you are in an open field west of a big white house with a boarded front door. there is a small...

You are in an open field west of a big white house with a boardedfront door.There is a small mailbox here>

These are words thatbegin a great adventure...

An adventure that spawned an entire generation of gamers…

…and a new type of game…

Text-based Adventure Games

The History of Text-Based Adventure Games

The original Zork I 5.25” floppy disc.

Text-Based Games

● Between 1970 and 1986, graphics were either impossible or too much for most computers.

● Because of this, most games were text-only.● Users interacted with the game with simple

text commands.● Not seeing the room, or the monster, or

treasure…or anything was what made it fun.● It was all about imagination, solving puzzles,

and mapping the quest out.

Text parsers

The earliest games only recognized simple commands, such as “go east”, “look”, or “Kill dwarf.”Later parsers could understand complete sentences, like, “Pick up the knife and climb the tree”.

The First Text-Based Adventure Game

“Adventure”Created in 1975 for fun. Spread across the “Arpanet” for free.

“Adventureland”Created in 1978.The first text-based game available for sale.

Zork (Originally known as “Dungeon)● Created in 1979 by a group of MIT

programmers.● The group started a company called

“Infocom”, which became the most successful text-based gaming company of all time.

Other Infocom Titles:

● Zork I (1980)● Zork II (1981)● Zork III (1982) ● Deadline (1982)● Starcross (1982)● Suspended (1983)● Infidel (1983)● The Witness (1983)

● Enchanter (1983)● Planetfall (1983)● Sorcerer (1984)● Cutthroats (1984)● The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1984)● Seastalker (1984)● Suspect (1984)● Spellbreaker (1985)

● A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985)● Wishbringer (1985)● Ballyhoo (1986)● Hollywood Hijinx (1986)● Leather Goddesses of Phobos (1986)● Moonmist (1986)● Trinity (1986)● Mini Zork I (1987)● Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor (1987)

● Zork: The Undiscovered Underground (1997)● Stationfall (1987)● Border Zone (1987)● Bureaucracy (1987)● The Lurking Horror (1987)● Nord and Burt Couldn’t Make Head or Tail of It

(1987)● Plundered Hearts (1987)● Sherlock (1988)● Beyond Zork: The Revenge of Megaboz (1988)

● Arthur (1989)● Shogun (1989)● Journey (1989)

Purchased Infocom in 1986 for 7.5 million dollars.

But when high resolution graphics were introduced in the late 1980s, text-based gaming almost disappeared completely.

Cult Following

Even though the peak of text-based gaming has long passed, many hardcore gamers still play and create these classic text-based games.

Sites like web-adventures.org make these games available to everyone.

THE QUESTION IS...

Do you have the imagination and the ability to beat one of these “old school” text games?

Zork: The Goal, Dying, and Scoring Points

The ultimate goal of Zork I is to collect the Twenty Treasures of Zork and install them in the trophy case.

There are 28 ways for the player to die.

It is possible to score all 350 points in 223 moves (and win the game completely in 228 moves) by exploiting a bug.

The CHALLENGE is to do it without cheats or walkthroughs.

A Few Useful Commands:

RestoreRestartSaveWaitScoreFull Score

YOUR GRADE

350 points = A+300 points = A250 points = A-200 points = B+150 points = B100 points = B-<100 points = C-

You are in an open field west of a big white house with a boardedfront door.There is a small mailbox here>

READY?

Visit one of these two sites:• http://thcnet.net/zork/• http://

textadventures.co.uk/games/view/5zyoqrsugeopel3ffhz_vq/zork

Both links can be found at mrjohns.org.