GOG is up to something. Could it be Zork?

They've put up a Police Line until the 18th with specific instructions not to cross...and a bunch of code behind that seems to contain hints of what's coming. Speculation is running high (or maybe just hopeful) that one (or more?) of the Zork games may be their next release. Mad, I think you're a Zork fan; why don't you take a look and see if you think the guesses in the forum are right?

For sure, those guys do know how to get our interest!

Gil.

The Zork series would be a huge hit. Those games were very popular.

Whatever comes, I hope it's an adventure game. I've never played any of the Zork games, SQF. Have you?

Gil.

I did a quick visit and certainly noted a lot of all of which could apply.

But who knows ????

Didn't have time to visit the Forum though ....

Mad, you're quick! People in the forum noticed those words, too, and a few more but you got the gist of it. If it is Zork, which one would you be hoping for? (If you didn't have it already.)

Gil.

Yes .. I do already own all my favourite Zork games - and more than one version of some, where XP versions were released later
But if GOG perfected Return to Zork for modern machines, I would definitely go for that

"Want some rye? Course you do!"

Some of my favorite games of all time. I really hope they do them!

traveler,

I played several of the Zork games. The original games were text only and the later games in the series were really good especially Zork Nemesis and Zork Grand Inquisitor. I'm just guessing but I think the Zork games numbered in double digits.

This is a very interesting license for GOG to pick up. I am interested in seeing what the commercial reaction to these IF releases. The games are widely available as abandonware already, and it may be a difficult sell to the community.

Dave, there are plenty of illegal downloads of all games, old and new, available. Per our rules on GameBoomers they are not permitted or you will lose your member privileges. I would hope that our members and many other gamers would jump on the chance to purchase these games if they are made available to get legally because they acted responsibly and did not illegally download prior.

Ana

I just checked on Google and it looks like at least 13 Zork games exist. Nine of which were text games. If you count fan games the count goes to 21 games. I still remember opening the mailbox in the first game. Things sure have changed in the gaming world.

Dave, I've seen mention of IF several times and I have no idea what it means. Could you elucidate?

Gil.

Gil, IF stands for Interactive Fiction.

Ana

Interactive Fiction - Early games like Hunt the Wumpus, Leather Goddesses of Phobos and The Colossal Cave Adventure were IF's.

If they get the Zork games, I wonder if they'll have the other Infocom games available (Lost Treasures of Infocom)? There were some great games there like Planetfall, Hitchhikers guide, Moonmist, Wishbringer to name a few.

I bought the Infocom Masterpieces collection years ago, this had over 30 titles on it, including Hitchhikers, The Lurking Horror, Deadline (which I owned the original of once!), Trinity as well as loads of pdfs of all the manuals, hint sheets, and other gubbins you got with the games. Great collection, unfortunately they won't work on newer operating systems unless you use something like DOSBox.

Maybe GOG are going to release an updated version of the collection?

"Interactive Fiction"

Oh, duh! Talk about feeling dumb.

Gil.

I entirely agree with your sentiments. The economic challenge will be more for IF games than graphic adventures, though. We all remember that GOG began with graphic adventures. Diversifying their portfolio is always a challenge, and the choice for IF (assuming this is true) is a bold one.

I only know Zork Nemesis and Zork Grand Inquisitor. I hope it's one or both of those, although I can play the second with no help now. Nemesis needs all kinds of PC slowing help and is still not perfect. I currently own copies of both of these games, but like Tex games, will buy them again to play them correctly without any patches or whatnot.

Hi All,

Exciting isn't it? The words "You are" "maze of alike passages" "It black are likely eaten by" Zs all over the place and 2s all over the place. If there are 3 graphical Zorks to choose from, then from a GUE historical point of view I would guess Zork Grand Inquisitor, but from a view of release dates it would be Nemesis. I don't think it will be IF, but I've been wrong once before. Ouch! I am being SMMMMIIIITTTTENNN!!!! I must get away from the Inquisitor!

Can't wait! Zorks are some of my very favorites

Mr. Bill

Oh boy, I would love to play Zork again! Still have the discs, but would love to have it work without tweaking! Looking forward to checking tomorrow!

Koalanut

Not trying to change the topic, but the police tape and name "Detective Sonny Bonds" suggests Police Quest I-III.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Zork Nemesis; it's second only to Myst as my favorite game. I loved it!

Maybe it's both Zork and Police Quest! Anyway, tomorrow we'll know.

Gil

Taken from mail from GOG.con:

0.o! Does this mean they will be updated to work with new operating systems? I'd definitely want to get them then. Um, not to appear uninformed or anything, but what in the world is GOG, and what is their website?

Jean, you can access it here: Gog.com

It is made to run on newer machines.

Ana

Thanks Ana!

"...the choice for IF (assuming this is true) is a bold one."

You nailed it, DaveHT. These are Zork text adventures. Well, I'm up for a challenge (and they are a challenge for me, I'm so bad at "talking" to the game to get anywhere) but I can always hope that the graphic adventures will follow along in time.

Gil.

Boy was I wrong!

I still hope to see Return to Zork and Zork Grand Inquisitor get done by GOG. I already have the Anthology so I'll have to sit back, be patient and keep hoping.

I have to say that I am thrilled with what GOG.com is doing and I will do whaterver it takes to support them. It was also very nice to find out about DotEmu.com here on GameBoomers as well. Thank You!

Cheers,

Bill

"I have to say that I am thrilled with what GOG.com is doing and I will do whaterver it takes to support them."

Me too, mrbill

Gog sure is picking up a lot of fans. I can't wait to see what they put out next.

Based on what I heard from you guys about Zork, I went to GOG and downloaded it. I've gotta say that I don't like it. All I get is written text in DOS with a flashing curser that expects me to write something.

Is that the way the game is supposed to go? I don't get it.

That's what a text adventure IS

Melia,

The Zork games they've all been saying they liked so much are not text adventures. The ones GOG has just released are early in the series, back when gaming was new, AFAIK. With luck, eventually GOG will have the later games.

Gil.

Hi Melia,

That's how adventure gaming started back in the mid to late 1970s. The computers were massive called main-frames and filled entire rooms. They were not able to deal much at all with graphics at the time. When home computers came out they were very expensive and could only run small programs like text adventures. Zork 1 was released for sale in about 1980 for over $40.00. What you just bought would have cost over $250 and the computer that would run them might have cost up to several thousand dollars. What you are playing is a bit of gaming history. Give them a chance and let your imagination soar. Depending on what you type in might give you a few belly laughs. There are walkthroughs available to help you out.

Take care,

Mr. Bill

If you have played the first Monkey Island game, you'll know what to do. Just write n for north, s for south, e for east and w for west.

You need to type in commands like 'open mailbox' or 'close window' or 'open grate' or 'look down' or 'look up'. And try not to be eaten by a grue (hint: they don't like light much...grues that is)

Hi Melia-

Mr Bill has a great page over at his Adventureland which helps to explain which commands can be used for the text adventures-

http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/howto/intfiction/textplay.htm

You also might want to check out Wikipedia for background info on 'interactive fiction', 'Infocom', or even 'Zork' to get a feel for what IF's are all about.

I never had to do that with The Secret of Monkey Island.
My first version of the game was on those huge floppies, my next was on the 3.5 and currently I have it on CD.

So, there was an even older version that MY first one ??

Mind boggling

Thanks, all. I didn't realize that what I'd bought was a text adventure. I'll try your website, Mr. Bill, and see how it goes.

Which are the games with pictures, too?

Hi Melia-

I think the following later Zork games either had some pictures or were entirely graphic- Zork Zero, Zork Nemesis, Return to Zork and Zork Grand Inquisitor.

I also remember the old Legend Entertainment games as having some pictures to go along with the text adventure. Some were written by Steve Meretzky who wrote a bunch of the Infocom games. These were games such as Spellcasting 101-301, Gateway 1 and 2, and Eric the Unready. Great games.

I just meant that in the first Monkey Island game, you had to actually write talk or walk. But for the movement you used the arrow keys or the mouse.

Zork Nemesis and Zork Grand Inquisitor are games with graphics.

Melia,

Return to Zork (1993), Zork Nemesis (1996) and Zork Grand Inquisitor (1997) are the Zork graphic adventure games.

Take care,

Mr. Bill

Are you sure you aren't thinking of the first King's Quest? As far as I know, every version of Secret of Monkey Island used the SCUMM engine, where you pick a verb that's listed on the screen and never actually type anything in. SCUMM was first introduced in LucasArt's Maniac Mansion. JA has an article on SCUMM ***here***.
Check the screenshots at Mobygames. There's no place to type.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/secret-of-monkey-island/screenshots

But with the first King's Quest, yes you had to type, and you can see where your words appear at the bottom of the screen in these screenshots.
http://www.mobygames.com/game/kings-quest/screenshots

Thanks, Jenny100 !!

I was sure I HAD bought "the" original version of Monkey Island when I first purchased it

[Just love those games and still re-play them regularly ]

Cheers.

Mad

I'm playing a Zork game on my iPad now. It is the last story in a list of the app called "Frotz"