[Fien]

Originally Posted by Agustin

As I see it, WinFrotz isn't good for "packaging" games, which is a must for them.

Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying about "packaging". All they need to do is ensure that when I click a game that needs Winfrotz or whatever, it automatically starts in Winfrotz or whatever. I'm a total idiot when it comes to technical stuff, but that should not be too hard... seeing it's already the way I start any Infocom game.

[Agustin]

Originally Posted by Fien

Sorry, I don't understand what you're saying about "packaging". All they need to do is ensure that when I click a game that needs Winfrotz or whatever, it automatically starts in Winfrotz or whatever. I'm a total idiot when it comes to technical stuff, but that should not be too hard... seeing it's already the way I start any Infocom game.

Well, maybe I'm nitpicking a bit here... What I mean is, GOG went to great lengths to make the installing of their titles as polished and straightforward as possible. When you launch a game, neither DOSBox or ScummVM get in the way. In other words, you can't even tell about their existence!

If they ship an interpreter such as WinFrotz, it does get in the way. Heck, it's a "deceiving" Windows GUI. So it could somehow hurt the GOG experience. That is, it breaks the illusion that you're playing a game that is 100% prepared for newer systems.

Again, it's probably me. That said, my personal choice would be Gargoyle which is far more minimalistic and renders the text much smoother than WinFrotz:

http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/

Open source too

[JenniBee]

They could still use ScummVM, since there is an Infocom interpreter available for it at ScummVM-Misc. It works pretty well, actually. I compile it into my own personal build of ScummVM.

[Agustin]

Interesting possibility, JenniBee! I didn't know that trunk had matured this much. Thanks for sharing!

Incidentally, it's based on Gargoyle

[MoP]

In case anyone missed it, the passages are now visible on the page.

[Ascovel]

Wow, not only Zork, but Police Quest too!

[fov]

Originally Posted by Dwagginz

I am able to read. Please don't patronise me.

Sorry, I didn't mean to be insulting. I honestly thought you were confused about what Gledster was trying to say. Never mind.

[Monolith]

Yeah, I knew it was both Infocom and Sierra from the beggining. Saturday, my friend told me about GOG releasing two collections. So it was obviously more than just infocom.

Can't wait! I actually want to play Zork again. Never played Grand Inquisitor either.

[Agustin]

It looks like they simply emulated the old executables with DOSBox:

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/the_zork_anthology

Not the best choice I think but I guess it does provide the ultimate nostalgic experience. Oh, the Police Quest series was released too!

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Agustin

Not the best choice I think but I guess it does provide the ultimate nostalgic experience.

Disappointing. The first 3 Zork games are freeware anyway and non-Zork game Planetfall is the odd man out, not a good idea to release it without its sequel. Why not include Wishbringer instead. Kind of pricey too if they are planning to offer all Infocom games (of course I don't know that). Six dollars for each bundle adds up to over 36 dollars.

It's good to see the great Infocom games get some attention, but I'm glad I already own two complete Infocom collections.

[Agustin]

Originally Posted by Fien

Disappointing. The first 3 Zork games are freeware anyway and non-Zork game Planetfall is the odd man out, not a good idea to release it without its sequel. Why not include Wishbringer instead. Kind of pricey too if they are planning to offer all Infocom games (of course I don't know that). Six dollars for each bundle adds up to over 36 dollars.

It's good to see the great Infocom games get some attention, but I'm glad I already own two complete Infocom collections.

Actually, this release is exactly like the old Zork Anthology:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...venturegame-20

Hence the admittedly odd inclusion of Planetfall. I'm sure there's more to come

As for Stationfall, it was far from being a popular game, which must be why it wasn't included in the original pack in the first place.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by Agustin

Actually, this release is exactly like the old Zork Anthology:

Yeah, you're right. I suppose that means we'll see the rest as the original Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Mystery collections, cause Planetfall wasn't in the Sci-Fi Collection, I think.

As for Stationfall, it was far from being a popular game, which must be why it wasn't included in the original pack in the first place.

Hm, perhaps.

EDIT: Oh, and the Adventure Collection. And Arthur and Shogun and...

[SamandMax]

It's great to see the Police Quest games being released again but I only see screenshots for the VGA remake of the first game there, hopefully they included the superior original version as well.

[MoP]

Originally Posted by SamandMax

It's great to see the Police Quest games being released again but I only see screenshots for the VGA remake of the first game there, hopefully they included the superior original version as well.

Apparently they didn't... hopefully it'll happen eventually though, like with Broken Sword DC, after people started bringing it up.

[JenniBee]

Originally Posted by Mystical Gamer1963

I was playing Myst: Masterpiece Edition but had to uninstall it because it kept crashing on my Windows XP drive. I think it crashed twice last night, mainly because alerts from my software firewall, ZoneAlarm, interfered with it. So I uninstalled both game and firewall.

You can now play Myst: Masterpiece Edition with the latest version of ScummVM. It's available from the "Subversion Builds" section of the ScummVM downloads page.

That should hopefully let you play the game without crashing and let you keep your firewall software too.

[Venkman]

Did the games originally come with maps? They are all included in the Lost Treasures of Infocom collection and apparently the GOG collection, but are often spoilery. What were Infocom's intentions with those?

[Agustin]

Originally Posted by Venkman

Did the games originally come with maps? They are all included in the Lost Treasures of Infocom collection and apparently the GOG collection, but are often spoilery. What were Infocom's intentions with those?

No, the maps came with the Invisiclues which were hint books of sorts. Generally speaking, they aren't that spoilery and creating your own maps can be an extremely painful process (ahem, I'm looking at you Zork I).

My advice is: do use the maps without guilt

[Fien]

Ah yes, the Invisiclues. Test question, from the old Zork 1 Invisiclues booklet:

How many grues does it take to screw in a light bulb?

[Agustin]

Ah, you got me... I'm not that well-versed on Zork lore

But I guess the answer is somehow none... They prefer dark

[Fien]

Correct!