Back to GS World View November 1999 Contents
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Apple IIgs Infocom-type
Games Guide
Apple
IIgs Infocom-type Games Guide-2
Lost Treasures
of Infocom
Last issue we listed The Lost Treasures of Infocom playable on the Apple
IIgs
using at least one of the Big Red interpreters supplied in the IIgs
version of LTI-1. Almost
every Infocom classic was included. We even added one (Leather Goddesses
of Phobos)
not included in LTI I or LTI-II.
Zork Zero remains unavailable in a specifically for-IIgs version
because no
current IIgs interpreter is appropriate for the game. The good news
is that Zork Zero
has been converted for 3.5" diskette. This version can be played from
the diskette,
800k RAM disk, or hard disk.
Meanwhile, a new Zork z5 file was discovered on the Interactive Fiction
Archive! Zork: The Undiscovered Underground appears to run fine
on the Lost
Treasures Advanced interpreter and has been added to the collections
on the ACN sites.
Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz
by Steve Meretzky
from Infocom/Activision
Though Zork Zero was released after Beyond
Zork, it is set in
a time before Zork I. The adventure begins with a flashback to the
throneroom of Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive, King of a rich (if
stupidly ruled) empire. Here you are serving at an excessively great
banquet which is interrupted by the sudden appearance of an arch mage,
Megaboz, who is very (_very_) angry.
Evidently, one of Dimwit the Excessive's excesses
includes a
project which happened to destroy a particularly prized part of the
powerful wizard's property. (Bad move!!! Hint: don't wait too long
after Megaboz arrives to hide under a table like everyone else in the
throneroom who has any sense.)
Nearly a century passes and you (a descendent
of the servant at the
fateful feast) awaken in a ruined throneroom following yet another
spate
of looting by the mobs which now roam a crumbling empire. Though a
mere
peasant, you are in the capital to win the reward offered by the current
king-- half the empire-- for dispelling Megaboz's curse. Unlike others
who seek the prize, you have a scroll which your ancestor managed to
snatch from the wizard's pocket just before the curse was pronounced.
And on the scroll is the key to uraveling the spell and making your
fortune!
Zork Zero Display
Since the game is in color double-hires you
may have
difficulty reading the text on a IIgs monitor or emulator display.
(You will get the best color display with an Apple II computer
connected to a composite color monitor.) To get clear text, change
your display mode to monochrome.
3.5" Diskette Version ZorkZero.shk
Availability pending
This is a ShrinkIt file archive. Use ShrinkIt or GS-ShrinkIt to
unshrink to ProDOS formatted 3.5" diskette, RAM disk,
hard disk, or ZIP disk.
Requires: 128k enhanced //e, //c, IIc+, or IIgs
Recommended: composite color monitor for display
ZorkZero.shk includes the map files as IIgs super-hires screen
files in Maps.shk and a "Lost Stuff" Text file which shows the
text from a parchment which is omitted from the Lost Treasures
manual's Zork Zero pages. A .gif image of the parchment from The
Infocom Home Page is in the Games/A2GameHints/ folder on ACN
sites along with copies of the maps and Invisiclues.
To play the game from hard disk, move all of
the files except
ProDOS to a folder on your hard disk. (Remember this pathname. The
game will ask you for the complete pathname when you first want to
Restore a saved game.) Start Infocom.sys to start the adventure.
5.25" Diskette version ZORKZERO1.SDK - ZORKZERO4.SDK
Availability pending
The .sdk files are whole-disk ShrinkIt archives created via 8-bit
ShrinkIt. Use 8-bit ShrinkIt to uncompress the files to 5.25" diskettes
on your Apple II. (The .sdk files come from .dsk disk images maintained
on Asimov-Georgia.)
This set includes a Disk 1 which uses standard
ProDOS rather than
the loader originally supplied by crackers. (The loader caused problems
with starting the game.) The new Disk 1 has been tested through
play in
the early part of the game and appears to work fine. (A .dsk version
of
of the new boot disk has been uploaded to Asimov's Incoming folder.)
Support
In the Games/A2GameHints/ folder on ACN sites you can find
ZorkZero maps (as .gif files) plus a "Lost Stuff" Text file which includes
text
from a parchment which is omitted from the Lost Treasures manual's
Zork Zero
pages. A .gif image of the parchment from The Infocom Home Page is
there,
too, along with Invisiclues from the Interactive Fiction archive.
Note About Starting Zork Zero from 5.25" diskettes
You can use two drives to cut down on disk
swapping; but, the game
will not make it through the startup if you place Disk 2 in Drive 2.
If
you have two drives, boot the game with Disk 1 in Drive 1 and Disk
3 in
Drive 2. (You will be asked to insert Disk 2 in Drive 1 during
startup.)
Before you boot the game, be sure to format
a ProDOS diskette named
something like "ZZSAVE" to serve as a Save Game disk.
