Contents
WZip Contents

WZip is an Infocom™ game interpreter for Windows. Based on Mark Howell's ZIP program, it offers a few bells and whistles (and, for all I know, gongs, doodads and whatsits!) not provided in the normal DOS versions of Infocom interpreters.

Help is available on the following subjects:

Information

Gives some information about ZIP and this Windows port of it.

Installation and Operation

Details on installing and using WZip.

Contacting the Author(s)

Sending bug reports, comments etc. to the authors.

Known problems

Known problems with Wzip in general, and this version in particular.

Wish List

Some things that might be nice to have in future versions of WZip.

Acknowledgments

People who have helped produce WZip.

Infocom Fact Sheet

Paul David Doherty's Infocom Fact Sheet, included here for reference. Contains everything you ever wanted to know about Infocom and its products..


Information

Mark Howell's ZIP interpreter (on which WZip is based) comes with an information file which contains the following comment:

"zip - This interpreter will run all Infocom V1 to V5 games. It includes support for timeouts in Border Zone, screen displays in Beyond Zork and implements the #record debugging function, etc."

This Windows port should do the same. It also includes the rune font for Beyond Zork, resizable screens, support for proportional fonts (for the text window, anyway), and a command-line history feature.

Further information is available in:

Differences between WZip and other Infocom interpreters

Programming information

You should also take notice of the following statement from Mark (with which I concur):

Disclaimer:

You are expressly forbidden to use this program if in so doing you violate the copyright notice supplied with the original Infocom game.

This means you.

See Also:

Contents


Installation and Operation
WZip Installation and Operation

Installation is easy. Put wzip.exe, zorkfont.fon and wzip.hlp on your hard drive. They can all be put in the Windows home directory if you want, but for ease of removal it's probably best to make a separate sub-directory for them (something like \games\zip would be fine). You may also need to copy bwcc.dll into your \windows\system directory if there isn't already a copy there. Then make a Program Manager entry for WZip in the usual way, and you're in business!

If you want to be really cunning, and we're talking really, really, mega-cunning here, you can use the File/Associate command in the Windows File Manager to associate wzip.exe with files which have an extension of .dat. Once you've done that, clicking on any file with the .dat extension under File Manager will bring up WZip and run the game.

For more information, see:

Menus

Information on WZip's menu system.

Fonts

A discussion about the fonts used in WZip.

See Also:

Contents


Differences
Differences between WZip and others

- The familiar [MORE] display becomes a small dialog box which appears when the screen fills. You can move it out of the way to read the text, then click the OK button (or press Enter) to continue.

- Large "scroll-back" buffer so that you can read text which has scrolled off the screen. No more having to type 'I' every three moves because you can't remember what you have in your inventory.

- Ability to change text, background and highlight colours on the fly (as long as the fly doesn't object).*

- The program's window can be resized, although this feature should be used with care. See Known problems for more details.

- Use of the Windows Common Dialog Box for opening/saving/restoring files. Means you can even run game files across a network if you have NT or WfWg.

- Automatic pause control when you minimise WZip. This means that the keyboard timers (so far only used in Border Zone, but you never know) are disabled while WZip is iconised.

- Separate directories are maintained (and saved in wzip.ini) for data files and save files. Your saved games don't clutter up your data file directory (and if you're networked, they can even be on a different machine), all without having to laboriously change drives/directories each time.

- File extensions used for data files and save files are added to the dialog box filter where necessary. For example, I like to use the file extension to indicate which game a given save file belongs to. Thus a Zork I save file might be named "139pts.z1". The next time you want to save or restore a game, all files with the extension ".z1" are initially presented in the dialog box, and the "*.z1" filter is added to the filter list. The same applies to game files: if you run Graham Nelson's Curses, using its normal filename of curses.z5, the next time you start a game then only games matching the "*.z5" wildcard will be initially displayed.

Note that these filter additions will not appear if you stop and re-start the program.

- The command line input is now a (more or less) standard Windows edit control, which means you can cut and paste text to and from the clipboard. There's also a command history (accessible by moving the mouse to the text area and clicking on the right button to go backwards in the list or the left button to go forwards) which saves the last twenty commands you typed.

Suggestions for any other improvements are welcome.

See Also:

Contents


Programming Information

WZip was compiled with Borland C++ 3.1 using the large programming model. I have no idea whether it can easily be ported to other compilers, but you're welcome to try.

See Also:

Contents


Menus
WZip Menus

The WZip main menu has the following entries:

File Menu

Load, save and restore games. Quit WZip.

Edit Menu

Mouse operations, cutting and pasting.

Setup Menu

Customising WZip.

Help Menu

The help menu system.

See Also:

Installation and Operation

Contents


Fonts
Fonts Used In WZip

It's been said that one of the great things about Windows is that you can spend an hour or so deciding which font to use to print your shopping list. And there's no doubt that you can get an impossibly large number of fonts for Windows. Most of them can be used with this version of Wzip (so if for some reason you really want to play Zork I in 15 point Zapf Chancery, you'll be able to do so).

First, however, a short discussion of fonts may be in order. Infocom games were originally designed to be run on terminals and computers which, display-wise, were little more than electronic implementations of the Teletypes of yesteryear. One of the implications of this is that all characters occupy the same width. This is called "fixed-pitch", or "monospace" type. Now a glance at most newspapers, or possibly even this very help file, will show that a character such as 'I' takes up lots less width than does the 'm', for example. This is called a "proportional" or "variable-pitch" font, and most Windows applications can use these. Wzip is no exception.

In fact, you get to choose two different fonts with Wzip: proportional-pitch and fixed-pitch. Proportional fonts are used in WZip's text window (except for the odd occasion when the game requests otherwise), and fixed-pitch fonts are used in the status window. Generally, the choice of a proportional font doesn't matter much (as long as it's within the bounds of good taste [whatever that is]), but the choice of a suitable fixed-pitch font may require a little more care.

This version of WZip comes with a copy of the rune fonts used in Beyond Zork. I don't have the capability to produce proper TrueType fonts, so they're just old-style raster fonts. Now Beyond Zork expects the width of its rune font to be the same as that of its normal font (which in our case is the fixed-pitch font). This proves to be a little difficult under Windows if one font is a TrueType font and the other isn't; on my system, it only works properly with 11 point Courier New. You may need to try several different fonts and font sizes to get an acceptable match; the original Courier (presumably non-New) fonts are raster fonts and seem to work properly. If anyone has the capability to produce TrueType fonts, and feels up to the task, please let me know.

If you can't seem to get a satisfactory combination, see Running WZip without the Rune Fonts

See Also:

Setup Menu

Installation and Operation

Contents


Running Wzip Without Rune Fonts
Running WZip Without the Rune Fonts

If you don't seem to be able to find a combination of fixed-pitch fonts that work with Beyond Zork, you can always revert to the simpler system (provided in the earlier version of Wzip) of having the map and status borders drawn in text mode. You do this by turning off the Use Rune Font option in the Configuration Dialog Box, which will in turn enable the Enable Line Drawing Characters button. If this button is set to off, WZip (or more correctly the game) will draw the maps using normal text characters. This looks a bit awful, but it does have the advantage that it should work with almost any fixed-pitch font.

A vast improvement in the display can be obtained by using a fixed-pitch font that contains the normal IBM line-drawing character set. Unfortunately, most fixed-pitch fonts (including Courier and Courier New, supplied with Windows) don't contain the line-drawing characters. All is not lost, however: if you check your local BBSes, or a Windows Internet site, you should be able to find a font called MS LineDraw, which is like Courier New in all respects except that it contains the line drawing set (instead of some of the international characters). If you can get a copy of this font, be sure to select Enable Line Drawing Characters in the Configuration Dialog Box to allow WZip to use them.

Beyond Zork does present one other problem to Windows implementations using text-mode graphics: it expects to be able to use the up, down left and right arrow characters (↑↓←→). Now for reasons that would be tedious to explain, most Windows fonts (including Courier New and MS LineDraw) don't contain these characters, but the Symbol font (which should have been installed with Windows) does. This means that you will need the Symbol font installed for best results with WZip, otherwise you're likely to get strange characters being printed here and there. Naturally, if you're using the rune fonts, the arrow symbols are built in to the font and you won't need the Symbol font.

One thing you should be aware of if you intend to switch between the rune fonts and text mode is that Beyond Zork saves which mode it's in when you save a game. This means that if you save a game while displaying the rune fonts, then try to restore it while you have WZip in text mode, the display will look awful.

See Also:

Fonts

Setup Menu

Installation and Operation

Contents


File Menu

The following operations are performed from the WZip File menu:

New Game

Starts a new game. If a game is already running, you'll be prompted for confirmation that you want to quit the current game and start a new one.

Close Game

Closes the current game. Again, you'll be prompted for confirmation that this is really what you want to do.

Save

Saves the current game (same as typing save from the game prompt). Brings up a dialog box for you to supply the file name.

Restore

Just like save, except it restores a previously-saved game.

Buffer Save

Allows you to save the contents of the text buffer, including those parts which have scrolled off the screen. Useful if you discover after the fact that you wanted to save an especially interesting section of a game to a file.

Exit

Quits WZip. If a game is running at the time, you will be prompted for confirmation.

History

At the end of the File Menu, a list of previously-run games will be presented. Saves having to select an often-used game each time you start Wzip. The game history list will be saved in wzip.ini.

See Also:

Contents


Edit Menu

WZip's Edit menu functions are just like those in all Windows programs, although they work only when Wzip is asking for a line input.

Cut

Deletes the current selection and places it in the Clipboard.

Copy

Copies the current selection to the Clipboard.

Paste

Pastes the current Clipboard contents into the command line.

See Also:

Contents


Setup Menu

The operations here allow you to customise WZip according to your own tastes. These settings will be saved in wzip.ini in your Windows directory (not in win.ini as far too many programs already do).

Font

Allows you to select the fonts used by WZip. The variable-pitch font is used in the text window, and the fixed-pitch font is used in the status window (and in the text window whenever the game requests it). See Fonts for more details.

You can also specify the size of the font. The optimum size is determined by your display mode; for normal VGA mode, 8 or 9 point is probably best. If you have Super VGA or above, try using larger font sizes.

Colours

Lets you change the text, background and highlight colours.

Configuration

Brings up the Configuration Dialog Box which allows you to change the way WZip works. These settings will be saved in the wzip.ini file for use next time you start WZip.

See Also:

Contents


Help Menu

Index

Do I really need to tell you about this one? It's probably how you got here, after all.

Using Help

Brings up a Windows-supplied file on general operation of the Windows help system.

About

Gives information about the version of WZip.

See Also:

Contents


Contacting the Authors

I'm responsible for porting ZIP to Windows, and I suspect most problems will occur here. I can be contacted at:

nmurrayr@cc.curtin.edu.au

if you encounter difficulties.

The original ZIP interpreter was written by Mark Howell (howell_ma@movies.enet.dec.com). Any problems which don't appear to be associated with the Windows port should be directed to him.

Suggestions, naturally, are always welcome.

Ron Murray, 12/9/94

See Also:

Contents


Known Problems

There are probably lots of problems with Wzip that I don't know about. If you find one, tell me about it. See Contacting the Author(s) for how to do this.

Some problems that you may encounter are:

- The ability to resize the window is a feature that requires a certain responsibility on the part of the user. Making the window too narrow or insufficiently high will result in some games aborting. Other games will appear to run correctly, but some of the displays will look a little odd, or not work properly..

For example, if the screen is too narrow, Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail Of It will run, but the status line will be lacking in several respects. If the screen is not high enough, the hints in the Version 5 incarnation of Zork I appear to be OK, but the hint you select won't be the one you get. If you are having troubles of this nature, try maximising the screen (or select a smaller font) before going any further. You may need to re-start the game to test if this cures the problem.

Note too that resizing the window during a game may cause strange effects. Most likely, the status line will no longer appear correctly, because most games use the size at the beginning of the game to calculate a few things; since they don't expect the window to be resized, they don't bother to calculate these things again.

- Selection of the proper fixed-pitch font (for the status window) will determine whether or not the rune fonts used in Beyond Zork will display correctly. See Fonts for details on how to select fixed-pitch fonts.

- Cursor keys don't work very well in the command line input. Unfortunately this can't really be improved: some games (Beyond Zork is one of them) require the cursor keys themselves, so they can't really be used for command input as well.

- I am aware that the screen scrolling is painfully slow. It's at its most painful if you're running a Super VGA mode (i.e. anything other than 640 x 480 x 16) on an old video board. Anyone who can tell me how to make it go faster will be congratulated.

See Also:

Contents


Wish List

There are obviously many ways in which WZip could be improved. Some possibilities are:

- Handle Version 6 games like Zork Zero;

- A "floating" control window which you can click on for the popular directions (up, down, n, s, e, w etc.);

I'm sure you can think of many more. If you can, let me know. See Contacting the Author(s) for how to do this.

See Also:

Contents


Acknowledgments

Wzip would not have been produced without the help of others. In particular:

- Mark Howell (howell_ma@movies.enet.dec.com) produced the original ZIP interpreter, and found time to provide valuable advice.

- Paul David Doherty (who is responsible for the Infocom Fact Sheet) tested the earlier version of Wzip with more games than I had, and furthermore knew what he was doing. He also finally managed to persuade me that fixed-pitch fonts for the text window were not sufficient. He was also a source of lots of bug reports, which I hope I accepted with good grace. And last (but not least) he supplied me with a list of the rune fonts used in Beyond Zork.

- Derek Tolley (tolley@cs.ucf.edu) supplied details of better screen routines than the ones I'd originally written, and also provided lots more ideas.

Thanks to all of you, and to all the others who provided comments and encouragement.

See Also:

Contents


Infocom Fact Sheet

4.6 - August 11, 1994

Compiled by Paul David Doherty

This file includes some information about Infocom's games and related

subjects. Thanks to everybody who made contributions. For suggestions and

corrections, please mail me at <h0142kdd@rz.hu-berlin.de>. The most recent

version of this file can be found as

   ftp.gmd.de:/if-archive/infocom/info/fact-sheet.txt.

List of contents:

I    Released Games

II   Packaging Details

III  Data Files

IV   Words and Objects

V    Implementors

VI   Newsletters

VII  Trivia

VIII Chronology

See Also:

Contents


Fact Sheet I
Infocom Fact Sheet I: Released Games

This table lists all software products released under the Infocom label.

The information is given in the form "PrC R Yr  Title_of_program (Author)",

where PrC is the Product Code, R is the difficulty rating and Yr the year

of publication.

Every Infocom product had a specific Order Code which consisted of the

Product Code (to identify the program) and a System Code which identified

the platform for which this product was produced. For example, the Order

Code IM3-CO4 identifies the game "Suspect" (IM3) for the Commodore Amiga

(CO4). The Order Code was printed on the program disk as well as on the

box.

The following System Codes have been used:

 AC1 Apricot                         IB1 IBM & 100% Compatibles

 AP1 Apple II (32/48 K, 16/18-sec.)  IB2 IBM & MS-DOS Compatibles

 AP2 Apple Macintosh                 KA1 Kaypro II (CP/M)

 AT1 Atari XL/XE (48 K, 810/1050)    MS1 MS-DOS 2.0

 AT2 Atari ST                        NE1 NEC PC-8000 (56 K, CP/M)

 CO1 Commodore 64 (1541)             NE2 NEC APC (CP/M-86)

 CO2 ?                               OS1 Osborne (CP/M)

 CO3 ?                               TA1 TRS-80 Model I (32/48 K, disk)

 CO4 Commodore Amiga                 TA2 ?

 CO5 Commodore 128 ONLY              TA3 TRS-80 Model III (32/48 K, disk)

 CP1 CP/M (2.0+, 48 K, 8")           TA4 TRS-80 Color Computer (48 K, disk)

 DE1 PDP-11 (RT-11)                  TI1 TI Professional

 DE2 DEC Rainbow (CP/M)              TI2 TI 99/4 A (48 K, disk)

 EP1 Epson QX-10

Other supported platforms: Apple IIgs (system code ?), Commodore Plus/4

(no system code), Amstrad CPC/PCW (system code: UQD [or similar]).

There have been 4 difficulty ratings:

   i - Introductory (called Junior on "Seastalker")

   s - Standard

   a - Advanced

   e - Expert

I.1 Interactive Fiction (IF)

----------------------------

Fantasy

IZ0 i 85  Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams (Brian Moriarty)

IZ1 s 80  Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)

IZ2 a 81  Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)

IZ3 a 82  Zork III: The Dungeon Master (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)

IZ4 s 83  Enchanter (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)

IZ5 a 84  Sorcerer (Steve Meretzky)

IZ6 e 85  Spellbreaker (Dave Lebling)

IZ7 s 86  Trinity (Brian Moriarty)

IZ8 - 87  Beyond Zork (Brian Moriarty)

IZ9 - 88  Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz (Steve Meretzky)

Science Fiction

IS1 e 82  Starcross (Dave Lebling)

IS2 e 83  Suspended (Mike Berlyn)

IS3 s 83  Planetfall (Steve Meretzky)

IS4 s 84  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams/Steve Meretzky)

IS5 a 85  A Mind Forever Voyaging (Steve Meretzky)

IS6 - 87  Stationfall (Steve Meretzky)

Mystery

IM1 e 82  Deadline (Marc Blank)

IM2 s 83  The Witness (Stu Galley)

IM3 a 84  Suspect (Dave Lebling)

IM4 s 85  Ballyhoo (Jeff O'Neill)

IM5 i 86  Moonmist (Stu Galley/Jim Lawrence)

Tales of Adventure

IA1 a 83  Infidel (Mike Berlyn/Patricia Fogleman)

IA2 i 84  Seastalker (Stu Galley/Jim Lawrence)     *** first released as IK1

IA3 s 84  Cutthroats (Mike Berlyn/Jerry Wolper)

IA4 s 86  Hollywood Hijinx  (Dave Anderson/Liz Cyr-Jones)

IA5 - 89  James Clavell's Shogun (Dave Lebling)

Comedy

IC1 s 86  Leather Goddesses of Phobos (Steve Meretzky)

IC2 - 87  Bureaucracy (Douglas Adams et al.)

IC3 - 87  Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It (Jeff O'Neill)

Horror

IH1 - 87  The Lurking Horror (Dave Lebling)

Romance

IR1 - 87  Plundered Hearts (Amy Briggs)

Espionage

IE1 - 87  Border Zone (Marc Blank)

Immortal Legends

CS1 - 87  Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (Bob Bates)

Chronicles

IJ1 - 89  Journey (Marc Blank)

Living Literature

IL1 - 89  Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur (Bob Bates/Duane Beck)

I.2 Demos, Samplers, Compilations

---------------------------------

Demos & Samplers

ID1?- 84  Zork Demo

ID2 - 84  The Four-In-One Infocom Sampler

            (contains samples of Infidel, Planetfall, and Zork I, a session

            transcript from The Witness, and Marc Blank's Catch-A-Butterfly

            tutorial)

ID3 - 87  The Four-In-One Infocom Sampler

            (contains samples of Zork I, LGOP, and Trinity, and a

            Wishbringer tutorial)

--- - 87  Mini-Zork I

            (only available for the C-64, this one came with Infocom's one

            and only cassette based ZIP; it was finally published in

            "Zzap! 64" #67, Nov. 1990)

Trilogies

IT1 - 87  Zork Trilogy              [IF1, IF2, IF3]

IT2 - 87  Enchanter Trilogy         [IF4, IF5, IF6]

IT3 - 87  Classic Mystery Library   [IM2, IM3, IM5]

IT4 - 87  Science Fiction Classics  [IS4, IS3, IS5]

I.3 Non-IF

----------

Infocomics

SL1 - 88  Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen (Steve Meretzky)

SG1 - 88  Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams (Amy Briggs)

SZ1 - 88  ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle (Elizabeth Langosy)

SZ2 - 88  ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom (Elizabeth Langosy)

Others

BC1 - 85  Cornerstone (Brian Berkowitz/Rich Ilson et al.)

GS1 - 86  Fooblitzky (Mike Berlyn/Marc Blank/Brian Cody/Poh C. Lim/

          Paula Maxwell)

IF1 - 88  Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth (Scott Schmitz/Ken Updike &

          Amy Briggs)

IF2 - 88  BattleTech:  The Crescent Hawk's Inception (Westwood Ass.)

I.4 Post-Infocom "Infocom" releases

-----------------------------------

224 - 89  Mines of Titan (Westwood Ass.)

225 - 90  Circuit's Edge (Westwood Ass.)

??? - 91  BattleTech 2: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Westwood Ass.)

--- - 91  The Lost Treasures of Infocom

--- - 92  Leather Goddesses of Phobos II (Steve Meretzky)

--- - 92  The Lost Treasures of Infocom II

--- - 93  Return to Zork (William Volk et al.)

--- - 94  Planetfall 2: The Search for Floyd (Steve Meretzky)

See Also:

Contents

Infocom Fact Sheet


Fact Sheet II
Infocom Fact Sheet II: Packaging Details

All sizes (width x height x depth) are given in mm.

II.1 Very Old Packaging

-----------------------

The Personal Software version of "Zork I" was simply called "Zork". It came

in a 226x320x5 plastic zip-lock bag containing the disk and a 36-page

booklet.

II.2 Old Packagings (first twelve games)

-------------------

Zork I-III    blister pack [i.e. card with plastic tray]

              158x249 for 5.25" disks, 238x256 for 8" disks

 [nothing except piece of paper with instructions]

Deadline      police folder in 302x256x3 pouch

 1. Inspector's Casebook

 2. plastic bag with 3 white pills

 3. interview notes (5 pages)

 4. Corpus Delicti (coroner's note)

 5. letter from Coates to Chief of Police

 6. Police Dept. official memo

 7. Lab report

 8. photo of murder scene

Starcross     304x306x45 flying saucer

 1. space map

 2. instruction booklet

Suspended     240x317x70 box with recessed white face mask

 1. instruction booklet with congratulatory letter

 2. laminated colored cardboard map (600x230x3) of the Underground

    Complex (folded once)

 3. six robot tracking devices (flat black round plastic chips)

 4. plastic mask

 [Lottery Card as well?]

The Witness   police folder in 302x256x3 pouch

 1. February 1938 issue of "Nat'l Detective Gazette"

 2. Virginia Linder's suicide note

 3. Western Union telegram from Freeman Linder

 4. matchbook of "The Brass Lantern"

 5. February 1, 1938 issue of Santa Ana's "The Register"

Planetfall    240x304x8 folder

 1. "Today's Stellar Patrol" - recruitment brochure

 2. Special Assignment Task Force I.D. card

 3. three postcards (Ramos II, Nebulon, Accardi-3)

 4. personal diary (4 pages, 1 of them empty)

Enchanter     308x239x12 box, containing pouch with

 1. Guild directory [Guild instructions, large!]

 2. ancient scroll with "wax" (rubber) seal

Infidel       235x304x8 folder in form of writing case

 1. True tales of adventure

 2. letter to Rose Ellingsworth (5 pages)

 3. envelope addressed to Rose Ellingsworth

 4. pergament map of excavation site

 5. pergament with stone rubbing of hieroglyphs and hieroglyph translations

Sorcerer      308x239x12 box, containing pouch with

 1. "Popular Enchanting" magazine

 2. Infotater

Seastalker    238x300x7 folder

 1. "Scimitar Logbook"

 2. nautical chart of Frobton Bay (integrated in folder)

 3. sticker "The Discovery Squad * Dive Deep * Dive Far"

 4. eight clue cards and 1 instruction card

 5. Infocard decoder (integrated in folder)

II.3 Standard Box Format

------------------------

For all games released from Summer 1984 onwards, and for the re-releases of

the old games, a consistent format (a 229x189x25 grey box with colored

horizontal stripes) was employed. It opened like a book to reveal a booklet

("browsie") and the Instruction Manual. (The browsie is always listed as

first item.) A re-closable tray contained all the other package elements.

a) Re-releases:

Zork I

 B. "The GUE: A History" by Froboz Munbar

 1. a map

Zork II

 B. "G.U.E. on nine zorkmids a day" - a traveller's guide

 1. travel brochure "Bozbarland"

 2. travel brochure "Grayslopes"

Deadline

 B. Documentary evidence, file #H657/SJ43.1

 1. plastic bag with 3 white pills

 2. Corpus Delicti (coroner's note)

 3. letter from Coates to Chief of Police

 4. photo of murder scene

Zork III

 B. "FrobozzCo International Annual Report 778 GUE"

 1. stock certificate (100 shares a 1 zm)

 2. letter from Chairman of the Board of FrobozzCo

Starcross

 B. "Log of the M.C.S. STARCROSS"

 1. space map

 2. "Bureau of Extra-Solar Intelligence" instructions for alien encounters

Suspended

 B. "Briefing for the Contra Central Mentality"

 1. cardboard map of the Underground Complex [playing board]

 2. robot tracking devices (6 black rubber chips) [markers]

 3. Contra Central Mentality Lottery Card

 4. congratulatory letter from Lottery Commision HQ

The Witness

 B. February 1938 issue of "Nat'l Detective Gazette"

 1. Virginia Linder's suicide note

 2. Western Union telegram from Freeman Linder

 3. matchbook of "The Brass Lantern"

 4. February 1, 1938 issue of Santa Ana's "The Register"

Planetfall

 B. "Today's Stellar Patrol" - recruitment brochure

 1. Special Assignment Task Force I.D. card

 2. three postcards (Ramos II, Nebulon, Accardi-3)

 3. personal diary (4 pages, 1 of them empty)

Enchanter

 B. "A Brief History Of Magic" by Gustar Woomax

 1. ancient scroll with "wax" (rubber) seal

Infidel

 B. "Expedition Log, Ellingsworth Pyramid Search"

 1. letter to Rose Ellingsworth (2 pages)

 2. envelope addressed to Rose Ellingsworth

 3. pergament map of excavation site

 4. pergament with stone rubbing of hieroglyphs

Sorcerer

 B. "Popular Enchanting" magazine

 1. "Field Guide to the Creatures of Frobozz" (replaced Infotater)

Seastalker

 B. "Scimitar Logbook"

 1. nautical chart of Frobton Bay

 2. sticker "The Discovery Squad * Dive Deep * Dive Far"

 3. five hint cards (4 "Infocards", 1 instruction card)

 4. Infocard decoder

b) New Games:

Cutthroats

 B. "True Tales of Adventure"

 1. "Four Shipwrecks off Hardscrabble Island" booklet

 2. Outfitters Int'l Price List (with tide table)

HHGG

 B. "How Many Times has This Happened to you?" - HHGG sales brochure

 1. two "Orders for Destruction" (yellow and silver)

 2. black cardboard sunglasses

 3. "Don't Panic!" button

 4. fluff (in plastic bag)

 5. "microscopic space fleet" (empty plastic bag)

Suspect

 B. "Murder and Modern Manners" by Jane Darling Worthington

 1. invitation to Veronica's Halloween Ball

 2. note from editor of "The Washington Representative" newspaper

 3. page from "The Maryland Countryside" magazine

 4. William Cochrane's business card (with message to Veronica)

 5. receipt from "Costumes Unlimited"

Wishbringer

 B. "The Legend of Wishbringer"

 1. Wishbringer (glow-in-the-dark stone)

 2. postal map of Festeron and Antharia

 3. sealed envelope (contains letter)

AMFV

 B. hardcopy of "Dakota Online Magazine" (April 2031)

 1. map of Rockvil, South Dakota

 2. yellow plastic pen ("Quad Mutual Insurance")

 3. "Class One Security Mode Access Decoder"

Spellbreaker

 B. "Frobozz Magic Magic Equipment Catalog" (Fall 966)

 1. six enchanter trading cards

 2. Enchanter's Guild pin

Ballyhoo

 B. "The Traveling Circus That Time Forgot, Inc." souvenir program

 1. "Dr. Nostrum's Extract" trade card

 2. blue balloon

 3. circus ticket (August, 21) with punch-out holes

Trinity

 B. comic "The Illustrated History of the Atom Bomb"

 1. map of Trinity site

 2. cardboard DIY sundial

 3. instructions for folding origami crane

LGOP

 B. "The Adventures of Lane Mastodon #91" (3-D comic)

 1. 3-D glasses

 2. map of catacombs

 3. Scratch N Sniff card

Moonmist

 B. "Legendary Ghosts of Cornwall"

 1. two letters from Tamara (3 pages)

 2. visitor's guide "Welcome to Tresyllian Castle"

 3. MOONMIST iron-on logo

Enchanter Trilogy

  [Contains standard boxes of Enchanter, Sorcerer, and Spellbreaker]

Zork Trilogy

 B. "The GUE: A History" by Froboz Munbar

 1. metal coin (1 zorkmid) - "In Frobs We Trust"

 2. a map

 3. travel brochure "Bozbarland"

 4. travel brochure "Grayslopes"

 5. stock certificate (100 shares a 1 zm)

 6. letter from Chairman of the Board of FrobozzCo

Hollywood Hijinx

 B. "Tinsel World" magazine (vol. 35 no. 27)

 1. Aunt Hildegarde's will

 2. photo of Uncle Buddy (with poem on flip side)

 3. "Lucky Palm Tree Swizzle Stick" (green plastic)

Bureaucracy

 B. "You're ready to move!" (bank brochure)

 1. letter from your boss

 2. membership flyer for "Popular Paranoia"

 3. red pencil

 4. Beezer card application form (in triplicate)

II.4 New Standard Box Format

----------------------------

It had the same size as the old (booklike) standard box but was a slipcase

containing a cardboard tray. All package elements were put into that tray.

A "Technical Manual" came with every game.

Stationfall

 1. space station blueprints (envelope, 9 blueprints, 1 legend page)

 2. three forms (QX-17-T, JZ-59-G, HB-56-V)

 3. Stellar Patrol patch (Lieutenant First Class)

The Lurking Horror

 1. "G.U.E. at a Glance" (G.U.E. Tech guide)

 2. G.U.E. Tech student ID card

 3. red rubber centipede between 2 sheets of clear plastic

Nord and Bert

 1. "Home on the range" (12 page booklet with Kevin Pope cartoons)

Plundered Hearts

 1. "elegant velvet reticule" (blue pouch), containing

 2. 50 guinea note and

 3. letter from Jean Lafond

Beyond Zork

 1. "The Lore and Legends of Quendor"

 2. map of "Southland of Quendor"

Border Zone

 1. "I am Frobnia" tourist guide and phrasebook

 2. business card from "Riznik's Antiques"

 3. Frobnia National Railway matchbook

 4. map of the border

Sherlock

 1. tourist map of London

 2. copy of June 17, 1887 "The Thames"

 3. black rubber key fob (Holmes and Watson)

Zork Zero

 1. The Flathead Calendar (883 GUE)

 2. folded map - blueprints of Rockville Estates, with

 3. yellow Post-It attached to it

 4. scrap of parchment

Shogun

 1. folded map "The Known World 1600"

 2. "The Soul of the Samurai" paper

II.5 The Last Two Games

-----------------------

...came in non-standard software cartons.

Journey     202x202x27 box

 1. red velvet sack (contains piece of crystal)

 2. map

Arthur      178x228x25 box

 1. "Book of Hours"

II.6 Commodore Packagings

-------------------------

The Commodore 64 versions of 6 (maybe 8) games -- Zork I, Zork II, Zork

III, Deadline, Starcross and Suspended (and maybe Cutthroats and Suspect,

too) -- were exclusively distributed by CBM from 1983 to 1985. They came

in the usual blue-and-grey Commodore packaging without most of Infocom's

packaging elements.

II.7 Solid Gold Packagings

--------------------------

The five Solid Gold releases in 1987/88 came in thin folders (229x189x6)

containing only disks and an instruction manual.

II.8 Miscellaneous

------------------

Samplers    161x252 blister packs

Fooblitzky  298x223x36 box

Cornerstone [?]

II.9 Product Brochures

----------------------

One of these catalogues was put in each and every game package.

1983: "Our Worlds, and Welcome to Them"

1983: "Infocom Games and Accessories"

1983: "Our Circuits Ourselves!"

1984/85: "The Incomplete Works Of Infocom, Inc."

1985: "You are about to see the fantastic worlds of Infocom unfold before

       your very eyes"

1986: "Passport to the United Products of Infocom"

1986: "Infocom Transports You to Six New Worlds in 1986"

1987: "The Master Storytellers"

1988: "Infocom's New Graphics will blow you out of the water..."

See Also:

Contents

Infocom Fact Sheet


Fact Sheet III
Infocom Fact Sheet III: Data Files

III.1 Story Data Files

----------------------

a) Legend

Name   : Game title. "Solid Gold" releases (which have the same Product

         Codes as normal ones) are marked "SG".

?      : Versions marked with an "*" are the ones I have only heard of

         but never actually seen.

V.A    : Version number (a.k.a. "Release") and assembly date (a.k.a.

         "Serial number"). Typing VERSION in a game usually gives you

         this information.

Z-C    : The Z-Code version (1...6) of the data file. An "s" marks a data

         file that requires an interpreter with sound (not only beep)

         capabilities.

         The Z-Code versions correspond with the development stages of ZIP

         ("Z-machine Interpreter Program", the virtual interpreter) in the

         following way:             ZIP      Z-Code

                                    ---------------

                                    ZIP         1-3

                                    EZIP (LZIP)   4  ("extended")

                                    XZIP          5  ("experimental")

                                    YZIP          6

Length : The "real" length of the data file, as indicated in the "game

         length" field of the data file header. Usually, data files are

         slightly longer because they have been padded to a page size of

         256 or 512 Bytes. Older data files (before July 1982) had no

         $VERIFY command and therefore lack the game length field in the

         header; their correct length is listed in brackets, and their

         checksum is given after "CHK:".

b) Versions

Name                      ?    V.A       Z-C  Length

----------------------------------------------------

A Mind Forever Voyaging       77.850814   4   262016

                              79.851122   4   262036

Arthur                        54.890606   6   270848

                              74.890714   6   269200

Ballyhoo                      97.851218   3   128556

Beyond Zork                   47.870915   5   261952     1)

                              49.870917   5   261900

                              51.870923   5   261548

                              57.871221   5   261388

Border Zone                    9.871008   5   178372

Bureaucracy                   86.870212   4   243144

                             116.870602   4   243340

Cutthroats                    23.840809   3   112558

Deadline                      18.820311   3  [111342]  CHK: $39d5

                              19.820427   3  [111420]  CHK: $780e

                              26.821108   3   108372

                              27.831005   3   108454

Enchanter                     10.830810   3   109126

                              16.831118   3   109234

                              24.851118   3   108638

                              29.860820   3   111126

Four-In-One Sampler I         26.840731   3   112610

                              53.850407   3   126708

Four-In-One Sampler II    *    ?.     ?   ?        ?

HHGG                          47.840914   3   112622

                              56.841221   3   113444

                              58.851002   3   113332

                              59.851108   3   113334

HHGG SG                       31.871119   5   158412

Hollywood Hijinx              37.861215   3   109650

Infidel                       22.830916   3    93556

Journey                       26.890316   6   279872

                              30.890322   6   280472

                              83.890706   6   282312

LGOP                      *  118.860325   3   129012

                          *   50.860711   3   128988

                              59.860730   3   129022

LGOP SG                        4.880405   5   159928

Lurking Horror               203.870506   3   128986

                             219.870912   3s  129704

                             221.870918   3s  129944

Mini-Zork I                   34.871124   3    52216

Moonmist                       4.860918   3   129002

                               9.861022   3   128866

Nord and Bert                 19.870722   4   170284

Planetfall                    20.830708   3   107958

                              29.840118   3   109052

                              37.851003   3   109398

Planetfall SG                 10.880531   5   136560

Plundered Hearts              26.870730   3   128962

Seastalker                    86.840320   3   116456 (beta)

                              15.840501   3   117738

                              15.840522   3   117728

                              16.850515   3   117752

                              16.850603   3   117762

Sherlock                      21.871214   5   188444

                              26.880127   5s  190180

Shogun                       292.890314   6   341416

                             295.890321   6   341912

                          *  311.890510   6   344224

                             322.890706   6   344816

Sorcerer                  *   67.000000   3   107096 (beta)

                               4.840131   3   109734

                               6.840508   3   109482

                              13.851021   3   108692

                              15.851108   3   108682

                              18.860904   3   111052

Spellbreaker                  63.850916   3   128480

                              87.860904   3   128916

Starcross                     15.820901   3    84984

                              17.821021   3    83792

                          *    ?.     ?   3    84740

Stationfall                  107.870430   3   128934

Suspect                       14.841005   3   118692

Suspended                      5.830222   3   105418

                               7.830419   3   105500

                               8.830521   3   105492

                               8.840521   3   105584

Trinity                       11.860509   4   262016

                              12.860926   4   262064

Wishbringer                   68.850501   3   128952

                              69.850920   3   128904

Wishbringer SG                23.880706   5   164712

Witness                       13.830524   3   102608

                              20.831119   3   104740

                              21.831208   3   104704

                              22.840924   3   104664

Zork I                         5.         1   [82836]  CHK: $a8a4

                              15.UG3AU5   2   [78566]  CHK: $e987

                              23.820428   3   [75780]  CHK: $e6dc

                              25.820515   3   [75808]  CHK: $dfa0

                              26.820803   3    75964

                              28.821013   3    76018

                              30.830330   3    76324

                              75.830929   3    84868

                              76.840509   3    84874

                              88.840726   3    84876

Zork I SG                     52.871125   5   105264

Zork Demo                      ?.     ?   ?        ?

Zork I German                  3.880113   5   116216

Zork II                        7.UG3AU5   2   [85260]  CHK: $6fb6

                              17.820427   3   [82368]  CHK: $cf13

                              18.820517   3   [82422]  CHK: $cf14

                              19.820721   3    82586

                              22.830331   3    82920

                          *    ?.     ?   3    89136

                              48.840904   3    89912

Zork III                      10.820818   3    82334

                              15.830331   3    82558

                              15.840518   3    82642

                              16.823242   3    81626     2)

                              17.840727   3    82714

Zork Zero                    296.881019   6   295536

                             366.890323   6   296376

                             393.890714   6   299968

c) Footnotes

1) The IBM version appears longer because the character definitions (used

   for the runes) are simply appended to the data file. On other platforms

   (e.g. Amiga and Atari ST), the definitions are in a separate font file.

2) Either a beta test version or a fake.

III.2 Graphic Data Files

------------------------

At the moment I only have information about the IBM graphics files. I don't

know whether the "version numbers" shown by the VERSION command (byte 0x1b

of the graphic file) are really version numbers.

The MS-DOS versions of the YZIP games came with 3 graphics files: for

MCGA/VGA graphics cards (*.MG1), for EGA (*.EG1) and for CGA (*.CG1). You

could chose the graphics file via command line options; the syntax was

"YZIP /D[M,E,C]". EGA support was the default.

Arthur and Shogun contained the program FILECVT.EXE, which can create EG1

and CG1 graphics from the MG1 graphics file.

Arthur

  (Darrell Myers/Tanya Isaacson/Sophie Green/Donna Dennison/Jim Sullivan)

  MG1    Pix 27    292279         (89-07-14 11:32)

  EG1/2         [EGA file not included]

  CG1    Pix 15    209359         (89-07-13 18:50)

Journey

  (Donald Langosy)

  MG1    Pix 2     465606         (89-06-23 13:38)

  EG1/2  Pix 12    360500/249241  (89-07-07 12:37/38)

  CG1    Pix 8     297105         (89-07-07 17:01)

Shogun

  (Donald Langosy)

  MG1    Pix 9     213425         (89-07-06 15:21)

  EG1    Pix 21    278669         (89-06-28 11:47)

  CG1    Pix 20    141450         (89-07-06 15:34)

Zork0

  (James Shook & Tanya Allan/Denise Audette/Andy Briggs/Rob Dunlavey/

  Sophia Green/Joy Pulver/Charlie Voner)

  MG1    Pix 14    226436         (89-07-10 11:35)

  EG1    Pix 29    333654         (89-07-13 17:48)

  CG1    Pix 29    244507         (89-07-14 16:42)

III.3 Title Pictures

--------------------

The 4 YZIP games had title pictures which were incorporated in the

graphics files. The only other game with a title picture was the Atari

ST version of "Beyond Zork".

III.4 Font Files

----------------

It seems that the only game that needed special character definitions was

"Beyond Zork". Infocom put these special characters in a separate font

file (called "Graphic.Data" on the Amiga and "FONT3.DAT" on the Atari

ST). In the MS-DOS version, the font file was appended to the game's data

file.

The Amiga versions of "Journey" and "Arthur" also came with font files

(called "Char.Data"). In "Arthur", it is used for the game's proportional

font. (The "Journey" font file is identical with the one from "Beyond

Zork".)

III.5 Boss Keys

---------------

The (original) MS-DOS version of "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" came with

a boss key picture ("LEATHER.DAT") displayed by the ZIP (version 3 N).

See Also:

Contents

Infocom Fact Sheet


Fact Sheet IV
Infocom Fact Sheet IV: Words and Objects

Game          Version   Rooms  Words  Objects

                        (int)        (takeable)

Zork I             88    110    697     60

Zork II            48     86    684     50

Deadline           27     51    656     37

Zork III           17     89    564     23

Starcross          17     86    557     25

Suspended           8     63    676     33

The Witness        22     30    715     22

Planetfall         37    105    669     45

Enchanter          29     74    723     33

Infidel            22     77    613     57

Sorcerer           18     84   1013     36

Seastalker         16     30    911     15

Cutthroats         23     68    790     21

HHGG               59     31    971     45

Suspect            14     57    674     43

Wishbringer        69     52   1043     35

AMFV               79    178   1812     30

Spellbreaker       87     79    850     60

Ballyhoo           97     36    962     42

Trinity            12    134   2120     49

LGOP               59     75    978     41

Moonmist            9     69    955     26

Hollywood Hijinx   37     67    854     58

Bureaucracy       116     50   1416     44

Stationfall       107    105    789     53

Lurking Horror    221     71    773     44

Nord and Bert      19     41   1230     69

Plundered Hearts   26     57    816     28

Beyond Zork        57    128   1569     77

Border Zone         9    111    803     42

Sherlock           26     92   1194     67

Zork Zero         393    215   1624    106

Shogun            322     75   1389     63

Journey            83      -     27      -

Arthur             74     90   1059     32

The number of rooms refers to the internal representation; externally

(from the player's point of view) there can be less/more rooms. The number

of takeable objects can sometimes be higher than the figure given here.

(I have only counted objects which have the takebit set in the initial

state of the game.)

See Also:

Contents

Infocom Fact Sheet


Fact Sheet V
Infocom Fact Sheet V: Implementors

These are all the games written by the 10 most famous Infocom implementors.

A "#" after a year means that the game has not been finished or never been

released.

"Hollywood" Dave Anderson

-------------------------

Hollywood Hijinx  <+ L.Cyr-Jones>                       86   (Infocom)

Bob Bates

---------

Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels                87   (Infocom)

Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur  <+ D.Beck>             89   (Infocom)

Robin Hood                                              89#  (Infocom)

Timequest                                               91   (Legend)

Eric the Unready                                        93   (Legend)

Michael Berlyn

--------------

Oo-Topos  <+ Muffy Berlyn>                              81   (Sentient)

Cyborg                                                 ~82   (Sentient)

Gold Rush                                                ?   (Sentient)

Suspended                                               83   (Infocom)

Infidel  <+ P.Fogleman>                                 83   (Infocom)

Cutthroats  <+ J.Wolper>                                84   (Infocom)

Fooblitzky  <+ M.Blank et.al>                           85/6 (Infocom)

Tass Times In Tonetown  <+ Muffy Berlyn>                86   (Interplay)

Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I.                            87   (First Row)

Altered Destiny                                         90   (Accolade)

Bubsy                                                   93   (SEGA/Nintendo)

Marc S. Blank

-------------

Zork  <+ P.D.Lebling/T.A.Anderson/B.K.Daniels>          77-9 (MIT)

Zork I: The Great Underground Empire  <+ P.D.Lebling>   80   (Infocom)

Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz  <+ P.D.Lebling>         81   (Infocom)

Zork III: The Dungeon Master  <+ P.D.Lebling>           81   (Infocom)

Deadline                                                82   (Infocom)

Enchanter  <+ P.D.Lebling>                              83   (Infocom)

The Four-In-One Infocom Sampler                         84   (Infocom)

Fooblitzky  <+ M.Berlyn et.al>                          85/6 (Infocom)

Border Zone                                             87   (Infocom)

Journey                                                 88   (Infocom)

Amy Briggs

----------

Plundered Hearts                                        87   (Infocom)

Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams                88   (Infocom/TSP)

Quarterstaff <+ S.Schmitz/K.Updike>                     88   (Infocom)

Stuart W. Galley

----------------

The Witness                                             83   (Infocom)

Seastalker  <+ J.Lawrence>                              84   (Infocom)

Midnight Rider/Escape from Boston                       85#  (Infocom)

Moonmist  <+ J.Lawrence>                                86   (Infocom)

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe               87#  (Infocom)

P. David Lebling

----------------

Zork  <+ M.S.Blank/T.A.Anderson/B.K.Daniels>            77-9 (MIT)

Zork I: The Great Underground Empire  <+ M.S.Blank>     80   (Infocom)

Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz  <+ M.S.Blank>           81   (Infocom)

Zork III: The Dungeon Master  <+ M.S.Blank>             81   (Infocom)

Starcross                                               82   (Infocom)

Enchanter  <+ M.S.Blank>                                83   (Infocom)

Suspect                                                 84   (Infocom)

Spellbreaker                                            85   (Infocom)

The Lurking Horror                                      87   (Infocom)

James Clavell's Shogun                                  88   (Infocom)

Steven Eric Meretzky

--------------------

Planetfall                                              83   (Infocom)

Sorcerer                                                84   (Infocom)

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy  <+ D.N.Adams>     84   (Infocom)

A Mind Forever Voyaging                                 85   (Infocom)

Leather Goddesses Of Phobos                             86   (Infocom)

Stationfall                                             87   (Infocom)

Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen                        88   (Infocom/TSP)

Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz                       88   (Infocom)

Titanic                                                 89#  (Infocom)

Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls           90   (Legend)

Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance              91   (Legend)

Leather Goddesses Of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the

   Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X                92   ("Infocom")

Spellcasting 301: Spring Break                          92   (Legend)

Superhero League of Hoboken                             94   (Legend)

Planetfall 2: The Search for Floyd                      94   ("Infocom")

 [Meretzky also wrote 4 "Zork" interactive novels for Tor Books (Young

  Adult Series) in 1983:

        1  The Forces of Krill

        2  The Malifestro Quest

        3  The Cavern of Doom

        4  Conquest at Quendor]

"Professor" Brian Moriarty

--------------------------

Adventure in the Fifth Dimension                       ~83   (Analog Comp.)

Crash Dive!                                            ~83   (Analog Comp.)

Trinity                                                 84-6 (Infocom)

Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams                 85   (Infocom)

Beyond Zork                                             87   (Infocom)

[unnamed MacII graphic game]                            88#  (Infocom)

Loom                                                    90   (Lucasfilm)

The Dig <+ S.Spielberg>                                 94   (Lucasfilm)

Jeff O'Neill

------------

Ballyhoo                                                85   (Infocom)

Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of it          87   (Infocom)

Zork I (German Version)                                 88#  (Infocom)

See Also:

Contents

Infocom Fact Sheet


Fact Sheet VI
Infocom Fact Sheet VI: Newsletters

VI.1 "The New Zork Times" & "The Status Line"

---------------------------------------------

 #  Vol No  Date            Pages  Featured game(s)

a) "The New Zork Times" as ZUG newsletter

 1  -   -   [Spring 82?]     [1p]  Deadline

 2  II  1   Fall 82          [2p]  Starcross/Zork III

 3  III 1   Spring 83        [2p]  Suspended

 4  II  oo  Summer 83        [6p]  The Witness

b) "The New Zork Times" (NZT)

 5  3    1  Winter 84          4p  Sorcerer

 6  3    2  Spring 84          4p  Seastalker

 7  3    3  Summer 84          8p  Cutthroats

 8  3    4  Fall 84            4p  Suspect/HHGG

 9  4    1  Winter 85         12p  Cornerstone

10  4    2  Spring 85         12p  Wishbringer

11  4    2  Summer 85          8p  AMFV/Fooblitzky

12  IV   4  Fall 85            8p  Spellbreaker

13  V    1  Winter 86          8p  Ballyhoo

c) "* * * *"

14  V    4  Spring 86         12p  Trinity

d) "The Status Line" (TSL)

15  V    3  Summer 86         12p  Moonmist/LGOP

16  V    4  Fall 86            8p  Hollywood Hijinx/Enchanter Tril.

17  VI   1  Winter/Spring 87  12p  Bureaucracy/Zork Trilogy

18  VI   2  Summer 87         12p  Lurking Horror/Stationfall

19  VI   3  Fall 87           12p  Plundered Hearts/Nord and Bert

20  VI   4  Winter 87         12p  Beyond Zork/Border Zone

21  VII  1  Winter/Spring 88  12p  Sherlock/Infocomics 1-3

22  VII  2  Summer 88          8p  Infocomics 4

23  VII  3  Fall 88            8p  BattleTech/Zork Zero/Quarterstaff

24  VIII 1  Spring 89          6p  Shogun/Journey/Arthur

The Status Line's successor ("ZQ" or "Escape") was never published.

VI.2 "InfoDope"

---------------

[For internal circulation only]

See Also:

Contents

Infocom Fact Sheet


Fact Sheet VII
Infocom Fact Sheet VII: Trivia

VII.1 Game titles prior to eventual release

-------------------------------------------

Many game titles we know have been chosen by the marketing department. The

in-house beta versions were called differently.

AMFV                PRISM

Border Zone         Spy

Deadline            Was It Murder?

Enchanter           Zork IV

Hollywood Hijinx    Aunt Hildegarde's Secret

Infidel             Pyramid

Planetfall          Sole Survivor

Spellbreaker        Mage

Starcross           A Gift From Space

Suspended           Suspension

The Witness         Invitation to Murder/Witness

See Also:

Contents

Infocom Fact Sheet


Fact Sheet VIII
Infocom Fact Sheet VIII:Chronology

69-70:   Programming language Muddle (later called MDL) developed by

         several people affiliated with the MIT's Dynamic Modelling (DM)

         Group (Dave Cressey, Chris Reeve, Bruce K. Daniels) and AI

         Laboratory (Gerald Sussman, Carl Hewitt). The MDL development

         system runs on a DEC PDP-10 under ITS.

Dec 76:  First preliminary meeting of future Infocom founders.

Jun 77:  "Zork" created by Marc Blank, Bruce K. Daniels, Tim Anderson, and

         Dave Lebling. Written in MDL.

Feb 79:  Last puzzles added to the mainframe "Zork".

Apr 79:  First article about "Zork" published.

6/22/79: Infocom founded by 10 DM Group members (Tim Anderson, Joel

         Berez, Marc Blank, Mike Broos, Scott Cutler, Stu Galley, Dave

         Lebling, J. C. R. Licklider, Chris Reeve, Al Vezza). The first

         Board of Directors consists of Berez, Broos, Galley, Lebling,

         and Vezza.

Aug 79:  Mike Broos resigns; Marc Blank replaces him as Director.

Nov 79:  Joel Berez elected Infocom's President.

Mar 80:  Infocom gets own P.O. box.

Jun 80:  Agreement with Personal Software Inc. to publish "Zork I".

Nov 80:  "Zork I".

         First sold copy: PDP-11 version.

Dec 80:  ZIP for TRS-80 Model I (written by Scott Cutler).

         Until 9/81, PS sells ~1500 copies of this "Zork I" version.

Feb 81:  Apple II version of "Zork I". Over 6000 copies sold in 8 months.

         (ZIP by Bruce K. Daniels)

Mar 81:  Chris Reeve becomes Director.

May 81:  TRS-80 Model II version (never sold).

Jun 81:  First 2 employees (Joel Berez and Marc Blank).

         Zork II agreement with Personal Software.

Sep 81:  Infocom moved to 6 Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston.

         Mort Rosenthal becomes Manager of Marketing.

Oct 81:  End of the sales agreement with PS. (Infocom buys all Apple II

         versions of "Zork I" back from PS.)

         Mike Dornbrook founds "Zork Users Group" (PO Box 20923, Milwaukee,

         WI 53220-0923) to handle requests for hints and merchandise. In

         1983, the ZUG has 20000 members.

Nov 81:  "Zork II".

         Repackaging of "Zork I".

1/1/82:  Infocom moves to 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.

         Marc Blank becomes vice-president (VP) for product development.

Apr 82:  "Deadline".

         New ZIPs for Atari XL and CP/M.

         ZUG issues first InvisiClues booklet (Zork I).

May 82:  Marc Blank meets Mike Berlyn at an Applefest trade show.

Jun 82:  ZIP for IBM-PC.

         Employees: 4.

Aug 82:  ZIPs for TRS-80 Model III and NEC APC.

Sep 82:  "Zork III".

         "Starcross".

Oct 82:  Business Products division founded. "Cornerstone" development

         begins.

Dec 82:  DECsystem-20 bought for development.

end-82:  Sales: $1.65 million (net income: $335.000).

Mar 83:  "Suspended".

         ZIP for DEC Rainbow.

Apr 83:  ZIPs for Commodore 64 and TI Professional.

Jun 83:  "The Witness".

         Employees: 20.

Jul 83:  Shutdown of ZUG.

Aug 83:  "Planetfall".

Sep 83:  "Enchanter".

Nov 83:  "Infidel".

         ZIP for DECmate.

Dec 83:  ZIP for Tandy-2000.

         Ray Stata elected Director.

end-83:  Sales: $6 million (net income: $526.000).

Jan 84:  Al Vezza became Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Feb 84:  ZIPs for Kaypro II and Osborne.

Mar 84:  "Sorcerer".

         ZIPs for MS-DOS and TI 99/4 A.

         John Brackett new General Manager (GM) of Business Products

         division.

May 84:  Second DECsystem-20 bought.

Jun 84:  "Seastalker".

         ZIP for Apple Macintosh.

         John O'Leary new GM of Consumer Products division.

         Employees: 50.

Sep 84:  "Cutthroats".

Oct 84:  "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

11/1/84  Cornerstone announced at NYC press conference.

Nov 84:  "Suspect".

Dec 84:  Management restructured.

end-84:  Sales: $10 million.

Jan 85:  "Cornerstone".

         CES in Las Vegas: For promotion of "Suspect", Infocom rents a

         mansion and invites ~5000 people to become murder suspects.

Mar 85:  ZIP for Epson QX-10.

Apr 85:  Move to 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140.

         New Mail Order Department (PO Box 478, Cresskill, NJ 07626).

         ZIP for Apricot.

Jun 85:  "Wishbringer".

         Employees: 100.

Aug 85:  ZIP for Atari ST.

Sep 85:  "A Mind Forever Voyaging".

         First layoffs due to "Cornerstone"s commercial failure (despite

         hiring a separate sales and marketing team).

Oct 85:  "Spellbreaker".

Dec 85:  Business Products division laid off.

         ZIP for Amiga.

end-85:  Sales: $11.5 million.

Jan 86:  Marc Blank and CEO Al Vezza leave.

         Joel Berez new CEO. (He remains president.)

Feb 86:  "Ballyhoo".

         Price cut for "Cornerstone" (from $495 to $99.95).

2/19/86: Directors of Infocom and Activision approve of merger.

Mar 86:  "Fooblitzky".

Jun 86:  "Trinity".

         EZIP for Commodore 128.

6/13/86: Merger. Activision Inc. (Mountain View, CA) buys Infocom for

         stock swap worth $7.5...9.0 million.

         GM John O'Leary leaves.

         Employees: 40.

Sep 86:  "Leather Goddesses of Phobos".

Oct 86:  "Moonmist".

Nov 86:  "Enchanter Trilogy".

87-89:   Losses of ~$200.000 per fiscal quarter.

Jan 87:  "Zork Trilogy".

Feb 87:  "Hollywood Hijinx".

Mar 87:  "Bureaucracy".

Jun 87:  "Stationfall".

         "The Lurking Horror".

Sep 87:  "Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It".

         "Plundered Hearts".

Oct 87:  "Beyond Zork".

         XZIP for Apple IIgs.

Nov 87:  "Border Zone".

Jan 88:  "Sherlock".

         Mike Dornbrook new VP.

Mar 88:  "Lane Mastodon".

         "Gamma Force".

         Chris Reeve leaves.

Apr 88:  "ZorkQuest I".

Jun 88:  Employees: 30.

Jul 88:  Joel Berez resigns. Joe Ybarra (formerly at Electronic Arts)

         becomes new president.

Aug 88:  "ZorkQuest II".

Sep 88:  "Quarterstaff".

Oct 88:  "Zork Zero" (Macintosh version).

Nov 88:  "BattleTech" (IBM version).

Mar 89:  "Shogun" (Amiga and Mac).

         "Journey" (Amiga and Mac).

         Amiga version of "Zork Zero".

         Commodore 64 version of "BattleTech".

May 89:  Of the 26 employees, 15 are laid off. The 11 others are offered

         the chance to move to Silicon Valley. Only 5 accept, including

         President Joe Ybarra and GM Rob Sears. Duncan Blanchard is the

         only long time Infocommie among the five.

Jun 89:  Activision (now Mediagenic) moves Infocom from Cambridge, MA to

         Menlo Park, CA.

Jul 89: "Arthur".

         YZIPs for MS-DOS (and Apple II and/or Apple IIgs ??).

See Also:

Contents

Infocom Fact Sheet


Configuration Dialog Box

This dialog box allows you to change the way WZip works. Any settings altered here will be saved in wzip.ini for use next time you start WZip.

The following settings can be changed from this dialog box:

Use Rune Font

Checking this item allows Wzip to use the supplied rune fonts in Beyond Zork. Turning this item off enables the Enable Line Drawing Characters checkbox and the game's maps and borders will be written using more conventional fonts.

Enable Line Drawing Characters

This item will only be enabled if the Use Rune Font option is turned off, forcing Wzip to draw things using conventional fonts. Most of the Windows TrueType fonts don't contain the normal IBM line-drawing characters. Normally this doesn't cause any problems (I mean, you'd normally draw a real line under Windows if you wanted one!), but here we're stuck with what the game file wants to do. There are, however, some fonts which will do it (the "MS LineDraw" font, which is exactly the same as Courier New in other respects, is one). If you have one of these fonts, check this item and the line drawing characters will be used instead of the default characters.

See Also:

Fonts

Contents


During the 1980's, Infocom produced some brilliant text adventure games. See the Infocom Fact Sheet for more information.


A largish program produced by Microsoft that makes your 40 Mhz 486 run with all the speed and alacrity of a Commodore 64.


But then why would you want to?


bwcc.dll is required to display the allegedly pretty 3D-like dialog boxes.


Just another of the author's little jokes. He considers himself to be the selfless benefactor of thousands of old jokes which had nowhere else to go.


Unless, of course, they involve the author performing some wildly improbable and/or anatomically impossible task.


zorkfont.fon is the font file which contains the rune fonts, used in Beyond Zork