MST3K: Infocom Style!

[Afgncaap5]

I should've posted this the first day that I came here.

Has anyone out there ever played text adventures? Like Zork or Collosal Cave or any of the classic Infocom games from the 1980's?

Don't feel like you've missed some big cultural event if you don't remember, I'm generally the only one out of every hundred-two hundred people who's ever even heard of text adventures. So what if Infocom was one of the dominant computer game producing companies during the 1980's? It's not like people remember computer game sales....

Anyway, for years there have been text adventure fans who continue to make their own games. As is the case with every art form, some of it just plain stinks. So several years ago (I want to say seven, but I'm not basing that on anything at all) some people took some text adventures and inserted Crow, Servo, and Mike/Joel.

Anyway, if you're interested in playing this (and keep in mind, it's an interactive fiction story, no pictures. Like a choose-your-own-adventure book, but you have more freedom of action), I can supply links to places where you can download either of the two games that I've found (well, there was a third, but it was innapropriate in every way), as well as the "Z-Machine" program that you need to run them.

And just so you know, the games are:

"Detective"-You play as a detective investigating the death of the mayor. Or ARE you investigating it? Are you even working? Are you being paid for this? What kind of slipshod police agency does this town....(A Mike Episode)

"Fable"-You play as....you know, there's honestly little way to describe this game. It's like a fable, kinda, but not and....there are lots of images and....memories....and a baby gets repeatedly thrown out of a window....and stuf....(A Joel Episode)

One last note: if you've never played Infocom games or Text Adventures before, then there are definitely going to be a lot of riffs that go right over your heads. References like, "brass lantern", "Sgt. Duffy", and "Dimwit Flathead."

Anyway, just thought that I'd offer this chance to anyone who posts that they're interested, and apologize for not bringing it up sooner.

[MarchingTwinkie3]

I love Infocom games! I'm so bad at them it's funny, but I still like them. My favourite is the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" game. ;D I'd like to play those sometime...

[Ator]

It sounds pretty cool, but how do you play, exactly?

[Afgncaap5]

Well, the play is deceptively simple, so it gets complicated.

You're basically given the scene at the present time, like this:

West Of House
You are standing in an open field, west of a white house with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.
-Taken from "Zork I: The Great Underground Empire"

At this point you would be prompted for a response. You type simple sentences.....nothing too complicated, but it's surprising how much detail you can fit in when you try.

You might type "OPEN THE MAILBOX", or just a simple "OPEN MAILBOX" to get started. You might also type "Go North" or "North" or "N" to travel in a northward direction (assuming that there is a passage to the north). You might type "inventory" or "i" to look at what you're carrying and wearing (assuming that you're carrying anything). In some games you can type "diagnose" or "status" to get a feel for your health if the game keeps track of such things. There's almost always the "score" option that tells you how many points you have and what your rank is.

Aside from that, typing consists of basic sentences. "Read the blue book", "open the window", "shoot the alien with the laser", "kill the troll with the sword", and "wave my hand" are all acceptable syntaxes for the grammer, assuming that the vocabulary is recognized by the game. And after a certain point, most users stop using the word "the" in their sentences because they've developed a "feel" for how the game progresses.

But if this is confusing, I can definitely say that most text games (AKA IF Games) that are produced nowadays have simple little walkthroughs that explain how to play them (sometimes this is offered from the start of the game, sometimes you have to type "help" or "hint" first, but the instructions are there).

Oh, and I'm going to say Kudos to a fellow fan of the HitchHiker's game. You know, it was penned by Steve Meretzky (considered to be one of the greatest adventure game writers of all time) AND by Douglas Adams himself, which explains why it's done so well.

And I've always been a fan of the incredibly difficult Babelfish Puzzle. I was so proud when I ended that one. ;D

Well, since there appears to be some interest, I'll try posting links to the website that you can get the stuff from. Hang on,....

[Afgncaap5]

Okay, to run these games you'll need something called "The Frotz Interpreter." You can download one that's appropriate to your system at www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXinfocomXinterpretersXfrotz.html at your leisure (I've never used WinFrotz myself, but I hear that it rocks. I use DOS Frotz, it seems more appropriate for text adventures).

Now, for the game "Detective" you can download it from www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/mst3k1_2.z5 and for the game "Fable" you can click on www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/mst3k2.z5 for that nightmarish textual horror.

However, I recommend a few starter games if you can't get into the feel of it. A very short and very silly game called "Pick Up The Phone Booth And Die" is located at www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/booth.z5 and an incredibly short game (assuming that you can get the hang of Zork-style spell-casting, etc.) called "Perilous Magic" can be found at www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/permagic.z5 for your gaming pleasure. However, please note that the Phone Booth game and Perilous Magic are incredibly short (they should both be finished between ten minutes and thirty seconds, either through winning it or through a game-over scenario). These games are comedies, and not entirely in tune with some of the longer and more serious games out there (if you want a REAL challenge, look for a game called Curses. It takes forever, but it's still fun, albeit confusing).

If you like this style of game, you can download other games for the Frotz engine at www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXgamesXzcode.html but you shouldn't limit yourself to just Frotz and Inform. There are other great games for compilers with names like TADs, The Adventure Game Toolkit, and many others. Some people play 'em all, other people (like myself) find that they prefer one of them and stick to it.

Anyway, good luck with the downloads, and happy adventuring!

[GoldBootGirl]

Wow! I did used to play Zork on my dad's Commodore computer in the 80's. That takes me so back in time. I really enjoyed that game.

I was a huge Pac Man fanatic in the 80's. Along with other Atari games. I've played it on Atari simulators (MAME) and I'm just no good at it anymore.


I know this is off topic, but has anyone played Unreal Tournament? My boyfriend has the game, and for some reason I really enjoy playing it. The graphics are amazing. I'm really a very non-violent person, but I think as a sport, it helps to take out some aggressions.

[Afgncaap5]

I've never *played* Unreal Tournament,....

but that doesn't change my opinion on how strangely cool the whole thing is.

so, another Commodore 64 person, eh?

I recommend picking up all of the other Zork games. Zork I: The Great Underground Empire, Zork II: The Wizard Of Frobozz, ZorkIII: The Dungeon Master, Enchanter, Sorcerer, Spellbreaker, Wishbringer, Beyond Zork, Zork Zero, Return To Zork, Zork Nemesis, Zork: The Undiscovered Underground, and Zork Grand Inquisitor are all fantastic in their own way.

And ZGI has Rip Taylor and Dirk Benedict. The ultimate in camp. ;-D

[Bart Fargo]

Oh yea, I've played a lot of them.
I'd like to see MST3K done in an infocom style game.

In fact, my handle, quamp comes from an infocom-style game on a shareware board in the early 1980's.
It was a rip-off of Enchanter, called Necromancer IV. The quamp spell was a very useless spell. When cast, the quamp spell causes this response:
"A whispy voice says 'idiot!'"

[Afgncaap5]

Woah, man. Xyzzy.

[Ator]

GoldBootGirl said:

Wow! I did used to play Zork on my dad's Commodore computer in the 80's. That takes me so back in time. I really enjoyed that game.

I was a huge Pac Man fanatic in the 80's. Along with other Atari games. I've played it on Atari simulators (MAME) and I'm just no good at it anymore.


I know this is off topic, but has anyone played Unreal Tournament? My boyfriend has the game, and for some reason I really enjoy playing it. The graphics are amazing. I'm really a very non-violent person, but I think as a sport, it helps to take out some aggressions.

If you like Unreal Tournament, you'll LOVE Unreal Tournament 2003. Better levels, WAY better graphics, more modes of play, better sound effects...did I mention better graphics?