ZorkZero

.GS WorldView: August MM

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Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz

by Steve Meretzky

for 128k Apple II

Save the Great Underground Empire!

Though Zork Zero was released after Beyond Zork, it is set in
a time before Zork I. The adventure begins with a flashback to the
throneroom of Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive, King of a rich (if
stupidly ruled) empire. Here you are serving at an excessively great
banquet which is interrupted by the sudden appearance of an arch mage,
Megaboz, who is very (very) angry!

Evidently, one of Dimwit the Excessive's excesses includes a
project which happened to destroy a particularly prized part of the
powerful wizard's property. (Bad move!!! Hint: don't wait too long
after Megaboz arrives to hide under a table like everyone else in the
throneroom who has any sense.)

Nearly a century passes and you (a descendent of the servant at the
fateful feast) awaken in a ruined throneroom following yet another spate
of looting by the mobs which now roam a crumbling empire. Though a mere
peasant, you are in the capital to win the reward offered by the current
king-- half the empire-- for dispelling Megaboz's curse. Unlike others
who seek the prize, you have a scrap of parchment from the scroll
which your ancestor managed to snatch from the wizard's pocket just
before the curse was pronounced. On the parchment is the key to
uraveling the curse spell and making your fortune!

The Parchment

Lost Treasures of Infocom fails to include an item needed to solve
Zork Zero...namely the "scrap of parchment" mentioned near the end of
the game.

(Parchment from The Infocom Home Page http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/ )

The text reads ...

"...(s)e cannot be halted
...(e)pt by two items belonging
...each of the accursed twelve!
... * * * * ** *
...(s)ing it into the cauldron...
... * ** * * * * *
...hen uttering the sacred word."

Letters in parentheses ( ) are "cut off" at the torn edge of the scrap.

(Text from Interactive Fiction Archive ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/ )

Zork Zero Maps

You can map the towns, castle, desert, and other places yourself;
or you can reference a set of maps.

The maps are available in .gif form for viewing on a PC, Mac, etc.
and in super-res screen files for viewing on a IIgs. To conserve
space, the super-res screen pics are in a ShrinkIt file. (Use ShrinkIt
to unshrink the MAPSshr.shk file to obtain the super-res maps.)
The .gif maps are collected in MAPSgif.zip chiefly just to simplify
downloading. (On a PC, use WinZIP to obtain the individual .gif
maps.) For original map credits and notes, see MapsReadme.txt.

(Original maps from Interactive Fiction Archive ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/ )

Zork Zero Display

Since the game is in color double-hires you may have difficulty
reading the text on a IIgs monitor or emulator display. (You will get the
best color display with an Apple II computer connected to a composite
color monitor.) To get clear text, change your display mode to
monochrome.

3.5" Diskette/Hard Disk Version

Requires: 128k enhanced //e, //c, IIc+, or IIgs with 3.5" drive, hard disk,

or ZIP disk

This is a ShrinkIt file archive. Use ShrinkIt or GS-ShrinkIt to
unshrink to ProDOS formatted 3.5" diskette, RAM disk, hard disk,
or ZIP disk.

ZorkZero.shk includes the 'parchment scrap' as a .gif pic and
an .apf IIgs graphic. (Several programs can be used to view the
.apf graphic including Platinum Paint, Prism, Super Convert, and
the ShowMe NDA.) The map files are included as IIgs super-hires
screen files in MAPSshr.shk.

In a few minutes of testing, the game seems to run okay. Save
and Restore work and the mouse lets you click on the compass at
the top of the screen to move.

To play the game from hard disk, move all of the files except
ProDOS to a folder on your hard disk. (Remember this pathname. The
game will ask you for the complete pathname when you first want to
Restore a saved game.) Start Infocom.sys to start the adventure.

5.25" Diskette version

Requires: 128k enhanced //e, //c, IIc+, or IIgs with 5.25" drive

This is a set of four 5.25" disks. The .sdk files are whole-disk ShrinkIt
archives created via 8-bit ShrinkIt. Use 8-bit ShrinkIt to uncompress the
files to 5.25" diskettes on your Apple II. The .dsk files are standard
disk images for use with Apple II emulators such as AppleWin.

This set includes a Disk 1 which uses standard ProDOS rather than
the loader originally supplied by crackers. (The loader caused problems
with starting the game.) The new Disk 1 has been tested through play in
the early part of the game and appears to work fine.

(Original disk files from the Asimov archive ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/ )

Note About Starting Zork Zero from 5.25" diskettes

You can use two drives to cut down on disk swapping; but, the game
will not make it through the startup if you place Disk 2 in Drive 2. If
you have two drives, boot the game with Disk 1 in Drive 1 and Disk 3 in
Drive 2. (You will be asked to insert Disk 2 in Drive 1 during startup.)

Before you boot the game, be sure to format a ProDOS diskette named
something like "ZZSAVE" to serve as a Save Game disk.