{"id":3000,"date":"2012-12-17T14:15:29","date_gmt":"2012-12-17T19:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westwoodvalley.com\/?p=3000"},"modified":"2012-12-17T14:15:29","modified_gmt":"2012-12-17T19:15:29","slug":"my-musical-evolution-part-368-21st-century-zork-nemesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wrharrison.com\/musicalevolution\/2012\/12\/17\/my-musical-evolution-part-368-21st-century-zork-nemesis\/","title":{"rendered":"My Musical Evolution – Part 368 21st Century Zork Nemesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Zork<\/a>The first time I played Zork<\/em> it wasn’t even called Zork.<\/em> It was called Dungeon<\/em> and it was 1979. It was\u00a0a text adventure that was wildly immersive even though all the details were products of my imagination.\u00a0 Back in The Academy Days<\/em> we played it on a Digital PDP 11\/34. No DEC system should be without one. It was usually played in marathon sessions because our version didn’t have the ability to save a game in progress so that it might be resumed later. Like in Stephen King’s book, each trip to the rabbit hole was a total reset.\u00a0 That was a pain but it really raised the stakes when taking risks that might cause you to have to start over.<\/p>\n

Over the years as Infocom<\/em> came into being and Dungeon <\/em>evolved into Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III, <\/em> I was happy to have them for my Commodore 64. When Zork Nemesis<\/em> hit the shelves, it was the original adventures that were included in the set that really got my attention.\u00a0 I had made the move from the Commodore to Windows 95 and felt fortunate to be able to bring Zork with me.<\/p>\n

I installed Zork Nemesis<\/em> because I was curious. The pictures on the box made it look like Maniac Mansion <\/em>or Zak MacKracken<\/em> set in the Great Undergound Empire<\/em>.\u00a0 As a Zork adventure, it was a disappointment. It really didn’t have anything to with Zork as I knew it except in a random name dropping way. The places didn’t really resemble the Zork I knew and the style was completely different. Even so, it was the most fantastic game I had ever played.\u00a0 Visually it was haunting and the soundtrack equally so. To see a video sample click here<\/a>. I remember discovering a sinister set of stairs leading down into the dark and almost being afraid to go down them.<\/p>\n

The game and play techniques might be primitive compared to today’s standards but I still think it holds up well. Wandering around the temple and trying to solve the puzzles was incredibly immersive and the art was very well down.\u00a0 It took me nearly a year to finish the game. By then I had assembled a notebook full of things that I had seen and information that might come up later. It really was a great challenge. I wish they made a version for Windows 8 because I’d like to play it again.<\/p>\n

Years later, I was reminiscing about it online and found a website that had samples of the music and sounds. I would buy the soundtrack if\u00a0it came on CD.<\/p>\n

The Temple Of Agrippa<\/em>
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