| Beyond Zork | |
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| Developer(s) | Infocom |
| Publisher(s) | Infocom |
| Engine | Z-code version 5 |
| Platform(s) | Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, IBM PC, Commodore 128 |
| Release date | Release 47: September 15, 1987
Release 49: September 17, 1987 Release 51: September 23, 1987 Release 57: December 21, 1987 |
| Genre(s) | Interactive fiction |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Media | 1 3½" floppy disk |
Zork games
Enchanter trilogy
Other games
Wishbringer • Return to Zork
Zork: Nemesis • Zork Grand Inquisitor
Zork: The Undiscovered Underground
Companies
Miscellaneous
Beyond Zork (full title: Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor) was an interactive fiction computer game written by Brian Moriarty and released by Infocom in 1987. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Infocom was a Software company, based in Cambridge Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of Interactive fiction. Infocom was a Software company, based in Cambridge Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of Interactive fiction. A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development of computer and video games The Z-machine is a Virtual machine that was developed by Joel Berez and Marc Blank in 1979 and used by Infocom for its text adventure games In Computing, a platform describes some sort of Hardware architecture or Software framework (including Application frameworks, that allows The Apple, the fifth model inception of the Apple II, was the most powerful member of the Apple II series of personal computers made by Apple Computer. The Atari ST is a home / Personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s The Commodore 128 ( C128, CBM 128, C=128) home / Personal computer was the last 8-bit machine which was commercially Events 668 - Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse Italy. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Events 1176 - The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought 1462 - The Battle of Świecino (or Battle of Żarnowiec Events 1122 - Concordat of Worms. 1459 - Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Events 69 - The end of the Year of the four emperors: Following Galba, Otho and Vitellius, Vespasian See also [[Game classification]] Video games are categorized into Genres based on their Gameplay interaction In video gaming, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session Digital media (as opposed to analog media) usually refers to Electronic media that work on digital Codes. A floppy disk is an increasingly Obsolete data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin flexible ("floppy" Magnetic storage medium encased Zork was one of the first Interactive fiction Computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure. Zork I The Great Underground Empire is an Interactive fiction Computer game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels Zork II The Wizard of Frobozz is an Interactive fiction Computer game published by Infocom in 1981. Zork III The Dungeon Master is an Interactive fiction Computer game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels Zork Zero The Revenge of Megaboz is an Interactive fiction Computer game, written by Steve Meretzky and published by Infocom in Spellbreaker is an Interactive fiction Computer game written by Dave Lebling and released by Infocom in 1985, the third Wishbringer The Magick Stone of Dreams is an Interactive fiction Computer game written by Brian Moriarty and published by Infocom Return to Zork is a 1993 Adventure game in the Zork series for the PC and Apple Macintosh. Zork The Undiscovered Underground (or ZUU for short is an Interactive fiction Computer game written by former Infocom Implementors Infocom was a Software company, based in Cambridge Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of Interactive fiction. Activision Inc is an American Video game developer and publisher. FrobozzCo International is a fictional monopolous conglomerate from the Infocom text adventure Zork universe The Z-machine is a Virtual machine that was developed by Joel Berez and Marc Blank in 1979 and used by Infocom for its text adventure games AFGNCAAP (pronounced Afghan-cap or Afghan-cop is a satirically politically correct Initialism for " Ageless Faceless Gender-Neutral Culturally-Ambiguous The Zork books were a series of four books written by S Eric Meretzky, which took place in the Fictional universe of Zork. A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather Brian Moriarty (born 1956 is an American Video game developer who authored three of the original Infocom Interactive Infocom was a Software company, based in Cambridge Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of Interactive fiction. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) It was one of the last games in Infocom's Zork series; or, rather, one of the last Zork games that many Infocom fans consider "official" (titles such as Zork: Nemesis and Zork Grand Inquisitor were created after Activision had dissolved Infocom as a company and kept the "brand name"). Zork was one of the first Interactive fiction Computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure. Activision Inc is an American Video game developer and publisher. It signified a notable departure from the standard format of Infocom's earlier games which relied purely on text and puzzle-solving: among other features, Beyond Zork incorporated a crude on-screen map, the use of character statistics and levels, and RPG combat elements. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. It is Infocom's twenty-ninth game.
Contents |
Plot
The player explores the Southlands of Quendor somewhat aimlessly at first. Soon, however, a task is bestowed by the Implementors, a group of godlike creatures jokingly based on Infocom's game designers. The Coconut of Quendor, an incredibly powerful artifact that embodies the whole of Magic, has fallen into the claws of an unspeakably foul beast: an Ur-grue. Rumoured to be the spirits of fallen Implementors, Ur-Grues can surround themselves in a sphere of darkness that only sunlight can pierce. The player must recover the Coconut from this monster's grasp or face the unthinkable consequences.
Feelies
Almost since the company's beginning, Infocom's games included "extras" (called feelies) in the packages, often serving a dual purpose of entertainment and copy protection. Infocom used the term feelie to refer to the extra content included with the boxed versions of their Interactive fiction Computer games Feelies differed Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention, or copy restriction, is a technology for preventing the unauthorised reproduction Beyond Zork is no exception. The game package contained:
- A large fold-out map of the "Southland of Quendor"
- A small book titled The Lore and Legends of Quendor, a field guide of sorts to the flora and fauna of the area (several entries contained information necessary to defeat or incapacitate creatures in the game)
Notes
Beyond Zork bears many similarities to a simplified role playing game or Multi-User Dungeon, particularly in the implementations of character statistics and levels. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. In computer gaming, a MUD ( Multi-User Dungeon, Domain or Dimension) is a multi-player computer game that combines elements of The "attributes" that affected the character were endurance, strength, dexterity, intelligence, compassion, and luck. These attributes could be manually allocated by the player at the beginning of the game or randomly set by the computer. Additionally, there were several preset characters that could be used. The values of these attributes affected combat and other aspects of the game; the values could be changed by gaining experience levels, eating or drinking certain things, or wearing or using certain objects. (Humorously, repeated typing of profanities would lower the player's intelligence. The original meaning of the adjective profane (from the Latin for "in front of or outside the Temple " was to refer to items not belonging to the church )
Many locations, creatures and events encountered in other Zork games were referenced in Beyond Zork.
A short section of the game involves the magical land of Froon, "the setting for a series of beloved children's books by L. Frank Fzort, and later became a successful movie musical starring Judy Garlic. " This is a not-very-subtle tribute to (or parody of) L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Lyman Frank Baum ( May 15 1856 &ndash May 5 1919) was an American Author, Actor, and Independent filmmaker
Beyond Zork was one of 20 Infocom games bundled in the 1991 compilation The Lost Treasures of Infocom published by Activision. The Lost Treasures of Infocom is a collection of 20 Computer games from Interactive fiction pioneer Infocom, released in 1991
Technical details
The game's most noticeable enhancement relative to its Infocom predecessors is the addition of an onscreen map to the heads-up display, which shows the player's location in relation to the surrounding area. A head-up display, or HUD, is any transparent display that presents data without requiring the user to look away from his or her usual viewpont In addition, game navigation can be accomplished via mouse clicks on the map, if the operating system that the game is running on supports mouse input. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination
In addition, the game continued the Zork series' early use of procedural generation in videogaming. Zork was one of the first Interactive fiction Computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure. Procedural generation is a widely used term in the production of media indicating the possibility to create content On the fly rather than prior to distribution A number of magic items have initial locations and descriptions that are randomly determined, and some sections of the area map are randomly reorganized, each time a new game is played. Randomness is a lack of order Purpose, cause, or predictability Role-playing game-like elements are also present in the combat, including the concept of hit points and character statistics. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. Health is a Game mechanic used in computer and Video games to give value to characters, enemies NPCs, and related objects Infocom had used these concepts before only in a rather limited way in Zork I and III. Zork I The Great Underground Empire is an Interactive fiction Computer game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels Zork III The Dungeon Master is an Interactive fiction Computer game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels
Like Infocom's other games, Beyond Zork is platform independent and runs on a virtual computer architecture called the Z-machine. The Z-machine is a Virtual machine that was developed by Joel Berez and Marc Blank in 1979 and used by Infocom for its text adventure games There were 4 versions of the game released in 1987, all using version 5 of the Z-machine. The game has 144 rooms and 77 objects, with a vocabulary of 1569 words and a total of 32778 opcodes.
Reception
A review in Computer Gaming World was pleased with some of Beyond Zork's features, particularly the ability to define macros and bind them to the function keys. Computer Gaming World ( CGW) was founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication A macro (from the Greek 'μάκρο' for long or far in Computer science is a rule or Pattern that specifies how a certain input sequence (often a sequence The randomness of the game was described as frustrating, particularly as maps and item properties randomize upon restoring a previous game save. The review concluded by describing Beyond Zork as "a curious hybrid. . . mostly tough Infocom adventure with a patina of role-playing elements. "[1]
Tagline
Hunt the Coconut of Quendor!
References
- ^ Scorpia (December 1987), “Beyond Zork”, Computer Gaming World: 32-33, 57-58
External links
- Beyond Zork at MobyGames
- Beyond Zork overview and information
- Beyond Zork screenshots and review
- Scans of the Beyond Zork package, documentation and feelies
- Partial transcripts of Beyond Zork
- Infocom-if.org's entry on Beyond Zork
- The Infocom Bugs List entry on Beyond Zork
- The Dot Eaters page featuring a history of the Zork games and Infocom
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