Re: Zork Done Quick (was Re: ZORK 1 End) [SPOILERS for Suspended]

[afranzman@aol.compute.com (A.J. Franzman)]

Matthew A. Murray <mmurray@cc.wwu.edu> wrote:

>"Cryo-link to objects" bug?  What is that?

From the Infocom Bugs List (http://members.aol.com/graemecree/infobugs):

          8. Another Cryolink bug, but this one was never fixed. It is possible
to establish a cryolink to most inanimate objects in the game, by first
establishing a link to a robot in the same room, and then ordering both the
robot and the inanimate object to do something, all with a single command line.
This can be used to win the game faster, or just to produce amusing results.
For example, if Sensa is in the Small Supply Room, you can get the following
sequence: 

>SENSA, HI. SENSA, HOLDER, GIVE CUTTER TO SENSA
FC: Cryolink established to Sensa.
SENSA: Hello.

FC: Cryolink already established to Sensa.
SENSA: I don't have the metal tool.

FC: Cryolink established to top shelf.
FC for both robots: Given. 
and Sensa gets the cutter without having to use the step. Here's another
example: what would happen if you tried to use this bug to get Iris's panel to
open by itself? Put Iris and Waldo together and try this: 

>WALDO, HI. WALDO, PANEL, OPEN PANEL.
FC: Cryolink established to Waldo.
WALDO: Hello.

FC: Cryolink already established to Waldo.
WALDO: It's too delicate for my normal extensions.

FC: Cryolink established to panel.
FC for both robots: I'm not equipped to do that to the MP1. 
The last line will repeat until the game crashes to DOS with a "Fatal Error:
Stack Overflow" error (in Frotz; no error message with the original Infocom
Interpreter).
          There are far too many possibilities to mention them all here, as
different objects cause different results though moving from one room to
another usually causes a crash. A whole book could probably be written about
the effects of this bug and experimentation can be quite amusing. -- Jim Bakman



Alan "A.J." Franzman
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