Mail Bag

The "Call the Exterminators" article in the Winter issue of The New Zork Times generated more mail than any other article we have run (excluding the puzzles). We'd like to thank those of you who wrote to us. We are unable to print all of the letters received due to space considerations.

Dear Mr. Vezza
and Staff of NZT:

Thank you very much for The New Zork Times. I am a real Infocom groupie. I love all of your games because they are challenging and they respect my intelligence rather than insulting it.

As a result of this addiction, I really appreciate getting first-hand beef on what's new and forthcoming from the Infolabs. I thought that you should be commended for your informative and humorous publication. I am sure that I speak for thousands of others. The puzzles are also challenging, and a lot of fun, too! Another great idea.

I have questions for your summer edition: How do you determine the point value for the solving of any particular puzzle or treasure? What happens after Zork VI? Are you going to carry the Zork series further, to 7, 8, and 9? Again, congrats. Thanks for reading my letter.

P.S.– Crush Spinnaker and Lotus!

Editor's response: The point values for treasures or problems are related to the difficulty of attaining or solving them (with some exceptions, such as the 2 point treasure in Zork I ). Different problems are more or less difficult for different people, but on average large numbers of points are associated with difficult problems. As for Zork VII etc., that would be telling.

Gentlemen:
I am only 13 years old, but a true adventurer. The article "Call the Exterminator" reminded me of a mirror that fights back in Zork I.

The player types HIT MIRROR WITH SWORD and Zork replies any one of the combat replies, like "Clash! Clang! The mirror parries!" or something else like "The mirror dies in a cloud of sinister black fog."

I am glad I shared this news with you.

Peter Schweda
Chicago Illinois

To the Editor:
I loved your newest issue, and especially liked the part about the bugs in the games, but I was surprised to find that you missed the bug that is the most fun to play with. On the TRS-80 Model I version, if you type:

>GIVE AXE TO TROLL

it responds with something like:

The troll accepts your gift, and not having the most discriminating tastes, eats it.

The troll, disarmed, is cowering and begging for forgiveness in the gutteral tongue of the trolls.

If you give the troll to the troll, he similarly eats himself, and disappears; however, he still bars you from leaving the room.

Another fun bug (if you can get it to happen) is if you give the troll to the thief. The thief takes the troll and puts him in his bag. When you kill the thief, the troll pops up and blocks off all the exits from the room. If you give the thief to the troll, he will just reappear later in the game.

Adam Cliff Honig
Huntington, NY

Dear Enchanter programmer:
I regret to inform you that you have not allowed for the capture and sacrifice of any creature besides the humble novice enchanter such as myself who inadvertently strays into the Temple during a ceremony. Having instructed the turtle to enter the temple, I was dismayed to discover that upon completion of the turtle's three or four move term in the Cell, it was I who was released from the cell (which I had never entered) only to be offered up as a sacrifice to some bloodthirsty god in a rather gruesome ritual.

Similarly, when the loyal turtle or the shifty adventurer encounters the hideous shapes which seem to plague areas such as the Banquet Hall and the Library, it is once again the good-hearted enchanter who receives notice of their fate as if it were his own, although he thankfully is not obliged to share that fate.

Christopher P. Thorman (MIT '88)
Great Falls, VA

To Whoever (preferably the writer of "Call the Exterminator" for the Volume #3, Issue #1 of The New Zork Times):

Talk about bugs. Poor Michael has one in Suspended. What happened was: I had Waldo get the four-inch cable which ended up in a "Sizzle...." Big Deal! I had Poet drag Waldo to Alpha Repair and pull him up on the glider so he could get fixed. After he got fixed, I had them go back to the Primary Channel where Waldo got zapped. But I noticed something when I asked Poet to look. He replied, "...in the room with me is a non-functional Waldo." I immediately had Waldo look to make sure he was working. Waldo was working and replied, "...in the room with me is non-functional Poet"!

John Eric Markey
Houston, TX

Dear Zorkers:
I just read The New Zork Times and I loved it. When I first got Zork I, which was a long time ago, I found out that if you get in the raft and put the torch in the raft, the raft will burn to ashes and you won't be able to move. If you say WEST (or another direction), it says "You can't control the magic boat with words." But if you say GET OUT OF THE BOAT, it says "You can't see any boat here." Anyway, keep up the good work!

P.S.– On all my games (and I have all to date), if I say AGAIN as the first move, they say "Brief Descriptions."

Kevin Clark

Editor's Note: The boat is "magic."

* * Letter of the Month * *

Dear Sirs:

I am presently designing a game of my own, but I am basing it from games like Zork II, to do this I have to make the program like the following example LET C EQUAL 24, and that would take a considerable time to program.

The main reason why I am writing, is that on the monitor screen Zork II aids or prompts you with an arrow for your answer to the question which is in words not numbers which I like. If possible, could you please explain in great detail how to program for prompt arrow. Thank you for your time and consideration.

(name withheld)

LET US KNOW

Here at Middlesex County offices of The New Zork Times, we take great pride in the quality of our work. Even after issues are "out the door," we're constantly improving, honing, and perfecting. If you find an error, feel that an article was boring or particularly good, a puzzle was too hard or too easy, or have suggestions for future articles or puzzles, drop us a note! We love every excuse to stop working, and a letter from you is just such an excuse! Write to:
New Zork Times Editor
  Infocom
  55 Wheeler Street.
  Cambridge, MA 02138

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These historical, out-of-print articles and literary works have been GNUSTOed onto InvisiClues.org for academic and research purposes.