was the US NEWS & DUNGEON REPORT and the and strange gothic lettering. When there is only one item, the descriptor gets in the way. Saying "read green paper" in this instance results in the game saying it doesn't understand that. Saying "take piece" will work, but read will take and read. Be brief, be victorious.
>read
Taken.
!!!! FROBOZZ MAGIC ROBOT COMPANY !!!!
Hello, master!
I am a late-model robot, trained at MIT Tech to perform various simple housekeeping functions.
Instructions for use:
To activate me, use the following formula -- TELL ROBOT, something to do (CR)
The comma is mandatory.
Command me as you will!
Warranty:
No warranty is expressed or implied.
At your service!
>drop piece
Dropped.
>tell robot, east
Done.
>east
[Machine Room] You are in a large room full of assorted heavy machinery. The room smells of burned resistors. The room is noisy from the whirring sounds of the machines. Along one wall of the room are three buttons which are, respectively, round, triangular, and square. Naturally, above the buttons are instructions written in EBCDIC. A large sign above all the buttons says in English:
DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE
There are exits to the west and the south. There is a robot here.
For the über-curious, Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) is an 8-bit character encoding used mainly on IBM mainframe and IBM midrange computer operating systems, a descendent from the code used with punched cards and the corresponding six bit binary-coded decimal code used with most of IBM's computer peripherals of the late 1950s and early 1960s. In short, this is an inside coder joke. These guys crack me up.
Let's see...the odor of burned out resistors and a HIGH VOLTAGE sign. If you have a death wish, try pushing the buttons yourself. If not, use Robby here to do it for you. The round button makes the sound slow down, while the square button makes it sound faster. The triangular button, which is just right, is the correct choice.
>tell robot, push triangular button
A dull thump is heard in the distance.
>tell robot, south
Done.
>south
[Dingy Closet] This is a dingy closet adjacent to the machine room. On one wall is a small sticker which reads:
Protected by
FROBOZZ
Magic Alarm Company
(Hello, footpad!).
There is a beautiful crystal sphere here. There is a robot here.
Do not use the robot to take the sphere…you won’t like what happens.
>take sphere
As you reach for the sphere, a steel cage falls from the ceiling to entrap you. To make matters worse, poisonous gas starts coming into the room.
Oh crap...now what? Good thing you have a robot with you.
>tell robot, lift cage
The cage shakes and is hurled across the room.
Don’t forget the sphere…you just reached for it earlier but never had it in your hands.
>take sphere
Taken.
Despite what appears to be the usefulness of having a robot with you during the rest of your journey, it is best to leave it here. You can take it with you, but it is slow going.
>north
Machine Room
>west
Low Round Room
As you enter, your compass starts spinning wildly.
Great...now this room spins wildly. Keep trying directions until you get back to the Tea Room.
>s
Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell directions in here.
Tea Room
>drop necklace, drop sphere
Dropped.
>take red cake, take blue cake, take orange cake
piece of cake with red icing: Taken.
piece of cake with blue icing: Taken.
piece of cake with orange icing: Taken.
>read red cake
The only writing visible is a capital E. The rest is too small to be clearly visible.
I'll save you the trouble of trying to read the other two, as they are too small as well. Didn't know Wilton made such teeny tiny piping tips. Looks like a magnifying glass (or the equivalent) will be necessary.
>save
Saved.
[Low Round Room] This is a room with a low ceiling which is circular in shape. There are exits to the east and southeast. There is a robot here. There is a green piece of paper here.
If there are multiples of a thing present you must be clear. In the Living Room, if you said "read" the game would ask you want you wanted to read, as there was the US NEWS & DUNGEON REPORT and the and strange gothic lettering. When there is only one item, the descriptor gets in the way. Saying "read green paper" in this instance results in the game saying it doesn't understand that. Saying "take piece" will work, but read will take and read. Be brief, be victorious.
>read
Taken.
!!!! FROBOZZ MAGIC ROBOT COMPANY !!!!
Hello, master!
I am a late-model robot, trained at MIT Tech to perform various simple housekeeping functions.
Instructions for use:
To activate me, use the following formula -- TELL ROBOT, something to do (CR)
The comma is mandatory.
Command me as you will!
Warranty:
No warranty is expressed or implied.
At your service!
>drop piece
Dropped.
>tell robot, east
Done.
>east
[Machine Room] You are in a large room full of assorted heavy machinery. The room smells of burned resistors. The room is noisy from the whirring sounds of the machines. Along one wall of the room are three buttons which are, respectively, round, triangular, and square. Naturally, above the buttons are instructions written in EBCDIC. A large sign above all the buttons says in English:
DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE
There are exits to the west and the south. There is a robot here.
For the über-curious, Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) is an 8-bit character encoding used mainly on IBM mainframe and IBM midrange computer operating systems, a descendent from the code used with punched cards and the corresponding six bit binary-coded decimal code used with most of IBM's computer peripherals of the late 1950s and early 1960s. In short, this is an inside coder joke. These guys crack me up.
Let's see...the odor of burned out resistors and a HIGH VOLTAGE sign. If you have a death wish, try pushing the buttons yourself. If not, use Robby here to do it for you. The round button makes the sound slow down, while the square button makes it sound faster. The triangular button, which is just right, is the correct choice.
>tell robot, push triangular button
A dull thump is heard in the distance.
>tell robot, south
Done.
>south
[Dingy Closet] This is a dingy closet adjacent to the machine room. On one wall is a small sticker which reads:
Protected by
FROBOZZ
Magic Alarm Company
(Hello, footpad!).
There is a beautiful crystal sphere here. There is a robot here.
Do not use the robot to take the sphere…you won’t like what happens.
>take sphere
As you reach for the sphere, a steel cage falls from the ceiling to entrap you. To make matters worse, poisonous gas starts coming into the room.
Oh crap...now what? Good thing you have a robot with you.
>tell robot, lift cage
The cage shakes and is hurled across the room.
Don’t forget the sphere…you just reached for it earlier but never had it in your hands.
>take sphere
Taken.
Despite what appears to be the usefulness of having a robot with you during the rest of your journey, it is best to leave it here. You can take it with you, but it is slow going.
>north
Machine Room
>west
Low Round Room
As you enter, your compass starts spinning wildly.
Great...now this room spins wildly. Keep trying directions until you get back to the Tea Room.
>s
Unfortunately, it is impossible to tell directions in here.
Tea Room
>drop necklace, drop sphere
Dropped.
>take red cake, take blue cake, take orange cake
piece of cake with red icing: Taken.
piece of cake with blue icing: Taken.
piece of cake with orange icing: Taken.
>read red cake
The only writing visible is a capital E. The rest is too small to be clearly visible.
I'll save you the trouble of trying to read the other two, as they are too small as well. Didn't know Wilton made such teeny tiny piping tips. Looks like a magnifying glass (or the equivalent) will be necessary.
>save
Saved.
Chapter 8: Let's Get Small (Steve Martin, 1977)
>eat eat-me cake
Taken.
Suddenly, the room appears to have become very large.
Shades of Alice in Wonderland! It is temporary, so no point in worrying about it.
>look
You are in an enormous room, in the center of which are four wooden posts delineating a rectangular area, above which is what appears to be a wooden roof. In fact, all objects in this room appear to be abnormally large. To the east is a passageway. There is a large chasm on the west and the northwest. There is a pearl necklace here with hundreds of large pearls. There is a beautiful white crystal sphere here.
>east
[Pool Room] You are in a large room, one half of which is depressed. There is a large leak in the ceiling through which brown colored goop is falling. The only exit from this room is to the west. A stoppered glass flask with skull-and-crossbones markings is here. The flask is filled with some clear liquid. The leak has submerged the depressed area in a pool of sewage.
Small things can be magnified to appear larger than they really are with the help of magnifying glasses and microscopes. Water (or other clear liquids, including poisons), can act as a simple magnifier and magnify the object behind it. The water acts as a lens, bending the light so that it approaches you eye as if it was coming from a much larger object, so it looks magnified. The Learning Channel is our friend.
>take flask
Taken.
>read blue cake through flask
The icing, now visible, says "ENLARGE".
Told you it would be temporary. Do not eat the blue cake now, as the room is not large enough to hold you at full size. Save it for later.
>read orange cake through flask
The icing, now visible, says "EXPLODE".
Yikes! Exploding cake...what will they think of next?
>read red cake through flask
The icing, now visible, says "EVAPORATE".
Evaporate? What is this, freeze-dried cake? I've seen enough.
>drop flask, drop orange cake
Dropped.
Dumpster diving is one thing, but sewage swimming is another, even if it likely something is in there. Let's see...a towel (where is Ford Prefect when you need him?) or something to soak it up would work...hmmm...evaporate cake!
>throw red cake
The pool of water evaporates, revealing a tin of rare spices.
Yes!
>take tin
Taken.
>west
Posts Room
>eat blue cake
The room around you seems to be getting smaller.
>take treasures
>west
Top of Well
>board
You are now in the wooden bucket.
Since putting the water in the bucket caused it to go up, removing the water should make it go down. You would think getting the water out of the bucket would require a sponge or more red cake. Put water in bottle works just fine. As stated earlier, don't ask too many questions...just go with it.
>put water in bottle
The bottle is now full of water. The bucket descends and comes to a stop.
Bottom of Well
>disembark
You are on your own feet again.
>drop bottle
>west
Pearl Room
>west
Riddle Room
>down
Engravings Cave
>north
Round Room.
There is a dented steel box here.
Welcome to the stable Round Room, now with a box!
>open box
Opening the steel box reveals: A fancy violin.
>take violin
Taken.
>west
East-West Passageway
>west
Troll Room
>west
Cellar
>up
Living Room
>put treasures in case
Done
>save
Saved.
Appendix 1: The Weight (The Band, 1968)
No, this isn't really the end, but sometimes good things do come to those who wait. I will periodically drop in an appendix, as they contain useful information. How useful, well, that is for you to decide.
ITEM
|
WEIGHT
(in pounds)
|
HOLD WEIGHT
(in pounds)
|
Bag of Coins
|
15
| |
Balloon
|
100
| |
Balloon, Broken
|
40
| |
Basket
|
50
| |
Bell
|
5
| |
Beautiful Brass Bauble
|
5
| |
Birds’ Nest
|
20
|
20
|
Black Book
|
10
| |
Bloody Axe
|
25
| |
Blue Label
|
1
| |
Book (purple, white, etc)
|
2
| |
Box (safe with crown)
|
10000
|
15
|
Brick
|
2
| |
Broken Sharp Stick
|
3
| |
Broken Timber
|
50
| |
Brown Sack
|
3
|
15
|
Burned-out Lantern
|
20
| |
Cake (orange, red, blue)
|
4
| |
Cake, “Eat Me”
|
10
| |
Card
|
1
| |
Carpet
|
10000
| |
Chalice
|
10
|
5
|
Clockwork Canary
|
5
| |
Clockwork Canary, Broken
|
5
| |
Clove of Garlic
|
5
| |
Coke Bottles
|
15
| |
Crown
|
10
| |
Crystal Trident
|
20
| |
Dented Steel Box
|
40
|
20
|
Fancy Violin
|
10
| |
Flathead Stamp
|
1
| |
Glass Bottle
|
5
|
4
|
Glass Flask
|
10
|
5
|
Gold Card
|
4
| |
Gold Coffin
|
55
|
35
|
Grail
|
10
|
5
|
Green Piece of Paper
|
3
| |
Hand-Held Air Pump
|
5
| |
Hole (to box/safe)
|
10000
|
10
|
Huge Diamond
|
5
| |
Hunk of Bat Guano
|
20
| |
Ivory Torch
|
20
| |
Jewel-Encrusted Egg
|
6
|
6
|
Jewel-Encrusted Egg, Broken
|
6
|
6
|
Knife
|
5
| |
Lamp
|
15
| |
Lamp, Broken
|
5
| |
Large Case
|
10000
| |
Large Emerald
|
5
| |
Leaflet
|
2
| |
Lunch
|
5
| |
Machine
|
10000
|
50
|
Mailbox
|
10
| |
Matchbook
|
2
| |
Newspaper
|
2
| |
Note of Warning
|
4
| |
Painting
|
15
| |
Pair of Candles
|
10
| |
Pearl Necklace
|
10
| |
Piece of Vitreous Slag
|
10
| |
Pile of Leaves
|
25
| |
Platinum Bar
|
20
| |
Plastic Inflatable Boat
|
20
| |
[Hole Plastic Boat]
|
20
| |
[Magic Boat]
|
20
|
100
|
Portrait of J. Pierpont Flathead
|
25
| |
Pot of Gold
|
15
| |
Priceless Zorkmid
|
10
| |
Quantity of Water
|
4
| |
Red Buoy
|
10
|
20
|
Rope
|
10
| |
Ruby
|
5
| |
Rusty Iron Key
|
5
| |
Rusty Knife
|
20
| |
Sapphire Bracelet
|
10
| |
Screwdriver
|
5
| |
Set of Skeleton Keys
|
10
| |
Shovel
|
15
| |
Small Pile of Coal
|
20
| |
Small Slot (in puzzle)
|
4
| |
Stack of Listings (line-printer output)
|
70
| |
Stack of Zorkmid Bills
|
10
| |
Statue
|
8
| |
Steel Cage, Mangled
|
60
| |
Stiletto
|
10
| |
Sword
|
30
| |
Tan Label
|
2
| |
Tin of Spices
|
8
| |
Tour Guidebook
|
5
| |
Trophy Case
|
10000
|
10000
|
Trunk of Jewels
|
35
| |
Tube
|
10
|
7
|
Viscous Material
|
6
| |
White Crystal Sphere
|
10
| |
Wire Coil
|
1
| |
Wooden Barrel
|
70
|
100
|
Wooden Bucket
|
100
|
100
|
Wrench
|
10
|
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