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Text Adventure Playthrough #10: Bureaucracy
eriktorbjorn - Any ideas what could be causing the above problem? It mostly comes after examining or describing an object.
Hmm… I did see “zzz” in a corrupted game file once.
*looks at the beginning of the thread*
Oh! Release 160. According to The Infocom Fact Sheet that’s a version that was never officially released, and now that I think about it I seem to recall hearing that it’s pretty broken.
The last official release was apparently 116. You’d be much better off with that one.
Edit: Here is a slightly spoilerly bug report about problems later in that version. That must be where I read about it: https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/frotz/-/issues/248
Are we sticking to this version?
eriktorbjorn - Any ideas what could be causing the above problem? It mostly comes after examining or describing an object.
Hmm… I did see “zzz” in a corrupted game file once.
*looks at the beginning of the thread*
Oh! Release 160. According to The Infocom Fact Sheet that’s a version that was never officially released, and now that I think about it I seem to recall hearing that it’s pretty broken.
The last official release was apparently 116. You’d be much better off with that one.
Edit: Here is a slightly spoilerly bug report about problems later in that version. That must be where I read about it: https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/frotz/-/issues/248
Brilliant! Thanks a lot, now we can really get rolling. I just instinctively downloaded the “latest” version, and why a game’s version 160 would be buggier than 116 is beyond me, but I suppose it’s appropriate for a game called Bureaucracy… 
I’ll have to repeat all our moves so far, but it’s good we caught this earlier rather than later.
Alright, I’m all caught up! This version works perfectly so far.
I’ll repost the last things we did, since they didn’t all come out correctly.
17 Utopia Avenue
A modest, ochre-and-aubergine striped llama-farm farmhouse stands to the west, its front door closed. The street continues north and south.
A llama is watching you from a pen at the side of the road. A mailbox is attached to the front of the pen.
There’s a notice here.
>open mailbox
You open the mailbox.
The llama blinks at you stupidly.
>x llama
You see nothing unusual about the llama. Except, of course, that it’s there. That is slightly unusual, admittedly. But apart from the fact that it’s there, you see nothing unusual about it. Nothing at all. It’s just a llama.
>x notice
The notice says,
“Dear Newspaper Boy,
Please do not leave any papers for the next three weeks. I am away on vacation and do not want papers piling up on my doorstep where thieves can see them.
Have a nice day!”
A tangerine Cougar has just driven past. It was full of burglars, laughing and taking notes.
>x mailbox
The open mailbox is attached to the front of the pen. Peering inside, you notice that the back of the mailbox opens directly into the llama’s trough. Strangely enough, this doesn’t strike you as remotely peculiar.
>x man
You can’t see any man here.
>x farmhouse
It’s just a normal, puce ‘n’ tangerine striped suburban llama-farmer’s house. Its front door is closed.
A nerdy-looking young man you’ve never seen before stumbles into view. “Are you Douglas Adams, of 15 Utopia Avenue, Verweggistan, formerly of 5 Hippo Vista, Rhinoceros, New Jersey?” he asks in an obnoxiously whiny voice. “I have something I know you’ll want. It’s a real Star Trek phaser! Only 76 bucks!”
>show treats to llama
You’d have to take the Llamex(R) brand High-Fibre Llama Treats out of the bag of llama treats first.
The nerd waves the real Star Trek phaser impatiently. “C’mon, buddy. 76 bucks! A bargain!”
>look in mailbox
Peering inside, you notice that the back of the mailbox opens directly into the llama’s trough. Strangely enough, this doesn’t strike you as remotely peculiar.
“No money, no real Star Trek phaser,” whines the nerd.
The llama emits a hoarse bleat.
>
Brilliant! Thanks a lot, now we can really get rolling. I just instinctively downloaded the “latest” version, and why a game’s version 160 would be buggier than 116 is beyond me, but I suppose it’s appropriate for a game called Bureaucracy…
As I understand it, the primary - perhaps only - source for the releases marked as unreleased final versions in the Infocom Fact Sheet is the so-called “Infocom Drive”. A backup made when the remains of Infocom were relocated to California. I do not have a copy of this. Nor do I want one, since all that I would be interested in can now be found in places like The Obsessively Complete Infocom Catalog. Anything else (company emails and such) is none of my business.
Anyway, version 160 is probably not so much a “release” as it is the last time anyone at Infocom tried to compile the source code. In this case, more than a year after the final official release. Apparently the compiler decided to throw a fit and generate something that was for the most part a working game, but one that’s still broken to an unknown extent.
I have no idea what changed in that year. If Infocom used any kind of revision control system at all, that information is probably long lost. A lot of game files have been preserved, along with a few snapshots of the ZIL source code (which may or may not correspond to any of the game files). It’s a lot more than I would ever have dared to hope for, and it’s all just waiting for someone to delve into it to figure out what was added or removed before and after the releases. The Infocom Cabinet may be another useful source of information for Steve Meretzky’s games in particular.
I know that at least some of the test versions of Leather Goddesses of Phobos and Trinity contain things that were cut or changed before the final release, so it would be interesting to see if they are actually playable.
But for the purpose of playing the games - public playthroughs in particular - I’d stick with the official releases!
Brilliant! Thanks a lot, now we can really get rolling. I just instinctively downloaded the “latest” version, and why a game’s version 160 would be buggier than 116 is beyond me, but I suppose it’s appropriate for a game called Bureaucracy…
I’ll have to repeat all our moves so far, but it’s good we caught this earlier rather than later.
And thanks for bringing us back. I think the nerdy-looking fellow is trying to sell us overpriced junk. Unlike Karlok, I am not a psychic, but I will predict this going to be a running joke.
Now, is the llama still a telepath?
>open bag
>take (out) treats
>show treats to llama
>open bag
The bag of llama treats is already opened.
The nerd stumbles out of sight with the real Star Trek phaser. “I’ll be back,” he threatens.
>take treats
Llama treats fall between your fingers. Hah! That fixed your hash, didn’t it?
>show treats to llama
You’d have to take the Llamex(R) brand High-Fibre Llama Treats out of the bag of llama treats first.
The llama is pretending not to watch you.
>show bag to llama
The llama is deeply excited and also deeply hostile, a state of affairs all too familiar to you.
>
Should we feed the llama? Might be more sensible to wait for a reason.
>s
Sometimes, when I clean the rooms, I get a little curious and… erm… you know… snoop through our guests’s stuff. - This Bed We Made
>s
18 Utopia Avenue
You’re at a dead end. A camouflaged and heavily fortified house stands to the south. You’d expect things like a moat and drawbridge, but you can’t see them from here. There is a gate of the impenetrable sort; who knows what delights lie behind it? The street leads north.
You’re beginning to feel normal again.
You hear a sound like a wet oboe. Something is bleating to the north.
The short hairs standing up on the back of your neck tell you that either (a) a goose has just walked over your grave or (b) some paranoid individual is spying on you through an extremely well-hidden camera.
>x gate
It’s an impenetrable closed gate.
A gruff voice crackles to life on the intercom. “Unfortunately, there’s a radio connected to my brain.”
>
Hm. Impenetrable does not sound promising. Time to get a bite to eat?
>n
>n
>n
>n
>e
Sometimes, when I clean the rooms, I get a little curious and… erm… you know… snoop through our guests’s stuff. - This Bed We Made
>n
17 Utopia Avenue
A modest, ochre-and-aubergine striped llama-farm farmhouse stands to the west, its front door wide open. The street continues north and south.
A llama is watching you from a pen at the side of the road. A mailbox is attached to the front of the pen.
There’s a notice here.
>n
16 Utopia Avenue
You’re standing west of a mansion; its rather ornate door is closed. The road continues north and south.
A recording of “Afternoon Delight,” backed by a bassoon-and-triangle duet is playing in the mansion.
>n
15 Utopia Avenue
You’re standing on a well-kept sidewalk to the east of your new house. The street bears north and south. There’s an overgrown alleyway to the east.
There’s a mailbox here.
>n
14 Utopia Avenue
You see a rather run-down restaurant to the east, and one of those bookstores which looks as if it wouldn’t have anything you want to buy to the west. The street continues north and south.
The snivelling, ratty and ineffectual nerd stumbles into view again. “There you are!” he whines. “I’ve got something I know you’ll want. A universal accessory! Only 76 bucks!”
>e
In many ways, bringing the llama food with you is a wise move. However, due to strict public health laws (enacted for your safety and convenience), this restaurant doesn’t permit customers to bring in competing varieties of food. Better leave it outside.
>drop llama food
Dropped.
The nerd waves the universal accessory impatiently. “C’mon, buddy. 76 bucks! A bargain!”
>e
You step into the dingy restaurant.
“Hey! Wait!” cries the nerd. “Can I go out with your sister?”
Restaurant
You’re in a fast-food restaurant. This is merely a bureaucratic convention, since the food is not really fast. Nor is it really food. There’s an exit out to the street, and a somewhat grubby door to the south.
>x door (to the south)
>x menu
(I wonder how we place an order. I expect a machine that gets your order wrong..)
I bet that bag will be gone when we leave. 
Maybe this is the game’s way of telling us we should have fed the llama first.
>x door
>sit
EDIT: didn’t see your post, Veg, I’m a slow typer
Sometimes, when I clean the rooms, I get a little curious and… erm… you know… snoop through our guests’s stuff. - This Bed We Made
>x door
It looks as if the back door is closed.
A harried-looking waitress appears at your side. “May I take your order now, sir?”
>>yes
The waitress sighs too loudly. “All right, sir, how would you like your burger done? Raw? Rare? Medium? Well-done?”
>>
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