HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: djohnson@cs.ucsd.edu (Darin Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Re: The trend in adventure games
Date: 7 Oct 92 16:51:12 GMT
Organization: =CSE Dept., U.C. San Diego

Well, I thought Monkey-Island-II, which fits well into this category
of graphic/animated/huge game, was great.  I had lots of fun with it,
worried over the puzzles, etc.  In short, it was worth the money.  On
the other hand, I ftp'd dungeon (zork) for free, spent a few hours
trying to compile, then got bored real quick with it.  I wouldn't have
even tried it really, cept everyone says what a cool classic it is.
Maybe I'll pick it up again sometime and force myself through it...

(original adventure was cool though, probably cuz I played it back
when I had never seen computer games before, and you had to be
rich to have graphics - although I prefer games that don't require
months to finish)
-- 
Darin Johnson
djohnson@ucsd.edu
    Where am I?  In the village...  What do you want?  Information...
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: jamie@heavy.enet.dec.com (Jamie.)
Subject: Looking for FTP location of ITF
Reply-To: jamie@heavy.enet.dec.com (Jamie.)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 12:12:40 GMT


Could someone point me toward a copy of the ITF stuff ? It's mentioned here all
over the place but no sites have been listed that I can see...

Perhaps this is a valid entry for the FAQ (that is, if someone else asks it
too!)...

Thanks,

				Jamie.
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas)
Subject: Re: TADS and ANSI?
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 12:41:12 GMT

In article <29392@life.ai.mit.edu> dmb@case.ai.mit.edu (David Baggett) writes:
>In article <1992Oct14.190103.14098@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas) writes:
>>Does anyone know how to get TADS to utilize ANSI codes?  I have instances
>>where I would like to create bold and/or colored type, and have tried
>>various conventions in an attempt to do so.  So far, no luck...
>
>You can't, unless you use a "user exit" coded in C.  There's no
>portable way to output a character by ASCII value in TADS; hence you
>can only print things that you can either type or represent with an
>escape sequence (like \n).
>
>I imagine Mike Roberts intentionally disallowed writing characters by
>number for portability reasons.  TADS 2.0, though not officially
>released yet, does support highlighted text.   You just use an escape
>code to turn highlighting on and off.  I suggested he add colors but he
>declined to do so, again for portability reasons.  (The main argument
>being that the sure should be able to choose his own colors.)

[stuff deleted]

Do you all have any idea when TADS 2.0 will be available?  I have my registra-
tion check for the current version all set to go out in the mail, but if
the new version is due out shortly, I figure it'd be easiest just to wait...


-- 
John Mechalas                                          "I'm not an actor, but
mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu                                 I play one on TV."
Aero Engineering, Purdue University                     #include disclaimer.h
From: ddj+@cs.cmu.edu (Doug DeJulio)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Re: Itf, .dat files, file permissions, and legal questions:
Date: 11 Oct 92 18:17:31 GMT
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon

In article <BvxvKx.90u@rice.edu> adam@owlnet.rice.edu (Adam Justin Thornton) writes:
>My question is really pretty simple: if I have compiled the itf interpreter
>and am using it to play/view games, am I legally obligated (on a multi-user
>system) to keep the permissions on my .dat files set so that I am the only
>person who can read them and thus, only I can play them?

At the very least you should take steps to make sure random folks
don't copy them.  What I do is to make the datafiles readable only by
the group "games" and make the itf interpreter setgid games.

If folks are worried about licensing and multiple players, a locking
mechanism could probably be worked into the interpreter.  All you need
to do is make sure that only one copy of each game is being played at
a time, and you should be covered.
-- 
Doug DeJulio
ddj+@cmu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: librik@cory.Berkeley.EDU (David Librik)
Subject: Re: TADS and ANSI?
Organization: University of California, at Berkeley
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 06:12:01 GMT

dmb@case.ai.mit.edu (David Baggett) writes:

>In article <1992Oct14.190103.14098@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> mechalas@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (John P. Mechalas) writes:
>>Does anyone know how to get TADS to utilize ANSI codes?  I have instances
>>where I would like to create bold and/or colored type, and have tried
>>various conventions in an attempt to do so.  So far, no luck...

>You can't, unless you use a "user exit" coded in C.  There's no
>portable way to output a character by ASCII value in TADS; hence you
>can only print things that you can either type or represent with an
>escape sequence (like \n).

I believe that on the PC version of TADS, Mike's display code writes directly
to the screen buffer for speed.  I've always wanted him to at least add a
command-line flag that would use BIOS instead ... and perhaps another that
uses ANSI control codes.  (Norton Utilities does this: /d1 uses BIOS, /d2
uses ANSI.SYS if it's installed).  Why do this?  It's easy, and it lets you
run TADS games on machines which aren't fully PC-compatible.  For instance,
the Tandy 2000 is BIOS-compatible but not hardware-compatible.  The NEC 9801,
the most popular computer in Japan, is neither BIOS nor hardware compatible,
but is ANSI and MS-DOS compatible!  Given that these are Text Adventures,
there's no need to be so hardware-specific.  Since you're helping Mike Roberts
with TADS 2.0, Dave, perhaps you could suggest something to him.

- David 
librik@cory.Berkeley.edu

--- I agree with your comment about discouraging color usage -- what happens
when you run your TADS game on a Macintosh, most of which are monochrome?
Funny control sequences in the text?
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: adam@owlnet.rice.edu (Adam Justin Thornton)
Subject: Itf's address?
Organization: Milo's Meadow
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 17:32:52 GMT

What is it?  I can't seem to find it in any of the Itf files...

Adam
-- 
"Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption and he passeth from the
 stink of the didie to the stench of the shroud.  There is _always_
 something." -- Robert Penn Warren | Vote Cthulhu in '92! | adam@rice.edu
If Rice shared my opinions I wouldn't have this disclaimer | 64,928
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: fizzit@stein.u.washington.edu (Fred Sloniker)
Subject: Adventure game writer and Stationfall walkthrough
Summary: Can you help me find 'em for the Amiga?
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 05:10:56 GMT

If anyone out there can help me find a good Infocom-style adventure writing
utility for the Amiga, or any adventure games of that type?  Also, where can
I get a walkthrough for Stationfall?  I have it for my old C-128, and would
like to finish it sometime this decade.  (:3

				---L. Lazuli R'kamos
From: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet (Molley the Mage)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: #478 should be Re: Best & Worst Problems
Date: 12 Oct 92 12:32:52 CDT
Organization: Great Cthulhu 1992 Campaign HQ

Sorry about that earlier <NONE> subject line... I was asleep at the
keyboard..

On another thread, has anyone played Spellcasting 301 yet?  I only
heard that it was out, and I am considering going to get it (having
enjoyed the first two), so I am casting about for a review...

-- Sean 
---
M. Sean Molley, CS Department, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY
RealSpace - (502) 745-4027 | Why settle for the lesser evil?  Cthulhu in '92!
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: dementia@cheshire.oxy.edu (Daniel Steven Reinker)
Subject: Re: Info-flop and new thread (mild spoilers)
Organization: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041 USA.
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1992 19:07:03 GMT

In article <1992Oct13.070813.12710@nwnexus.WA.COM> jennings@halcyon.com (James Jennings) writes:
>While I agree that Planetfall suffered from too many phony puzzles
>(leaving one with the impression that there weren't many real puzzles) I
>didn't have that problem with Starcross. I haven't finished
>Spellbreaker.
>
My problem with Starcross is it seems there are very few words that the game
understands. It is very frustrating to be presented with several nouns in a
room description, and only be able to look at one of them.
>
>As an additional question for this thread: What puzzles took a unusually long
>time/required outside help/made you feel stupid when you found the
>answer?
>
>James
>
The most annoying puzzle I had to solve was with Stationfall(spoiler)

It wasn't even really a puzzle. For years, I could not understand why the
game wouldn't let me leave the room after I had set the explosive. Finally, I
learned that I have to drop the timer and the detonator before I could leave.
Previously, the game would give me the message "You have to disconnect the
explosive first." It would have been REALLY nice if it had just said "You need
to drop the detonator and timer first."

The other difficult puzzle for me was how to get through the death door in
Enchanter.

Hiz Lord Dementia

-- 
"You can't help that. We're all mad here."-The cheshire cat, Alice in WL

"A mass hysteria/a megalomania/reveal Dementia/reveal"-Metallica
From: uerics@mcl.ucsb.edu (Eric D. Shepherd)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Re: zzmgck & 'zork' as vocabulary
Date: 8 Oct 92 07:46:15 GMT

That's odd; if I type "zork", I get "At your service!".

- Eric S.

--
Eric Shepherd  |  Internet: uerics@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu  |  AOL: Sheppy
-------- ACM Member ----- Apple II Alliance Charter Member --------
Erroneous statements and inappropriate opinions stated herein are
caused by network glitches and are not attributable to the author.
From: fts5792@summa.tamu.edu (SRONCE, FRANK T)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: TADS
Date: 8 Oct 92 21:20:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: summa.8OCT199216204419
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

I tried downloading TADS.ZIP from msdos.archive.umich.edu as someone
posted earlier. Unzipped it in my Unix account and kermitted (the faster modes
didn't work, alas) it down to my PC.

The executable files crashed everytime I tried to run them. Same for the
Unnk~v2 I downloaded. 

*Sigh*

Does anyone have any idea what I might be doing wrong? Are there some 
unmentioned system requirements, or did I just download them wrong?

Kiz aka Tommy Sronce
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Stelter)
Subject: Re: Best and worst problems (was: Re: Info-flop and new thread (mild spoilers))
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1992 03:04:14 GMT

dpn2@po.CWRU.Edu (Damien P. Neil) writes:

>In article <uerics.718678672@mcl> uerics@mcl.ucsb.edu (Eric D. Shepherd) writes:
>>The dumbest puzzle in an Infocom game that I can think of would definitely
>>be Zork I's Echo Room. :)

>Ha! That's what _you_ think! :-) There are two ways to do this one...one 
>stupid, one smart. (I figured out one, and had to be told the other.)

>The ways are:
>SPOILERS!!!
























>echo (stupid)

Oddly enough, it was this solution that I hit across the first time...and,
needless to say, I came across it through blind chance.  I was maybe 12
years old at the time.

Remember that gag near the end of "Airplane" where the pilot's thoughs
reverberate in his head?  "I've got to concentrate...concentrate...
Hello?...hello?   Echo!...echo!"  This gag was running through my mind
while I was stumbling across this puzzle, and it led me to type "echo,"
just for laughs.  Hey, whatever works!  :)


                           --Steve "You don't have that!" Stelter
                             sjs28257@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
From: uerics@mcl.ucsb.edu (Eric D. Shepherd)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Re: Patch No.2 for ITF V4.01 Interpreter
Date: 9 Oct 92 15:59:27 GMT

I'm trying to port the interpreter to my machine, and although it's going
better than when I tried an older version (which never did work), I'm
still getting internal errors.  A list of the internal error numbers would
be useful for debugging.  Anybody got 'em?

- Eric S.

--
Eric Shepherd  |  Internet: uerics@mcl.mcl.ucsb.edu  |  AOL: Sheppy
-------- ACM Member ----- Apple II Alliance Charter Member --------
"Apple II Forever!"   is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
						 Isn't that ironic?
From: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Info-flop and new thread (mild spoilers)
Date: 7 Oct 92 11:14:33 CDT
Organization: Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

(I bet that subject line got your attention quick, didn't it?) :-)

I was leafing through the ol' LTOI2 package and I decided that today's
entertainment would be the game _Plundered Hearts_.  Well, I was
wrong, it was only about an hour's entertainment.  Is it just me, or
did that game really suck eggs compared to the other Infocom games? 
There were MAYBE 30 locations in the entire game, the puzzles wouldn't
have challenged a 5-year old (except one who'd only played Sierra
games) and Jamison, the "love interest" for your female lead, was a
real weenie (IMHO).  Blech.

Here's a new thread --

What is your all-time single favorite puzzle or problem in an IF game? 
(by "problem" I define a single quandary or tightly defined section of
a game - for example, the "12 cubes" puzzle in _Spellbreaker_ or the
coal mine area in Zork I both qualify, but the whole endgame of
_Trinity_ is too broad for what I'm talking about -- though I loved
it).

I would have to say that mine is the "meeting yourself" time quandary
in _Sorcerer_.  That was too cool.  Honorable mention honors go to the
Island Where Time Runs Backward in Spellcasting 101, for pure creative
thought; the umbrella and perambulator puzzle in _Trinity_ for most
humorous image conjured in my mind, and the chessboard/construction
site in Zork Zero for most imaginative use of a chesspiece I've ever
seen.

Also, what is your opinion on the "dumbest" problem or section in an
IF game?  "Dumb" can mean either so blatanly obvious that it wasn't
even a puzzle, or just so aberrantly stupid that you wonder what the
designer was smoking.

For me that would have to be almost any puzzle in _Plundered Hearts_
(especially the crocodile and garter) or the Hedge Maze in _Hollywood
Hijinx_ (otherwise a great game, but that maze was D-U-M-B).

What do the rest of you think?

Sean
/SIG
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: jjh37997@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (James J. Herlburt)
Subject: Zork 1
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: rec.games.int-fiction
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 1992 02:17:24 GMT


Organization: Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Date: Fri,  9 Oct 1992 11:08:39 -0400 
From: Todd Keenan Bowman <tb0o+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Best and worst problems (was: Re: Info-flop and new thread (mild s

>Also, what is your opinion on the "dumbest" problem or section in an
>IF game?  "Dumb" can mean either so blatanly obvious that it wasn't
>even a puzzle, or just so aberrantly stupid that you wonder what the
>designer was smoking.

This one puzzle was so illogical that I still remember it all these years
later...

In the very early game KABUL SPY by Broderbund you needed to get past a draw
bridge. The description said something like "The bridge is drawn". In order
to lower the bridge you had to type "Erase bridge".  Get it?  all this in the
middle of a semi-realistic game.

Anyone play any of the other classic adventure - not the KABUL SPY was a
classic...

t
From: jamesc@cs.concordia.ca (SCHIDLOWSKY james c.)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Re: zzmgck & 'zork' as vocabulary
Date: 7 Oct 92 03:30:58 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec

In article <1aiha0INNcmq@early-bird.think.com> galley@think.com (Stu Galley) writes:
>In article <FRIEDMAN.92Sep30124241@nutrimat.gnu.ai.mit.edu> friedman@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Noah Friedman) writes:
>>Does anyone have any idea what the word `zzmgck' is for?  I've noticed it
>
>ZZMGCK was used as a junk word at the end of the sorted dictionary,
>because a bug in some ZIP interpreters prevented them from finding
>that last word.                    -- Stu Galley <Galley@think.com>

I've noticed in Zork I & II, you could use the word 'zork' instead of
'matches'.  So, if you had matches on you, you could say "light zork",
and a match would be lit!  Now why is that?!

_-_
</+\:=-- James.                 /\                                          <\
^\:-(jamesc@.cs.concordia.ca)   \/  "These are the dark ages." -- NoMeansNo </
From: fletcher@rtf.bt.co.uk (Catherine Fletcher)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Text Adventure Games for Amiga
Date: 8 Oct 92 11:15:16 GMT
Organization: BT Customer Systems, Brighton, UK

Hello

Does anybody know if there are any ports of PC text adventure games to the
Amiga?  I am thinking of the shareware games in particular.

Also have they made an Amiga version of LTOI for the Amiga?  At the moment
I don't know of any text adventure games for the Amiga and I really... (cough
cough) need... (tremble, cough) ...one.

-- 
 Catherine 
 _____________________________________________________________________________

    "Anyone who calls a spade a spade should be compelled to use one"
    Oscar Wilde
 _____________________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: jennings@halcyon.com (James Jennings)
Subject: Re: Lost Treasures of Infocom on CD-ROM?
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 08:27:06 GMT

>Do any of you know about a Macintosh CD-ROM version of Lost Treasures of
>Infocom?  Does it include both volumes on it?  And how is the
>documentation?

I have the Mac CD-ROM version. It is only Volume I. I *believe* the
documentation is the same as with the floppy based version. 

The only unexpected feature is: the CD-ROM has *both* the Mac and PC
versions of the game on it.  (Although I havn't tried to run the PC
versions to see if they work. ;-)

I noticed one problem: The games didn't have their bundle bits set
correctly, so the "book" icons didn't show up until I copied them to my
HD, ran Norton Utilities over them, and rebuilt my desktop.

Does anyone know if they intend to release vol II on CD-ROM? 

James

Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
From: mcrosby@nyx.cs.du.edu (Matthew Crosby)
Subject: Re: Info-flop and new thread (mild spoilers)
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 02:29:07 GMT

In article <1992Oct8.032525.8724@cbfsb.cb.att.com> forbes@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (Scott Forbes) writes:
>
>My vote for "favorite puzzle" goes to _Enchanter's_ Unseen Terror problem.
>Something about the concept, and the description -- brr.
>
>Of course if we're taking a survey, how about:
>
>  *  Favorite endgame			(_Planetfall_, in my case)
>
>  *  Favorite (non-player) character	(Belboz, _Enchanter_ series)
Floyd!!!  (IMHO)

>  *  Favorite death			(_Sorcerer_, Chamber of Living Death)
Hmm.  Mine would be the endgame of Infidel!

>
>  *  Favorite resurrection		(_Enchanter_)
>
Overall favorite scene: Floyds Death
I was about 9 when I played that (Yes guys, I'm actually a young'un who
enjoys these), and I quite literally burst into tears when that happened!!


--
-Matt
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the net!
mcrosby@nyx.cs.du.edu  -or-  crosby@kinglear.cs.colorado.edu
From: friedman@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Noah Friedman)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Re: LTOI where to buy?
Date: 8 Oct 92 01:08:33 GMT
Distribution: ne
Organization: Free Software Foundation, 675 Mass Ave. Cambridge, MA 02139
In-reply-to: fjh@bbn.com's message of 7 Oct 92 13:51:25 GMT

In article <ld5qqtINN5hm@news.bbn.com> fjh@bbn.com (Frederick J Hirsch) writes:
>Can anyone recommend where to buy Lost Treasures of InfoCom #1, and how much
>to expect to spend? I haven't found any mail order places, except for one
>who didn't know LTOI 2 existed and became indignant when I said it did.
>I want to make sure that I really get LTOI 1 and not some other package.

   Accessories Plus, in Harvard Square right next to Radio Shack, has
both volumes for either Mac or PC.

   (Note that I am not an employee of AP and have no financial bias toward
or against them...it's merely where I found my copies).
From: mollems@wkuvx1.bitnet (Molley the Mage)
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Re: Zork I Echo Room <SPOILER>
Date: 16 Oct 92 19:19:37 GMT
Organization: Great Cthulhu 1992 Campaign HQ

In article <1992Oct14.193420.6263@ultb.isc.rit.edu>, jsvrc@rc.rit.edu (J A Stephen Viggiano) writes:
> In article <uerics.718678672@mcl>, uerics@mcl.ucsb.edu (Eric D. Shepherd) writes:
>> The dumbest puzzle in an Infocom game that I can think of would definitely
>> be Zork I's Echo Room. :)
> 
> In article <1992Oct12.123028.3078@wkuvx1.bitnet> MOLLEMS@WKUVX1.BITNET writes:
> 
>>If you're referring to the solution where you must speak a certain
>>word (word deleted to prevent spoilage) then I agree, that was dumb. 
>>There was, however, another solution to the puzzle which did not
>>involve speaking that certain word, and which was (IMO) rather neat.
>>(solution also deleted to prevent spoilage... I'll post or Email it if
>>anyone wants it)
> 
> I tried to e-mail, but no joy. Consider me among those who want to be
> spoiled . . .

Okay, for all those who missed it (and the Email really was no joy,
because I didn't get any from you ... sorry it never reached me :( )

HERE COMES DA SPOILER














 
> . . . . but does it involve the control room downstairs and the robot?

Er, the robot's in Zork II.  So, no.

Actually, the solution works like this.  The rushing noise in the Echo
room is caused by the water in the reservoir running through the dam. 
So if you drain the reservoir (I'm sure you know how) then you can
quickly run down to the Echo room while it's filling back up, where
things will be blessedly quite for a few moves.

I find this solution infinitely preferable to the stupid "say echo"
solution ... I wonder why that one was put in?  Any thoughts?

-- Sean
---
M. Sean Molley, CS Department, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY
RealSpace - (502) 745-4027 | Why settle for the lesser evil?  Cthulhu in '92!
Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction