Zork remake

thewalrus · Fri 23/02/2007 16:47:24

Ã,Â Ã,Â Ã,Â I've posted this in the recruit a team thread already but I wanted to make sure as many people as possible see this so, I am starting my own thread for it too:

Okay, I have an idea to remake the original Zork text adventure game(and turn it in to a graphical AGS game). I have no real abillities as far as doing graphics, music, coding, or anything. What I'd like to do is get a team together and I would do all the coordination for the project. Also I would get everyone what-ever info the would need to design the bg's and do the conversations and everything and anything else I could possibly help with (I have lots of free time on my hands at the moment, so I would be able to dedicate mucho time to the project). Hopefully there will be people that like the idea and want to work on the project. Please PM if interested or email me at thewalrus_2000@yahoo.com. I am very serious about this idea and would REALLY like to get a team together!

P.S. If interested, I'd also like to see samples of your work, so please send me some samples as well. I am striving for making a HIGH quality game. (I know you might be thinking, well he can't do anything but as team leader I would be doing a LOT of coordinating and dedicating a LOT of time to the project)!!!

nulluser · Fri 23/02/2007 16:48:44

A Zork remake eh? I played the original and I'm sure it was made for text...

thewalrus · Fri 23/02/2007 16:50:57

Yes, it was a text adventure game. I want to create a graphical adventure of it, using the same puzzles and everything but turning it in to a point and click game.

nulluser · Fri 23/02/2007 16:53:49

Yes, but if it was supposed to made for text, maybe that was for a reason.

Peder 🚀 · Fri 23/02/2007 16:57:25

Maybe post some info about the game etc?

anyway here is a screenshot of the first Zork game,
I guess it is this you are on about?

Also it is possible to download the game here:
http://www.jahtari.org/magazine/IF/if-infocom-zork.htm

I could be interested if I just knew more...
Though I will probably be to busy anyway...

Peder Johnsen.

thewalrus · Fri 23/02/2007 17:18:42

Ã,Â Ã,Â Ã,Â Thanks for linking to the game. This way people can play it and see what it was all about. Zork was a legendary text adventure game. It was probably one of the best text games of all time. I'd like to have really nice BG's and music, I want this project to be of the highest quality. Please take a look at the text version and once again if anyone is interested, please pm me or email me. Thanks again, all!! Here is an additional link to download the game:

http://www.infocom-if.org/downloads/downloads.html

blueskirt · Fri 23/02/2007 17:41:16

Quote from: Nefarious on Fri 23/02/2007 16:53:49
Yes, but if it was supposed to made for text, maybe that was for a reason.

Because it was made in 1979-80?

thewalrus · Fri 23/02/2007 17:47:46

Agreed, at the time the game was created, they didn't have the capability to make a graphical adventure game. King's Quest didn't come out until like 1984 - 85 I believe. So, that was the reason why it was text based.... It was a classic, please try it out and hopefuly I will get a team together. (I think this project has great promise, with the right people)

Radiant · Fri 23/02/2007 18:03:18

And do you have any practical skills yourself, e.g. art, music or coding?

thewalrus · Fri 23/02/2007 18:09:47

I already said that I do not. But I would still be doing a great deal of work for the project as doing all the coordinating and helping with dialogue's and everything else that I can do to assist the people that would be doing the art, music, etc...

Hammerite · Fri 23/02/2007 21:57:00

Quote from: Nefarious on Fri 23/02/2007 16:53:49
Yes, but if it was supposed to made for text, maybe that was for a reason.

so was lord of the rings but they still made a film and a big bunch of cash-cow games from it.

Sam. · Fri 23/02/2007 21:58:53

Thats kind of a different argument there Hammerite, irrelevant as usual.

Isn't there a sticky for this anyway?

Hammerite · Fri 23/02/2007 22:02:10

The Demon who is Vintage makes me feel so much more relevant, however.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Sat 24/02/2007 01:05:45

What, again? I'll be very surprised if a Zork remake ever did come to light. I should know, I worked in one and seen this topic crop up more often that's healthy.

Dave Gilbert once told me, and with time I came to agree wholeheartedly - with so many more wonderful games Infocom released, why this thing with Zork? I mean, if you want to go classical, remake Colossal Caves. There's a lot of Infocom stuff that'd be gorgeous in graphics, and could benefit from a more visual storytelling experience. Zork is pretty much a classic text adventure, a romp, few characters, mazes, walking deads, lots of rooms with few interactions in them, lots of objects, bulk and item limit... really, it's a text game to the core. You won't be able to satisfyingly remake it without changing some essential things, have you thought about that?

Welcome to the wonderful world of remaking. It's a lot harder than you think.

jetxl · Sat 24/02/2007 01:11:56

Colossal Caves is Zork.

And Zork Grand Inquisitor has graphics. It even has that guy from the A-team.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Sat 24/02/2007 01:16:16

No, Jet, Dungeon is Zork I, Zork II and Zork III condensed into one. Colossal Caves is Adventure.

Unless you mean that it's pretty much the same thing. Which I also disagree with, but it's a personal thing, because I completely see where you're coming from - getting treasure into the house, having a nasty recurrent enemy (thief VS dwarf), the whole place a maze... but still I felt it was a more cohese and coherent world, Zork. Colossal caves seemed to be just a collection of rooms, and at any rate Zork is really the whole trilogy - it counts as a single one (it started of as a single game, you know, but it got split), and the later ones do improve a bit on the basic gameplay.

And I missed what you meant by saying Z:GI has graphics. Ayuh, it has, what's your point exactly?

Dave Gilbert · Sat 24/02/2007 03:47:30

Actually Colossal Cave was actually based on a real series of caves, which just goes to show that it's never fun to romp around an authentic virtual version of a real-life location.

And yes, my opinion from long ago still stands. I don't know why everybody and their pet dog wants to remake Zork. What's the fascination? Granted, it's the first Infocom text adventure, but storywise, it's the most boring game on the planet. Remaking Zork with graphics wouldn't make it a better game, it would make it a ton worse. You'd have a bunch of empty rooms with no characters in them.

The Infocom Implementors improved SO much with time. There are tons of other text adventures that would benefit from adding a graphical element to them. Games with lots of interesting NPCs that graphics could help bring to life. Say, Wishbringer? Or one of the mysteries, like Deadline or Suspect? A few years ago I would have said an AMFV game would have been impossible, but GTA and its ilk have shown that a game like that might be possible.

Aaanyway, best o' luck Walrus. You're not the first to attempt a Zork remake. Maybe you'll be the one to actually make it happen.

Wellington · Sat 24/02/2007 05:22:10

Ooh. You know what would be great?

A remake of Trinity that used The Last Express's savegame system, so you could go back to the "point-of-no-return" if you ended up in a Walking Dead situation. And it would be thematically appropriate! The clock could be a little sundial, and the game is pretty much about trying things over and over to fix a broken past.

There'd still be some issues, but those could be resolved by adding one or two extra clues as to the proper order to enter the mushrooms in.

The Lurking Horror could use photos of the MIT steam tunnels and campus and do well. Beyond Zork pretty much demands RPG/action combat, rather than the random hack-and-slash. And Enchanter's spell-heavy gameplay would port well to graphics, I think; you have to be careful about that. Some puzzles don't translate easily to non-text interfaces.

But I still favor original games over remakes. Unless it's the Quest for Glory II remake.

DeviantGent · Sat 24/02/2007 14:24:55

I think you will be doing a greater service to the franchise if you carried on the series that would have began with Grand Inquisitor. Apparently it was going to be the first of a new trilogy, with the ghost of Mir Yannick bringing about the Magic Wars that pitted the Eastlands against the Westlands.

Now that WOULD be an achievement. A whole new story set in the Underground that remains faithful to the series' roots and style, and continues it.

thewalrus · Sat 24/02/2007 16:40:14

Well, I've decided that instead of looking for everyone all at once to work on the game, right now I am just looking for someone that could start with working on some backgrounds. I think if I can find someone willing to do some bg's, we could get the feel of how we want to go with the project. So once again, anyone who might be interested in working on the project (doin' backgrounds), please PM me or send me an e-mail at thewalrus_2000@yahoo.com. Also, send a sample of your work....... C'mon every body, someone out there has to be willing to help undertake in this project!!!