Infocom Fact Sheet

------------------ 4.95 - June 22, 2007
Infocom Fact Sheet
------------------
by Paul David Doherty <[email protected]>

This file includes some information about Infocom's games and related subjects.
Thanks to all the people who made contributions. Special thanks this time to
Matt Ackeret, Evan Day, Marc G. Frank, Edward Franks, Alan J. Franzman, Richard
Haase, Tom Hlavaty, Dave Jarvis, David Kinder, Roger J. Long, Graham Nelson,
and Matthew T. Russotto. Very special thanks to C.E. Forman, for tracking down
the most obscure packaging variants (and for his patience), and to Miron
Schmidt and Manuel Schulz for all their help. The most recent release of the
Infocom Fact Sheet is always available as
http://www.if-legends.org/~pdd/infocom/fact-sheet.txt
and also in The Interactive Fiction Archive under
http://www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/infocom/info/fact-sheet.txt

List of contents:

I Released Games
II Packaging Details
III Books & InvisiClues
IV Newsletters
V Datafiles
VI Game Statistics
VII Implementors
VIII Re-Releases
IX Trivia
X Chronology
XI Interpreters & Utilities

I Released Games
=================

This table lists all software products released under the Infocom label. The
information is given in the form "PrC R Yr Title_of_program (Author)", where
PrC is the Product Code, R is the difficulty rating and Yr the year of first
publication.

Every Infocom product had a specific Order Code which consisted of the Product
Code (to identify the program) and a System Code which identified the platform
for which this product was produced. For example, the Order Code IM3-CO4
identifies the game "Suspect" (IM3) for the Commodore Amiga (CO4). The Order
Code was printed on the program disk as well as on the box and other packaging
elements.

The following System Codes were used:
AC1 Apricot
AP1 Apple II
AP2 Apple Macintosh
AP3 Apple IIgs (on 3.5" disks)
AT1 Atari 800/XL/XE
AT2 Atari ST
CO1 Commodore 64/128
CO4 Commodore Amiga
CO5 Commodore 128 ONLY
CP1 CP/M
DE1 PDP-11 (under RT-11)
DE2 DEC Rainbow (under CP/M)
EP1 Epson QX-10
IB1 IBM PC-DOS 2.0 or higher (IBM & 100% Compatibles)
IB2 IBM PC-DOS 2.0/MS-DOS 2.0 or higher (IBM & MS-DOS Compatibles)
KA1 Kaypro II (under CP/M)
MS1 MS-DOS 2.0
NE1 NEC PC-8000 (under CP/M)
NE2 NEC APC (under CP/M-86)
OS1 Osborne (under CP/M)
TA1 TRS-80 Model I
TA3 TRS-80 Model III
TA4 TRS-80 Color Computer
TI1 TI Professional
TI2 TI 99/4 A

After the Infocom/Activision merger these System Codes were replaced by the
standard Activision System Codes, although some packages still listed the old
codes alongside the new ones. An incomplete list of Activision System Codes:
DD Commodore 64/128
ECD Atari XL/XE
EDD Commodore 128 ONLY
KD Apple IIgs
NES Nintendo Entertainment System
PD IBM/MS-DOS
SD Atari ST
TD Apple II
UQD Amstrad CPC/PCW (under CP/M plus or CP/M 2.2)
WD Commodore Amiga

At least two platforms never had an Infocom System Code: the Commodore Plus/4
(because these versions were distributed exclusively by CBM) and the Amstrad
CPC/PCW (support for that platform was introduced after the Infocom/Activision
merger).

Not all games were available on every platform; e.g. the four graphics (V6)
games were only available for Macintosh, Amiga, Apple II (with 128k RAM) and
IBM. These were probably the seven best-supported platforms:
IBM: all 35 IF games (plus Fooblitzky & Cornerstone)
Macintosh: all 35 IF games (plus Quarterstaff)
Apple II: all 35 IF games (plus Fooblitzky) -- V6 games need 128k RAM
Amiga: 34 IF games (all except Border Zone)
C128: 31 IF games (all V3-5)
Atari ST: 30 IF games (all V3-5 except, probably, Sherlock)
C64: 27 IF games (all V3 and Nord & Bert, Border Zone, Sherlock)

Difficulty ratings were introduced in late 1984 and abandoned in March 1987:
i - Introductory (called Junior on "Seastalker")
s - Standard
a - Advanced
e - Expert

I.1 Interactive Fiction (IF): The 35 canonical games
----------------------------------------------------

Fantasy
IZ0 i 85 Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams (Brian Moriarty)
[development code IJ2]
IZ1 s 80 Zork I: The Great Underground Empire (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)
IZ2 a 81 Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)
IZ3 a 82 Zork III: The Dungeon Master (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)
IZ4 s 83 Enchanter (Marc Blank/Dave Lebling)
IZ5 a 84 Sorcerer (Steve Meretzky)
IZ6 e 85 Spellbreaker (Dave Lebling)
IZ7 s 86 Trinity (Brian Moriarty)
IZ8 - 87 Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor (Brian Moriarty)
IZ9 - 88 Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz (Steve Meretzky)

Science Fiction
IS1 e 82 Starcross (Dave Lebling)
IS2 e 83 Suspended (Mike Berlyn)
IS3 s 83 Planetfall (Steve Meretzky)
IS4 s 84 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams/Steve Meretzky)
IS5 a 85 A Mind Forever Voyaging (Steve Meretzky)
IS6 - 87 Stationfall (Steve Meretzky)

Mystery
IM1 e 82 Deadline (Marc Blank)
IM2 s 83 The Witness (Stu Galley)
IM3 a 84 Suspect (Dave Lebling)
IM4 s 85 Ballyhoo (Jeff O'Neill)
[development code IJ3]
IM5 i 86 Moonmist (Stu Galley/Jim Lawrence)

Tales of Adventure
IA1 a 83 Infidel (Mike Berlyn/Patricia Fogleman)
IA2 i 84 Seastalker: [Your Name] and the Ultramarine Bioceptor (Stu Galley/
Jim Lawrence)
[development code IJ1; first released as IK1]
IA3 s 84 Cutthroats (Mike Berlyn/Jerry Wolper)
IA4 s 86 Hollywood Hijinx (Dave Anderson/Liz Cyr-Jones)
IA5 - 89 James Clavell's Shogun (Dave Lebling)

Comedy
IC1 s 86 Leather Goddesses of Phobos (Steve Meretzky)
IC2 - 87 Bureaucracy (Douglas Adams et al.)
IC3 - 87 Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It (Jeff O'Neill)

Horror
IH1 - 87 The Lurking Horror (Dave Lebling)

Romance
IR1 - 87 Plundered Hearts (Amy Briggs)

Espionage
IE1 - 87 Border Zone (Marc Blank)

Immortal Legends
CS1 - 87 Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (Bob Bates)
[developed by Challenge Inc.]

Chronicles
IJ1 - 89 Journey: Part One of The Golden Age Trilogy (Marc Blank)

Living Literature
IL1 - 89 Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur (Bob Bates)
[developed by Challenge Inc.]

I.2 Demos, Samplers, Compilations
---------------------------------

Demos & Samplers
ID1 - 84 Zork Demo
[contains a demo of Zork I and Marc Blank's Catch-A-Butterfly
tutorial]
ID2 - 84 The Four-In-One Infocom Sampler (version I)
[contains samples of Infidel, Planetfall, and Zork I, a session
transcript from The Witness, and Marc Blank's Catch-A-Butterfly
tutorial]
ID3 - 87 The Infocom Sampler/Sample the Works of the Master Storytellers
(version II)
[contains samples of Zork I, LGOP and Trinity, and a Wishbringer
tutorial]
--- - 87 Mini-Zork I
[only available for the C-64, this one came with Infocom's one and
only cassette based ZIP; it was first published in the British
Commodore magazine "Zzap! 64" #67, Nov. 1990]

Trilogies
IT1 - 87 Zork Trilogy [includes IF1, IF2, IF3]
IT2 - 87 Enchanter Trilogy [includes IF4, IF5, IF6]
IT3 - 87 Classic Mystery Library [includes IM2, IM3, IM5]
IT4 - 87 Science Fiction Classics [includes IS4, IS3, IS5]

Solid Gold releases
IS4 - 87 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
[Note: This has the same Product Code as the standard HHGG.]
IZ1G - 87 Zork I
IC1G - 88 Leather Goddesses of Phobos
IS3G - 88 Planetfall
IZ0G - 88 Wishbringer

I.3 Non-IF
----------

InfoComics
SG1 - 88 Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams (Amy Briggs)
SL1 - 88 Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen (Steve Meretzky)
SZ1 - 88 ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle (Elizabeth Langosy)
SZ2 - 88 ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom (Elizabeth Langosy)

Others
BC1 - 85 Cornerstone (Brian "Spike" Berkowitz/Rich Ilson et al.)
GS1 - 86 Fooblitzky (Mike Berlyn/Brian Cody/Poh C. Lim/Paula Maxwell)
IF1 - 88 Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth (Scott Schmitz/Ken Updike & Amy
Briggs)
IF2 - 88 BattleTech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception (Westwood Associates)

I.4 Post-Infocom "Infocom" releases
-----------------------------------

224 - 89 Mines of Titan (Westwood Associates)
[original version was published by Electronic Arts as "The Mars
Saga"]
225 - 90 Circuit's Edge (Westwood Associates)
2T - 90 Tombs & Treasure (Tokyo Shoseki)
--- - 91 BattleTech [2]: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Westwood Associates)
--- - 92 Leather Goddesses of Phobos II (Steve Meretzky)
--- - 93 Return to Zork (Eddie Dombrower/William D. Volk/Joe Asprin)
--- - 94 Simon the Sorcerer (Mike Woodroffe/Adventuresoft UK)
[distributed under the Infocom label in the USA]
--- - 96 Zork: Nemesis (Cecilia Barajas/Mark Long)
[published by Activision, no longer using the label "Infocom"]
--- - 97 Zork Grand Inquisitor (Laird Malamed/Margie Stohl)
[published by Activision, no longer using the label "Infocom"]
--- - 97 Zork: The Undiscovered Underground
[released as a promo on the ZGI web site]

II Packaging Details
=====================

All sizes (width x height x depth) are given in mm. Business reply cards and
product brochures are not mentioned under package contents.

II.1 PDP-11 Zork (1980)
----------------

The Infocom version of "Zork", before distribution was handed over to Personal
Software. Came with a small instruction booklet with a yellow cover.

II.2 Personal Software Zork, a.k.a. Barbarian Zork (1980-81)
--------------------------------------------------

The Personal Software version of "Zork I" was still called "Zork". It came in
two variants:

a) Large version (ziploc bag)

This one was a 226x320x5 plastic ziploc bag containing the disk and a 36-page
booklet. The title "Zork" was printed in white.

b) Small version (box)

A 146x218x23 box with the front cut out to showcase the 16-page manual
(140x214). Manual was dated 1/1981. The title "Zork" was printed in black.

II.3 Zork Blister Packs (1981-83)
-----------------------

Zork I blister pack [i.e. card with plastic tray]
158x249 for 5.25" disks, 238x256 for 8" disks
1. ten-page manual with game instructions (141x218)

Zork II blister pack [i.e. card with plastic tray]
158x249 for 5.25" disks, 238x256 for 8" disks
1. ten-page manual with game instructions (141x218)

Zork III blister pack [i.e. card with plastic tray]
158x249 for 5.25" disks, 238x256 for 8" disks
1. ten-page manual with game instructions (141x218)

II.4 Folio Packagings (1982-84)
---------------------

Deadline police folder in 302x256x3 pouch
1. Inspector's Casebook
2. plastic bag with 3 white pills
3. interview notes (5 pages)
4. Corpus Delicti (coroner's note)
5. letter from Coates to Chief of Police
6. Police Dept. official memo
7. Lab report
8. photo of murder scene

Starcross 304x306x45 flying saucer
1. space map
2. instruction booklet

Suspended 240x317x70 box with recessed white face mask
1. instruction booklet with congratulatory letter
2. laminated colored cardboard map (600x230x3) of the Underground Complex
(folded once)
3. six robot tracking devices (flat black round plastic chips)
4. plastic mask

The Witness police folder in 302x256x3 pouch
1. February 1938 issue of "Nat'l Detective Gazette"
2. Virginia Linder's suicide note
3. Western Union telegram from Freeman Linder
4. matchbook of "The Brass Lantern"
5. February 1, 1938 issue of Santa Ana's "The Register"

Planetfall 240x304x8 folder
1. "Today's Stellar Patrol" - recruitment brochure
2. Special Assignment Task Force I.D. card
3. three postcards (Ramos II, Nebulon, Accardi-3)
4. personal diary (4 pages, 1 of them empty)

Enchanter 308x239x12 box, containing pouch with
1. Guild directory [Guild instructions, large!]
2. ancient scroll with "wax" (rubber) seal

Infidel 235x304x8 folder in form of writing case
1. True tales of adventure
2. letter to Rose Ellingsworth (5 pages)
3. envelope addressed to Rose Ellingsworth
4. pergament map of excavation site
5. pergament with stone rubbing of hieroglyphs and hieroglyph translations

Sorcerer 308x239x12 box, containing pouch with
1. "Popular Enchanting" magazine
2. Infotater

Seastalker 238x300x7 folder
1. "Scimitar Logbook"
2. nautical chart of Frobton Bay (integrated in folder)
3. sticker "The Discovery Squad * Dive Deep * Dive Far"
4. eight clue cards and 1 instruction card
5. Infocard decoder (integrated in folder)

II.5 Standard Boxes, a.k.a. Greyboxes (1984-87)
-------------------------------------

For all games released from Summer 1984 onwards, and for the re-releases of the
old games, a standarddized format (a 229x189x25 grey box with colored
horizontal stripes) was employed. It opened like a book to reveal a booklet
("browsie") and the Instruction Manual. (The browsie is always listed as first
item.) A re-closable tray contained all the other packaging elements
("feelies").

(Trivia: The Infocom logo on the spine was usually printed between the 5th and
10th stripe, counting from below. However, the first greybox releases had it in
different positions: between stripe 6 and 11 for Seastalker and early Enchanter
releases, and between stripes 4 and 9 for Infidel and Sorcerer.)

a) Re-releases:

Zork I
B. "The GUE: A History" by Froboz Munbar
1. a map

Zork II
B. "G.U.E. on nine zorkmids a day" - a traveller's guide
1. travel brochure "Bozbarland"
2. travel brochure "Grayslopes"

Deadline
B. Documentary evidence, file #H657/SJ43.1
1. plastic bag with 3 white pills
2. Corpus Delicti (coroner's note)
3. letter from Coates to Chief of Police
4. photo of murder scene

Zork III
B. "FrobozzCo International Annual Report 778 GUE"
1. stock certificate (100 shares a 1 zm)
2. letter from Chairman of the Board of FrobozzCo

Starcross
B. "Log of the M.C.S. STARCROSS"
1. space map
2. "Bureau of Extra-Solar Intelligence" instructions for alien encounters

Suspended
B. "Briefing for the Contra Central Mentality"
1. cardboard map of the Underground Complex [playing board]
2. robot tracking devices (6 black rubber chips) [markers]
3. Contra Central Mentality Lottery Card
4. congratulatory letter from Lottery Commision HQ

The Witness
B. February 1938 issue of "Nat'l Detective Gazette"
1. Virginia Linder's suicide note
2. Western Union telegram from Freeman Linder
3. matchbook of "The Brass Lantern"
4. February 1, 1938 issue of Santa Ana's "The Register"

Planetfall
B. "Today's Stellar Patrol" - recruitment brochure
1. Special Assignment Task Force I.D. card
2. three postcards (Ramos II, Nebulon, Accardi-3)
3. personal diary (4 pages, 1 of them empty)

Enchanter
B. "A Brief History Of Magic" by Gustar Woomax
1. ancient scroll with "wax" (rubber) seal

Infidel
B. "Expedition Log, Ellingsworth Pyramid Search"
1. letter to Rose Ellingsworth (2 pages)
2. envelope addressed to Rose Ellingsworth
3. pergament map of excavation site
4. pergament with stone rubbing of hieroglyphs

Sorcerer
B. "Popular Enchanting" magazine
1. "Field Guide to the Creatures of Frobozz" (replaced Infotater)

Seastalker
B. "Scimitar Logbook"
1. nautical chart of Frobton Bay
2. sticker "The Discovery Squad * Dive Deep * Dive Far"
3. five hint cards (4 "Infocards", 1 instruction card)
4. Infocard decoder

b) New Games:

Cutthroats
B. "True Tales of Adventure"
1. "Four Shipwrecks off Hardscrabble Island" booklet
2. Outfitters Int'l Price List (with tide table)

HHGG
B. "How Many Times has This Happened to you?" - HHGG sales brochure
1. two "Orders for Destruction" (yellow and silver)
2. black cardboard sunglasses
3. "Don't Panic!" button
4. fluff (in plastic bag)
5. "microscopic space fleet" (empty plastic bag)

Suspect
B. "Murder and Modern Manners" by Jane Darling Worthington
1. invitation to Veronica's Halloween Ball
2. note from editor of "The Washington Representative" newspaper
3. page from "The Maryland Countryside" magazine
4. William Cochrane's business card (with message to Veronica)
5. receipt from "Costumes Unlimited"

Wishbringer (version A)
B. "The Legend of Wishbringer"
1. Wishbringer (glow-in-the-dark stone made of molded plastic)
2. postal map of Festeron and Antharia
3. sealed envelope (contains letter)

Wishbringer (version B)
B. "The Legend of Wishbringer"
1. postal map of Festeron and Antharia
2. sealed envelope (contains letter)
(This version without the stone is somewhat rarer. When the original shipment
of molded stones was used up, later packages were produced without the stone.
The stone is also not mentioned on the back of the box in this version.)

AMFV
B. hardcopy of "Dakota Online Magazine" (April 2031)
1. map of Rockvil, South Dakota
2. yellow plastic pen ("Quad Mutual Insurance")
3. "Class One Security Mode Access Decoder"

Spellbreaker
B. "Frobozz Magic Magic Equipment Catalog" (Fall 966)
1. six enchanter trading cards
2. Enchanter's Guild pin

Ballyhoo
B. "The Traveling Circus That Time Forgot, Inc." souvenir program
1. "Dr. Nostrum's Extract" trade card
2. balloon (came in various colors: blue, orange, black, light purple)
3. circus ticket (August, 21) with punch-out holes

Trinity
B. comic "The Illustrated History of the Atom Bomb"
1. map of Trinity site
2. cardboard DIY sundial
3. instructions for folding origami crane

LGOP
B. "The Adventures of Lane Mastodon #91" (3-D comic)
1. 3-D glasses
2. map of catacombs
3. Scratch N Sniff card

Moonmist
B. "Legendary Ghosts of Cornwall"
1. visitor's guide "Welcome to Tresyllian Castle"
2. two letters from Tamara (3 pages)
3. MOONMIST iron-on logo

Enchanter Trilogy
[Contains standard boxes of Enchanter, Sorcerer and Spellbreaker in a
specially designed trilogy slipcase]

Zork Trilogy
B. "The GUE: A History" by Froboz Munbar
1. metal coin (1 zorkmid) - "In Frobs We Trust"
2. a map
3. travel brochure "Bozbarland"
4. travel brochure "Grayslopes"
5. stock certificate (100 shares a 1 zm)
6. letter from Chairman of the Board of FrobozzCo

Hollywood Hijinx
B. "Tinsel World" magazine (vol. 35 no. 27)
1. Aunt Hildegarde's will
2. photo of Uncle Buddy (with poem on flip side)
3. "Lucky Palm Tree Swizzle Stick" (green plastic)

Bureaucracy
B. "You're ready to move!" (bank brochure)
1. letter from your boss
2. membership flyer for "Popular Paranoia"
3. red pencil
4. Beezer card application form (in triplicate)

Classic Mystery Library
[Contains standard boxes of The Witness, Suspect and Moonmist in a specially
designed trilogy slipcase]

Science Fiction Classics
[Contains standard boxes of HHGG, Planetfall and AMFV in a specially designed
trilogy slipcase]

II.6 New Standard Box Format (1987-89)
----------------------------

It had the same size as the old (booklike) standard box but was a slipcase
containing a cardboard tray. All packaging elements were put into that tray. A
"Technical Manual" came with every game.

Stationfall
1. space station blueprints (envelope, 9 blueprints, 1 legend page)
2. three forms (QX-17-T, JZ-59-G, HB-56-V)
3. Stellar Patrol patch (Lieutenant First Class)

The Lurking Horror
1. "G.U.E. at a Glance" (G.U.E. Tech guide)
2. G.U.E. Tech student ID card
3. red rubber centipede (between 2 sheets of clear plastic)

Nord and Bert
1. "Home on the range" (12 page booklet with Kevin Pope cartoons)

Plundered Hearts
1. "elegant velvet reticule" (blue pouch), containing
2. 50 guinea note and
3. letter from Jean Lafond

Beyond Zork
1. "The Lore and Legends of Quendor"
2. map of "Southland of Quendor"

Border Zone
1. "I am Frobnia" tourist guide and phrasebook
2. business card from "Riznik's Antiques"
3. Frobnia National Railway matchbook
4. map of the border

Sherlock
1. tourist map of London
2. copy of June 17, 1887 "The Thames"
3. black rubber key fob (Holmes and Watson)

Zork Zero
1. The Flathead Calendar (883 GUE)
2. folded map - blueprints of Rockville Estates, with
3. yellow Post-It attached to it
4. scrap of parchment

Shogun
1. folded map "The Known World 1600"
2. "The Soul of the Samurai" paper

II.7 The Last Two Games (1989)
-----------------------
..came in non-standard software cartons.

Journey 202x202x27 box
1. red velvet sack (contains piece of crystal)
2. map

Arthur 178x228x25 box
1. "Book of Hours"

II.8 Commodore Packagings (1983-85)
-------------------------

The Commodore 64 versions of 6 games -- Zork I, Zork II, Zork III, Deadline,
Starcross and Suspended -- were exclusively distributed by CBM from 1983 to
1985. CBM paid Infocom a royalty per copy and used their own blue-and-grey
Commodore packaging without most of Infocom's packaging elements. The CBM
packagings came in various forms and sizes (large folder, small folder, plastic
case).

II.9 DEC Packagings (1982/83)
-------------------

Another distribution deal, here with Digital for their computer range (DecMate,
DecMate II, Rainbow). At least 3 games were published in these folio-sized
packages: Zork II, Zork III, and The Witness. Inside are the standard folio
contents.

II.10 Dysan Packagings (1982-84)
----------------------

Dysan was Infocom's disk duplicator, but also published a number of games in
their "Dysan Series Software" packagings. The boxes have a red slipcover, the
Dysan name is printed in gold and the Infocom logo and game title in green. At
least 7 games were released in this format, all for the IBM PC: Deadline,
Starcross, Suspended, The Witness, Planetfall, Enchanter, Infidel (and maybe
also Sorcerer and Seastalker).

II.11 Solid Gold Packagings (1987/88)
---------------------------

The five Solid Gold releases in 1987/88 came in thin folders (229x189x6)
containing disks and an instruction manual. LGOP and Wishbringer were the only
ones with added feelies. [In Planetfall and Wishbringer, other parts of the
documentation were incorporated into the game itself.]

HHGG
M. Instruction Manual

Zork I
M. Instruction Manual

LGOP
M. Instruction Manual; contains
- map of catacombs
- "The Adventures of Lane Mastodon #91" (comic, no longer 3-D)
1. Scratch N Sniff card

Planetfall
M. Instruction Manual

Wishbringer
M. Instruction Manual
1. postal map of Festeron and Antharia

II.12 Other Games
-----------------

Zork Demo (1984)
[probably disk-only]

Four-In-One Sampler (1984)
[161x252 blister pack, no additional packaging elements]

The Infocom Sampler (1987)
[white cardboard envelope labeled "Sample the Works of the Master
Storytellers"]

Fooblitzky
[298x223x36 box]
1. booklet "Official Ordinances Rules & Regulations For the city of
Fooblitzky"
2. booklet "How to Play Fooblitzky. The Bare Essentials"
3. yellow plastic inlay tray containing
4. four felt-tip pens (blue, green, yellow, red for players 1-4)
5. four 279x434x1 workboards (folded in the middle) in the colors of
players 1-4

InfoComics
[229x189x6 folders]
1. a page with "Everything you need to know about InfoComics"

Quarterstaff
[202x202x27 box]
1. "The Path to Enlightenment" parchment
2. Wooden coin
3. Quarterstaff box-art poster

BattleTech
[202x202x27 box]
1. Weapon and 'Mech Recognition Guide
2. Battletech poster
The first release also contained:
3. Crescent Hawk's lapel pin
Some versions also include:
4. Order form for a Ral Partha Phoenix Hawk LAM miniature
[The instruction manual was printed in green ink on glossy paper in early
releases and later in black ink on cheap paper.]

II.13 Business Products
-----------------------

Cornerstone (version A)
[no packaging info yet]

Cornerstone (version B)
[no packaging info yet]

II.14 Product Brochures
-----------------------

One of these catalogues was usually put in every game package.

1983: "Our worlds, and welcome to them"
[4 pages, no illustrations, all 8 games up to Planetfall]
1983: "Infocom Games and Accessories"
1983: "Our Circuits Ourselves!"
1984: "The Incomplete Works Of Infocom, Inc." (version A)
[16 pages, all 15 games up to Suspect; for Suspect, an early version of
the box artwork was pictured]
1985: "The Incomplete Works Of Infocom, Inc." (version B)
[same as version A, except that the "Junior" difficulty level is now
called "Introductory"]
1985: "You are about to see the fantastic worlds of Infocom unfold before your
very eyes"
[1 folded sheet, all 18 games up to Spellbreaker]
1985: "A peculiar dame who claims she has the stone..." (Wishbringer promo)
1986: "Passport to the United Products of Infocom"
[24 page boarding pass; 5 games no longer listed -- Deadline, Starcross,
Suspended, Infidel, Seastalker --, the other 18 games up to Hollywood
Hijinx are listed]
1986: "Infocom Transports You to Six New Worlds in 1986"
1987: "The Master Storytellers"
[10 pages]
1988: "Infocom's New Graphics will blow you out of the water..."
[1 folded sheet]

III Books & InvisiClues
========================

III.1 Zork interactive (choose your own path) novels
----------------------------------------------------

Four "What Do I Do Now Books" books written by Steve Meretzky and published in
Tor Books' "Young Adult Series":

TITLE PUBL ISBN
Zork: The Forces of Krill 8/83 0-8125-7975-5
Zork: The Malifestro Quest 9/83 0-8125-7980-1
Zork: The Cavern of Doom 9/83 0-8125-7985-2
Zork: Conquest at Quendor 10/84 0-8125-5989-4

III.2 Infocom Books
-------------------

Published by Avon Books, N.Y. with Byron Preiss Visual Publications, these
books had nothing much to do with Infocom but are listed here anyway. All the
books were grey and had colored stripes running horizontally across the cover
(in the style of Infocom's packaging).

TITLE AUTHOR PUBL ISBN
Planetfall Arthur Byron Cover 8/88 0-380-75384-7
Wishbringer Craig Shaw Gardner 8/88 0-380-75385-5
Enchanter Robin W. Bailey 5/89 0-380-75386-3
Stationfall Arthur Byron Cover 12/89 0-380-75387-1
The Zork Chronicles George Alec Effinger 7/90 0-380-75388-X
The Lost City of Zork Robin W. Bailey 2/91 0-380-75389-8
Futurefall Arthur Byron Cover unpublished

III.3 InvisiClues
-----------------

The InvisiClues booklets (hint books with answers printed using invisible ink)
were introduced by Mike Dornbrook of the ZUG. The first one was published in
April 1982. #1a-4a had illustrations by David Ardito. The last ZUG InvisiClues
booklet was published in Spring 1983.

After the ZUG's shutdown Infocom took over and published their first 10
booklets in December 1983. All Infocom InvisiClues came with separate maps,
except for Suspended and Seastalker (which had maps in the game packages) and
HHGG (where the map was printed in the InvisiClues booklet).

# Game(s) Pages Year

a) published by Zork Users Group (ZUG)

1a Zork I ? 82
2a Zork II ? 82
3a Zork III ? 82
4a Starcross ? 82
5a Deadline ? 83

b) published by Infocom

1b Zork I 24p 83
2b Zork II 28p 83
3b Zork III 24p 83
4b Starcross 32p 83
5b Deadline 24p 83
6 Suspended 20p 83
7 Witness 28p 83
8 Planetfall 28p 83
9 Enchanter 36p 83
10 Infidel 20p 83
11 Sorcerer 44p 84
12 Seastalker 24p 84
13 Cutthroats 32p 84
14 HHGG 52p 84
15 Suspect 24p 84
16 Wishbringer 40p 85
17 AMFV 24p 85
18 Spellbreaker 40p 85
19 Ballyhoo 40p 86
20 Trinity 32p 86
21 LGOP 24p 86
22 Moonmist 16p 86
23 Hollywood Hijinx/Bureaucracy 28p 87
24 Stationfall/Lurking Horror 48p 87
25 Plundered Hearts/Beyond Zork 56p 87
26 Zork Trilogy 48p 88

IV Newsletters
===============

IV.1 "The New Zork Times" & "The Status Line"
---------------------------------------------

# Vol No Date Pages Featured game(s)

a) "The New Zork Times" as ZUG (Zork Users Group) newsletter

1 - - [Spring 82?] [1p] Deadline
2 II 1 Fall 82 [2p] Starcross/Zork III
3 III 1 Spring 83 [2p] Suspended
4 II oo Summer 83 [6p] The Witness

b) "The New Zork Times" (NZT)

5 3 1 Winter 84 4p Sorcerer
6 3 2 Spring 84 4p Seastalker
7 3 3 Summer 84 8p Cutthroats
8 3 4 Fall 84 4p Suspect/HHGG
9 4 1 Winter 85 12p Cornerstone
10 4 2 Spring 85 12p Wishbringer
11 4 2 Summer 85 8p AMFV/Fooblitzky
12 IV 4 Fall 85 8p Spellbreaker
13 V 1 Winter 86 8p Ballyhoo

c) "* * * *"

14 V 4 Spring 86 12p Trinity

d) "The Status Line" (TSL)

15 V 3 Summer 86 12p Moonmist/LGOP
16 V 4 Fall 86 8p Hollywood Hijinx/Enchanter Tril.
17 VI 1 Winter/Spring 87 12p Bureaucracy/Zork Trilogy
18 VI 2 Summer 87 12p Lurking Horror/Stationfall
19 VI 3 Fall 87 12p Plundered Hearts/Nord and Bert
20 VI 4 Winter 87 12p Beyond Zork/Border Zone
21 VII 1 Winter/Spring 88 12p Sherlock/InfoComics 1-3
22 VII 2 Summer 88 8p InfoComics 4
23 VII 3 Fall 88 8p BattleTech/Zork Zero/Quarterstaff
24 VIII 1 Spring 89 6p Shogun/Journey/Arthur

The Status Line's successor ("ZQ" or "Escape") was never published.

IV.2 "InfoDope"
---------------
[For internal circulation only]

V Datafiles
============

V.1 Story Datafiles
--------------------

V.1.1 Legend
-------------

Name : Game title. "Solid Gold" releases are marked "SG".

? : Versions marked with "D" are internal development versions (usually
releases for in-house or outside testing). Whenever the exact
development stage (alpha/beta/gamma) is known, this information is
added.
Versions marked with "F" are unreleased final internal versions.
Turning them into actual releases would have meant another round of
testing, and this was only done if the fixes were deemed significant
and a new production run was needed.
Versions marked with "*" are those that no longer exist or survived
in corrupted form only.

V.A : Version number (a.k.a. "Release") and compilation date (a.k.a. "Serial
number"). Typing VERSION in a game usually gives you this information.
Compilation dates in the header were introduced in March 1982; earlier
datafiles have seemingly arbitrary values as serial number.

Z-C : The Z-code version (1...6) of the datafile. An "s" marks a datafile
that requires an interpreter with sound (not only beep) capabilities.
The Z-code versions correspond with the development stages of ZIP
("Z-machine Interpreter Program", the virtual interpreter) in the
following way:
ZIP Z-code
-----------------
ZIP 1-3
EZIP (LZIP) 4 ("extended")
XZIP 5 ("experimental")
YZIP 6 ("successor to X")
Z-code versions 7 and 8 were introduced by Graham Nelson in the 1990s;
they were not used by Infocom.
GZIP (Graphical ZIP) was used for Fooblitzky only.

Length : The "real" length of the datafile, as indicated in the "game length"
field of the datafile header. Published IBM data files are often 1
byte too long (padded with a $1a byte); Amiga datafiles are always
padded to a page size of 256 or 512 bytes due to requirements of the
Amiga interpreter. Older datafiles (pre-July 1982) had no $VERIFY
command and therefore lack the game length field in the header; their
correct length is listed in brackets, with the checksum given after
"CHK:".

Only very few beta/gamma testing releases leaked out and appeared on pirate
bulletin boards (Sorcerer V67; Seastalker V86; LGOP V118, V50; Moonmist V65).
Infocom reacted to the Sorcerer leak by adding unique identifiers to the
testing versions, usually invoked via the $verify command.

V.1.2 The 35 Canonical Games
-----------------------------

Name ? V.A Z-C Length
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A Mind Forever Voyaging D 1.841226 3 33536 (ZIP version)
D 47.850313 4 119622 "Pre-Alpha"
D* 64.850404 4 138366 "Alpha"
D* 84.850516 4 189346 "Wide Alpha"
D* 105.850605 4 222818 "Beta"
D* 131.850628 4 254920 "Early Gamma"
D* 132.850702 4 254906 "Gamma"
D* 143.850711 4 257590 "Gamma II (IBM)"
77.850814 4 262016
79.851122 4 262036 (Amiga)

Arthur D 40.890502 6 235344
D 41.890504 6 235352
54.890606 6 270848 (Amiga/Mac)
63.890622 6 271304 (Apple II/IIgs)
74.890714 6 269200 (IBM)

Ballyhoo 97.851218 3 128556
F 99.861014 3 128602

Beyond Zork D 1.870412 5 182636 "Alpha I"
D 1.870715 5 252548 "Beta I"
47.870915 5 261952 [1]
49.870917 5 261900
51.870923 5 261548
57.871221 5 261388
F 60.880610 5 261444

Border Zone 9.871008 5 178372

Bureaucracy 86.870212 4 243144
116.870602 4 243340
F 160.880521 4 243524

Cutthroats 23.840809 3 112558
F 25.840917 3 112538

Deadline 18.820311 3 [111342] CHK: $39d5
19.820427 3 [111420] CHK: $780e
21.820512 3 [111706] CHK: $bf83
22.820809 3 111782
26.821108 3 108372
27.831005 3 108454
F 28.850129 3 108420

Enchanter 10.830810 3 109126
15.831107 3 109230
16.831118 3 109234
16.840518 3 109332 (Mac) [2]
24.851118 3 108638
29.860820 3 111126

HHGG D* 62.840706 3 95228 "Alpha"
D 108.840809 3 107452 "Beta I"
D 119.840822 3 110982 "Beta II"
47.840914 3 112622
56.841221 3 113444
58.851002 3 113332
59.851108 3 113334
F 60.861002 3 113330

HHGG SG 31.871119 5 158412

Hollywood Hijinx D 235.861118 3 118626 (beta)
37.861215 3 109650

Infidel 22.830916 3 93556
22.840522 3 94144 (Mac) [2]

Journey D 46.880603 5 229948 (XZIP version)
D 2.890303 6 280936 (IBM)
26.890316 6 279872 (Mac)
30.890322 6 280472 (Amiga)
D 51.890522 6 281408 (IBM)
D 54.890526 6 281504
77.890616 6 282176 (Apple II)
D 79.890627 6 282240
83.890706 6 282312 (IBM)

LGOP D* 48.860103 3 86492 "Pre-Alpha"
D* 57.860121 3 99484 "Alpha"
D* 118.860325 3 129012 "Beta"
D 160.860521 3 128998 "Gamma" [3]
D* 50.860711 3 128988 "Freeze I"
59.860730 3 129022
59.861114 (same as previous)

LGOP SG 4.880405 5 159928

Lurking Horror 203.870506 3 128986
219.870912 3s 129704 (Amiga)
221.870918 3s 129944 (Amiga)

Moonmist D* 65. ? 3 128986 (beta)
4.860918 3 129002
9.861022 3 128866
F 13.880501 3 128828

Nord and Bert D* 70.870423 4 ?
D* 77.870428 4 ?
D* 117.870512 4 ?
19.870722 4 170284
F 20.870722 4 170300

Planetfall D* 1.830306 3 85174 "Alpha"
D* 1.830517 3 105158 "Beta"
D* 1.830614 3 107500 "Gamma"
D* 6.830619 3 107568 "Gamma III"
20.830708 3 107958
26.831014 3 108674
29.840118 3 109052
37.851003 3 109398
F 39.880501 3 109282

Planetfall SG 10.880531 5 136560

Plundered Hearts 26.870730 3 128962

Seastalker D 86.840320 3 116456 (beta)
15.840501 3 117738
15.840522 3 117728 (Atari)
15.840612 3 117736 (CoCo)
15.840716 3 117752 (Tandy)
D 17.850208 3 117180
16.850515 3 117752
16.850603 3 117762
F 18.850919 3 116802

Sherlock D 97.871026 5 199248
21.871214 5 188444
D 22.880112 5 189016
26.880127 5s 190180 (Amiga/Mac)
F 4.880324 5 189220

Shogun 292.890314 6 341416 (Mac)
295.890321 6 341912 (Amiga)
311.890510 6 344224 (Apple II/IIgs)
D 320.890627 6 344808 (IBM)
D 321.890629 6 344872 (IBM)
322.890706 6 344816 (IBM)

Sorcerer D* 17.831001 3 82376 "Alpha"
D 67.831208 3 107096 "Beta"
D* 85.840106 3 108520 "Gamma"
4.840131 3 109734
6.840508 3 109482
13.851021 3 108692
15.851108 3 108682
18.860904 3 111052

Spellbreaker 63.850916 3 128480
87.860904 3 128916

Starcross 15.820901 3 84984
17.821021 3 83792
F 18.830114 3 84740

Stationfall D* 28.861221 3 91210 "Pre-Alpha"
D* 36.870106 3 98146 "Alpha"
D 63.870218 3 121724 "Beta"
D 87.870326 3 127400 "Gamma"
107.870430 3 128934

Suspect 14.841005 3 118692 CHK: $d0ec
14.841005 3 118692 CHK: $d04e (Atari)
F 18.850222 3 118746

Suspended 5.830222 3 105418
7.830419 3 105500
8.830521 3 105492
8.840521 3 105584 (Mac) [2]

Trinity D 1.851202 4 154460 "Alpha"
D 1.860221 4 230484 "Beta"
D 14.860313 4 241564 "Beta II"
11.860509 4 262016
12.860926 4 262064
F 15.870628 4 261484

Wishbringer 68.850501 3 128952
69.850920 3 128904

Wishbringer SG 23.880706 5 164712

Witness 13.830524 3 102608
18.830910 3 103728
20.831119 3 104740
21.831208 3 104704
22.840924 3 104664
F 23.840925 3 104260

Zork I 2.AS000C 1 [82728] CHK: $7dc3
5. 1 [82836] CHK: $a8a4
15.UG3AU5 2 [78566] CHK: $e987
20. 3 [75734] CHK: $4506
23.820428 3 [75780] CHK: $e6dc
25.820515 3 [75808] CHK: $dfa0
26.820803 3 75964
28.821013 3 76018
30.830330 3 76324
75.830929 3 84868
76.840509 3 84874
88.840726 3 84876
F 119.880429 3 86838

Zork I SG 52.871125 5 105264

Zork II 7.UG3AU5 2 [85260] CHK: $6fb6
15.820308 3 [82110] CHK: $7961
17.820427 3 [82368] CHK: $cf13
18.820512 3 [82422] CHK: $cf14
18.820517 (same as previous)
19.820721 3 82586
22.830331 3 82920
23.830411 3 81876
22.840518 3 83128 (Mac) [2]
* ?. ? 3 89136
48.840904 3 89912
* ?.841220 3 ?
F 63.860811 3 92524

Zork III 10.820818 3 82334
12.821025 3 82396
15.830331 3 82558
16.830410 3 81626
15.840518 3 82642 (Mac) [2]
17.840727 3 82714
F 25.860811 3 87984

Zork Zero D 153.880510 5 245600 (XZIP version)
D 242.880901 6 269528 "Beta"
296.881019 6 295536 (Mac)
366.890323 6 296376 (Amiga)
383.890602 6 299392 (Apple II)
D 392.890714 6 299920 (IBM)
393.890714 6 299968 (IBM)

V.1.3 Demos and Small Versions
-------------------------------

Name ? V.A Z-C Length
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mini-Zork I D 2.840207 3 47676 (beta) [4]
34.871124 3 52216

Mini-Zork II D 2.871123 3 55690

Zork I Demo 15.840330 3 62326

Sampler I (Four-In-One) D 5.840512 3 105196
24.840627 3 112478
26.840731 3 112610
52.850402 3 126708
53.850407 3 126708
55.850823 3 126902

Mini-Ballyhoo D 8.870119 3 55472

Sampler II 97.870601 3 125314

Sampler III D 8.870601 3 106094

V.1.4 Unfinished Projects
--------------------------

Name ? V.A Z-C Length
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Abyss D 1.890320 6 109416

Milliways D 15.880512 5 62928
D 184.890412 6 79152

Zork I German D 3.880113 5 116216 "Beta I" (A)
D 15.890613 6 130928 "Beta I" (B)

V.1.5 Footnotes
----------------

[1] In the IBM versions, the character definitions (font #3, used for the
runes) are simply appended to the datafile. On other platforms (e.g. Amiga
and Atari ST) the definitions are in a separate font file.

[2] Recompile of older version with proportional font support added specially
for the Macintosh platform.

[3] Some copies of this datafile are incorrectly identified as "50.860711" in
the game header. This is due to a mistake made by the maintainers of the
Infocom Patches collection.

[4] There are enough differences between the beta and the released "Mini-Zork"
to think of them as two different games. For example, the broken egg with
the golden canary, the brass bauble, and the Timber Room with the broken
timber are only present in the beta, while the sapphire-encrusted bracelet,
the red buoy with the large emerald and the Mirror Rooms are only in the
released version. (The Echo Room has been removed in both versions.)

V.2 Graphic Data Files
----------------------

The graphics were originally designed on the Amiga; the same data files seem to
have been used for the Mac releases. Later they were converted to Apple II/IIgs
and IBM.

At the moment I only have information about the IBM graphics files. I don't
know whether the "version numbers" shown by the VERSION command (byte 0x1b of
the graphics file) are really version numbers or just random bytes.

The MS-DOS versions of the YZIP games came with 3 graphics files: for MCGA/VGA
graphics cards (*.MG1), for EGA (*.EG1) and for CGA (*.CG1). You could chose
the graphics file via command line options; the syntax was "YZIP /D[M,E,C]". If
invoked without this option the interpreter tries to automatically determine
the type of graphic card (and usually ends up with EGA).

Arthur and Shogun contained the program FILECVT.EXE, which can create EG1 and
CG1 graphics files from the MG1 graphics file.

Zork0
(James Shook) conversions etc.: Tanya Allan/Denise Audette/Andy Briggs/Rob
Dunlavey/Sophia Green/Joy Pulver/Charlie
Voner

MG1 Pix 14 226436 (89-07-10 11:35)
EG1 Pix 29 333654 (89-07-13 17:48)
CG1 Pix 29 244507 (89-07-14 16:42)

Shogun
(Donald Langosy) conversions: Tanya Allen [Apple II]/Donna Dennison [IBM]
MG1 Pix 9 213425 (89-07-06 15:21)
EG1 Pix 21 278669 (89-06-28 11:47)
CG1 Pix 20 141450 (89-07-06 15:34)

Journey
(Donald Langosy)
MG1 Pix 2 465606 (89-06-23 13:38)
EG1/2 Pix 12 360500/249241 (89-07-07 12:37/38)
CG1 Pix 8 297105 (89-07-07 17:01)

Arthur
(Darrell Myers/Tanya Isaacson/Sophie Green/Donna Dennison/Jim Sullivan)
MG1 Pix 27 292279 (89-07-14 11:32)
EG1/2 [EGA file not included]
CG1 Pix 15 209359 (89-07-13 18:50)

V.3 Title Pictures
------------------

The 4 YZIP games had title pictures which were incorporated in the graphics
files. The only other game with a title picture was the Atari ST version of
"Beyond Zork". (Also, "Fooblitzky" had an animated title screen.)

V.4 Sound Files
---------------

The Amiga version of "The Lurking Horror" and the Amiga and Macintosh versions
of "Sherlock" came with sampled sounds. "The Lurking Horror" had 14 different
sounds, "Sherlock" 15. Sound versions of "Sherlock" were also planned for the
Atari ST and the Apple IIgs, but these were never released.

V.5 Font Files
--------------

For the runes in "Beyond Zork", special character definitions were needed.
Infocom put these special characters in a separate font file (called
"Graphic.Data" on the Amiga and "FONT3.DAT" on the Atari ST). In the MS-DOS
version, the font file was appended to the game's datafile.

The Amiga versions of "Journey" and "Arthur" also came with font files (called
"Char.Data"). In "Arthur", it is used for the game's proportional font. The
"Journey" font file is used for the runes; it is identical with the one from
"Beyond Zork".

V.6 Boss Keys
-------------

The (original) MS-DOS version of "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" came with a boss
key picture ("LEATHER.DAT") displayed by the ZIP (version 3 N).

VI Game Statistics
===================

Game Version Rooms Words Objects Opcodes
(int) (takeable) (total)

Zork I 88.840726 110 697 60 6798
Zork II 48.840904 86 684 50 6804
Deadline 27.831005 51 656 37 6977
Zork III 17.840727 89 564 23 5952
Starcross 17.821021 86 557 25 6566
Suspended 8.840521 63 676 33 6902
The Witness 22.840924 30 715 22 8945
Planetfall 37.851003 105 669 45 7879
Enchanter 29.860820 74 723 33 8070
Infidel 22.830916 77 613 57 7386
Sorcerer 18.860904 84 1013 36 8963
Seastalker 16.850603 30 911 15 14460
Cutthroats 23.840809 68 790 21 12600
HHGG 59.851108 31 971 45 10723
Suspect 14.841005 57 674 43 10737
Wishbringer 69.850920 52 1043 35 16223
AMFV 79.851122 178 1812 30 18696
Spellbreaker 87.860904 79 850 60 12472
Ballyhoo 97.851218 36 962 42 15132
Trinity 12.860926 134 2120 49 31389
LGOP 59.861114 75 978 41 13763
Moonmist 9.861022 69 955 26 15900
Hollywood Hijinx 37.861215 67 854 58 10355
Bureaucracy 116.870602 50 1416 44 24116
Stationfall 107.870430 105 789 53 10662
Lurking Horror 221.870918 71 773 44 12398
Nord and Bert 19.870722 41 1230 69 13831
Plundered Hearts 26.870730 57 816 28 13859
Beyond Zork 57.871221 128 1569 77 32778
Border Zone 9.871008 111 803 42 11273
Mini-Zork I 34.871124 69 536 46 5204
Sherlock 26.880127 92 1194 67 19702
Zork Zero 393.890714 215 1624 106 23587
Shogun 322.890706 75 1389 63 28346
Journey 83.890706 - 27 - 16187
Arthur 74.890714 90 1059 32 28242

The number of rooms refers to the internal representation; externally (from the
player's point of view) there can be less/more rooms, like in Infidel's
never-ending desert around the camp (which in fact consists of only 10 rooms).

Likewise the number of takeable objects can be higher than the figure given
here. I have only counted objects which have the takebit set in the initial
state of the game.

VII Implementors
=================

This is a list of games and other programs written by Infocom authors. The term
"implementor" is used as a synonym for game author here (while at Infocom this
usually meant a member of the Implementor Group, which not all authors were).
A "#" before a year means that the game has not been finished or never been
released.

"Hollywood" Dave Anderson
-------------------------
[Untitled Demo Game] (Infocom) #1985?
Hollywood Hijinx <+ L.Cyr-Jones> (Infocom) 1986

Timothy A. Anderson
-------------------
Zork <+ M.S.Blank/P.D.Lebling/B.K.Daniels> (MIT) 1977-79
Bureaucracy <+ many others> (Infocom) 1985-87

Bob Bates
---------
Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (Challenge/Infocom) 1986/87
Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur (Challenge/Infocom) 1989
The Abyss (Challenge/Infocom) #1989
[Untitled Robin Hood game] (Infocom) #1989
Timequest (Legend) 1991
Eric the Unready (Legend) 1993
The Great Game <+ W.Colby/J.Adams> (Activision) 1995
[Educational game for US government] (US Govt.) 1995
John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles <+ J.Saul> (Legend/Mindscape) 1998

Michael Berlyn
--------------
Oo-Topos <+ Muffy Berlyn> (Sentient) 1981
Cyborg (Sentient) ca.1982
Congo <+ Harry Willner> (Sentient) 1982?
Gold Rush (Sentient) 1982?
Suspended (Infocom) 1983
Infidel <+ P.Fogleman> (Infocom) 1983
Cutthroats <+ J.Wolper> (Infocom) 1984
Fooblitzky <+ M.S.Blank et al.> (Infocom) 1985/86
Tass Times In Tonetown <+ Muffy Berlyn> (Brainwave/Interplay) 1986
Confetti <+ Muffy Berlyn> (Brainwave/Infocom) #1987
Rager <+ Muffy Berlyn> (Brainwave/Infocom) #1987
Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. <+ Muffy Berlyn> (Brainwave/First Row) 1988
WriteIdea <+ Muffy Berlyn> (Brainwave) 1988-99
Les Manley in Search for the King <+ S.Cartwright> (Accolade) 1990
Altered Destiny (Accolade) 1990
Snoopy's Game Club <+ Gene Smith> (Accolade) 1992
Bubsy, in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind <+ J.Skeel> (Accolade) 1993
Mystery Capers <+ M.S.Blank> (Apple/Starcore) 1994
Motile (Eidetic/Apple) 1994
Newton Utilities <+ M.S.Blank> (Apple) 1994
Live Action Football <+ M.S.Blank> (Accolade) 1994
All Star Baseball <+ M.S.Blank> (Accolade) 1995
Bubsy 3D <+ M.S.Blank> (Accolade) 1996
Zork: The Undiscovered Underground <+ M.S.Blank/G.K.Wilson> (Activision) 1997
Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. [extended version]
<+ Muffy Berlyn/M.Musante> (Cascade Mountain) 1999
Chameleon <+ Muffy Berlyn> (Cascade Mountain) #1999

Berlyn also wrote several novels:
- The Integrated Man (1980)
- Crystal Phoenix (1980)
- Blight (19??) [as Mark Sonders]
- The Eternal Enemy (1990)

Marc S. Blank
-------------
Zork <+ P.D.Lebling/T.A.Anderson/B.K.Daniels> (MIT) 1977-79
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire <+ P.D.Lebling> (Infocom) 1980
Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz <+ P.D.Lebling> (Infocom) 1981
Zork III: The Dungeon Master <+ P.D.Lebling> (Infocom) 1981
Deadline (Infocom) 1982
Enchanter <+ P.D.Lebling> (Infocom) 1983
Zork Demo (Infocom) 1984
The Four-In-One Infocom Sampler (Infocom) 1984
Fooblitzky <+ M.Berlyn et al.> (Infocom) 1985/86
Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
<+ many others> (Infocom) #1986
Bureaucracy <+ many others> (Infocom) 1985-87
Border Zone (Infocom) 1987
Journey: Part One of The Golden Age Trilogy (Infocom) 1988
[Part Two of The Golden Age Trilogy] (Infocom) #1989
Mystery Capers <+ M.Berlyn> (Apple/Starcore) 1994
Live Action Football <+ M.Berlyn> (Accolade) 1994
All Star Baseball <+ M.Berlyn> (Accolade) 1995
Bubsy 3D <+ M.Berlyn> (Accolade) 1996
Syphon Filter <+ Richard Ham> (Eidetic/Sony) 1996-99
Zork: The Undiscovered Underground <+ M.Berlyn/G.K.Wilson> (Activision) 1997

Tomas Bok
---------
[Untitled Demo Game] (Infocom) #1985?
Bureaucracy <+ many others> (Infocom) 1985-87
The Infocom Sampler (II) (Infocom) 1987
Sampler III (Infocom) #1987

Amy Briggs
----------
Rhodomontade Symphony (Infocom) #1986?
Plundered Hearts (Infocom) 1987
Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams (Infocom/TSP) 1988
Quarterstaff <+ S.Schmitz/K.Updike> (Infocom) 1988
[Proposed Vampire game] (Infocom) #1988
Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
<+ many others> (Infocom) #1988

Stuart W. Galley
----------------
The Witness (Infocom) 1983
Seastalker: [Your Name] and the Ultramarine Bioceptor
<+ J.Lawrence> (Infocom) 1984
Checkpoint [later became Border Zone] (Infocom) #1984-85
Midnight Rider/Escape from Boston (Infocom) #1985
Bureaucracy <+ many others> (Infocom) 1985-87
Moonmist <+ J.Lawrence> (Infocom) 1986
Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
<+ many others> (Infocom) #1987

Elizabeth Langosy
-----------------
ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle (Infocom/TSP) 1988
ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom (Infocom/TSP) 1988
Haitian Honeymoon ["adult" InfoComic] <+ Donald Langosy> (Infocom/TSP) #1989

P. David Lebling
----------------
Zork <+ M.S.Blank/T.A.Anderson/B.K.Daniels> (MIT) 1977-79
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire <+ M.S.Blank> (Infocom) 1980
Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz <+ M.S.Blank> (Infocom) 1981
Zork III: The Dungeon Master <+ M.S.Blank> (Infocom) 1981
Starcross (Infocom) 1982
Enchanter <+ M.S.Blank> (Infocom) 1983
Suspect (Infocom) 1984
Spellbreaker (Infocom) 1985
Bureaucracy <+ many others> (Infocom) 1985-87
The Lurking Horror (Infocom) 1987
Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
<+ many others> (Infocom) #1987
James Clavell's Shogun (Infocom) 1988

Steven Eric Meretzky
--------------------
Planetfall (Infocom) 1983
Sorcerer (Infocom) 1984
Mini-Zork I (Infocom) #1984
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy <+ D.N.Adams> (Infocom) 1984
A Mind Forever Voyaging (Infocom) 1985
Leather Goddesses Of Phobos (Infocom) 1986
Stationfall (Infocom) 1987
LGOP 2: Gas Pump Girls <+ J.O'Neill> (Infocom) #1987
Mini-Zork I (Infocom) 1987
Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen (Infocom/TSP) 1988
Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz (Infocom) 1988
[Untitled Titanic game] (Infocom) #1989
Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls (Legend) 1990
Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance (Legend) 1991
Leather Goddesses Of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the
Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X ("Infocom") 1992
Spellcasting 301: Spring Break (Legend) 1992
Superhero League of Hoboken (Legend) 1994
Hodj 'n' Podj (Boffo) 1995
Planetfall: The Search for Floyd <+ R.Manning/H.Beimler> ("Infocom") #1995
The Space Bar (Boffo/Segasoft) 1997

Meretzky also wrote:
- four "Zork" interactive novels (see III.1)
- a "Rex Nebular" short story for Microprose (1993)

"Professor" Brian Moriarty
--------------------------
Adventure in the Fifth Dimension (A.N.A.L.O.G. #11) 1983
Borrowing Money <+ T.Hudson> (Atari) #1983
Saving Money <+ T.Hudson> (Atari) #1983
Crash Dive! (A.N.A.L.O.G. #18) 1984
Tachyon [adaptation of Atari's Quantum] (A.N.A.L.O.G.) #1984
Trinity (Infocom) 1984-86
Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams (Infocom) 1985
Bureaucracy <+ many others> (Infocom) 1985-87
Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor (Infocom) 1987
Timesink [SciFi RPG for the MacII] (Infocom) #1988
Loom (Lucasfilm) 1988-90
The Dig <+ S.Spielberg> (LucasArts) 1991-95
Young Indiana Jones at the World's Fair (LucasArts) #1993
Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine <+ R.Cobb> (Rocket Science) 1994

Jeff O'Neill
------------
[Untitled Demo Game] (Infocom) #1985?
Ballyhoo (Infocom) 1985
Bureaucracy <+ many others> (Infocom) 1985-87
Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of it (Infocom) 1987
Milliways: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
<+ many others> (Infocom) #1987
LGOP 2: Gas Pump Girls <+ S.E.Meretzky> (Infocom) #1987
Zork I (Solid Gold version) (Infocom) 1987
Zork I (German Version) (Infocom) #1988

Jerry Wolper
------------
Cutthroats <+ M.Berlyn> (Infocom) 1984
Bureaucracy <+ many others> (Infocom) 1985-87

VIII Re-Releases
=================

While Infocom's original releases are slowly becoming collectors' items, most
of their games have been re-released as budget editions or in compilations.
These are listed here in chronological order. The game version information is
given (where known) in the format
"Version number.Assembly date (Interpreter version)".

a) Infocom from Mastertronic
----------------------------

The "Infocom from Mastertronic" (aka "Budgets") were published in 1990 (#1-5)
and 1991 (#6-10) by Virgin Mastertronic in Great Britain (with a license from
Activision). They came in flat square-shaped cardboard boxes (black with blue
stripes, 160x160x18 mm). All of them included a reprint of the original manual
as a small (140x140) booklet; #2 and #4 also had maps.

All games were priced at UKP9.99 and released for IBM, Amiga and Atari ST.

# Game IBM Amiga Atari ST
----------------------------------------------------------------
1 HHGG 31.871119 (5E) ??? 56.841221
2 Zork I 52.871125 (5E) 88.840726 (3A) 52.871125
3 Planetfall 10.880531 (5J) 37.851003 (3B) ???
4 Wishbringer 23.880706 (5J) 69.850920 (3B) 68.850501
5 LGOP 4.880405 (5I) 59.860730 (3B) ???
6 Zork II 48.840904 (3L) -> (3B) ->
7 Zork III 17.840727 (3L) -> (3B) ->
8 Enchanter 10.830810 (3A) 16.831118 (3B) ->
9 Sorcerer 6.840508 (3L) 13.851021 (3B) ???
10 Deadline 27.831005 (3L) -> (3B) ->

In late summer 1992 Virgin Mastertronic published two CD-ROMs called "The Zork
Trilogy" (containing #2,6,7) and "The Infocom Collection" (#1,3,4,5). A third
CD-ROM with the Enchanter Trilogy was planned but may not have been released.

b) The Lost Treasures of Infocom
--------------------------------

This package ("LTOI I") was released by Activision (under the Infocom label) in
December 1991 for the IBM (Macintosh version: January 1992; Amiga version:
February 1992). CD-ROM versions (different CD-ROMs for PC and Mac) followed in
1993. An Apple IIgs version was created and distributed by the Big Red Computer
Club.

It contained 20 games, complete with manual, hintbook (more or less identical
to the text in the InvisiClues) and maps. The IBM and Amiga versions had $59.95
as RRP, the Macintosh version $69.95.

The package was produced on a shoestring budget: The hintbook was full of
typos; the manual left out some vital information (the radio station ad for
"Ballyhoo"; the "Moonmist" letters). Some early packages did not include the
parchment for "Zork Zero" either.

The IBM packages lack some not-so-vital files (the MCGA/VGA graphics for "Zork
Zero", the boss key picture for the 3N interpreter). Early IBM versions had
read errors on the disks.

Game IBM Macintosh Amiga
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ballyhoo 97.851218 (3M2) -> (3G) ->
Beyond Zork 57.871221 (5J) -> (5B) ->
Deadline 27.831005 (3M2) -> (3G) ->
Enchanter 29.860820 (3N) -> (3G) 16.831118
HHGG 31.871119 (5E) 59.851108 (3G) 58.851002
Infidel 22.830916 (3M2) -> (3G) ->
Lurking Horror 203.870506 (3N) -> (3G) 219.870912
Moonmist 9.861022 (3N) -> (3G) ->
Planetfall 37.851003 (3N) 10.880531 (5C) 37.851003
Sorcerer 15.851108 (3M2) -> (3G) 13.851021
Spellbreaker 87.860904 (3N) -> (3G) ->
Starcross 17.821021 (3M2) -> (3G) ->
(some IBM packages: 15.820901)
Stationfall 107.870430 (3N) -> (3G) ->
Suspect 14.841005 (3M2) -> (3G) ->
Suspended 8.840521 (3M2) -> (3G) 8.830521
Witness 22.840924 (3M2) -> (3G) ->
Zork Zero 393.890714 (6.71) 296.881019 (6.1) 366.890323
Zork I 88.840726 (3M2) -> (3G) ->
Zork II 48.840904 (3M2) -> (3G) ->
Zork III 17.840727 (3M2) -> (3G) ->

c) The Lost Treasures of Infocom II
-----------------------------------

Following the (unexpected?) success of LTOI I, Activision released a second
compilation in July 1992 (IBM, Macintosh). An Amiga version was planned but not
released.

This one contained only 11 games; "Journey", "Shogun", "Arthur" and "Leather
Goddesses of Phobos" were not included (but the package contained a special
$9.95 priced offer for LGOP). The CD-ROM version (PC and Mac on the same CD)
was released end-1993; it included the 3 graphic games but not LGOP.

The package did not contain maps or hintbooks but a 1-800 number for hints was
listed. The RRP was $49.95.

Game IBM Macintosh
-------------------------------------------------------
AMFV 77.850814 (4A) -> (4E)
Border Zone 9.871008 (5J) -> (5B)
Bureaucracy 116.870602 (4D) -> (4I)
Cutthroats 23.840809 (3M2) -> (3G or 3I?)
Hollywood Hijinx 37.861215 (3N) -> (3I)
Nord and Bert... 19.870722 (4E) -> (4I)
Plundered Hearts 26.870730 (3N) -> (3G)
Seastalker 16.850603 (3L) 15.840522 (3G or 3I?)
Sherlock 21.871214 (5J) 26.880127 (5C)
Trinity 12.860926 (4E) -> (4H)
Wishbringer 69.850920 (3M2) 68.850501 (3G or 3I?)
Arthur (CD) 74.890714 (6.71) 54.890606
Journey (CD) 83.890706 (6.68) 26.890316
Shogun (CD) 322.890706 (6.68) 292.890314

d) Zork Anthology
-----------------

Published by Activision in 1994 as a CD-only companion piece to the pseudo-
Infocom "Return to Zork".

Game IBM Macintosh
-------------------------------------------------------
Zork I 88.840726 (3M2) ???
Zork II 48.840904 (3M2) ???
Zork III 17.840727 (3M2) ???
Beyond Zork 57.871221 (5J) ???
Zork Zero 393.890714 (6.71) ???
Planetfall 37.851003 (3N) ???

e) Infocom Classics
-------------------

A set of 5 PC-and-Mac CD-ROMs published by Activision in June 1995. Each CD-ROM
comes with manual and maps; a 1-900 line for hints is listed and separate
hintbooks can be ordered for $10 (per collection). LGOP and three V6 games
(Arthur, Shogun and Journey) are not included. The collections go for $20-25.

Mystery Collection: Deadline, The Witness, Suspect, Moonmist, The
Lurking Horror, Sherlock (plus Zork Zero and
Planetfall)

Comedy Collection: Ballyhoo (!), Bureaucracy, Hollywood Hijinx, Nord &
Bert (plus Zork I and Planetfall)

Fantasy Collection: Enchanter, Sorcerer, Spellbreaker, Wishbringer,
Seastalker (!) (plus Zork II and Planetfall)

Adventure Collection: Border Zone, Cutthroats, Infidel, Plundered Hearts,
Trinity (!) (plus Zork III and Planetfall)

Science Fiction Collection: AMFV, HHGG, Starcross, Stationfall, Suspended (plus
Beyond Zork and Planetfall)

[All versions and interpreters are as on LTOI 1 and 2.]

f) Masterpieces of Infocom
--------------------------

Activision's last Infocom collection so far, bla bla.
no HHGG and Shogun (rights reverted back)

Game IBM Macintosh
-------------------------------------------------------
AMFV 77.850814 (4A) -> (4E)
Arthur 74.890714 (6.71) 54.890606 (??)
Ballyhoo 97.851218 (3M2) -> (3G)
Beyond Zork 57.871221 (5J) -> (5B)
Border Zone 9.871008 (5J) -> (5B)
Bureaucracy 116.870602 (4D) -> (4I)
Cutthroats 23.840809 (3M2) -> (3G)
Deadline 27.831005 (3M2) -> (3G)
Enchanter 29.860820 (3N) -> (3G)
Hollywood Hijinx 37.861215 (3N) -> (3I)
Infidel 22.830916 (3M2) -> (3G)
Journey 83.890706 (6.68) 26.890316 (??)
Lurking Horror 203.870506 (3N) -> (3G)
Moonmist 9.861022 (3N) -> (3G)
Nord and Bert... 19.870722 (4E) -> (4I)
Planetfall 37.851003 (3N) 10.880531 (5C)
Plundered Hearts 26.870730 (3N) -> (3G)
Seastalker 16.850603 (3L) 15.840522 (3G)
Sherlock 21.871214 (5J) 26.880127 (5C)
Sorcerer 15.851108 (3M2) -> (3G)
Spellbreaker 87.860904 (3N) -> (3G)
Starcross 17.821021 (3M2) -> (3G)
Stationfall 107.870430 (3N) -> (3G)
Suspect 14.841005 (3M2) -> (3G)
Suspended 8.840521 (3M2) -> (3G)
Trinity 12.860926 (4E) -> (4H)
Wishbringer 69.850920 (3M2) 68.850501 (3G)
Witness 22.840924 (3M2) -> (3G)
Zork I 88.840726 (3M2) -> (3G)
Zork II 48.840904 (3M2) -> (3G)
Zork III 17.840727 (3M2) -> (3G)
Zork Zero 393.890714 (6.71) 296.881019 (6.1)

IX Trivia
==========

IX.1 Game titles prior to eventual release
------------------------------------------

Some game titles we know have been chosen by the marketing department rather
than the authors. The in-house alpha/beta versions were called differently.

A Gift From Space -> Starcross
Aunt Hildegarde's Secret -> Hollywood Hijinx
Checkpoint -> Spy -> Border Zone
Invitation to Murder -> Witness -> The Witness
PRISM -> AMFV
Pyramid -> Infidel
Ribbons and Rapiers -> Plundered Hearts
Sole Survivor -> Survivor -> Planetfall
Spellcrafter -> Mage -> Spellbreaker
Suspension -> Suspended
Was It Murder? -> Deadline
Wordplay -> Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of it
Zork IV -> Enchanter

IX.2 The Gribnitz Apartments
----------------------------

These are the 27 names that can appear as inhabitants of the Gribnitz
Apartments in Marc Blank's "Border Zone". Each time the game is started, 18 or
19 names are randomly inserted into the directory in the Apartment Lobby.

Bextra (maybe Duane Beck)
Blenka (Marc Blank)
Blivik ?
Brgmiz (Ernie Brogmus)
Brlensk (Mike Berlyn)
Brzni (Joel Berez)
Carlyni (Linda Carlow)
Cnezeni (Cezanne Blank)
Cyrink (Liz Cyr-Jones)
Dimwitz (Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive)
Dornik (Michael Dornbrook)
Endrizen (Tim Anderson, or "Hollywood" Dave Anderson)
Flipni ?
Galnitz (Stu Galley)
Gentezek (Carl Genatossio)
Kooplitz ?
Lebniz (Dave Lebling)
Lengnoz (Elizabeth Langosy, or Donald Langosy)
Mrtzki (Steve Meretzky)
Onilik (Jeff O'Neill)
Profnim ("Professor" Brian Moriarty)
Rivni (Christopher Reeve)
Robnerim (the family name from "Deadline")
Sinkriz (maybe Anita Sinclair)
Urg ?
Veznich (Al Vezza)
Winip ?

X Chronology
=============

69-70: Programming language Muddle (later called MDL) developed by several
people affiliated with the MIT's Dynamic Modelling (DM) Group (Dave
Cressey, Chris Reeve, Bruce K. Daniels) and AI Laboratory (Gerald
Sussman, Carl Hewitt). The MDL development system runs on a DEC PDP-10
under ITS.

Dec 76: First preliminary meeting of future Infocom founders.

Jun 77: "Zork" created by Marc Blank, Bruce K. Daniels, Tim Anderson, and Dave
Lebling. Written in MDL.

Feb 79: Last puzzles added to the mainframe "Zork".

Apr 79: First article about "Zork" published.

6/22/79: Infocom founded by 10 DM Group members (Tim Anderson, Joel Berez, Marc
Blank, Mike Broos, Scott Cutler, Stu Galley, Dave Lebling, J. C. R.
Licklider, Chris Reeve, Al Vezza).
The first Board of Directors consists of Berez, Broos, Galley,
Lebling, and Vezza.

Aug 79: Mike Broos resigns; Marc Blank replaces him as Director.

Nov 79: Joel Berez elected Infocom's President.

Mar 80: Infocom gets own P.O. box.

Jun 80: Agreement with Personal Software Inc. to publish "Zork I".

Nov 80: "Zork I".
First sold copy: PDP-11 version.

Dec 80: ZIP for TRS-80 Model I (written by Scott Cutler).
About 1500 copies of Model I "Zork I" sold by PS until 9/81.

Feb 81: ZIP for Apple II (written by Bruce K. Daniels).
Over 6000 copies of Apple II "Zork I" sold until 9/81.

Mar 81: Chris Reeve becomes Director.

May 81: TRS-80 Model II version (never sold).

Jun 81: First 2 employees (Joel Berez and Marc Blank).
Zork II agreement with Personal Software.

Aug 81: ZIP V2 introduced.

Sep 81: Infocom moved to 6 Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston.
Mort Rosenthal becomes Manager of Marketing.

Oct 81: End of the sales agreement with PS. (Infocom buys all Apple II
versions of "Zork I" back from PS.)
Mike Dornbrook founds "Zork Users Group" (PO Box 20923, Milwaukee, WI
53220-0923) to handle requests for hints and merchandise. In 1983, the
ZUG has 20000 members.

Nov 81: "Zork II".
Repackaging of "Zork I".

1/1/82: Infocom moves to 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Marc Blank becomes vice-president (VP) for product development.

Apr 82: "Deadline".
ZIP V3 introduced.
New ZIPs for Atari 400/800 and CP/M.
ZUG issues first InvisiClues booklet (Zork I).

May 82: Marc Blank meets Mike Berlyn at an Applefest trade show.

Jun 82: ZIP for IBM-PC.
Employees: 4.

Aug 82: ZIPs for TRS-80 Model III and NEC APC.

Sep 82: "Zork III".
"Starcross".

Oct 82: Business Products division founded. "Cornerstone" development begins.

Dec 82: DECsystem-20 development mainframe, previously leased from Joel Berez,
bought outright.

end-82: Sales: $1.65 million (net income: $335.000).

Mar 83: "Suspended".
ZIP for DEC Rainbow.

Apr 83: ZIPs for Commodore 64 and TI Professional.

Jun 83: "The Witness".
Employees: 20.

Jul 83: Shutdown of Mike Dornbrook's ZUG.

Aug 83: "Planetfall".
Mike Dornbrook joins Infocom as Product Manager for Entertainment
Products.

Sep 83: "Enchanter".

Nov 83: "Infidel".
ZIP for DECmate.

Dec 83: ZIP for Tandy-2000.
Ray Stata elected Director.

end-83: Sales: $6 million (net income: $526.000).

Jan 84: Al Vezza becomes Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Feb 84: ZIPs for Kaypro II and Osborne.

Mar 84: "Sorcerer".
ZIPs for MS-DOS and TI 99/4 A.
John Brackett new General Manager (GM) of Business Products division.

May 84: Second DECsystem-20 bought.

Jun 84: "Seastalker".
ZIP for Apple Macintosh (first ZIP with proportional font support).
John O'Leary new GM of Consumer Products division.
Employees: 50.

Sep 84: "Cutthroats".

Oct 84: "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".

11/1/84 Cornerstone announced at NYC press conference.

Nov 84: "Suspect".

Dec 84: Management restructured.

end-84: Sales: $10 million.

Jan 85: "Cornerstone".
CES in Las Vegas: For promotion of "Suspect", Infocom rents a mansion
and invites ~5000 people to become murder suspects.

Mar 85: ZIP for Epson QX-10.

Apr 85: Move to 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140.
New Mail Order Department (PO Box 478, Cresskill, NJ 07626).
ZIP for Apricot.

Jun 85: "Wishbringer".
Employees: 100.

Aug 85: ZIP for Atari ST.

Sep 85: "A Mind Forever Voyaging".
First layoffs due to "Cornerstone"s commercial failure (despite hiring
a separate sales and marketing team).

Oct 85: "Spellbreaker".

Dec 85: Business Products division laid off.
ZIP for Amiga.

end-85: Sales: $11.5 million.

Jan 86: Marc Blank and CEO Al Vezza leave.
Joel Berez new CEO. (He remains president.)

Feb 86: "Ballyhoo".
Price cut for "Cornerstone" (from $495 to $99.95).

2/19/86: Directors of Infocom and Activision approve of merger.

Mar 86: "Fooblitzky".

Jun 86: "Trinity".
EZIP for Commodore 128.

6/13/86: Merger. Activision Inc. (Mountain View, CA) buys Infocom for stock
swap worth $7.5...9.0 million.
GM John O'Leary leaves.
Employees: 40.

Sep 86: "Leather Goddesses of Phobos".

Oct 86: "Moonmist".

Nov 86: "Enchanter Trilogy".

87-89: Losses of ~$200.000 per fiscal quarter.

Jan 87: "Zork Trilogy".

Feb 87: "Hollywood Hijinx".

Mar 87: "Bureaucracy".

Jun 87: "Stationfall".
"The Lurking Horror".

Sep 87: "Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It".
"Plundered Hearts".

Oct 87: "Beyond Zork".
Sound version of "The Lurking Horror" (Amiga).
"Classic Mystery Library".
"Science Fiction Classics".
XZIP for Apple IIgs.

Nov 87: "Border Zone".

Dec 87: Solid Gold "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and Solid Gold "Zork I"
(Apple II, Macintosh, C64, IBM).

Jan 88: "Sherlock" (Apple II, C64, IBM).
Mike Dornbrook new VP.

Mar 88: "Gamma Force".
"Lane Mastodon".
Sound version of "Sherlock" (Macintosh, Amiga).
Chris Reeve leaves.

Apr 88: "ZorkQuest I".

Jun 88: Employees: 30.

Jul 88: Solid Gold "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" and Solid Gold "Planetfall".
Joel Berez resigns.
Joe Ybarra (formerly at Electronic Arts) becomes new president.

Aug 88: "ZorkQuest II".

Sep 88: Solid Gold "Wishbringer".
"Quarterstaff" (Macintosh).

Oct 88: "Zork Zero"
YZIP for Macintosh (written by Duncan Blanchard; YZIP specification by
Tim Anderson & Dave Lebling).

Nov 88: "BattleTech" (IBM).

Mar 89: "Shogun"
"Journey"
YZIP for Amiga (written by Clarence Din).
"BattleTech" (C64).

May 89: YZIP for Apple II with 128k RAM (written by Jon D. Arnold), maybe
another one for the Apple IIgs.

5/5/89: Of Infocom's 26 employees, 15 are laid off. The 11 others are offered
the chance to move to Silicon Valley. Only 5 accept, including
President Joe Ybarra and GM Rob Sears. Duncan Blanchard is the only
long time Infocommie among the five.

Jun 89: Activision (now Mediagenic) moves Infocom from Cambridge, MA to Menlo
Park, CA.
"BattleTech" (Amiga, maybe Apple II)

Jul 89: "Arthur".
YZIP for IBM (written by Scott Fray).

XI Interpreters & Utilities
============================

XI.1 Infocom's own interpreters
-------------------------------

Some Z-code interpreter versions and their length:

Platform Version Length
-------------------------
Amiga 3 A 25180
3 B 25128/25584
3 C 42224 (supports sound)
4 A 26088
4 B 26160
4 C 42860 (supports sound)
5 A 37148
5 B 46472 (supports sound)
6.8 45844/45862
6.14 48368
Atari ST 3 A 21093
3 ? 15721
4 B 21706
5 ? 40295 (loads title screen "SCREEN.DAT")
IBM 3 A ??? (boot disk, no file)
3 B ??? (boot disk, no file)
3 C ??? (boot disk, no file)
3 D ??? (boot disk, no file)
3 L 11394 [V3/4 are .COM files from 3L onwards]
3 M2 11402
3 N 12004 (loads boss key "<GAMENAME>.SCR")
4 A 12640
4 B 12604
4 C 12642
4 D 12688
4 E 12682
5 A [V5/6 are .EXE files]
5 B
5 C 31910 (MS-C 4.00)
5 D
5 E 31924 (MS-C 4.00)
5 F 32689 (MS-C 4.00)
5 G 32713 (MS-C 4.00)
5 H
5 I 34390 (MS-C 5.00)
5 J 33946 (MS-C 5.00)
6.68 47442/47402 (Turbo-C 2.0)
6.71 47494/47528 (Turbo-C 2.0)
Mac 3 B
3 C
3 G
3 I
4 E
4 H
4 I
5 A
5 B
5 C (supports sound)
6.1

XI.2 Non-Infocom Interpreters
-----------------------------

These Z-code interpreters are freely available, as Freeware or Public Domain.
Sources and executables for most of them reside in the IF archive
(http://www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/infocom/interpreters/).

Since the 2000s have seen a large number of Z-code interpreter ports to various
platforms and programming languages which, sadly, then never underwent much
testing or bugfixing, only the most important interpreters from that period
will be listed here.

a) InfoTaskForce/ITF (1987-1992)

Written by the InfoTaskForce, i.e. David Beazley, George Janczuk, Peter Lisle,
Russell Hoare and Chris Tham. Development started in early 1987 when the
authors were undergrads at Sydney University (Australia). No public release was
planned but an early version turned up on a Sydney University FTP server
(physics.su.oz.au) in March 1991. This version (1.0/2.0, written June 1987)
supported Z-code V3 only.

In September 1992 the interpreter was officially released, now supporting
Z-code V1-5 (lacking some V5 features). This version (4.01) has been widely
ported since. The interpreter is no longer supported by the authors.

b) zmachine (1988-1990)

The first publically available portable Z-code interpreter. Written by Matthias
Pfaller. Started in 1988, finished October 1989 and posted to comp.os.minix on
12 March 1990. Supports Z-code V3; version 2.24 was the only release. No longer
maintained.

c) pinfocom (1992)

Based on the inofficial release of ITF 1.0/2.0. The code was taken over in
January 1992 by Paul D. Smith. Many bug fixes and enhancements were made but
V4/5 support was still lacking. The announcement of pinfocom then prompted the
ITF to release their code officially. Final version (3.0) released in October
1992. No longer maintained.

d) ZIPdebug (1991-1993)

This interpreter/debugger by Frank Lancaster started life on the Apple II
(written in UCSD Pascal). It was ported to the Acorn Archimedes in 1991. A V3
interpreter (in TLA assembler) was written the same year. In 1992, full V4 and
partial V5 support were implemented in the debugger, and it was p2c-ported to
C. The latest version (0.6o, 21 Oct 1993) has full V5 and partial V6 support.

e) ZIP (1991-1994)

For a long time the reference interpreter. Developed by Mark A. Howell starting
in late 1991. The first public release (1.0, Oct 1992) supported V3 and V4, the
second (2.0, Mar 1993) also V5. No longer maintained, though some ports (XZIP,
Zip2000, JZIP, ZipInfinity, MaxZIP) still are.

f) Zterp (1992)

Written by Charles M. Hannum, this interpreter (V3-5) has never really caught
on. It was the first to abandon Infocom's virtual memory management system. The
only version (0.3alpha) was posted to alt.sources on 22 Feb 1993.

g) Frotz (1995-2002)

Replaced ZIP as reference interpreter and was the first interpreter to fully
implement Graham Nelson's Z-machine specification. Supports V1-8; the author is
Stefan Jokisch. First released in Dec 1995. After 1997 maintained by Jim
Dunleavy and David Griffith. Final release was version 2.43.

h) ZPlet (1996-1999)

Z-machine interpreter implemented as a Java applet; supports V3-5 and V8.
Written by Matthew T. Russotto. Latest version is 1.0 (Jan 1999).

i) rezrov (1998/99)

A Z-machine interpreter written in perl which supports V3-5 and V8 and has lots
of nifty cheat commands. Developed by Michael Edmonson.

j) malyon (1999-2000)

Interpreter implemented in elisp for the emacs editor. Written by Peter Ilberg.
Supports V3, V5 and V8.

k) Nitfol (1999)

Could have become the new reference interpreter but never left beta stage.
Supports V1-8, implements stricter error checking, auto-mapping and other
interesting features. Written by Evin Robertson. Last version was 0.5.

XI.3 Compilers & Assemblers
----------------------------

a) ZILCH/ZAP (1979-1989)

Infocom's in-house compiler/assembler. Ran on their DECsystem-20 mainframes
under TOPS-20. Now believed to be lost.

b) Inform (1993-today)

A compiler for Z-code compatible datafiles (first released in April 1993),
written by Graham Nelson. Being freeware it has become one of the most widely
used (and discussed) text adventure design tools. Inform gets periodically
updated (the current version, Inform 7, includes a graphical IDE and was
released in 2006) and comes with extensive documentation.

c) zasm (1998)

Z-machine assembler, implemented in perl. Written by Matt Kimball. No longer
maintained.

XI.4 Decompilers & Disassemblers
---------------------------------

a) vocab/zorkword (1991/92)

The first portable vocabulary dumper for Infocom games, written by Mike
Threepoint and posted to rec.games.misc in early 1991 (rec.arts.int-fiction and
rec.games.int-fiction did not exist before late summer 1991 and 1992,
respectively). Its comments were the best source of information on Z-code's
internal data structures until Graham Nelson's Z-machine specification came
along in 1993. Made obsolete by Mark Howell's infodump. Final version was
10/970824.

b) Ztools (1991-1998)

Infocom toolkit by Mark Howell. The most useful tools are 'txd' (a Z-code
disassembler) and 'infodump' (a datafile dumper). The Ztools were first
released in September 1992, but 'txd' dates back to April 1991 (V3 only, V4
support implemented January 1992, V5 in July 1992). Since May 1994 'txd'
supports all Z-code versions used by Infocom (V1-6). Last maintainer was
Matthew T. Russotto, last version was 7.31.

c) Reform (2004)

Following several other stabs at writing a useable Z-code decompiler
('Disinformation/Uninform' by Jeremy A. Smith, 2001; 'Pram' by Paul Janssens,
2002/03; 'ztool' by Allen Garvin, 2004), Ben Rudiak-Gould wrote this decompiler
in 2004. It is currently the best.

------- *** -------

Infocom Fact Sheet - Release History
------------------------------------
v4.95 Jun 22, 2007
v4.90 Jun 22, 2001 (circulated internally)
v4.8 Sep 1, 1995
v4.7 Jul 1, 1995
v4.6 Aug 11, 1994
v4.5 Sep 17, 1993
v4.4 May 17, 1993
v4.3 Apr 19, 1993
v4.2 Jan 3, 1993
v4.1 Nov 30, 1992
v4.0 Nov 25, 1992
v3.2 Oct 23, 1992
v3.1 Oct 12, 1992
v3.0 Sep 28, 1992
v2.7 Sep 20, 1992
v2.6 Jul 27, 1992
v2.5 Jul 17, 1992
v2.4 Apr 17, 1992
v2.3 Mar 11, 1992
v2.2 Mar 2, 1992
v2.1 Feb 25, 1992
v2.0 Feb 23, 1992
V1.0 November, 1991