The treasures are described in intricate detail (I’ll post all of it in the comments), and this could’ve been the end of it, akin to being carried off by cheering elves in Adventure. To judge from its contents, it is the ultimate storehouse of the treasures of Zork. This is a room of large size, richly appointed and decorated in a style that bespeaks exquisite taste. After puzzling out the business with the dial comes the end: This seemed to be because the syntax felt like a special-case thing for earlier in the game and it wasn’t incorporated as part of my puzzle-solving reflexes. This is one of those odd cases where pre-Infocom syntax was my nemesis I admit it never occurred to me (even though the Master says he is yours to command) that I could even give him directions. The trick here is that you can direct the Master of the Dungeon just like a robot from earlier in the game, with TELL MASTER ‘DO ACTION’ as the syntax. The indicator points to the number ‘four’. On the face of the dial are numbers ‘one’ through ‘eight’. On it are an indicator arrow and (in the center) a large button. There is an object here which looks like a sundial. After the quiz the Dungeon Master starts to follow you, and there’s a room with another Myst-like setup: (If you know your Zork mythology, you can answer this even if you haven’t played the game. ‘In which room is ‘Hello, Sailor!’ useful?’ ‘What is the absolute minimum specified value of the Zorkmid treasures, in zorkmids?’ (Touching the mirror warps to the other mirror.) ‘What can be done to the mirror that is useful?’ It’s clear some of the questions are meant to test alternate solutions or methods of transport: I was warned about this one: you get to a door, knock, and the Master of the Dungeon comes and asks a trivia quiz about Zork. At a basic level this puzzle isn’t too difficult (the mirror is a vehicle you have to control) but just reading the words is brain-jumbling. …except Myst is really awkward and difficult described as text. This bottom end of the pole has a T-bar a bit less than two feet long attached to it, and on the T-bar is carved an arrow. The long pole at the center of the bar extends from the ceiling through the bar to the circular area in the stone channel. The pole has been dropped into a hole carved in the stone floor. The pole at the left end of the bar is short, extending about a foot above the bar, and ends in a hand grip. The second is at the left end of the room (as you face opposite the entrance). The first hole is in the center of the bar (and thus the center of the room). Running from one short wall to the other at about waist height is a wooden bar, carefully carved and drilled. Incised in the stone around this area is a compass rose. In the exact center of the room the channel widens into a circular depression perhaps two feet wide. The channel is oriented in a north-south direction. In the floor is a stone channel about six inches wide and a foot deep. The painted walls are at least twice the length of the unpainted ones. On the entrance side, the wall is white opposite the red part of the wall it faces, and yellow opposite the black section. The wall you face is red on its left half and black on its right. The left panel is mahogany, the right pine. Four sides and the roof are filled in, and the floor is open.Īs you face the side opposite the entrance, two short sides of carved and polished wood are to your left and right. You are inside a rectangular box of wood whose structure is rather complicated. Given how much Zork relies on objects, the style is rather different, almost like Myst… The sword gets used fairly early and the rest of the puzzles use no objects at all. Fortunately, warping to the endgame with INCANT also drops the lamp and sword in the player’s inventory, so I took that as a hint. It turns out the sword is necessary but it’s very hard to realize such other than it seems the iconic thing to be carrying around. It’s somewhat unclear what is needed if anything in the endgame. This can be done without a save game (saving no longer works in the endgame, anyway). Upon entering the endgame the player is instructed to INCANT “word of their choice” and the game responds with a passkey to use to warp to the endgame (so I did INCANT “STUFF” and it told me to keep “INCANT ZEAAA”). ![]() I never did quite make it to 616 out of 616 points, but I’m not worried in that a.) knowing how things went down throughout my game, it might’ve just been a bug and b.) The score resets anyway to a separate “endgame score” out of 100 points. This score gives you the rank of Dungeon Master. Your score in the end game is 100, in 52 moves.
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