Guess What?
Another Infocom Bugs Update

Enchanter

• If the turtle dies from walking into a dark space, his death is reported as though it were yours, like so:
  

       >TURTLE, GO NORTH
       The rainbow turtle, ever the good friend, leaves you. Oh, no! 
       Something slithered alongside you and feasted on your person! 
        *** The rainbow turtle has died *** 

Planetfall

• This occurs in versions 10, 15, and 16, as well as the mysterious first release. In Version 20, the game does not know the word microbe!
  
  Thus when the microbe drops in front of you on the relay strip, the command SHOOT MICROBE will not work. I managed to make do with SHOOT MONSTER. I'm not sure what other words will work.

Zork I

• In all versions after Version 5, if you try to use a compass direction while in the boat, the game will tell you that you can't go that way in a magic boat. In Version 5, it wi ll tell you that you can't go that way in a tan label.
• In all versions after Version 5, when you reach the portion of the river where the buoy is, the description will tell you that the buoy is "(outside the magic boat)". Version 5, tells you that the buoy is "(in the room)"!
• If you try to GET OUT OF THE BOAT while floating down the river, all versions of the game tell you that you realize "just in time" that such a course would be suicidal. In all Versions after Version 5, the game prevents you from leaving the boat. In Version 5, it lets you leave and kills you, despite having told you that you had realized not to do it.
• Here's a minor glitch that appears in all versions except the Solid Gold. Go to the temple, and enter the following commands. SOUTH, BLOW OUT CANDLES, NORTH, SOUTH. The description will say "On the two ends of the altar are burning candles.", when in fact they are no longer burning.

Zork II

• The presence of the nicked swords in the Trophy Room is responsible for a minor bug, if the Wizard steals your sword via a Filch spell, and you try to filch it back (after acquiring his wand). The command FILCH SWORD will generate the response "WHICH SWORD DO YOU MEAN, THE SWORD OR THE NICKED SWORD?" Replying THE SWORD will start the process over again. Fortunately this problem can be gotten around if you have the sense to type THE ELVEN SWORD.

Zork III

• If you try to TAKE PEDESTAL in the Jewel Room, you always get the response "YOU CAN'T REACH IT THROUGH THE CAGE," even if the cage is not present (i.e. you travelled back to a time before it was installed.)
• In Zork III, when you reach the Zork I area, go east and south. It will say:
  

       You have come to a dead end in the mine. 
       There is a small pile of coal here.

  
  However, the coal is not really there and cannot be interacted with. In fact the game doesn't even know the word "coal." This bug is present in all versions, but is very hard to find because of the difficulty in staying in the Zork I area long enough.
• In Zork III, if you use the bug in Version 10 that allows you to leave the endgame area with the Dungeon Master, and go to the Zork I area with him, you may occasionally (but not always) be able to produce the following exchange:
  

       >DUNGEON MASTER, GO EAST
       "I prefer to stay where I am, thank you."
       You suddenly find yourself back in the viewing room!
       The dungeon master leaves the room.
  

  
  The Dungeon Master leaves the room after refusing to do so. Also, not only are you not really back in the viewing room, you and the DM will be stuck in the Zork I area permanently.

Go to the next page in this issue

Flip back to the previous page

Go to the XYZZYnews home page