Zork, an Exhibit

Media

Versions

Moriarty, Brian. Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor. Zork Anthology. Infocom, 1987.

Blank, Mark, and Dave Lebling. Enchanter. Enchanter Trilogy. Infocom, 1983.

Meretzky, Steve. Sorcerer. Enchanter Trilogy. Infocom, 1984.

Lebling, Dave. Spellbreaker. Enchanter Trilogy. Infocom, 1985.

Blank, Marc, et al. Zork 1 : The Great Underground Empire. Zork 1: The Great Underground Empire. Infocom, 1980.

Blank, Marc, et al. Zork 2: The Wizard of Frobozz. The Wizard of Frobozz. Infocom , 1981.

Blank, Marc, et al. Zork 3: The Dungeon Master. The Dungeon Master. Infocom, Submitted.

Langosy, Elizabeth T. Zork Quest: Assualt on Egreth Castle. Zork Quest. Infocom, 1988.

Langosy, Elizabeth T. Zork Quest: The Crystal of Doom. Zork Quest. Infocom, 1989.

Meretzky, Steve. Zork Zero: Revenge of Megaboz. Zork Anthology. Infocom, Submitted.

Discussion

Beginnings of the Video RPG

by whybthr

“ZORK is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it you will explore some of the most amazing territory ever seen by mortals.” . The scene is set for us to imagine, and it is up to you to make the next move. You could go east and find that the doors to the house in front of you is boarded up, or west towards the forest where you can see a path to your east. North will take you to other side of the house where all the windows are boarded up and south will take you back hence you came. That is the begging of the classic title Zork : The Great Underground Empire. This came to be known as one of the classic games because it created something new. Zork included parts and techniques from novels, older video games, and pen and paper style role playing, to produce the modern day video role playing game.

Freedom Within Video Games

by moto

Introduced in 1980 by Infocom was Zork: The Great Underground Empire - Part 1, but more widely known as Zork 1 which was the first game in the three part trilogy. Zork was the first ever “text adventure” video game and was sold on 5x8 floppy disks; but what could be so special about a “text adventure game?” There are no graphics or really anything to look at, and games are all about flashing lights and images right? At first glance you might just think that there was something wrong with your computer when the introduction to the game appeared on your computer’s console. However, Zork was the first game to really give the player more “freedom” or the illusion of "freedom" rather then be able to move in one area such as in “Spacewar!” or any other game out at the time. To really understand how monumental Zork was to the gaming world, one must take the time to appreciate the imagery that Zork provides the player, and eventually you will get lost in the world that is Zork.

Zork: An Interactive Book?

by st4rscr3am3r

Zork, an interactive game made in 1977–1979 by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, is the first of its kind to completely rely on the player’s imagination to fill in the blanks where there are no pictures but only words. Zork itself is a game where you are presented with nothing but a black screen with white writing prompting you to enter in commands that will be utilized as character movement and action. Because of this, Zork is no more than an interactive book, where imagination is still a key element in making and selling games. For its time, Zork was a hit and has since become a pop culture icon, influencing the song “It Is Pitch Dark” by nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot. But other than it’s pop culture, what has Zork, this completely text based game, given us?

References

Lebling, David P., Marc S. Blank, and Timothy A. Anderson. Zork: A Computerized Fantasy Simulation Game. Zork: A Computerized Fantasy Simulation Game. Cambridge: Massachusetts Insitiute Of Technology, Submitted.

Anderson, Tim. "The History of Zork - First in a Series." The New York Times. 4 (1985).

Anderson, Tim. "The History of Zork - Second in a Series." The New York Times. 4 (1985).

"The History of Zork -- The Final (?) Chapter: MIT, MDL, ZIL, ZIP." The New York Times. 4 (1985).

Player 4 Stage 1: The Productivity Eaters. You were eaten by a Grue., 2006.

Tyers, Karen. Zork I: The Great Underground Empire. Vol. 2009. Zork I: The Great Underground Empire, 2009. Adventure Classic Gaming, 1998.

Blank, Marc, et al. Game - Zork. 88th ed. Zork I: The Great Underground Empire. Infocom, Inc, Submitted.

Barton, Matt. Interview with David Lebling and Marc Blank., 2007.

Admin, Website. Legends of Zork: Interview with Zork Creator David Lebling., 2009.

Pearce, Celia. Game Noir - A Conversation with Tim Schafer ., 2003.

Meretzky, Steve. Zork I and Civilisation I/II., 2007.

Granade, Stephen. A Brief History of Interactive Fiction., 2000.

Nicholson, Robert T.. Creating a Fantasy World on the 8080., 1980.

Buckles, Mary Ann. "Interactive Fiction as Literature." Transgalactic Software (1987).

"A Zork By Any Other Name." New Zork Times (1984).

Fitch, Peter. "End of File." Practical Computing (1982).