Let's Play ZORK

RandomYoshi

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Let's Play ZORK

Hello everybody, and welcome to our collective attempts at finishing the trilogy ZORK! ZORK is a trilogy of text-based adventure games made by Infocom, Inc.. The first game, ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire, was made in 1981, and that's the game we'll be playing. When we finish ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire, we'll move on to ZORK II: The Wizard of Frobozz, and after that, we'll be playing ZORK III: The Dungeon Master.

I don't want the usage of any guides here — we are to struggle through this game together. There surely are maps to be found, but we shall be making our own maps instead.

How will this work?
This will work by everyone agreeing to do one thing based on the updates I'll be posting. I myself haven't played the game either, so I shall be both a host and a player! Basically, we'll be collaborating and figuring out how to beat the game together on this one.

List of basic commands
  • [WEST/NORTHWEST/NORTH/NORTHEAST/EAST/SOUTHEAST/SOUTH/SOUTHWEST] — makes us go [WEST/NORTHWEST/NORTH/NORTHEAST/EAST/SOUTHEAST/SOUTH/SOUTHWEST]
  • LOOK — investigates an area
  • LOOK AT [OBJECT] — investigates an [OBJECT]
  • TAKE [OBJECT] — takes an [OBJECT], adding it to our INVENTORY
  • INVENTORY — gives a complete list of items found in our INVENTORY
  • SAVE — saves our adventure to the current save slot
  • RESTORE — restores our adventure from when the game was last saved from our current save slot
  • DIAGNOSIS — lists our current status

Some Recognised Verbs
ANSWER FOLLOW SAY
ATTACK GIVE SEARCH
BLOW INFLATE SHAKE
BREAK JUMP SLIDE
BURN KICK SMELL
CLIMB KNOCK STAY
CLOSE LIGHT STRIKE
COUNT LISTEN SWIM
CROSS LOCK TAKE
CUT LOOK TELL
DEFLATE LOWER THROW
DIG MOVE TIE
DRINK OPEN TOUCH
DROP POUR TURN
EAT PRAY UNLOCK
ENTER PULL WAKE
EXAMINE PUSH WALK
EXIT PUT WAVE
EXTINGUISH RAISE WEAR
FILL READ WIND

This is the manual for the first game, ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire.

Every update will be posted with a lovely courier font as to emulate the old-school feeling of playing on a really old system.

Without further ado, let's begin.



ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire
Copyright (c) 1981, 1982, 1983 Infocom, Inc. All rights reserved.
ZORK is a registred trademark of Infocom, Inc.
Revision 88 / Serial number 840726

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.

>
 
I think we're at a such a rudimentary position in the game that we don't really have so many options available to us. I want to open the mailbox too, but I'd like some more input before we do anything here.
 
but we can try it anyway!

These are the three outcomes that came from our commands:


>OPEN MAILBOX
Opening the mailbox reveals a small leaflet.



>TAKE MAILBOX
It is securely anchored.



>EAT MAILBOX
I don't think that the small mailbox would agree with you.


idk to me opening it is wiser, but I'm all ears
 
Look around the area surrounding this mailbox.
 

>ENTER MAILBOX
You hit your head against the small mailbox as you attempt this feat.




>LOOK AT LEAFLET
"WELCOME TO ZORK!

ZORK is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it you will explore some of the most amazing territory seen my mortals. No computer should be without one!"




>LOOK AT DOOR
The door is closed.

>LOOK AT HOUSE
The house is a beautiful colonial house which is painted white. It is clear that the owners must have been extremely wealthy.



I then tried various combinations of "LOOK AT FIELDS" but...


>LOOK AT FIELDS
I don't know the word "fields".

>LOOK AT FIELD
I don't know the word "field".

>LOOK AT OPEN FIELD
You used the word "open" in a way that I don't understand.



What gives, really?

By the way, there's apparently some score we have. At the moment, we have 0 out of 350 points.
 
I think that we should try leaving this screen and return when we find a key that could possibly unlock the door. If we are to move somewhere, where should we go?
 
take leaflet

because
 
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