The Warring States of NPF - It is very dark in this thread. You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.

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- - It is very dark in this thread. You are likely to be eaten by a Grue. (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=40251)

It is very dark in this thread. You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.

In a fit of boredom/madness, I figured I'd try a game I haven't before. But not just that. Oh no. I decided to go back to where the adventure game genre started. Where the text adventure game genre started. Welcome...

...To Zork.

Code:

West of House

You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.

There is a small mailbox here.

Zork was originally released in 1977 by Activision and four outstanding coders. Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling. Little bit of trivia, Zork was originally slang for an unfinished program, and with how games have progressed today, it can still feel like one. Simple commands will work, like these.

Code:

>Open mailbox

Opening the mailbox reveals a leaflet



>Take leaflet

Taken



>Read leaflet

"WELCOME TO ZORK!

ZORK is a game of adventure, dange, and low cunning.  In it you will explore some of the most amazing territory ever seen by mortals.  No computer should ever be without one!"



>Put leaflet in mailbox

Done



>Close mailbox

Closed

Well that saves me the trouble of explaining what might be happening later on in the game. Now, if I'm not mistaken, there was a boarded up house nearby.

Code:

>East

The door is boarded and you can't remove the boards.

Bah. Maybe looking at the house?

Code:

>Look house

That sentence isn't one I recognize.

Okay, bad grammar aside, maybe now?...

Code:

>Look at house

The house is a beautiful colonial house which is painted white.  It is clear the the owners must have been extremely wealthy.

Hmm. Perhaps attacking it from another angle...

Code:

>North

You are facing the north side of a white house.  There is no door here, and all the windows are boarded up.  To the north a narrow path winds through the trees.



>East

You are behind the white house.  A path leads into the forest to the east.  In one corner of the house there is a small window which is slightly ajar.

Aha! Entry is mine!

Code:

>Force open window

That sentence isn't one I recognize

And thus we come face-to-face with our greatest nemesis, a very old parser. Keeping things short and sweet will enable us to get things done faster.

Code:

>Open window

With great effort, you open the window far enough to allow entry.



>Enter window

Kitchen

You are in the kitchen of the white house.  A table seems to have been used recently for the preparation of food.  A passage leads to the west and a dark staircase can be seen leading upward.  A dark chimney leads down and to the east is a small window which is open.

On the table is an elongated brown sack, smelling of hot peppers.

A bottle is sitting on the table.

The glass bottle contains:

  A quantity of water

Well, a passage = exploration, let's do that.

Code:

>West

Living Room

You are in the living room.  There is a doorway to the east, a wooden door with strange gothic lettering to the west, which appears to be nailed shut, a trophy case, and a large oriental rug in the center of the room.

Above the trophy case hangs and elvish sword of great antiquity.

A battery-powered brass lantern is on the trophy case.

Well already this is shaping up to be a nice journey for me. But what was up those stairs in the kitchen?...

Code:

>East

Kitchen



>Up

Attic

You have moved into a dark place.

It is pitch black.  You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

A wha? Tell me more, game.

Code:

>What is Grue

The Grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth.  It's favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light.  No Grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale.

Poppycock. It's like the boogeyman. It doesn't exist. Now let's start feeling around for some fine lootable items.

Code:

>North

Oh, no!  You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!



   ****  You have died  ****

Okay, maybe NOT so much of a myth. Fortunately, when this happens, I can just go...

Code:

>Restore

Ok.

And pretend it never happened. Now you see what Zork is all about. Finding treasure for the trophy case, dying while finding treasure for the trophy case, and one man's struggle against a very old parser.

Now you may be wondering what that 'we' and 'us' talk was earlier on. Simple. This is a Let's Play of Zork. Give me any command, be it in parser-talk or simple English, and I will make it happen. This means we will likely be dying a lot. However, this also means I will be saving a lot. Especially when stupid things are requested. Currently, we are in the...

Code:

>Living Room

So get to suggesting. I really don't want to play this game alone. It's dark in here.

Go get eaten by a grue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krylo (Post 1134331)

Go get eaten by a grue.

Did that already.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thadius (Post 1134329)

Code:

>North

Oh, no!  You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!



   ****  You have died  ****

Build an anti-grue defense system. I suggest guns. Lots of guns. Taped to a chainsaw. With a lasersight on the chainsaw.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauve Mage (Post 1134335)

Build an anti-grue defense system. I suggest guns. Lots of guns. Taped to a chainsaw. With a lasersight on the chainsaw.

I can't do that, but I CAN take that lantern up on the trophy case. Grues hate light, and when I go in a dark area I can turn it on and be protected from their slavering fangs.

Code:

>Take lantern

Taken



>Look at lantern

The lamp is turned off

Also, the sword appears to be the only thing that remotely resembles a chainsaw, so I'll snag that too.

Code:

>Take sword

Taken

How much like a chainsaw, though?

Code:

>Look at sword

There's nothing special about the sword.

Apparently not much like one.

Go back and check out the rug. Might be a trapdoor under it, and you could always pawn it back in town otherwise.

EDIT: After that, grab the lantern, and then check out the big rune door. Use the sword to pry off the nails if need be.

Code:

>Look at rug

There's nothing special about the carpet.

As if! Okay, let's try taking it.

Code:

>Take carpet

The rug is extremely heavy and cannot be carried.

Damn. Maybe we can move it out the window in the kitchen. Let's try...

Code:

>Move carpet.

With a great effort, the rug is moved to one side of the room, revealing the dusty cover of a closed trap door.

Well that worked out. Let's examine this thing.

Code:

>Look at trap door

The trap door is closed

Not for long it ain't!

Code:

>Open trap door

The door reluctantly opens to reveal a rickety staircase descending into darkness.

I get the feeling that going down there will require the use of my lantern. Should I? Should I not?

EDIT: Took me a moment to make the parser behave, but...

Code:

>Look door

Which door do you mean, the wooden door or the trap door?



>Wooden

The engravings translate to "This space intentionally left blank."

Also, I threw every word the parser understood about doors and verbs at the wooden door, but no go. Looks like the only way in and out of the house is the window.

Attack the darkness.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flarecobra (Post 1134354)

Attack the darkness.

To the depths then!

Code:

>Down

You have moved into a dark place.

The trap door crashes shut, and you hear someone barring it.



It is pitch black.  You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

Your sword is glowing with a faint blue glow.

Well that bodes well. As a sidenote, I tried to fight the darkness, and this is as close as I got.

Code:

>Stab grue

I've known strange people, but fighting a lurking grue?

Time for more effective ways to attack the darkness. Like, say, with a lamp.

Code:

>Turn on lantern

The brass lantern is now on.



Cellar

You are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passageway leading north, and a crawlway to the south.  On the west is the bottom of a steep metal ramp which is unclimbable.