Zork Nemesis community playthrough - now underway!
 

Lena and I are starting up Zork Nemesis. It is a replay for me, but a 'new' game for Lena. Anyone want to join in a community play through?

Just to clarify: I'm Lena.

;) :D

I recently got a copy of ebay, as I haven't played ZN in like 11 years. It runs pretty slow in dosbox for me, though. My desktop is like 6 years old, and I can't seem to get ZN to install in XP. So, I need to try it on my newer laptop, and if that works better I'm in!

Oops! Sorry :frown: :).

Excellent!
I'm using an old win 95/98. It's great to have a gaming machine for the old games.

No worries! :D

I've only played it once (a couple of years ago), and I remember enjoying it quite a lot – apart from numerous timing problems, due to my idiotic decision to try to play it under XP rather than DOSBox.

Unfortunately, I have a lot of work at the moment, which leaves me very little time for playing games – let alone posting about them. So I'll try to join the playthrough, but I'm not promising anything.

Colpet and I will use only the weekends to play Z.N, due to both being really busy with work. So there won't be any speedy playthrough. :)

Don't forget to use a CPU killer to slow down the game if you're playing it on a newer system. I played it in XP and that helped me.

Also, you can use these instructions to play it off your hard drive (and forgo disc swapping).

I may try to join in. I have a couple of games I need to play for review, but I'll try and fit Z.N. in there as well. :)

I've currently finished at the Temple (got the 4 elements), and did what I had to do at the Monastary (made iron). If anyone else is playing, I can help out with hints and discussions if needed.

I'm still inside the Temple where I have checked out each and every corner. I know what I need to do in there but have only found one element yet. I will have to do some more playing before I can bring it out from the place where I found it.

I now have two elements (fire and earth), chasing for the wind element, but I haven't figured out how yet. :frusty:

I had a really hard time solving the water puzzle.

Spoiler:

After having struggled for hours I had to check a hint and discovered I was supposed to hear different sounds by the water fountain, opposite of the flute. I only have the background music at that location. After having downloaded a patch with subtitles I managed to solve it since I got subtitles for the sounds of the fountain. I didn't find any patch to get me the actual sounds though

All and all that puzzle was a really fun challenge. Now I only have the last element left. That'll be tomorrow.

I decided to load it up, it's been donkey years since I played this game.

Had a bit of trouble getting it to run at a reasonable speed and ened up using Dosbox and copying the CD's to the hard drive to speed up transitions and FMV. (inferno's guides are great)

Anyway, this is probably the darkest and moodiest of all the Zork games (I miss the humour that is usually associated with the games) There were a couple of chuckles (picture of gru in it's natual habitat brought a chuckle) however most of it is sombre and serious.

Played through the temple section, got the 4 elements (air was the hardest) and saved at that point.

p.s just to say that the dead alchemists son has nothing to do with my username.

:D I actually wondered about that earlier today.

Sorry to hear about the patch, Jelena. Hopefully the rest will play smoothly.
I'm at the Conservatory. I'm very impressed with the acting in the FMV sequences.

Spoiler:

Kaine and Sophia in the bathtub was quite a scene,, as well as the sexual tension between Alexandria and Lucien seen when you find the trinket box in Alex's sleeping quarters.

I did find that some hot spots change into pick-ups once certain things are triggered (much to my frustration).
I found a lot of humor was in the manual.

Spoiler:

When you get to the Conservatory, be sure to play both records forward and backwards.

wow, i loved this game, it was one of the first I played when I bought my first PC...*SIGH* memories....

I loved the Grue references, and the trip to Dr. Sartorius' lab(i think that was his name),

Spoiler:

with the talking head, and all the severed limbs

....very freaky!!


btw, what DOES happen when you

Spoiler:

play the records backwards and forwards

?? Don't remember that part at all.

Update:
I have finished with the Conservatory.

Spoiler:

I was less sure of what to do here in Sophia's lab. I didn't know what the 'puck-like' thing was that came from the green crystal 'fish'. In retrospect, I guess it was some copper metal.

On to Irondune.

Spoiler:

When you play 'Introduction to the Orchestra' backwards, you get the usual wierd noises, interspersed with what sounds like phrases from the Nemesis and Sophia. When you play 'Alexandria's Debut' backwards, you get a more rockin' tune. I didn't catch all the words, but I'll bet they're intwined in the story

Played it for a bit this morning.

First world I visited was the world of Irondune. All military tactics and weapons. You learn more about Lucien, his love for Alexandra, his likeness for painting nudey women and his relationship with his father (what a tosser he is. Torture chamber and all)

I'm liking the attention to detail and the mature storyline so far. The fmv are a tad ropey even by the standards of the day, but the 360 environments are well realised.

Next up the frozen asylum. (gory heads and corpses gallore)

You guys will have finished this game before I even leave the temple. :frown:



;)

I won't find some gaming time until this evening.

Part of my marathon playing has to do with the glitch that occured at the beginning. I'm playing this on my Win98. After finishing the Temple, the game froze. By the time I got it sorted out, I lost my 2 virtual drives, one of which had the game on it. Luckily my C drive is still functional, so I'm playing the game on that. At some point, I'm going to have to surrender the tower to my guru. Hopefully, he still remembers enough to fix it.
I know I can play it on my XP, but I'm loathe to fiddle with it. I like the simplicity of load and go.

About the game:
I like how the story starts to unfold At first at the Temple, there's these 4 people who were brutally murdered. As you visit their domains, you find out different layers to the story, and start to see that they weren't very nice. It says a lot about the level of intricacy and detail in the game, that you can visit each of these 4 places in any order, and still feel like the game flows smoothly.
Because of my inopportune reinstall, I found out something interesting.
When I first played, I got the Earth, Water, Fire, then Air. Everythime you get an element, the person associated with it comes back to life for a bit and tells part of their story. When you get the last element, the Nemesis shows up to try and thwart you, so you miss the last person's testimony. When I had to replay it, I did them in a different order, and had a chance to hear Malveaux say that Alexandria was his daughter.

I retrieved my last element: air fairly easy. I was still examining the levers for the air tubes when suddenly I had the correct amount of each colour. Yay! :D

Now I'm in the Grey Mountain Asylum and have reached the top floor lab. This is one gory game!

Spoiler:

I was so disgusted when that head started talking. I can't say I felt good beheading the corpse either. *shudders*

Colpet, I understand better now what you meant by seeing different layers of the story and that the four alchemists weren't very nice. This doctor was a creepy guy for sure taking advantage of young, defenseless girls.

The puzzles in this part of the game are a true delight though. Not too difficult, but still a challenge.

I finished Irondune, and again am surprised by the amount of information that the manual gives you. Without it, some of the challenges wouldn't make as much sense. I was stuck for a while...

Spoiler:

having missed a second hot spot on the armor

but once I could continue, things flowed smoothly. There is definitely a pattern to each place. There is alway a few FMVs to give you more background, one person left to meet, many letters and pictures to look at, and, of course, the secret metal labs to find. The puzzles are as Jelena said, just right - enough of a challenge, but still logical.
I'll need to wait until next weekend to finish off at the Asylum.

*sigh*

When I originally played Z:N, I let a friend borrow the discs.....BIG mistake, as he then decided to move without telling anyone he was leaving town. Otherwise, I'd TOTALLY be replaying this right now!! I had it in a compilation pack. It had every game except for Grand Inquisitor in it....ah, sweet memories!

*sighs again*

inm8#2, try right-clicking the "install", going to Properties and selecting Compatibility. Choose "Run in compatibility with Win 95". It should then allow you to install it. Change the ZN.exe file in the same way and you shoud be good to go. The only trouble I had was then it ran too quickly on my new comp and I had to slow it down with CPUKiller, which worked great. You may be better off contilnuing to play in DosBox.

Also a word of warning when you sense you are anywhere near the end. Save often! The end sequence is very long, comes at you very quickly and you want to be reasonably near it if you have to reload and try again.

I'd join you but I have a goofy schedule these days. Maybe if I get some free time.

I've made it to the Asylum, and have access to the 20th floor. This is the goriest part of the whole game. Lots of blood and bodies, plus the creepyness of Sartorius himself. I wonder who Patient X is?

I haven't had much time to play this weekend. Too much to do around the house and garden. But I'm on holiday from Thursday to Sunday which leaves time for gaming.

So far I've made it to the monastery. I've been looking around quite thoroughly and have just opened a gate that leads downstairs to what looks like some library.

I'm just about to finish the game, so I made out this timeline to help me understand the sequence of events.



919 7 Mage Sartorius loses interest in magic
920 10 Oracle Lucien Kaine born
922 Sartorius studying father’s disease
923 5 Aug Malveaux ready to try Sartorius experiment
923 7 Mum Kaine knighted
924 20 Est Sophia to join Malveaux and Sartorius
924 12 Frob Need to go to Temple
924 7 Oracle Sartorius needs other partners
924 20 Mum Sartorius wants Philosopher’s Stone
925 7 Arch Thaddium at Irondune
925 15 Mage Sartorius to bring Alexandria to Malveaux 1 week after birth
925 17 Jam Must act now. Complete work at Temple
929 16 Jam Sophia congratulates Kaine on battle
929 20 Otto Kaine says blood is purity, not love, gases, etc.
930 16 Otto Sophia and Kaine having affair
935 16 Est Alexandria progressing at Conservatory
937 15 Otto Malveaux writes about caring for Alex
939 16 Est Alexandria’s (1st?) performance
940 19 Mum Kaine and wife fighting
941 15 Oracle Date of Harmony of Spheres performance that Lucien sees
942 5 Aug Alex missing her father (Malveaux)
943 1 Mage Alex meets Lucien
943 2 Jam Lucien in love with Alexandria
944 2 Arch Lucien seeing Alexandria
944 5 Mage Lucien drafted
944 1 Susp Malveaux reassures Alexandria
944 12 Dis Alex worried about Malveaux. Something is wrong.
945 22 Mage Lucien and Alex to marry at next full moon
945 1 Aug Alexandria performs Yoruk’s Descent into Hell
947 17 Dis Bivotar sets off to find out what happened

There may be some missing important dates, or some mistakes. Please post any corrections. I'll be finishing the game later on this week.

I need some help here since I'm stuck.
I've been in the Monastery for a while now and have solved some puzzles:
I managed to get the rope of the seventh bell (at least a rope) and made it up to a bedroom. I guess it is Malveaux's bedroom
I've also searched the bottom floor (stairs behind the gate) and found a torch and a ruby.
I've been in all the obvious rooms and halls, but still have lots of doors that don't open.
I've read diaries and seen cut scenes with information on Alexandria's life.

What do I do now?

Have you found the trap door in the Museum area (bottom floor down from the gate)? You need to turn off the alarm to access it.

No I haven't. Better go look for it right away. ;)

Thanks for the hint Colpet. :)
I'm now at Irondune, still exploring the place and learning about what a horrible father Kaine was to Lucien.
This games definitely goes into my Top Ten. I'm totally absorbed by the story and the puzzles. I also like the way the game creators manage to put a bit of Zork humour into this rather dark story without spoiling the atmosphere.

I'm glad you are enjoying it :). It's always in my top 10.

I have basically finished the game, but wanted to do the end game when I had time to savor it, so it won't be until the weekend that I'll view it. Can't wait!

I just finished the game.

Spoiler:

What a great ending. It caught me totally by surprise the first time I played the game. Though I knew what happens, the replay was still full of discovery. I paid more attention to the details and how the story leads you to believe that the Nemesis is evil.

I took the time to play through some other endings - all resulted in death (along with some good sarcastic comments :) ). I also went through all of the easter eggs I could find. The only one I couldn't get to work was the '4 skulls film' (clicking on the piece of metal beside the skull crusher in Kaine's torture chamber). If anyone else has seen it, let me know what I missed.

I'm new here but I just finished playing Nemesis before finding this forum (it's really put me in the mood for more adventure games).

This is the second time I completed the game and both times Sophia's section was the last I finished. I've never seen the cut sequence after completing it. Could someone tell me what she says? I kept saving over my game so the only way I'd know is to play from the beginning again. I really hate Sophia's part too, maybe I'll do it in a couple of days - I'm replaying Ripley's just now :)

I haven't had much time to play recently, but managed to devote a couple of hours to Irondune today.
I've managed to get the enemy to retreat and have made it to the tank outside. There I need to set a six digit code into the dashboard. I've got some different six digit numbers that I got from the pool table, but none of them seem to work.
A hint would be nice.

The pool table demonstrates different shots. Each is set up with the press of a button (1 - 4), then use the 5th button to shoot. The balls all end up in different 6 digit sequences, so there are 4 to choose from. The names of the shots are listed on the wall.

Spoiler:

Pick one that has an appropriate name