------------------ 4.8 - September 3, 1995 Infocom Fact Sheet ------------------ by Paul David Doherty This file includes some information about Infocom's games and related subjects. Thanks to all the people who made contributions. Special thanks this time to David Beazley, Graeme Cree, Evan Day, Mark Howell, Tony Hutchins, George Janczuk, Stefan Jokisch, Mark Knibbs, Mathias Maul, and Stephen Tjasink. The most recent release is always available as ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/infocom/info/fact-sheet.txt List of contents: I Released Games II Packaging Details III Books & InvisiClues IV Newsletters V Data Files VI Game Statistics VII Implementors VIII Re-Releases IX Trivia X Chronology XI Interpreters & Tools 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 AP1 Apple II AP2 Apple Macintosh ?? Apple IIgs AT1 Atari 800/XL/XE AT2 Atari ST CO1 Commodore 64 (1541) CO4 Commodore Amiga CO5 Commodore 128 ONLY CP1 CP/M DE1 PDP-11 (RT-11) DE2 DEC Rainbow (under CP/M) EP1 Epson QX-10 IB1 IBM & 100% Compatibles IB2 IBM & MS-DOS Compatibles KA1 Kaypro II (under CP/M) MS1 MS-DOS 2.0 NE1 NEC PC-8000 (under CP/M) NE2 NEC APC (under CP/M-86) OS1 Osborne (under CP/M) TA1 TRS-80 Model I TA3 TRS-80 Model III TA4 TRS-80 Color Computer TI1 TI Professional TI2 TI 99/4 A Other supported platforms: Commodore Plus/4 (no system code), Amstrad CPC/PCW (system code: UQD [or similar]). Not all games were available on every platform; e.g. the four graphics (V6) games were only available for Macintosh, Amiga, Apple IIgs and IBM. These were probably the seven best-supported platforms: IBM: all 35 IF games (plus Fooblitzky & Cornerstone) Macintosh: all 35 IF games (plus Quarterstaff) Apple II: all 35 IF games (plus Fooblitzky) -- V6 games need 128k RAM Amiga: 34 IF games (all except Border Zone) C128: 31 IF games (all V3-5) Atari ST: 30 IF games (all V3-5 except, probably, Sherlock) C64: 27 IF games (all V3 and Nord & Bert, Border Zone, Sherlock) Difficulty ratings were introduced in late 1984: i - Introductory (called Junior on "Seastalker") s - Standard a - Advanced e - Expert I.1 Interactive Fiction (IF): The 35 canonical games ---------------------------------------------------- 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: The Coconut of Quendor (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: [Your Name] and the Ultramarine Bioceptor (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) -- developed by Challenge Inc. Chronicles IJ1 - 89 Journey (Marc Blank) Living Literature IL1 - 89 Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur (Bob Bates) -- developed by Challenge Inc. 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 the British "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 "Spike" 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.) -- originally published by Electronic Arts as "The Mars Saga" 225 - 90 Circuit's Edge (Westwood Ass.) --- - 91 BattleTech [2]: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Westwood Ass.) --- - 92 Leather Goddesses of Phobos II (Steve Meretzky) --- - 93 Return to Zork (Eddie Dombrower/William D. Volk/Joe Asprin) --- - 94 Simon the Sorcerer (Mike Woodroffe/Adventuresoft) -- US distribution under the Infocom label --- - 95 Planetfall: The Search for Floyd (Steve Meretzky/Richard Manning/Hans Beimler) --- - 96 Zork: Nemesis (Eddie Dombrower) II Packaging Details ===================== All sizes (width x height x depth) are given in mm. II.1 Extremely 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 Very Old Packaging ----------------------- The Infocom version of "Zork", before it was renamed "Zork I". No more details available. II.3 Old "Folio" 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 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.4 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 (sometimes also in orange or black!) 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. visitor's guide "Welcome to Tresyllian Castle" 2. two letters from Tamara (3 pages) 3. MOONMIST iron-on logo Enchanter Trilogy [Contains standard boxes of Enchanter, Sorcerer and Spellbreaker in a specially designed trilogy slipcase] 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) Classic Mystery Library [Contains standard boxes of The Witness, Suspect and Moonmist in a specially designed trilogy slipcase] Science Fiction Classics [Contains standard boxes of HHGG, Planetfall and AMFV in a specially designed trilogy slipcase] II.5 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.6 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.7 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.8 Solid Gold Packagings -------------------------- The five Solid Gold releases in 1987/88 came in thin folders (229x189x6) containing disks and a technical manual. In addition, Wishbringer had the postal map, and LGOP included the Scratch N Sniff card and a non 3-D reproduction of the comic (plus the catacombs map inside the technical manual). [In Wishbringer and Planetfall, other parts of the documentation were incorporated into the actual game.] II.9 Other Games ---------------- Four-In-One Samplers [161x252 blister packs, no additional packaging elements] Fooblitzky [298x223x36 box] 1. booklet "Official Ordinances Rules and Regulations for the City of Fooblitzky" 2. booklet "How to Play Fooblitzky. The Bare Essentials" 3. four felt-tip pens (blue, green, yellow, red) 4. four 279x216x2 workboards (folded once) InfoComics [229x189x6 folders] 1. a page with "Everything you need to know about InfoComics" Quarterstaff [202x202x27 box] 1. "The Path to Enlightenment" parchment 2. Wooden coin 3. Quarterstaff box-art poster BattleTech [202x202x27 box] 1. Weapon and 'Mech Recognition Guide 2. Battletech poster 3. Crescent Hawk's lapel pin (only included with first release!) [The instruction manual was printed in green ink on glossy paper in early releases and later in black ink on cheap paper.] II.10 Business Products ----------------------- Cornerstone [no packaging info yet] II.11 Product Brochures ----------------------- One of these catalogues was usually put in 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..." III Books & InvisiClues ======================== III.1 Zork interactive (choose your own path) novels ---------------------------------------------------- Four "What Do I Do Now Books" books written by Steve Meretzky and published in Tor Books' "Young Adult Series": PUBL ISBN Zork: The Forces of Krill 8/83 0-8125-7975-5 Zork: The Malifestro Quest ?/83 0-8125-7980-1 Zork: The Cavern of Doom 9/83 0-8125-7985-2 Zork: Conquest at Quendor 10/84 0-8125-5989-4 III.2 Infocom Books ------------------- Published by Avon Books, N.Y. with Byron Preiss Visual Publications, these books had nothing much to do with Infocom but are listed here anyway. All the books were grey and had colored stripes running horizontally across the cover (in the style of Infocom's packaging). AUTHOR PUBL ISBN Planetfall Arthur Byron Cover 8/88 0-380-75384-7 Wishbringer Craig Shaw Gardner 8/88 0-380-75385-5 Enchanter Robin W. Bailey 5/89 0-380-75386-3 Stationfall Arthur Byron Cover 12/89 0-380-75387-1 The Zork Chronicles George Alec Effinger 7/90 0-380-75388-X The Lost City of Zork Robin W. Bailey 2/91 0-380-75389-8 Futurefall Arthur Byron Cover unpublished III.3 InvisiClues ----------------- The InvisiClues booklets (hint books with answers printed using invisible ink) were introduced by Mike Dornbrook of the ZUG. The first one was published in April 1982. #1a-4a had illustrations by David Ardito. The last ZUG InvisiClues booklet was published in Spring 1983. After the ZUG's shutdown Infocom took over and published their first 10 booklets in December 1983. All Infocom InvisiClues came with separate maps, except for Suspended and Seastalker (which had maps in the game packages) and HHGG (where the map was printed in the InvisiClues booklet). # Game(s) Pages Year a) published by Zork Users Group (ZUG) 1a Zork I ? 82 2a Zork II ? 82 3a Zork III ? 82 4a Starcross ? 82 5a Deadline ? 83 b) published by Infocom 1b Zork I 24p 83 2b Zork II ? 83 3b Zork III 24p 83 4b Starcross 32p 83 5b Deadline 24p 83 6 Suspended 20p 83 7 Witness 28p 83 8 Planetfall 28p 83 9 Enchanter 36p 83 10 Infidel 20p 83 11 Sorcerer 44p 84 12 Seastalker 24p 84 13 Cutthroats 32p 84 14 HHGG 52p 84 15 Suspect 24p 84 16 Wishbringer 40p 85 17 AMFV 24p 85 18 Spellbreaker 40p 85 19 Ballyhoo 40p 86 20 Trinity 32p 86 21 LGOP 24p 86 22 Moonmist 16p 86 23 Hollywood Hijinx/Bureaucracy 28p 87 24 Stationfall/Lurking Horror 48p 87 25 Plundered Hearts/Beyond Zork 56p 87 26 Zork Trilogy ? 88 IV Newsletters =============== IV.1 "The New Zork Times" & "The Status Line" --------------------------------------------- # Vol No Date Pages Featured game(s) a) "The New Zork Times" as ZUG (Zork Users Group) 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. IV.2 "InfoDope" --------------- [For internal circulation only] V Data Files ============= V.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. IBM data files are often 1 byte longer (padded with a $1a byte); Amiga data files are always padded to a page size of 256 or 512 bytes. Older data files (pre 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 (Amiga/Mac) * 63.890622 6 ? (Apple II) 74.890714 6 269200 (IBM) 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 21.820512 3 [111706] CHK: $bf83 * 22. ? 3 111782 26.821108 3 108372 27.831005 3 108454 Enchanter 10.830810 3 109126 15.831107 3 109230 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 55.850823 3 126902 Four-In-One Sampler II 97.870601 3 125314 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 (Mac) 30.890322 6 280472 (Amiga) * 77.890616 6 ? (Apple II) 83.890706 6 282312 (IBM) LGOP * 118.860325 3 129012 (beta) * ?. ? 3 128998 * 50.860711 3 128988 59.860730 3 129022 59.861114 (same as previous) 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 (Mac) 295.890321 6 341912 (Amiga) * 311.890510 6 344224 (Apple II) 322.890706 6 344816 (IBM) 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 18.830910 3 103728 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 (beta) Zork II 7.UG3AU5 2 [85260] CHK: $6fb6 17.820427 3 [82368] CHK: $cf13 18.820512 3 [82422] CHK: $cf14 18.820517 (same as previous) 19.820721 3 82586 22.830331 3 82920 23.830411 3 81876 * ?. ? 3 89136 48.840904 3 89912 * ?.841220 3 ? Zork III 10.820818 3 82334 15.830331 3 82558 16.830410 3 81626 2) 15.840518 3 82642 17.840727 3 82714 Zork Zero 296.881019 6 295536 (Mac) 366.890323 6 296376 (Amiga) * 383.890602 6 ? (Apple II) 393.890714 6 299968 (IBM) 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) Might be a beta test version. V.2 Graphic Data Files ---------------------- The graphics were originally designed on the Amiga; the same data files seem to have been used for the Mac releases. Later they were converted to Apple IIgs and IBM. 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 or just random bytes. 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]". If invoked without this option the interpreter tries to determine the type of graphic card (and usually ends up with EGA). Arthur and Shogun contained the program FILECVT.EXE, which can create EG1 and CG1 graphics from the MG1 graphics file. Zork0 (James Shook) conversions etc.: 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) Shogun (Donald Langosy) conversions: Tanya Allen [Apple II]/ Donna Dennison [IBM] 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) 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) 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) V.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". ("Fooblitzky" had a title screen too.) V.4 Sound Files --------------- The Amiga and Macintosh versions of "The Lurking Horror" and "Sherlock" came with sampled sounds. "The Lurking Horror" had 14 sounds, "Sherlock" 15. V.5 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 used for the runes; it is identical with the one from "Beyond Zork". V.6 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). VI Game Statistics =================== Game Version Rooms Words Objects Opcodes (int) (takeable) (total) Zork I 88 110 697 60 6798 Zork II 48 86 684 50 6804 Deadline 27 51 656 37 6977 Zork III 17 89 564 23 5952 Starcross 17 86 557 25 6566 Suspended 8 63 676 33 6902 The Witness 22 30 715 22 8945 Planetfall 37 105 669 45 7879 Enchanter 29 74 723 33 8070 Infidel 22 77 613 57 7386 Sorcerer 18 84 1013 36 8963 Seastalker 16 30 911 15 14460 Cutthroats 23 68 790 21 12600 HHGG 59 31 971 45 10723 Suspect 14 57 674 43 10737 Wishbringer 69 52 1043 35 16223 AMFV 79 178 1812 30 18696 Spellbreaker 87 79 850 60 12472 Ballyhoo 97 36 962 42 15132 Trinity 12 134 2120 49 31389 LGOP 59 75 978 41 13763 Moonmist 9 69 955 26 15900 Hollywood Hijinx 37 67 854 58 10355 Bureaucracy 116 50 1416 44 24116 Stationfall 107 105 789 53 10662 Lurking Horror 221 71 773 44 12398 Nord and Bert 19 41 1230 69 13831 Plundered Hearts 26 57 816 28 13859 Beyond Zork 57 128 1569 77 32778 Border Zone 9 111 803 42 11273 Sherlock 26 92 1194 67 19702 Zork Zero 393 215 1624 106 23587 Shogun 322 75 1389 63 28346 Journey 83 - 27 - 16187 Arthur 74 90 1059 32 28242 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.) VII Implementors ================= These are all the games written by the 10 best known Infocom implementors (plus Elizabeth Langosy). 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 86/7 (Infocom/Challenge) Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur 89 (Infocom/Challenge) The Abyss 89# (Infocom/Challenge) [Untitled Robin Hood game] 89# (Infocom) Timequest 91 (Legend) Eric the Unready 93 (Legend) The Great Game <+ W.Colby/J.Adams> 95 (Activision) [Educational game for US government] 95 (??) 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.S.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, in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind <+ J.Skeel> 93 (Accolade) Live Action Football <+ M.S.Blank> 95 (Accolade) 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) Live Action Football <+ M.Berlyn> 95 (Accolade) Amy Briggs ---------- Plundered Hearts 87 (Infocom) Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams 88 (Infocom/TSP) Quarterstaff <+ S.Schmitz/K.Updike> 88 (Infocom) [Untitled Vampire game] 89# (Infocom) Stuart W. Galley ---------------- The Witness 83 (Infocom) Seastalker: [Your Name] and the Ultramarine Bioceptor <+ 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) Elizabeth Langosy ----------------- ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle 88 (Infocom/TSP) ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom 88 (Infocom/TSP) [Untitled "adult" InfoComic] 89# (Infocom/TSP) 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) [Untitled Titanic game] 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) Hodj 'n' Podj 95 (Boffo) Planetfall: The Search for Floyd <+ R.Manning/H.Beimler> 95 ("Infocom") Meretzky also wrote: - four "Zork" interactive novels (see III.1) - a "Rex Nebular" short story for Microprose (1993) "Professor" Brian Moriarty -------------------------- Adventure in the Fifth Dimension ~83 (Analog #11) Crash Dive! ~83 (Analog #18) Trinity 84-6 (Infocom) Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams 85 (Infocom) Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor 87 (Infocom) [Untitled MacII SciFi RPG] 88# (Infocom) Loom 88-90 (Lucasfilm) The Dig <+ S.Spielberg> 93-5 (LucasArts) Loadstar 95? (Rocket Science) 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) [Leather Goddesses of Phobos sequel] 88# (Infocom) VIII Re-Releases ================= While Infocom's original releases are slowly becoming collectors' items, most of their games have been re-released as budget editions or in compilations. These are listed here in chronological order. The game version information is given (where known) in the format "Version number.Assembly date (Interpreter version)". a) Infocom from Mastertronic ---------------------------- The "Infocom from Mastertronic" (aka "Budgets") were published in 1990 (#1-5) and 1991 (#6-10) by Virgin Mastertronic in Great Britain (with a license from Activision). They came in flat square-shaped cardboard boxes (black with blue stripes, 160x160x18 mm). All of them included a reprint of the original manual as a small (140x140) booklet; #2 and #4 also had maps. All games were priced at £9.99 and released for IBM, Amiga and Atari ST. # Game IBM Amiga Atari ST ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1 HHGG 31.871119 (5E) ??? 56.841221 2 Zork I 52.871125 (5E) 88.840726 (3A) 52.871125 3 Planetfall 10.880531 (5J) 37.851003 (3B) ??? 4 Wishbringer 23.880706 (5J) 69.850920 (3B) 68.850501 5 LGOP 4.880405 (5I) 59.860730 (3B) ??? 6 Zork II 48.840904 (3L) -> (3B) ??? 7 Zork III 17.840727 (3L) -> (3B) -> 8 Enchanter 10.830810 (3A) 16.831118 (3B) -> 9 Sorcerer 6.840508 (3L) 13.851021 (3B) ??? 10 Deadline 27.831005 (3L) -> (3B) -> In late summer 1992 Virgin Mastertronic published two CD-ROMs called "The Zork Trilogy" (containing #2,6,7) and "The Infocom Collection" (#1,3,4,5). A third CD-ROM with the Enchanter Trilogy was planned but may not have been released. Address of publisher: Virgin Mastertronic Ltd. 16 Portland Road London W11 2LA Tel. 071-727-8070 b) The Lost Treasures of Infocom -------------------------------- This package ("LTOI I") was released by Activision (under the Infocom label) in December 1991 for the IBM (Macintosh version: January 1992; Amiga version: February 1992). CD-ROM versions (different CD-ROMs for PC and Mac) followed in 1993. It contained 20 games, complete with manual, hintbook (more or less identical to the text in the InvisiClues) and maps. The IBM and Amiga versions had $59.95 as RRP, the Macintosh version $69.95. Due to Activision's financial situation, the package had to be produced on a shoestring budget. The hintbook was full of typos; the manual left out some vital information (the radio station ad for "Ballyhoo"; the "Moonmist" letters). Some early packages did not include the parchment for "Zork Zero" either. The IBM packages lack some not-so-vital files (the MCGA/VGA graphics for "Zork Zero", the boss key picture for the 3N interpreter). Early IBM versions had read errors on the disks. Game IBM Macintosh Amiga ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ballyhoo 97.851218 (3M2) -> (3G) -> Beyond Zork 57.871221 (5J) -> (5B) -> Deadline 27.831005 (3M2) -> (3G) -> Enchanter 29.860820 (3N) -> (3G) 16.831118 HHGG 31.871119 (5E) 59.851108 (3G) 58.851002 Infidel 22.830916 (3M2) -> (3G) -> Lurking Horror 203.870506 (3N) -> (3G) 219.870912 Moonmist 9.861022 (3N) -> (3G) -> Planetfall 37.851003 (3N) 10.880531 (5C) 37.851003 Sorcerer 15.851108 (3M2) -> (3G) 13.851021 Spellbreaker 87.860904 (3N) -> (3G) -> Starcross 17.821021 (3M2) -> (3G) -> (some IBM packages: 15.820901) Stationfall 107.870430 (3N) -> (3G) -> Suspect 14.841005 (3M2) -> (3G) -> Suspended 8.840521 (3M2) -> (3G) 8.830521 Witness 22.840924 (3M2) -> (3G) -> Zork Zero 393.890714 (6.71) 296.881019 (6.1) 366.890323 Zork I 88.840726 (3M2) -> (3G) -> Zork II 48.840904 (3M2) -> (3G) -> Zork III 17.840727 (3M2) -> (3G) -> Address of publisher: Activision (until Jan 92: Mediagenic) P.O. Box 3048 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Tel. (415) 329-0800 c) The Lost Treasures of Infocom II ----------------------------------- Following the (unexpected?) success of LTOI I, Activision released a second compilation in July 1992 (IBM, Macintosh). An Amiga version was planned but not released. This one contained only 11 games; "Journey", "Shogun", "Arthur" and "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" were not included (but the package contained a special $9.95 priced offer for LGOP). The CD-ROM version (PC and Mac on the same CD) was released end-1993; it included the 3 graphic games but not LGOP. The package did not contain maps or hintbooks but a 1-800 number for hints was listed. The RRP was $49.95. Game IBM Macintosh ------------------------------------------------------- AMFV 77.850814 (4A) -> (4E) Border Zone 9.871008 (5J) -> (5B) Bureaucracy 116.870602 (4D) -> (4I) Cutthroats 23.840809 (3M2) -> (3G) Hollywood Hijinx 37.861215 (3N) -> (3I) Nord and Bert... 19.870722 (4E) -> (4I) Plundered Hearts 26.870730 (3N) -> (3G) Seastalker 16.850603 (3L) 15.840522 (3G) Sherlock 21.871214 (5J) 26.880127 (5C) Trinity 12.860926 (4E) -> (4H) Wishbringer 69.850920 (3M2) 68.850501 (3G) Arthur (CD) 74.890714 (6.71) 54.890606 Journey (CD) 83.890706 (6.68) 26.890316 Shogun (CD) 322.890706 (6.68) 292.890314 Address of publisher: Activision/Infocom P.O. Box 67001 Los Angeles, CA 90067 d) Zork Anthology ----------------- Published by Activision in 1994 as a CD-only companion piece to the pseudo-Infocom "Return to Zork". Game IBM Macintosh ------------------------------------------------------- Zork I 88.840726 (3M2) ??? Zork II 48.840904 (3M2) ??? Zork III 17.840727 (3M2) ??? Beyond Zork 57.871221 (5J) ??? Zork Zero 393.890714 (6.71) ??? Planetfall 37.851003 (3N) ??? e) Infocom Classics ------------------- A set of 5 PC-and-Mac CD-ROMs published by Activision in June 1995. Each CD-ROM comes with manual and maps; a 1-900 line for hints is listed and separate hintbooks can be ordered for $10 (per collection). LGOP and three V6 games (Arthur, Shogun and Journey) are not included. The collections go for $20-25. Mystery Collection: Deadline, The Witness, Suspect, Moonmist, The Lurking Horror, Sherlock (plus Zork Zero and Planetfall) Comedy Collection: Ballyhoo (!), Bureaucracy, Hollywood Hijinx, Nord & Bert (plus Zork I and Planetfall) Fantasy Collection: Enchanter, Sorcerer, Spellbreaker, Wishbringer, Seastalker (!) (plus Zork II and Planetfall) Adventure Collection: Border Zone, Cutthroats, Infidel, Plundered Hearts, Trinity (!) (plus Zork III and Planetfall) Science Fiction Collection: AMFV, HHGG, Starcross, Stationfall, Suspended (plus Beyond Zork and Planetfall) [All versions and interpreters are as on LTOI 1 and 2.] IX Trivia ========== IX.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 IX.2 The Gribnitz Apartments ---------------------------- These are the 27 names that can appear as inhabitants of the Gribnitz Apartments in Marc Blank's "Border Zone". Each time the game is started, 18 or 19 names are randomly inserted into the directory in the Apartment Lobby. Bextra (maybe Duane Beck) Blenka (Marc Blank) Blivik ? Brgmiz (Ernie Brogmus) Brlensk (Mike Berlyn) Brzni (Joel Berez) Carlyni (Linda Carlow) Cnezeni (Cezanne Blank) Cyrink (Liz Cyr-Jones) Dimwitz (Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive) Dornik (Michael Dornbrook) Endrizen (Tim Anderson, or "Hollywood" Dave Anderson) Flipni ? Galnitz (Stu Galley) Gentezek (Carl Genatossio) Kooplitz ? Lebniz (Dave Lebling) Lengnoz (Elizabeth Langosy, or Donald Langosy) Mrtzki (Steve Meretzky) Onilik (Jeff O'Neill) Profnim ("Professor" Brian Moriarty) Rivni (Christopher Reeve) Robnerim (the family name from "Deadline") Sinkriz (maybe Anita Sinclair) Urg ? Veznich (Al Vezza) Winip ? X 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). About 1500 copies of Model I "Zork I" sold by PS until 9/81. Feb 81: ZIP for Apple II (written by Bruce K. Daniels). Over 6000 copies of Apple II "Zork I" sold until 9/81. 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. Aug 81: ZIP V2 introduced. 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". ZIP V3 introduced. New ZIPs for Atari 400/800 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". Mike Dornbrook joins Infocom as Product Manager for Entertainment Products. 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". "Classic Mystery Library". "Science Fiction Classics". XZIP for Apple IIgs. Nov 87: "Border Zone". Dec 87: Solid Gold "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and "Zork I" (Apple II, Macintosh, C64, IBM). Jan 88: "Sherlock" (Apple II, C64, IBM). Mike Dornbrook new VP. Mar 88: "Lane Mastodon". "Gamma Force". Sound version of "Sherlock" (Macintosh, Amiga, maybe Atari ST and Apple IIgs too). Chris Reeve leaves. Apr 88: "ZorkQuest I". Jun 88: Employees: 30. Jul 88: Solid Gold "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" and "Planetfall". Joel Berez resigns. Joe Ybarra (formerly at Electronic Arts) becomes new president. Aug 88: "ZorkQuest II". Sep 88: Solid Gold "Wishbringer". "Quarterstaff" (Macintosh). Oct 88: "Zork Zero" YZIP for Macintosh (written by Duncan Blanchard; YZIP specification by Tim Anderson & Dave Lebling,). Nov 88: "BattleTech" (IBM). Mar 89: "Shogun" "Journey" YZIP for Amiga (written by Clarence Din). "BattleTech" (C64). May 89: YZIP for Apple II with 128k RAM (written by Jon D. Arnold), maybe another one for the Apple IIgs. 5/5/89: Of Infocom's 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. "BattleTech" (Amiga, maybe Apple II) Jul 89: "Arthur". YZIP for IBM (written by Scott Fray). XI Interpreters & Tools ======================== XI.1 Infocom's own interpreters ------------------------------- Some Z-code interpreter versions and their length: Platform Version Length Amiga 3 A 25180 3 B 25128/25584 3 C 42224 (supports sound) 4 A 26088 4 B 26160 4 C 42860 (supports sound) 5 A 37148 5 B 46472 (supports sound) 6.8 45844/45862 6.14 48368 Atari ST 3 A 21093 3 ? 15721 4 B 21706 5 ? 40295 (loads title screen "SCREEN.DAT") IBM 3 A ??? (boot disk, no file) 3 L 11394 [V3/4 are .COM files from 3L onwards] 3 M2 11402 3 N 12004 (loads boss key ".SCR") 4 A 12640 4 B 12604 4 C 12642 4 D 12688 4 E 12682 5 A [V5/6 are .EXE files] 5 B 5 C 31910 (MS-C 4.00) 5 D 5 E 31924 (MS-C 4.00) 5 F 32689 (MS-C 4.00) 5 G 32713 (MS-C 4.00) 5 H 5 I 34390 (MS-C 5.00) 5 J 33946 (MS-C 5.00) 6.68 47442/47402 (Turbo-C 2.0) 6.71 47494/47528 (Turbo-C 2.0) Mac 3 B 3 C 3 G 3 I 4 E 4 H 4 I 5 A 5 B 5 C (supports sound) 6.1 XI.2 Public Domain Interpreters ------------------------------- These Z-code interpreters are freely available, as PD or at least as freeware. Source code and executables for most of them resides in the IF archive (ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/infocom/interpreters/). a) InfoTaskForce/ITF (1987-92) Written by the InfoTaskForce, i.e. David Beazley , George Janczuk, Peter Lisle, Russell Hoare and Chris Tham. Development started in early 1987 when the authors were undergrads at Sydney University (Australia). No public release was planned but an early version turned up on a Sydney University FTP server (physics.su.oz.au) in March 1991. This version (1.0/2.0, written June 1987) supported Z-code V3 only. In September 1992 the interpreter was officially released, now supporting Z-code V1-5 (lacking some V5 features). This version (4.01) has been widely ported since. The interpreter is no longer supported by the authors. b) zmachine (1988-90) The first publically available portable Z-code interpreter. Written by Matthias Pfaller . Started in 1988, finished October 1989 and posted to comp.os.minix on 12 March 1990. Supports Z-code V3; version 2.24 was the only release. No longer supported. c) pinfocom (1992) Based on the inofficial release of ITF 1.0/2.0. The code was taken over in January 1992 by Paul D. Smith . Many bug fixes and enhancements were made but V4/5 support was still lacking. The announcement of pinfocom prompted the ITF to release their code officially. Final version (3.0) released in October 1992. d) ZIPdebug (1991-93) This interpreter/debugger by Frank Lancaster started life on the Apple II (written in UCSD Pascal). It was ported to the Acorn Archimedes in 1991. A V3 interpreter (in TLA assembler) was written the same year. In 1992, full V4 and partial V5 support was implemented in the debugger, and it was p2c-ported to C. The latest version (0.6o, 21 Oct 1993) has full V5 and partial V6 support. e) ZIP (1991-94) Currently the most popular interpreter. Developed by Mark A. Howell starting in late 1991. The first public release (1.0, Oct 1992) supported V3 and V4, the second (2.0, Mar 1993) also V5. V6 support is planned. Since August 1995 ZIP is maintained by David Rose . f) Zterp (1992) Written by Charles M. Hannum , this interpreter (V3-5) has unfortunately never really caught on. It is the fastest one and also the first to abandon Infocom's now unnecessary virtual memory system. The only version (0.3alpha) was posted to alt.sources on 22 Feb 1993. g) Frotz (1995) A new interpreter currently in the works. It will support V1-6; the author is Stefan Jokisch . XI.3 Tools ---------- a) vocab/zorkword (1991-92) The first portable vocabulary dumper for Infocom games, written by Mike Threepoint and posted to rec.games.misc in early 1991 (rec.arts.int-fiction and rec.games.int-fiction weren't available before late summer 1991 and 1992, respectively). Its comments were the best source of information on Z-code's internal data structures until Graham Nelson's Z-machine specification came along in 1993. Made obsolete by Mark Howell's infodump. Final version: 9/920920. b) Ztools (1991-95) Infocom toolkit by Mark Howell. The most useful tools are 'txd' (a Z-code disassembler) and 'infodump' (a datafile dumper). The Ztools were first released in September 1992, but 'txd' dates back to April 1991 (V3 only, V4 support implemented January 1992, V5 in July 1992). Since May 1994 'txd' supports all Z-code versions (V1-6). Current maintainer (as of August 1995) is Stefan Jokisch. c) Inform (1993-95) A compiler for Z-code compatible datafiles (first released in April 1993), written by Graham Nelson . Being freeware it has become one of the most widely used (and discussed) text adventure design tools. Inform gets updated rather frequently and comes with extensive documentation. A debugger called Infix (based on Mark Howell's ZIP) is being developed by Dilip Sequeira . ------- *** -------