Re: Infocom Masterpieces Docs

[Second April <dns361@merle.acns.nwu.edu>]

On 4 Nov 1999, James Marshall wrote:

> >For most of the games all the required clues and background were included in
> >the "Manual" section, but incongruously a few vital clues (such as the FM
> >radio add in Ballyhoo) were hidden away in the maps and other docs file.
> 
> I think Spellbreaker had something similar regarding the different items
> you could win in a contest.  One of them is important in the game, but I
> won't say which because it could be a spoiler for someone.  There are 
> probably some others, too, but I haven't played them all yet, so I wouldn't
> know offhand.  :)

I think you're thinking about Graham Nelson's Balances, which was freeware
and had no copy protection. Spellbreaker had copy protection, which is
included with the Masterpieces docs, though its role in the game isn't
exactly subtle.

> That's what I was thinking.  The maps might have been more appropriately
> located with the hints, even though they probably weren't part of the
> hint booklets that were recreated in the docs.

Well, Infocom sold hint booklets, and it also sold maps for some games,
such as the Zork trilogy. For others, such as the mysteries, the entire
layout was accessible right away--and for some of them, though perhaps not
all, the original packaging included the maps. For Suspended, moreover,
the packaging included the maps, and getting started would have been a
real chore without them. So sometimes it's better to include the maps with
the hints--because they give stuff away, as in the Zorks--and sometimes
it's not, and the Activision folks evidently weren't interested in making
the distinction when they put the CD together.

Duncan Stevens
d-stevens@nwu.edu
773-728-9721

Love in the open hand, no thing but that,
Ungemmed, unhidden, wishing not to hurt,
As one should bring you cowslips in a hat
Swung from her hand, or apples in her skirt,
I bring you, calling out as children do,
"Look what I have!--And these are all for you."

--Edna St. Vincent Millay