Infocom Fact Sheet

------------------ 4.8 - September 3, 1995
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 David Beazley, Graeme Cree, Evan Day, Mark Howell, Tony
Hutchins, George Janczuk, Stefan Jokisch, Mark Knibbs, Mathias Maul, and
Stephen Tjasink. The most recent release is always available as
ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/infocom/info/fact-sheet.txt

List of contents:

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

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 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.

The following System Codes have been used:
AC1 Apricot
AP1 Apple II
AP2 Apple Macintosh
?? Apple IIgs
AT1 Atari 800/XL/XE
AT2 Atari ST
CO1 Commodore 64 (1541)
CO4 Commodore Amiga
CO5 Commodore 128 ONLY
CP1 CP/M
DE1 PDP-11 (RT-11)
DE2 DEC Rainbow (under CP/M)
EP1 Epson QX-10
IB1 IBM & 100% Compatibles
IB2 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

Other supported platforms: Commodore Plus/4 (no system code), Amstrad
CPC/PCW (system code: UQD [or similar]).

Not all games were available on every platform; e.g. the four graphics
(V6) games were only available for Macintosh, Amiga, Apple IIgs 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:
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)
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)
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) -- 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 (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
ID2 - 84 The Four-In-One Infocom Sampler
(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 Four-In-One Infocom Sampler
(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 finally published in the
British "Zzap! 64" #67, Nov. 1990)

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

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

InfoComics
SL1 - 88 Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen (Steve Meretzky)
SG1 - 88 Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams (Amy Briggs)
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/Marc Blank/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 Ass.)

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

224 - 89 Mines of Titan (Westwood Ass.) -- originally published by
Electronic Arts as "The Mars Saga"
225 - 90 Circuit's Edge (Westwood Ass.)
--- - 91 BattleTech [2]: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Westwood Ass.)
--- - 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) --
US distribution under the Infocom label
--- - 95 Planetfall: The Search for Floyd (Steve Meretzky/Richard
Manning/Hans Beimler)
--- - 96 Zork: Nemesis (Eddie Dombrower)

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

All sizes (width x height x depth) are given in mm.

II.1 Extremely Old Packaging
----------------------------

The Personal Software version of "Zork I" was simply called "Zork". It came
in a 226x320x5 plastic zip-lock bag containing the disk and a 36-page
booklet.

II.2 Very Old Packaging
-----------------------

The Infocom version of "Zork", before it was renamed "Zork I". No more
details available.

II.3 Old "Folio" Packagings (first twelve games)
---------------------------

Zork I-III blister pack [i.e. card with plastic tray]
158x249 for 5.25" disks, 238x256 for 8" disks
[nothing except piece of paper with instructions]

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.4 Standard Box Format
------------------------

For all games released from Summer 1984 onwards, and for the re-releases of
the old games, a consistent 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 package elements.

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

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. blue balloon (sometimes also in orange or black!)
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.5 New Standard Box Format
----------------------------

It had the same size as the old (booklike) standard box but was a slipcase
containing a cardboard tray. All package 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.6 The Last Two Games
-----------------------
..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.7 Commodore Packagings
-------------------------

The Commodore 64 versions of 6 (maybe 8) games -- Zork I, Zork II, Zork
III, Deadline, Starcross and Suspended (and maybe Cutthroats and Suspect,
too) -- were exclusively distributed by CBM from 1983 to 1985. They came
in the usual blue-and-grey Commodore packaging without most of Infocom's
packaging elements.

II.8 Solid Gold Packagings
--------------------------

The five Solid Gold releases in 1987/88 came in thin folders (229x189x6)
containing disks and a technical manual. In addition, Wishbringer had the
postal map, and LGOP included the Scratch N Sniff card and a non 3-D
reproduction of the comic (plus the catacombs map inside the technical
manual). [In Wishbringer and Planetfall, other parts of the documentation
were incorporated into the actual game.]

II.9 Other Games
----------------

Four-In-One Samplers
[161x252 blister packs, no additional packaging elements]

Fooblitzky
[298x223x36 box]
1. booklet "Official Ordinances Rules and Regulations for the City of
Fooblitzky"
2. booklet "How to Play Fooblitzky. The Bare Essentials"
3. four felt-tip pens (blue, green, yellow, red)
4. four 279x216x2 workboards (folded once)

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
3. Crescent Hawk's lapel pin (only included with first release!)
[The instruction manual was printed in green ink on glossy paper in early
releases and later in black ink on cheap paper.]

II.10 Business Products
-----------------------

Cornerstone
[no packaging info yet]

II.11 Product Brochures
-----------------------

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

1983: "Our Worlds, and Welcome to Them"
1983: "Infocom Games and Accessories"
1983: "Our Circuits Ourselves!"
1984/85: "The Incomplete Works Of Infocom, Inc."
1985: "You are about to see the fantastic worlds of Infocom unfold before
your very eyes"
1986: "Passport to the United Products of Infocom"
1986: "Infocom Transports You to Six New Worlds in 1986"
1987: "The Master Storytellers"
1988: "Infocom's New Graphics will blow you out of the water..."

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":

PUBL ISBN
Zork: The Forces of Krill 8/83 0-8125-7975-5
Zork: The Malifestro Quest ?/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).

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 ? 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 ? 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 Data Files
=============

V.1 Story Data Files
--------------------

a) Legend

Name : Game title. "Solid Gold" releases (which have the same Product
Codes as normal ones) are marked "SG".

? : Versions marked with an "*" are the ones I have only heard of
but never actually seen.

V.A : Version number (a.k.a. "Release") and assembly date (a.k.a.
"Serial number"). Typing VERSION in a game usually gives you
this information.

Z-C : The Z-code version (1...6) of the data file. An "s" marks a data
file 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

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

b) Versions

Name ? V.A Z-C Length
----------------------------------------------------
A Mind Forever Voyaging 77.850814 4 262016
79.851122 4 262036

Arthur 54.890606 6 270848 (Amiga/Mac)
* 63.890622 6 ? (Apple II)
74.890714 6 269200 (IBM)

Ballyhoo 97.851218 3 128556

Beyond Zork 47.870915 5 261952 1)
49.870917 5 261900
51.870923 5 261548
57.871221 5 261388

Border Zone 9.871008 5 178372

Bureaucracy 86.870212 4 243144
116.870602 4 243340

Cutthroats 23.840809 3 112558

Deadline 18.820311 3 [111342] CHK: $39d5
19.820427 3 [111420] CHK: $780e
21.820512 3 [111706] CHK: $bf83
* 22. ? 3 111782
26.821108 3 108372
27.831005 3 108454

Enchanter 10.830810 3 109126
15.831107 3 109230
16.831118 3 109234
24.851118 3 108638
29.860820 3 111126

Four-In-One Sampler I 26.840731 3 112610
53.850407 3 126708
55.850823 3 126902

Four-In-One Sampler II 97.870601 3 125314

HHGG 47.840914 3 112622
56.841221 3 113444
58.851002 3 113332
59.851108 3 113334

HHGG SG 31.871119 5 158412

Hollywood Hijinx 37.861215 3 109650

Infidel 22.830916 3 93556

Journey 26.890316 6 279872 (Mac)
30.890322 6 280472 (Amiga)
* 77.890616 6 ? (Apple II)
83.890706 6 282312 (IBM)

LGOP * 118.860325 3 129012 (beta)
* ?. ? 3 128998
* 50.860711 3 128988
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
221.870918 3s 129944

Mini-Zork I 34.871124 3 52216

Moonmist 4.860918 3 129002
9.861022 3 128866

Nord and Bert 19.870722 4 170284

Planetfall 20.830708 3 107958
29.840118 3 109052
37.851003 3 109398

Planetfall SG 10.880531 5 136560

Plundered Hearts 26.870730 3 128962

Seastalker 86.840320 3 116456 (beta)
15.840501 3 117738
15.840522 3 117728
16.850515 3 117752
16.850603 3 117762

Sherlock 21.871214 5 188444
26.880127 5s 190180

Shogun 292.890314 6 341416 (Mac)
295.890321 6 341912 (Amiga)
* 311.890510 6 344224 (Apple II)
322.890706 6 344816 (IBM)

Sorcerer * 67.000000 3 107096 (beta)
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
* ?. ? 3 84740

Stationfall 107.870430 3 128934

Suspect 14.841005 3 118692

Suspended 5.830222 3 105418
7.830419 3 105500
8.830521 3 105492
8.840521 3 105584

Trinity 11.860509 4 262016
12.860926 4 262064

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

Zork I 5. 1 [82836] CHK: $a8a4
15.UG3AU5 2 [78566] CHK: $e987
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

Zork I SG 52.871125 5 105264

Zork Demo ?. ? ? ?

Zork I German 3.880113 5 116216 (beta)

Zork II 7.UG3AU5 2 [85260] CHK: $6fb6
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
* ?. ? 3 89136
48.840904 3 89912
* ?.841220 3 ?

Zork III 10.820818 3 82334
15.830331 3 82558
16.830410 3 81626 2)
15.840518 3 82642
17.840727 3 82714

Zork Zero 296.881019 6 295536 (Mac)
366.890323 6 296376 (Amiga)
* 383.890602 6 ? (Apple II)
393.890714 6 299968 (IBM)

c) Footnotes

1) The IBM version appears longer because the character definitions (used
for the runes) are simply appended to the data file. On other platforms
(e.g. Amiga and Atari ST), the definitions are in a separate font file.

2) Might be a beta test version.

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 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 graphic 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
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 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". ("Fooblitzky" had a title screen too.)

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

The Amiga and Macintosh versions of "The Lurking Horror" and "Sherlock"
came with sampled sounds. "The Lurking Horror" had 14 sounds, "Sherlock"
15.

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

It seems that the only game that needed special character definitions was
"Beyond Zork". 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 data
file.

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 88 110 697 60 6798
Zork II 48 86 684 50 6804
Deadline 27 51 656 37 6977
Zork III 17 89 564 23 5952
Starcross 17 86 557 25 6566
Suspended 8 63 676 33 6902
The Witness 22 30 715 22 8945
Planetfall 37 105 669 45 7879
Enchanter 29 74 723 33 8070
Infidel 22 77 613 57 7386
Sorcerer 18 84 1013 36 8963
Seastalker 16 30 911 15 14460
Cutthroats 23 68 790 21 12600
HHGG 59 31 971 45 10723
Suspect 14 57 674 43 10737
Wishbringer 69 52 1043 35 16223
AMFV 79 178 1812 30 18696
Spellbreaker 87 79 850 60 12472
Ballyhoo 97 36 962 42 15132
Trinity 12 134 2120 49 31389
LGOP 59 75 978 41 13763
Moonmist 9 69 955 26 15900
Hollywood Hijinx 37 67 854 58 10355
Bureaucracy 116 50 1416 44 24116
Stationfall 107 105 789 53 10662
Lurking Horror 221 71 773 44 12398
Nord and Bert 19 41 1230 69 13831
Plundered Hearts 26 57 816 28 13859
Beyond Zork 57 128 1569 77 32778
Border Zone 9 111 803 42 11273
Sherlock 26 92 1194 67 19702
Zork Zero 393 215 1624 106 23587
Shogun 322 75 1389 63 28346
Journey 83 - 27 - 16187
Arthur 74 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. The number
of takeable objects can sometimes 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
=================

These are all the games written by the 10 best known Infocom implementors
(plus Elizabeth Langosy). A "#" after a year means that the game has not
been finished or never been released.

"Hollywood" Dave Anderson
-------------------------
Hollywood Hijinx <+ L.Cyr-Jones> 86 (Infocom)

Bob Bates
---------
Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels 86/7 (Infocom/Challenge)
Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur 89 (Infocom/Challenge)
The Abyss 89# (Infocom/Challenge)
[Untitled Robin Hood game] 89# (Infocom)
Timequest 91 (Legend)
Eric the Unready 93 (Legend)
The Great Game <+ W.Colby/J.Adams> 95 (Activision)
[Educational game for US government] 95 (??)

Michael Berlyn
--------------
Oo-Topos <+ Muffy Berlyn> 81 (Sentient)
Cyborg ~82 (Sentient)
Gold Rush ? (Sentient)
Suspended 83 (Infocom)
Infidel <+ P.Fogleman> 83 (Infocom)
Cutthroats <+ J.Wolper> 84 (Infocom)
Fooblitzky <+ M.S.Blank et al.> 85/6 (Infocom)
Tass Times In Tonetown <+ Muffy Berlyn> 86 (Interplay)
Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I. 87 (First Row)
Altered Destiny 90 (Accolade)
Bubsy, in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
<+ J.Skeel> 93 (Accolade)
Live Action Football <+ M.S.Blank> 95 (Accolade)

Marc S. Blank
-------------
Zork <+ P.D.Lebling/T.A.Anderson/B.K.Daniels> 77-9 (MIT)
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire <+ P.D.Lebling> 80 (Infocom)
Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz <+ P.D.Lebling> 81 (Infocom)
Zork III: The Dungeon Master <+ P.D.Lebling> 81 (Infocom)
Deadline 82 (Infocom)
Enchanter <+ P.D.Lebling> 83 (Infocom)
The Four-In-One Infocom Sampler 84 (Infocom)
Fooblitzky <+ M.Berlyn et al.> 85/6 (Infocom)
Border Zone 87 (Infocom)
Journey 88 (Infocom)
Live Action Football <+ M.Berlyn> 95 (Accolade)

Amy Briggs
----------
Plundered Hearts 87 (Infocom)
Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams 88 (Infocom/TSP)
Quarterstaff <+ S.Schmitz/K.Updike> 88 (Infocom)
[Untitled Vampire game] 89# (Infocom)

Stuart W. Galley
----------------
The Witness 83 (Infocom)
Seastalker: [Your Name] and the Ultramarine Bioceptor
<+ J.Lawrence> 84 (Infocom)
Midnight Rider/Escape from Boston 85# (Infocom)
Moonmist <+ J.Lawrence> 86 (Infocom)
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe 87# (Infocom)

Elizabeth Langosy
-----------------
ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle 88 (Infocom/TSP)
ZorkQuest II: The Crystal of Doom 88 (Infocom/TSP)
[Untitled "adult" InfoComic] 89# (Infocom/TSP)

P. David Lebling
----------------
Zork <+ M.S.Blank/T.A.Anderson/B.K.Daniels> 77-9 (MIT)
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire <+ M.S.Blank> 80 (Infocom)
Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz <+ M.S.Blank> 81 (Infocom)
Zork III: The Dungeon Master <+ M.S.Blank> 81 (Infocom)
Starcross 82 (Infocom)
Enchanter <+ M.S.Blank> 83 (Infocom)
Suspect 84 (Infocom)
Spellbreaker 85 (Infocom)
The Lurking Horror 87 (Infocom)
James Clavell's Shogun 88 (Infocom)

Steven Eric Meretzky
--------------------
Planetfall 83 (Infocom)
Sorcerer 84 (Infocom)
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy <+ D.N.Adams> 84 (Infocom)
A Mind Forever Voyaging 85 (Infocom)
Leather Goddesses Of Phobos 86 (Infocom)
Stationfall 87 (Infocom)
Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen 88 (Infocom/TSP)
Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz 88 (Infocom)
[Untitled Titanic game] 89# (Infocom)
Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls 90 (Legend)
Spellcasting 201: The Sorcerer's Appliance 91 (Legend)
Leather Goddesses Of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the
Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X 92 ("Infocom")
Spellcasting 301: Spring Break 92 (Legend)
Superhero League of Hoboken 94 (Legend)
Hodj 'n' Podj 95 (Boffo)
Planetfall: The Search for Floyd
<+ R.Manning/H.Beimler> 95 ("Infocom")

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 ~83 (Analog #11)
Crash Dive! ~83 (Analog #18)
Trinity 84-6 (Infocom)
Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams 85 (Infocom)
Beyond Zork: The Coconut of Quendor 87 (Infocom)
[Untitled MacII SciFi RPG] 88# (Infocom)
Loom 88-90 (Lucasfilm)
The Dig <+ S.Spielberg> 93-5 (LucasArts)
Loadstar 95? (Rocket Science)

Jeff O'Neill
------------
Ballyhoo 85 (Infocom)
Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of it 87 (Infocom)
Zork I (German Version) 88# (Infocom)
[Leather Goddesses of Phobos sequel] 88# (Infocom)

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 �9.99 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.

Address of publisher: Virgin Mastertronic Ltd.
16 Portland Road
London W11 2LA
Tel. 071-727-8070

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.

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.

Due to Activision's financial situation, the package had to be 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) ->

Address of publisher: Activision (until Jan 92: Mediagenic)
P.O. Box 3048
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel. (415) 329-0800

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)
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)
Sherlock 21.871214 (5J) 26.880127 (5C)
Trinity 12.860926 (4E) -> (4H)
Wishbringer 69.850920 (3M2) 68.850501 (3G)
Arthur (CD) 74.890714 (6.71) 54.890606
Journey (CD) 83.890706 (6.68) 26.890316
Shogun (CD) 322.890706 (6.68) 292.890314

Address of publisher: Activision/Infocom
P.O. Box 67001
Los Angeles, CA 90067

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.]

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

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

Many game titles we know have been chosen by the marketing department. The
in-house beta versions were called differently.

AMFV PRISM
Border Zone Spy
Deadline Was It Murder?
Enchanter Zork IV
Hollywood Hijinx Aunt Hildegarde's Secret
Infidel Pyramid
Planetfall Sole Survivor
Spellbreaker Mage
Starcross A Gift From Space
Suspended Suspension
The Witness Invitation to Murder/Witness

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 bought for development.

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 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 became 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.
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".
"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 "Zork I" (Apple
II, Macintosh, C64, IBM).

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

Mar 88: "Lane Mastodon".
"Gamma Force".
Sound version of "Sherlock" (Macintosh, Amiga, maybe Atari ST and
Apple IIgs too).
Chris Reeve leaves.

Apr 88: "ZorkQuest I".

Jun 88: Employees: 30.

Jul 88: Solid Gold "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" and "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 & Tools
========================

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 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 Public Domain Interpreters
-------------------------------

These Z-code interpreters are freely available, as PD or at least as
freeware. Source code and executables for most of them resides in the IF
archive (ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/infocom/interpreters/).

a) InfoTaskForce/ITF (1987-92)

Written by the InfoTaskForce, i.e. David Beazley <[email protected]>,
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 (1988-90)

The first publically available portable Z-code interpreter. Written by
Matthias Pfaller <[email protected]>. 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 supported.

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 <[email protected]>. Many bug fixes and
enhancements were made but V4/5 support was still lacking. The announcement
of pinfocom prompted the ITF to release their code officially. Final
version (3.0) released in October 1992.

d) ZIPdebug (1991-93)

This interpreter/debugger by Frank Lancaster <[email protected]> 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 was 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 (1991-94)

Currently the most popular interpreter. Developed by Mark A. Howell
<[email protected]> starting in late 1991. The first public
release (1.0, Oct 1992) supported V3 and V4, the second (2.0, Mar 1993)
also V5. V6 support is planned. Since August 1995 ZIP is maintained by
David Rose <[email protected],[email protected]>.

f) Zterp (1992)

Written by Charles M. Hannum <[email protected]>, this interpreter
(V3-5) has unfortunately never really caught on. It is the fastest one
and also the first to abandon Infocom's now unnecessary virtual memory
system. The only version (0.3alpha) was posted to alt.sources on 22 Feb
1993.

g) Frotz (1995)

A new interpreter currently in the works. It will support V1-6; the author
is Stefan Jokisch <[email protected]>.

XI.3 Tools
----------

a) vocab/zorkword (1991-92)

The first portable vocabulary dumper for Infocom games, written by Mike
Threepoint <[email protected]> and posted to rec.games.misc in early
1991 (rec.arts.int-fiction and rec.games.int-fiction weren't available
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: 9/920920.

b) Ztools (1991-95)

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 (V1-6). Current maintainer (as of August 1995)
is Stefan Jokisch.

c) Inform (1993-95)

A compiler for Z-code compatible datafiles (first released in April 1993),
written by Graham Nelson <[email protected]>. Being freeware it has
become one of the most widely used (and discussed) text adventure design
tools. Inform gets updated rather frequently and comes with extensive
documentation. A debugger called Infix (based on Mark Howell's ZIP) is
being developed by Dilip Sequeira <[email protected]>.

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