From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!floyd!cmcl2!philabs!sdcsvax!sdchema!pha Newsgroups: net.games Title: Re: Zork II Article-I.D.: sdchema.390 Posted: Thu Jan 20 21:23:10 1983 Received: Thu Jan 27 21:15:37 1983 References: inuxa.185 I have played Zork II, and I'm afraid that it is only available for the Apple, IBM, and other big home computers. But there is no great loss, for "Dungeon" couldn't fit onto the home computers in the first place, so it was divided in half. If you have completed Dungeon, you should have no trouble with "Zork I" (actually, I have completed Dungeon, but still haven't found the 20th treasure.). Zork II has old things such as the Bank of Zork, Riddle Room, Volcano, Glacier Room, Tea Room, Round Room (called carousel room; in Zork I it doesn't spin!), and Robot Room. But, instead of the Thief, it has none other than the Wizard of Frobozz, who, rather than wandering around the dungeon stealing, appears regularly to cast some spell at you (fortunately, he sometimes holds his wand backwards). Also, there are new things: there is a dragon (who you have to kill, somehow) guarding a beautiful princess. There is a "formal garden" with a unicorn you have to entice and a lot of voodoo topiary animals. There are FOUR crystal spheres (including the one off the Machine Room) that are all connected to each other; you go through them after you die, and in the fourth one contains a spirit you must free. There is a new maze (odd-angled passages with glowing windows in the floors). Other than that, though, you get great adventages by knowing Dungeon beforehand. Also released in (oops - terminal glitch) Also released is "Zork III". This is the endgame in drag. Hope I could help... Paul Anderson ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdchema!pha or ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdccsu3!ir278 P.S. It is far worth it to get the three versions, although II and III have yet to be further de-bugged. The parsers are EXCELLENT - you can say commands like "take all the library books but the green one and the brown one" or "tell the robot 'lift the cage. get the red sphere. n. push the triangular button.'" or "open the china teapot and examine it." Infocom, who makes these three games, also put out two very similar adventures: Deadline and Starcross. I haven't any info on Starcross, but Deadline is a detective game where you have a limited time to solve a case. You stay in the victim's home, and the other people perform their daily tasks. The parser is even better; you can give commands like "Mrs. Dunbar, tell me about your husband." or "listen to the east wall" or "what is the maid saying on the phone?" I would recommend these too to anyone who is fond of good adventure.