HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: eric@telebit.com (Eric Smith)
Subject: Re: Bugs in old Infocom games
Organization: Telebit Corporation
	<#cjn#zq.bskendig@netcom.com>
Date: 1 Sep 92 21:41:23

>>On Tue, 01 Sep 92 07:01:56 GMT, bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig) said:
> In _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, you find in the pocket of
> your robe a 'thing your aunt gave you which you don't know what it
> is'.  This 'thing' can hold everything else you find in the game.
> Early versions of _HHGttG_ let you put the thing in your robe, then
> put your robe in the thing, at which point both items would vanish for
> the duration of the game.

A similar thing can be done with the teleport disks in Starcross.  Ordinarily
if you "drop" an object on a disk, it will be teleported to the other disk.  If
you just "put" an object on the disk, it just sits there.  If you drop one disk
on the other disk, they explode.

But if you "put the red disk on the blue disk", then "put the blue disk on
the red disk" (or vice versa), they unceremoniously vanish.  In fact the
surface of a disk is apparently big enough to hold a disk along with other
items, so you can make other things disappear also.  

In the internal data structures, if you drop one disk on the other (so they
explode), it moves both objects to location 0, the location where orphaned
(destroyed) objects go.  If you just place on on the other, and vice versa,
the location of each disk becomes the other disk.  That's why the game doesn't
see them any more.

I tried to report that as a bug, because I really don't think it was intended
to do that.  It seems to me that once you place the red disk on the blue disk,
an attempt to place the blue disk on the red disk should either fail, or tell
the player that it was removing the red disk from the blue disk first.  The
Infocom tech support people didn't seem to understand what I was talking
about.

Also in an early version of Starcross, the "shake" verb would totally sieze up
the game.

Cheers,
Eric
From: ewadams@netcom.Netcom.COM (Ernest Adams)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Subject: Speak at the Computer Game Developer's Conference!
Date: 1 Sep 92 18:51:27 GMT
Organization: Netcom Online Communications Service


 
         COME SPEAK AT THE COMPUTER GAME DEVELOPER'S CONFERENCE!
 
The seventh Computer Game Developer's Conference will be held April 17-20,
1993 in Santa Clara, California. The CGDC is the premiere professional
conference of the computer game industry. Every year, it brings together game
developers from all over the world to exchange information and insights (and
business cards). If you have an idea, issue, or problem that you'd like to
share with your colleagues, the Board of Directors wants to hear from you.
 
The format can be a lecture; a panel discussion among two or three
knowledgeable speakers; a roundtable (an open discussion among a small
audience); or a seminar (a shorter lecture followed by open discussion). All
sessions should last about an hour, including a short period for Q & A in
seminars and panels.
 
Topics for talks might include design theory (new ideas about games), design
practice (war stories and how-to information), technical (the nuts and bolts
of writing game software), and business/legal (protecting and selling your
game designs). These are only guidelines, however. Above all, Conference
attendees are looking for SOLUTIONS: practical information they can use to
make their games better and their lives easier.
 
HOW TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL
Write a one-page summary of your proposed talk, and mail, fax, or E-mail it to
one of the addresses shown below. A paragraph will do, but REMEMBER, THE
BETTER THE PROPOSAL, THE BETTER ITS CHANCES OF ACCEPTANCE. Please be as
specific as you can about the content of your talk, its format, and the
category (if any) into which it falls. If you want to do a panel, please list
the names of your proposed panelists.  Please get your proposal to us by
OCTOBER 15, 1992.
 
WHAT WE EXPECT FROM A SPEAKER
Speaking slots are limited, and we think long and hard about who to give them
to. When you agree to be a speaker, you're making a commitment to be there on
time, well-prepared, and to speak on the topic you've proposed. Also, we hope
you'll write a paper for the Proceedings, so that your ideas can reach people
unable to attend your talk.
 
ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE RECEIVED BY OCTOBER 15, 1992!
 
U.S. MAIL:                      Fax:            (415) 965-0221
Anne Westfall                   Internet:       ewadams@netcom.com
1440 Cedar Place                GEnie:          E.ADAMS10
Los Altos, CA 94024             CompuServe:     71170,161
From: grue@cs.uq.oz.au (Pauli Dale)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Subject: Bug in Zork II
Date: 3 Sep 92 00:17:37 GMT
Reply-To: grue@cs.uq.oz.au

hi,
	I seem to remember that in Zork II right after you
put the last of the coloured spheres onto the stands you
could 'get it' and you'd get the last sphere you put onto
a stand even though it wasn't there anymore.  The shperes
were treasures and you could give one to the demon.  So, you
didn't have to solve everything you could miss one treasure!




        						Pauli

Paul Dale                       | grue@cs.uq.oz.au
Department of Computer Science  | +61 7 365 2445
University of Queensland        |
Australia, 4072                 | Did you know that there are 41 two letter
                                |     words containing the letter 'a'?
--
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
From: bskendig@netcom.com (Brian Kendig)
Subject: Bugs in old Infocom games
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 92 07:01:56 GMT
Organization: Starfleet Headquarters: San Francisco

In addition to the other humorous Infocom game bugs mentioned here:

Early versions of Zork I let you climb a tree outside the white house
near the river, and type 'throw hands': "The pair of hands sails off
into the horizon."

Another Infocom game, a mystery whose name I forget, involved an
unconscious woman whom you had to revive by putting a pill in her
mouth.  However, you could also put anything else in her mouth, such
as a canoe paddle.

In _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_, you find in the pocket of
your robe a 'thing your aunt gave you which you don't know what it
is'.  This 'thing' can hold everything else you find in the game.
Early versions of _HHGttG_ let you put the thing in your robe, then
put your robe in the thing, at which point both items would vanish for
the duration of the game.

     << Brian >>

-- 
_/_/_/       Brian Kendig  Macintosh Jedi           Live never to be ashamed
 _/_/   Starfleet Captain  Oracle Employee         if anything you do or say
  _/  Intrepid Adventurer  Saturn SL2 Owner    is published around the world
      bskendig@netcom.com  Thoughtful Dreamer   -- even if what is published
    Princeton '92! BSE/CS  Writer/Actor/Singer                   is not true.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
From: greg@Quotron.COM (Greg "Maddog" Knauss)
Subject: Infocom non-bugs and research
Summary: Oh, just read the damn post...
Keywords: infocom,bugs,research
Organization: Quotron System, Inc.
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 20:00:37 GMT

All this talk of Infocom bugs got me thinking:  Anybody ever find something
in the TEXT of an Infocom game that was wrong?  I remember a Status Line
once, where someone had purchased Starcross and wrote in to complain about
all this stuff in the game he claimed was contradicted by current scientific
theory.  "The laser rifle shouldn't be able to move you across the no-
gravity area, because it doesn't have any recoil," stuff like that.  And Dave
Lebling (I think), the author, wrote an hugely detailed rebuttal, including
references.  In another Status Line, they said that they argued right up
until the day of release for Encanter whether bats had talons or claws.
	Is it just me, or don't companies take that sort of care anymore?
--
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Greg "Maddog" Knauss               "Aieee!"              greg@duke.quotron.com
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
From: bmesmer@occs.cs.oberlin.edu (Carl Muckenhoupt)
Subject: Re: More on scoring in text adventures (Zork I SPOILER)
Organization: Oberlin College Computer Science
Followup-To: rec.arts.int-fiction
	<1992Aug18.180241.14988@news.uit.no> <78149@ut-emx.uucp>
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 20:35:04 GMT
X-Posted-From: occs.cs.oberlin.edu
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

Actually, Infocom did a lot of multiple-solution puzzles. Few people realize
it because everyone assumes that the solution they found was the only one.
However, the end result of the different solutions is ultimately the same
in nearly all cases.  For example, in the end of Enchanter, the Evil Wizard
summons a warrior to kill you. You can turn him into a newt, or you can
cast a spell on him that makes him friendly. In either case, he leaves you
alone and that is that.  The only real difference is that one option is
open to people who have found the turn-into-newt spell and the other isn't.
(You have to have the other spell to get that far.) Another example: in
Hitchhiker's Guide, you must retrieve a flowerpot from the belly of a whale
and escape in a limited time. You can use your "electonic thumb" to get the
spaceship to rescue you, or you can simply put the flowerpot in the
"thing that your aunt gave you which you don't know what it is," an item that
keeps reappearring in your inventory no matter how many times you drop it.
In the latter case, you die and are resurrected on shipboard, but the "thing"
brings the flowerpot back to you. (Yes, this solution was intended by the
authors.) In either case, however, you wind up back on the ship with the
flowerpot in your hand.
--

Carl Muckenhoupt        bmesmer@occs.cs.oberlin.edu
		    HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN SOMETHING?
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction,rec.games.programmer
From: mucds@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Corey D. Stinson)
Subject: Re: Alternatives to score in text adventures
Organization: Educational Computing Network
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 15:32:30 GMT

   Actually, that isn't necessarily the case.  I solved Zork I w/o
getting all the points...
From: dcn@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (david.c.newkirk)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Subject: Bug in Zork & Zork III allows walking through stone
Keywords: infocom
Date: 2 Sep 92 15:14:15 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewsd.1992Sep2.151415.26053
Organization: AT&T

While I was working on the old FORTRAN source for the mainframe version of
Zork, I found a bug in the Puzzle Room code.  The door you could use to escape
the puzzle might be blocked by a stone, but there was no check for this case.
I verified it by opening the door in the Puzzle Room, moving a block in front
of the door, and then exiting the Puzzle the normal way.  When I went around to
the other side of the door, it was open, so I walked through it back into the
puzzle, even though I occupied the same space as a stone block.

This bug persisted in Zork III, and I sent in a bug report, although I never
got a reply.  It is probably still there today.
-- 
				Dave Newkirk, att!ixplode!dcn
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
From: jacob@taitastigon.tcs.com (Jacob Butcher)
Subject: bugs in Suspect and Suspended
Organization: Teknekron Communications Inc.
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 18:16:06 GMT


In Suspect, if you follow the victim to her office at the start of the
game but take a short-cut through the morning room, when you get to the
office there is no-one there, but one turn later her body appears.

In my version of Suspended (which came in LTOI1), the red cable does not
register as damaged in Poet's diagnostic, which is either a bug or a very
poor design decision.

					~jacob
From: exuhag@exu.ericsson.se (James Hague)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Subject: Re: Don Woods stamp in Zork
Date: 1 Sep 92 13:23:16 GMT
Reply-To: exuhag@exu.ericsson.se
Followup-To: rec.arts.int-fiction
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Richardson, TX

Eric Smith writes:
>
>There was a fun bug in the first Apple II version of Zork II

In the Apple II version of Witness, you could reference Monica
as an object.  If you said "get in Monica" (don't ask...) the
room on the status line would change to "Monica."  You could
never get back out, though.

--
James Hague   
exuhag@exu.ericsson.se
From: liz@marvin.contex.com (Elizabeth Cyr Jones)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Subject: Looking for Greg "Maddog" Knauss
Date: 1 Sep 92 18:00:41 GMT
Organization: Xyvision Design Systems


Greg--


I saw your post this morning, and am wondering if you're
the same Greg "Maddog" Knauss who used to be a beta tester
for Infocom. If so...write me back! If not, never mind.:}

Talk to you soon...

Liz Jones
liz@contex.com
From: barger@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Jorn &)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Subject: Brenda Laurel, covergirl
Date: 1 Sep 92 14:32:02 GMT
Organization: The Institute for the Learning Sciences
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

The new Mondo2000 has Brenda Laurel on the cover.  The interview gives some
interesting peeks into her personality.

Generally, though, I'm losing confidence in the M2 gang: they got no sense
of when to stop...
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
From: greg@Quotron.COM (Greg "Maddog" Knauss)
Subject: The bag contains the bag contains the bag contains... (Re: Don Woods stamp in Zork)
Organization: Quotron System, Inc.
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 13:59:57 GMT

eric@telebit.com (Eric Smith) writes:

>Also in that version, you could give commands to the aquarium!!!  You could
>say "aquarium, take lamp", or "aquarium, go east.go east"  In the latter case
>it would tell you that you have moved into a dark place, and then that you
>have died, when actually it was the aquarium that "died".
>
>Additionally, you could pick up objects that were supposedly immovable by
>reading them, and it would say "Taken.  How can you read a <whatever>."  For
>instance, you could "read" the palantir stands, and then do an inventory,
>and it would say that you were carrying a ruby stand, firmly bolted to the
>table.

In early versions of Starcross, you could get the rod out of the ant nest
by saying, "Nest, drop rod."  There were a million little bugs like that
and every once in a while the New Zork Times/Status Line would print a
collection of them.  (A friend of mine bought all the back issues when
Infocom was sinking for about $25.  Great investment.)
	The way the Infocom system was designed, so any attributes of
every object in the game where controlled by flags, that if one bit was
off, you could get endless goofy behaviour.
	And speaking of goofy behaviour, in an old adventure parser I was
writing, it was possible to put A inside B, then put B inside A; or put A
inside itself.  Try getting out of THAT one.
--
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Greg "Maddog" Knauss               "Aieee!"              greg@duke.quotron.com
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: paulh@coos.dartmouth.edu (Paul Haban)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
Subject: hair...
Date: 25 Aug 92 22:39:21 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

This is another of those hair dye questions...

does anyone have any suggestions on beard dyeing???
currently I use one of those shampoo in, get anywhere, dyes...
but that also stains the skin and is bitch to use on a beard...

any suggestions?

oh yeah, just to validate this posting to this group, so far this
year I have gotten a tat each term...(three so far) 
gonna be interesting when I do finally graduate...

-Evil.Incarnate@dartmouth.edu
From: bob@noc.drexel.edu (Bob Westall)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
Subject: Re: Gauntlet NYC
Date: 3 Sep 92 20:38:56 GMT
Organization: Drexel University
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1

In article <JPE1.92Sep3095613@PL122b.cc.lehigh.edu> John.,
jpe1@PL122b.cc.lehigh.edu writes:

>How good are the people at Gauntlet NYC?  I've not heard much, but everything
>I have heard has been slightly to fairly negative.  A friend had both nipples
>done there and one was a real mess and the other was not good.

Hmmmm. While I am far from an expert, I was just there about two weeks ago
to have my nipple done 8-) I got the exact opposite impression that your
friends seem to be giving you.

The person who did mine was Mark (the short blonde guy, as someone else so
elegantly put it). Being my first pierce of any kind, I was a bit nervous
but Mark was both professional and reassuring. He explained everything that
he was doing, and I felt generally very comfortable with the fact that he
was about to plunge a 14-gauge needle into my chest. He was finished in
about 10 minutes with what I would consider minimal pain.

The pierce is about two weeks old -- I've had absolutely *no* problems and
it's perfectly straight. A friend of mine also had his done during the same
visit with the exact same results.

As for the other folks working there (I think there were 3 others) they all
seemed quite nice and helpful.

The cost of the pierce (and cleaning solution) was a bit higher than the
person at the SF Gauntlet quoted me last month but I figure I'm helping
out the economy so what the heck.

Just my experience, no expressed or implied warrantee

--
Robert F. Westall                                Robert.Westall@noc.drexel.edu
Office of Computing Services                     "The more things change...
Drexel University, Philadelphia PA 19104-2884     the more they stay the same"
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
From: rhiannon@netcom.com (The Lady R)
Subject: Re: I'm deflowered
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 23:21:20 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 

 
Eric Murray (ericm@microunity.com) wrote:
> I don't mean to be rude, but what's the appeal in getting something
> as mundane as an ear piercing done in a ritual?  I'm not trying
> to do any "my piercing's more outre' than yours" here, I'm just trying
> to understand this whole ritual thing.  For me, ear piercings are just
> decoration and part of my attempt to stay out of the 'yuppie scum/computer
> dweeb' crew.  Ok, so I did get a good adrenalin rush from piercing
> my own ear, but that's not something that I do that often.
>  
> Is it that the part of a person that responds to ritual things
> is dead in me, or am I just clueless?
 
For many people, even getting an ear pierced is a major step.  I know that
a lot of people are taught from an early age that the body shouldn't be
tampered with, some to the extent of shunning medical treatment.  (Look at
the old "save yourself till marriage" routine!)  It's a real statement to
be able to make a more or less permanent alteration in your own body.

Several months ago I had my nipples pierced, and for me it was a big step,
all right.  What it turned out to be was a statement of empowerment, that
I was my own person, in charge of myself, and not just a shadow of what
someone else wanted me to be.  The rings are a constant and very pleasant
reminder of that.

Congratulations, Sharon!

Rhia

Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
From: chachra@ecf.toronto.edu (CHACHRA Debbie)
Subject: Re: Perforated pets
Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 23:35:17 GMT

In article <1992Sep2.235313.20001@intacc.uucp> robcruic@intacc.uucp (Robert Cruickshank) writes:
>
>My cat has, as result of a battle with another cat, a rather nicely formed
>hole in her ear, which looks way cool with a safety pin or a small stud...
>Just
>out of curiosity (and we all know what *that* did) is there anone out there
>that has *intentionally* modified pets? Other than the usual ear mutilations
>and tail chopping done to some dogs, of course.. (and the serial number
>tattoos...)
>
>----rob

In Egypt, when cats (and the cat-goddess, Bastet) were worshiped, they often 
(well, based on their representations in art) had their ears pierced and large
hoops put in.  It looks way cool.  On the other hand, I'd *never* do it to my
cats because a) I don't think it's fair to impose pain on them for the sake of
*my* aesthetics and b) I'd hate to have to explain it to the vet at the Humane
Society if they got infected or something.

Does neutering count as 'intentional modification?' <grin>  It seems pretty 
fucking serious to me.  (I've got to take my felines in at Christmas time --
I think we're all going to have a marvelous holiday.)

Cheers,

Debbie Chachra
chachra@skule.ecf.utoronto.ca
From: barnhart@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Deron W. Barnhart)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
Subject: Re: blackwork...
Date: 27 Aug 92 05:59:57 GMT
Distribution: rec.arts.bodyart
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network

I have not posted to this group before, but have been reading for
about a month.  I like the "attitude" present here.

I have three tattoos.  The second is blackwork.  It is a dragon that
I got at Roy Boy's place in Gary, Indiana in November of '88.  The
black is still very black.  Naturally that new "sheen" doesn't last
much past the healing state, but the newer inks (compared to those
used years ago, especially overseas) are quite colorfast.  You can't
expect a neon yellow to stay that way, but they last quite well.
Again, the sunlight exposure may have an impact on the lasting ability.

Anyone else have any facts regarding sunlight exposure?  I know not
to expose a new tat to the sun, but after a while, does it have that
much of a deliterious effect?

Maybe next year another dragon.  I have Earth, Air, and Fire, so I'm
looking for my Water Dragon.

Dan Johnson  <no .sig>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
From: goldberg@unixg.ubc.ca (Goldberg Andrew)
Subject: Re: So what's wrong with rituals?
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 03:30:38 GMT

In article <8244.17643@stratus.SWDC.Stratus.COM> jane@soave.swdc.stratus.com (Jane Beckman) writes:
	*stuff deleted*
>I might also point out that in most of the cultures where
>these things originated, *all* piercings and tattooings are done
>in a ritual context.  Usually to do with rites of passage,
>acquiring mystic powers, celebrating completion of some trial,
>etc.  

In fact, it is suggested by some anthropologists/historians of religion that
ancient folk lived the larger part of their lives in a ritual context.
By re-enacting the drama of the mythical ancestors of pre-history, ancient 
peoples essentially re-made the world, escaping merely secular time - an 
otherwise meaningless duration.

>We're the weird ones.  We don't put emotional investment
>into our actions in the way tribal peoples do.  Maybe it's too
>threatening.

Modernity and the age of "reason" have leeched the sacred out of our lives.
Various kinds of fetishes (ie - I just MUST have that new yellow Miata ) have
pretty well replaced an organized religious experience for most 'Westernized'
people types.  But don't disbelieve that we still act through ritual; the 
acts are only less recognizable (for us).  Perhaps, due in part to a disavowal
of the necessity for, and even presence of ritualistic behaviours by our
"The world consists only of atoms"-trained psyches.


>  Jilara   [jane@swdc.stratus.com]
>
>I was wearing black when everyone else was wearing
>psychodelics.  You people are copying *me*.

If you can just CONVINCE :*) me that you were wearing black in the time before
creation, we might be able to get something going here.  Who needs OLD masters,
we want timeless ones!
-- 
Mucho Maas       Human Race Life Member - "The best insanity is no defense"

------------------c/o goldberg@unixg.ubc.ca----------------------------------

Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
From: lahg8287@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Lisa A. Haynes)
Subject: piercing in illinois?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 18:47:42 GMT
Keywords: where?

i'd like to get a new piercing, and have a few re-done professionally
as well as get some good jewelry (especially this part).  Anyone
know where in the mid-central illinois or chicago area?
-- 
lahg8287@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu          -The Nuke E chic