Nostalgia: Zork

If nothing else, checking out Legends of Zork did get me thinking about the series again. I found I had the intense urge to play Zork again. You know... the original one... the one that wasn't crap!

Man! Do I love that game!

I played through it the other day. And Zork II. And Zork III.

I love the viewing table in Zork III. That was a really nice touch. It was fun to go back and visit little bits of Zork I and II. I love that the grue repellent, utterly useless in its own setting, suddenly becomes an essential item in the third game. Of course, this got me all excited, thinking that I was gonna finally get to use that broken timber from the coal mine back in Zork I. I think, next time I play, I might just drag the timber into the dungeon and use it to block the light in the beam room. Just to say that I finally, finally used it for something. It's the principle of the matter, right?

Anyway, it was nice to go back and enjoy those games. There's just something so wonderful about text adventures and interactive fictions. I love it! It's so immersive. So what if the parser doesn't always understand what you want it to do? That's fine. You get a feel for how to talk to it after a while. And sometimes it's fun to see what sort of a response it'll give you. ("A hollow voice says 'fool'.") I wish more people still played text adventures and got excited about interactive fiction.

Legends of Zork

So, talking to one of my friends the other day, she happened to mention Zork. Now... my first reaction was to get very excited. I meet very few people who have ever heard of Zork let alone know what it is or how to play. So I was absolutely thrilled at this mention. Then I find out that she was talking about Legends of Zork, "a new MMO that just came out". Alright, well, that's still kind of cool. Maybe it'll get people interested in the series again. I'm not too sure about this MMO idea, but it could be good if they've done a proper job of it. I figure I'll check it out.

What a disappointment!

How is it that this brand new game that just came out, played over the Internet with dozens of players, is actually less interactive than the original Zork that was written almost 30 years ago?

The game consists of: click an area you want to explore, push button to explore, you were attacked by monster x. From there it will display the results of the encounter. (You don't actually do anything, you just let the game play itself really.) If you won, it will tell you how much experience you got, how much money you won, and any other loot you managed to find. If you lost, you get to click the "return to base button" so you can go back home and heal.

As you collect loot and money you can buy better equipment. You can also collect Double Fanucci cards which can improve you attack and/or defense scores.

As you gain more experience, you gain levels and skill points. You can use your skill points to buy "training". Different types of training will have different effects. You might get a boost to the probability of successfully navigating a mechanical maze or a discount on items in the shops.

You get 30 action points per day. Each exploration uses one action point. Returning to base uses one action point. Once you've clicked the "explore" button a couple dozen times, that's it! You're done for the day! All you can do for the rest of the day is fiddle around with your equipment and cards. Either that, or you can pay money to buy coconuts which you can then trade in for more action points (or zorkmids, the game currency; or various other effects).

Like I said... big disappointment. The game basically plays itself. There are no puzzles. No problem-solving. No dialog. No interaction! Just "explore", "you won", "you won", "you won", "you lost", "return to base"... lather, rinse, repeat... try not to fall asleep. You don't even keep any of the treasure you loot. It's automatically sold as soon as you return to base.

What a waste!

My preferred writing medium

Quill etc

Depends on my mood. Sometimes I just love the feeling of my fingers whizzing across the keyboard. I love the sound of the keys clicking. And seeing the words appear on the screen.

Sometimes I want the flexibility of a computer. I want to be able to change and edit what I'm saying. I want to add styles and effects. And sometimes I just want that feeling. Just that sensation of typing. It's therapeutic.

Other times though I need paper. I need to feel the pen in my hand. See the ink on the page. See that irrevocable change; whole books, journals gradually filling as I pour my thoughts onto the pages. There is a satisfaction to that. Something that you just can't get from writing on the ever-expanding plane of white that lives in word processors on computers.

Barefoot Bliss

I'd go barefoot all the time if I could. As soon as I step inside the house, shoes and socks come off. When I'm home visiting my parents in the summer, I quite often go barefoot outside too. (Unless I'm going back to the barn, of course. I like doing many things barefoot... stepping in cow pies is not one of them.) Unfortunately, when I'm in town, barefoot is not usually an option. Aside from all the things that you might step on, people tend to think you're a little... "off" if they see you running around with no footwear and you're not at the beach. Sigh, oh well.

So, what am I wearing when my feet aren't roaming free? Ninety-nine percent of the time, that's my steel-toed boots. Sturdy, trusty, comfortable. They have to be some of the best shoes I've ever owned. I love 'em!

That other one percent usually falls to either sandals or rubber boots, depending on where I am and what I'm doing.



So, yeah... take from that what you will. If shoes really do make the man, then I'm not entirely sure what that makes me but, oh well.

I'm really a cow person

I like a cat's independence. Cats can be affectionate, but they're also just fine going off on their own. They don't always want your attention and they may not always be happy to see you. Somehow I like that about a cat.



That being said... I'm also a cow person. There's just something about cows. I love just sitting out on a summer afternoon, watching them graze. I love their rough tongues and their soft eyes. I love watching the calves kick up their heels when the seasons are changing and the spring weather gets in their blood.

I know cows probably seem like an odd choice of favourite animal. Most girls would probably go for a horse over a cow. I guess I'm just a little strange, eh?

Pasta is a tasty 'broke meal'

The thing about pasta is you can dress it up or down as much as you want. If you've got a few dollars to spare, great! Go out and buy a few extra ingredients. If not, oh well.

East Meets West Pasta

If I've got little to no money, the pasta usually takes the form of ramen noodles. (Just add water and you're good to go!) If I've got the time, money, and inclination, I can always make them a bit more exciting. Adding a few mushrooms, a boiled egg, and some imitation crab usually does the trick.

Italian-type pasta can also be good when cash is short. A pound of dry spaghetti is relatively cheap and will go quite a ways. I'm fine just eating that with a bit of garlic and a little butter once it's boiled. If I have spices on hand, a tin of tomato paste is only a few cents and I can make my own sauce. I'm also quite fond of pasta with fried eggs. (I know it sounds weird, but it's actually very nice. Think of it as a variation on pasta carbonara.) You caramelize a few slices of onion in the bottom of the pan first, then fry a couple of eggs, leaving the yolks runny, throw in a bit of garlic, (maybe some Italian seasoning,) a bit of pepper, whatever else takes your fancy, and toss that with the pasta. The yolks break and coat the pasta like a sauce. Just grate a little cheese over that and you're done! (Parmesean works best, but it's expensive. A little bit of cheddar or whatever you have on hand usually works just fine.)

The great thing about my egg and pasta dish is that it's easy to add more things to when you have them, but if you don't, it's just fine without them. Got a tin of sardines? Throw it in. Chicken? Sure! Frozen veg? Works just fine. You can modify this dish just about any way you want.



Disclaimer: Although I've made many modifications to the fried egg + pasta dish... the original idea was not my own. I got it from a wonderful cookbook that my mother gave me.