Yeah, isn't that strange? It's rare to come across a company that delivers internationally, but skips the U.S.! I guess I'd be out of luck as well. (Although a lot of people think New Mexico is a different country...)

Wow...how cool and oddly disturbing at the same time!

If memory serves, that's one point in the game that represents a major failing on Infocom's part, regarding a lot of later software: the bright idea that if they made the packaging materials essential to beating each game, they'd stop losing profits to pirates. People illegally copied the games anyw...

Agreed. It's highly incongruous and un-atmospheric in a film about adventure games, cave exploration, interactive prose for people who love to read, etc. So it goes beyond being just a matter of personal taste, when we're talking about context. Good for you, keeping your little one away from that un...

It seems that the folks here wouldn't have a problem giving you extremely subtle hints if you get stuck, which would be more fun for you (accomplishment-wise, certainly) than the direct answers found in walkthroughs, etc.! Thanks for the words about the other games, S.S.! You make Beyond Zork sound ...

Thanks for the observations! How interesting. You make me curious to try some of those games.

Thanks also for the links. I'm looking forward to checking this stuff out...I've never even heard of the Exiles games!

Thank you; I'm really glad that you enjoyed reading it. That's a great observation about the third game's Land of Shadow -- I'm certain you're right about that being the first strong hint to the new player that someone's "testing" the main character for some final trial. I haven't played B...

Thanks! I've been reading and reading and reading. This is a terrific forum/storehouse/treasure room. I feel conceited posting Amazon links, so I'll just describe them as books that attempt what could be called "bizarre humor." The last two (the only ones I still like...ain't that always t...

Wow; thank you. I'm glad you find it enjoyable rather than ludicrously verbose. :) It's just fun to write about this stuff, y'know? I've only ever played the first three original games, plus the Enchanter trilogy. Wait, one exception: I got about halfway through Zork Zero. I thought it was reasonabl...

Part 4/4 All three games contain one huge machine apiece, and although the adventurer's manipulation of each leads to the possession of a vital treasure, the machines' functions become more involved as the trilogy progresses. The contraption in the first game's Machine Room is exclusive only to that...

Part 3/4 Ironically, Zork I's starting location, outdoors and west of the house, lies directly above the Strange Passage, a spot in the dungeon that many players will never come across (its discovery involves an alternate solution to getting past the Cyclops that's nearly impossible to discern witho...

Part 2/4 Since those natural locations, comprising the outdoor segments of the trilogy, only appear in the first game, the player's advancement feels progressively deeper into the earth. Zork I also features a view of the mountains roofing the sequels' locations (and one can easily imagine the volca...

I was going to post this under "Zork Files & Information," as it isn't really a collection of game hints or software-related advice; it would perhaps be unwelcome in the "Help" forum. But because I find that not just any ol' new member can post there, I'll stick it here in ca...

Thanks very much! I appreciate the info. I'll drool over the contents of the library itself before ascertaining if I can actually add anything useful rather than extraneous.

What a terrific forum. I've just come across this website for the first time. I'm a very long-time Infocom fanatic, and I've written Inform 6 and 7 games, and published some books, and stopping this sentence now, because it's more ego-like than its writer actually is, and appears to be enough by way...