I quite like the idea of a text type RPG as it gives the player a chance to visualize or imagine a world entirely on their own. Without using any graphics, the player is welcomed to take the text and turn it into anything they want to. How the story develops and as you explore the 'world', you visualize what everything would look like, smell or feel. Zork itself became incredibly popular for that concept, it gave players the chance to make their own game from the text appearing in front of them, the game was anything they wanted it to look like. Although it had a basic story, the way characters or scenes appeared in text were all created in the player's mind, without any knowledge of what they would really look like. Descriptive writing was not really used, so it left a broader gap to let your imagination run wild as the game progressed.
From researching on the Internet, I only managed to find one reliable site that referenced the entire Zork series. Although there isn't really a solid 'Story line' it has all the information of every Zork game made and all the walkthroughs to complete them. I scanned through some titles to get a greater perspective of the concept. Thus far I have been reasonable successful to what Zork actually entails. From reading the website I managed to figure out that the game is about you as the player exploring a world filled with a vast landscape, that varies in terrain. From mountains to underground caverns, you explore and hunt for hidden treasure. The main objective of the game, is to find items to help and fight your way through to get to the treasure and survive the journey. You face an array of enemies and obstacles that try to stop you in your path, but through thorough exploration of the world you can help yourself with appropriate found items, such as swords etc. If you make it out alive with the treasure, you would claim the title as 'Dungeon Master', in fact the game was originally called this, but due to copyright claims from 'Dungeons and Dragons' the game then turned into Zork.
The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of a text type RPG acts similar to a book. In fact video games like Zork are called 'Interactive Fiction' where you read text like book, but instead you make the choices in the story. As you do so, you discover different places, new items or treasures depending on where you go and what you do. The story itself is dependant entirely on you, from that you become the most important asset to the game, the main character, the 'Hero'.
The most informative extract about Interactive Fiction I found was on Wikipedia. I have highlighted the parts I believe are what make an IF game affective:
'Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game where the entire interface can be "text-only". Graphical text adventure games, where the text is accompanied by graphics (still images, animations or video) still fall under the text adventure category if the main way to interact with the game is text. It can also be used to distinguish the more modern style of such works, focusing on narrative and not necessarily falling into the adventure game genre at all, from the more traditional focus on puzzles'
As previously mentioned I couldn't really find any back story to the game. However, from playing Zork online within the actual 'game play' I was informed of the concept and overall setting. I have highlighted the parts in which I think are most relevant to explaining the concept of the game:
Taken.
Welcome to Zork (originally Dungeon)!
Dungeon is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it
you will explore some of the most amazing territory ever seen by mortal
man. Hardened adventurers have run screaming from the terrors contained
within.
In Dungeon, the intrepid explorer delves into the forgotten secrets
of a lost labyrinth deep in the bowels of the earth, searching for
vast treasures long hidden from prying eyes, treasures guarded by
fearsome monsters and diabolical traps!
No DECsystem should be without one!
This information was actually found through picking up the 'leaflet' from a mailbox within the first few steps of playing the game.
After researching the main logistics of Zork, I play tested the game for a while to see first hand how the action unfolded. Although it seemed primitive to me, it did put me into positions were I considered my surroundings more so than a contemporary game. I had to think about my location, what was available to me and how I would progress, A game with graphics would have been more evident as I could have seen the paths to take. This encouraged me to imagine my surroundings and paint a picture of my travels. This sort of technique within the game really appealed to me and made me feel interested in what was going to happen next. I believe this is why Zork as a text adventure succeeded in it's era, and managed to captivate gamers from the generation. Even in our current gaming lifestyle, text based adventures are still played for that focus on imaginative story telling.
Bibliography:
. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction [accessed Tuesday 4th Oct 2011]
. http://pot.home.xs4all.nl/infocom/zork1.html [accessed Tuesday 4th Oct 2011]
. http://www.thezorklibrary.com/history/00-resources.html [accessed Tuesday 4th Oct 2011]. Google Images
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