also see ...
Apple IIgs Infocom-type Games Guide
Apple IIgs Infocom-type Games Guide-2
More Treasures of Infocom
 

     The Lost Treasures of Infocom was, originally, released by Activision
for PC in two sets: Lost Treasures of Infocom and Lost Treasures of Infocom II.
The Big Red Computer Club licensed a couple of interpreters and obtained the
right to sell an Apple IIgs version of the first Lost Treasures.

Of course, before Lost Treasures,  the Infocom text adventures came on
5.25" Apple II diskettes. Each diskette has a bootable DOS, the game data, and a
program to interpret the data and interface with the player-- i.e. the "interpreter".

In the Lost Treasures of Infocom you have the adventure data files
and two interpreters to choose from for playing the games on your Apple IIgs:
 

Standard Interpreter ("SI"): file LOST1.SYS16

Game text appears in the standard IIgs desktop window with
scrollbars and options to select fonts. Saved games include the 8K window
display buffer (i.e. stuff you can scroll through at time of a save will be
available when the saved game is restored).  The SI is a "z3" interpreter
which can also run many non-Infocom z3 interactive fiction adventures.
 

Advanced Interpreter ("AI"): file LOST2.SYS16

Game text is in 'text mode' with no font options and no scrollbar.
 This interpreter allows switching games without the need to quit and reload
the program. The Advanced Interpreter does not save a text buffer; and,
when loading a game saved under the SI, it ignores text buffer information.
The AI is basically a "z5" interpreter which can also run many non-Infocom
z3 and z5 interactive fiction adventures.
 
 

The Lost Treasures

     Lost Treasures'-1 (for 1.25MB IIgs running GSOS 5.04 or later) came
on three 3.5" diskettes. Contrary to on-box info, the set includes 19, not 20, games.
The IIgs Reference Card  in the box explains that Zork Zero is not runnable in this
set because it requires a special interpreter which Big Red did not license.
 

Zork I   Zork II   Zork III
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Beyond Zork

Enchanter   Sorcerer   Spellbreaker
Planetfall   Stationfall   Starcross
Moonmist

Deadline   The Witness   Suspect
The Lurking Horror
Ballyhoo   Infidel   Suspended

     The Lost Treasures'-2 collection of eleven adventures was not released
for Apple II. However, it is only necessary to move the 'game' file from PC to
GS  and set correct file type information in order to run a Lost Treasures'-2
adventure using one of the two Big Red interpreters.

A Mind Forever Voyaging
Border Zone  Bureaucracy  Cutthroats
Hollywood Hijinx   Nord and Bert

Plundered Hearts   Sherlock
Seastalker  Trinity  Wishbringer

One classic, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, was not included in either
Lost Treasures collection. Fortunately, Asimov-Georgia's Infocom collection
 has a deprotected copy of the disk*. Using T.A. Phelps's Infosnarf, it was easy
to extract the game data file and adjust its type for use with the interpreters
supplied by Big Red with Lost Treasures'-1.

Leather Goddesses of Phobos

Playing the Adventures

Once the files are downloaded and moved to your IIgs, unshrink them
using GS-ShrinkIt or Balloon2 to diskette, hard disk or Zip disk. To play an
adventure, you can just start an interpreter (e.g. by double clicking on its icon).

 First, the Lost Treasures title screen will appear and then you will get
 a list of the games in the current folder which you can run via the interpreter.
The AI can run all of the adventures. The SI can run all excep nine of the
more recent releases. Games which will run only under the AI are ...

A Mind Forever Voyaging
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Beyond Zork   Sherlock   Trinity   Bureaucracy
Border Zone    Hollywood Hijinx   Nord and Bert

Installation on Hard Disk

     1. Create a folder (such as "Infocom") for your Infocom games and interpreters.
     2. Copy interpreter files LOST1.SYS16 and LOST2.SYS16 to the folder
     3. Copy game data files (e.g. those files with names like "Enchanter",
        "Starcrossed", etc.) to the folder

Where to Start?

     If you're new to Infocom text adventuring, then, coming suddenly upon so
many choices may, itself, be daunting. You could start at the beginning, with
Zork, in a forest clearing near the legendary small white house, and continue
on to Zork II and Zork III. Or, you might begin with the best of Zorkian
questing at Enchanter. On the other hand, a newbie to text adventures might
want to start with Wishbringer.

     'Infocoms' can take you to many realms. Sci-fi fans may want to start
with Planetfall. Other excellent choices include Plundered Hearts-- you're
a damsel thrust amongst a crew of pirates-- and Infidel, which sends you
into a puzzle-laden pyramid. You can find out lots more about the scenarios
at the Infocom Home Page.

     Today, Activision creates worlds wrapped in SVGA color and
wave-table audio, including some new Zorks. Part of the unique fun of classic
Infocom adventuring is that your input is just text plus, sometimes, a map, letter,
info wheel, or similar item. The characters, scenery, and sounds 'happen' in
your head.
 

     Thanks to the Infocom Home Page for the logo graphic and background.
Thanks to Dean Cyberon, the Big Red Computer Club, Activision, the game
and interpreter authors, T.A. Phelps, LG deprotectors, and the Asimov,
ACN Florida, and ACN Tarnover archive sites for making access to
these collections possible.
 

Have fun!

Jeff Hurlburt, October 1999
updated June 2000
rubywand@swbell.net
 

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