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

by Jeffery
12 replies
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Do you recognize one of the most famous lines from Zork - "It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."

If you do then you are older than dirt, lol.

A brief history of Zork.





Zork was the first PC game I played and man was I addicted to it. The game was originally created by some MIT students between 1977 and 1979. It was 1981 when I was introduced to it when I was with MIT.

We were assigned to a remote location that housed one of the largest mainframe computers in the world and that world consisted of some of the brightest MIT graduates. The "MITz" as we called them were experts in everything computers and they all had one thing in common > Zork.

Want to give it try? Just Google "Zork Online" and you can play it in your browser.
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  • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
    I rather watch Mork from Ork
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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    Anywan else picked up a spork by the wrong end an' wondahed where the othah matchin' EZ-4-U chopstick was?

    "Pluck soup from a bowl like bees suck nectar with their antennae."

    tbh this Zork sounds like the natchril slimmin' aid for gals most evryplace got overly quiverin' deliverin'.

    "Thanks to this amazing vibrating fork, calorie control transforms from unachievable desire to fitness exercise as you chase every last morsel of food about your dinner plate with guaranteed limited success!"

    You'll See WHOLE POTATOES Leap From Your Grasp

    Every crazy vibrating Zork we sell sets you free to discover fat-busting hunger like you've never seen.

    The Zork's incredible buzz for your personal fitness DISPERSES up to 24oz of SPAGHETTI almost instantly!

    Turns pizza to UNPALATABLE MUSH!

    Use instead of fingers for stuff like nuts, pretzels, biscuits -- and see your future stomach blitzed to DUST.
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    Lightin' fuses is for blowin' stuff togethah.

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  • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
    Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

    Do you recognize one of the most famous lines from Zork - "It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."

    If you do then you are older than dirt, lol.

    Zork was the first PC game I played and man was I addicted to it. The game was originally created by some MIT students between 1977 and 1979. It was 1981 when I was introduced to it when I was with MIT.

    We were assigned to a remote location that housed one of the largest mainframe computers in the world and that world consisted of some of the brightest MIT graduates. The "MITz" as we called them were experts in everything computers and they all had one thing in common > Zork.

    Want to give it try? Just Google "Zork Online" and you can play it in your browser.
    No l was more of a TRS-80, Snake and Luner Lander kind of guy.

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    Archimedes Forum, Sign up l won't bite
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  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    Never played it. In this category, the oldest I've tried was "A mind forever voyaging", which was also an Infocom game.

    Of this genre, I mostly remember the the unpleasant task of "guess the verb" which made the game interactive, just not in the right way.

    ("Will 'attack' work? Nope. How about 'strangle'. Nope. OK. How about 'kick'. ooooh. so the right answer was 'subjugate' ").

    If you want to be amazed by how far technology has come, play this: https://play.aidungeon.io

    Essentially you write a prompt (e.g. "Swing a sword at knight"), and the game uses AI to come up with the next few lines ("The knight parries and lunges toward you.") and it goes on until you either finish the quest or die (sometime the game is very adamant that you should die, just spamming "Cut off opponent's head and win" does not always work).Very little is hard coded.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
    If you want to be amazed by how far technology has come, play this: https://play.aidungeon.io

    Essentially you write a prompt (e.g. "Swing a sword at knight"), and the game uses AI to come up with the next few lines ("The knight parries and lunges toward you.") and it goes on until you either finish the quest or die (sometime the game is very adamant that you should die, just spamming "Cut off opponent's head and win" does not always work).Very little is hard coded.
    Interesting, I'll have a look, thanks.
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    In the minute it took me to write this post.. someone died of Covid 19. RIP.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
    Originally Posted by socialentry View Post

    If you want to be amazed by how far technology has come, play this: https://play.aidungeon.io

    Essentially you write a prompt (e.g. "Swing a sword at knight"), and the game uses AI to come up with the next few lines ("The knight parries and lunges toward you.") and it goes on until you either finish the quest or die (sometime the game is very adamant that you should die, just spamming "Cut off opponent's head and win" does not always work).Very little is hard coded.
    Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

    Interesting, I'll have a look, thanks.
    That is too addicting. I love it
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    In the minute it took me to write this post.. someone died of Covid 19. RIP.
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  • Profile picture of the author tagiscom
    I always thought that "The Secret to Monkey Island", was the epitome to early computer game adventures?


    Certainly reminds me of that terrible lazerdisk stand up coin-opp l tried to play once, (l think it was called Gauntlet).
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    Archimedes Forum, Sign up l won't bite
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