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Retro Challenge 2024/10 – Schrödinger’s PCB

The ZX81 Module I designed in 2016 has been an example of Schrödinger’s PCB. It has sat around for 8 years in both a state of working and not working. Only when it is observed will the actual state be determined. In this wrap up post we will finally plug it in and find out.

The first step was to finish assembling the board. If you remember back to the start of the month, or indeed 2016, you will have noticed that the PCB was partially assembled with 4 resistors, 2 transistors, crystal, chip socket and header pins. All the values are now on the schematic, so building up the rest of it was straightforward. I don’t know why 2016-Me only fitted 2 of the transistors. They are all the same value and I have a strip of 50 of them. I did find an error with the footprint I used for the composite jack, but this was easily fixed by turning it 90 degrees.

I burned a ROM with the first 8k duplicated in to the second 8k bank. Sadly my pricing gun that I use for ROM labels doesn’t have a Z, so it’ll have to be a 2X81 now :-)

The next big dilemma was about the current limiting resistors – the green blocks on this diagram.

My understanding of what they are for is that they protect the components if there are conflicting values put on the bus. For example, if the Z80 was doing a write with 0xFF on the data bus, and at the same time the ROM was doing a write and put 0xFE on the bus. This situation should never happen, however, if it did, the D0 pin on the Z80 would be 5v and the D0 pin on the ROM would be 0v, so current would flow from the CPU to the ROM faster than the CPU could source it or the ROM could sink it. Having resistors in there will limit the current, and potentially save the parts.

The logic in a stock RC2014 means that there can only be one device writing to the address or data bus at any one time, so this kind of situation couldn’t crop up. However, with something like the original SD Memory Dump Module, the AVR chip was under software control. So any screwup on the software side could mean that both the AVR and another device could write to the bus. So current limiting resistors were important for that.

The ZX81 schematic confused me though. The CPU and RAM sat on one side of the address bus resistors with the ULA and ROM on the other side. But the CPU and ULA were on one side of the data bus resistors with the ROM and RAM on the other side. I do not fully understand exactly what the ULA does, but the implication is that it could mess with either bus in some way. The RC2014 backplane certainly doesn’t allow for that combination of modules with resistors between them. Rightly or wrongly, I decided to separate the ULA from the ROM, RAM and CUP via resistors.

Rather than solder a load of resistors to the backplane though, I put header pins on there and then used sockets with badly soldered surface mount resistors on them. That way I could swap them out or replace them with jumpers if necessary.

So, finally I had a completed module, a programmed ROM, backplane with resistors on it, and no more excuses for not powering it up.

So I did….

And…

Nothing.

Well, nothing with a combination of heat from the ULA. That is probably not good. I only powered it up for a few seconds, but it clearly got hotter than it should. So rather than risk doing any damage, I decided to go back to the schematics and look closely at everything on my module compared to the original ZX81 schematic.

It didn’t take long before I found a discrepancy. The transistor at the top has the emitter connected to the NMI signal on the ZX81, but my module had it connected to the WR signal. I don’t know exactly what the effect of this would be, but I know it isn’t going to give the desired outcome!

Luckily the fix isn’t too difficult. One track needs to be cut, and a wire needs to be added.

So, with that fixed, everything should power up just fine, right? Right? Sadly, no.

The ULA didn’t get hot, though. So that was definitely better. There was also a regular pulse on the composite output that looks a lot like a line sync signal. But there is nothing else.

Time to look closer at what I did in 2016. Whilst there were very few components soldered on to the PCB back then, 2024-Me assumed that those were at least correct. Which turned out to be a mistake! The ZX81 uses a 6.5MHz crystal. However, I had soldered a 7.3MHz crystal on to the board. Why? I really have no idea. I also have no 6.5MHz crystals either. The closest I have is 6MHz.

As video signal is derived from the crystal, the value has to be pretty accurate. Without the right crystal this is never going to generate a white screen with a happy little K cursor in the bottom corner. However, a poke around the data and address lines makes it look to me like the rest of the computer isn’t running either. So even with a picture being generated, I doubt it would include a K cursor on it.

Schrödinger’s PCB has finally been observed, and it is currently not working :-(

Why? I do not know. There are several aspects that might be playing a part. So for Retro Challenge 2025 I will certainly need to address these

  • 6.5MHz crystal needs to be obtained
  • ULA needs to be checked. I don’t think the few seconds where it got hot killed it, but I cannot assume that it is totally undamaged.
  • Limiting resistors need to be understood better
  • Shadow copies of the ROM might need to be in the upper memory. I don’t think this is necessary, but it is a deviation from the original ZX81 design.

My decision in 2016 to base my module on a ZX81 because of the simplicity of a ULA might be flawed. In hindsight, the ZX80 might have been a much better place to start. There are a lot more chips in that design, but they are all regular 74 series logic, and each part of the circuit can be broken down and understood. That will demystify the Black Box of the ULA at least. I will leave it down to 2025-Me to decide if he wants to carry on with this module, or start afresh with the ZX80 schematic.

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Retro Challenge 2024/10 – Defeating The Riddler

The schematic for the ZX81 Module I designed in2016 had been designed in a very old version of KiCad, and hadn’t survived all the upgrades too well. This resulted in every component being replaced by a question mark in a box. Luckily I had some photos of the schematic from previous Retro Challenge posts, as well as an expectation as to what should be resistors or capacitors or whatever.

Things now look much better, and actually make some kind of sense.

2016 Me didn’t consider the importance of putting component values on the schematic. Or the PCB. My module was based on the original ZX81 schematic though, so it was pretty much a case of matching up components and updating their values.

The observant amongst you will notice that the ZX81 schematic has a lot more stuff on it than my module. These changes can be categorised in three ways;

  • Components which the RC2014 already have, such as the Z80 CPU, ROM or RAM
  • Components which need to be added, but are not part of the module, such as the keyboard or data/address bus resistors
  • Components which will not need to be included, such as the TV modulator including the USA/French options, or power regulation.

In addition, I noticed my module design had some extra components that were not part of the ZX81 schematic.

More specifically, this is a transistor and resistor. This actually matches the composite mod that the donor machine had. So, well done 2016 me for thinking ahead and including this!

Something which is a bit more concerning though is the way that the keyboard lines all seem to be shorted against the TV Out netlist. I think this might be an artifact of the schematic rescue, as I am sure that 2016 Me would have noticed that. However, I still need to test the PCB in case this fault has made its way through to the board.

So, with a donor ULA, and all the component values, I have everything I need to finish the module. There are other important things that I need to do to the RC2014 though. Firstly, I need to burn a ROM.

You may remember from a recent post that I did a partial ROM dump from the donor machine. This was a simple BASIC program

10 FOR F=1 TO 200
20 PRINT PEEK F;
30 NEXT F

I remember reading that the ROM chips used on old machines were almost, but not identical pin out to the 27C EPROM chips, and that it was a couple of data pins which were swapped over. Or something like that. So my worry was that, for example, D3 and D7 on every byte was swapped. So if I could compare the first 200 bytes or so then I would know if everything matched, or if the difference was consistent.

Luckily, everything matched with the ZX81.ROM file I have.

Although converting decimal to hex becomes less and less fun as you go. But at least I know that I should be able to just burn that image to a ROM and it *should* work.

The memory map on a ZX81 is a ZX81 is interesting. The ROM shows up in 4 locations, and the RAM is mirrored too. A13 is the only line used to decode if ROM or RAM is accessed. Therefor the memory map looks like this;

FFFF
      RAM (Shaddow)
E000
DFFF
      RAM (Shaddow)
C000
BFFF
      ROM (Shaddow)
A000
9FFF
      ROM (Shaddow)
8000
7FFF
      RAM
6000
5FFF
      RAM
4000
3FFF
      ROM (Shaddow)
2000
1FFF
      ROM
0000

As I understand it, Only the 8 ROM from 0x000 to 0x1FFF and the 16k RAM from 0x4000 to 0x7FFF actually matter. However, my plan is to burn two consecutive copies of the ROM and set the Pageable ROM Module to a 16k bank size. I will also use a 64k RAM Module with RAM starting at 0x4000. This will mean that the shaddow ROMs from 0x8000-0xBFFF will actually be RAM. I very much doubt that anything makes calls to that address range expecting it to be ROM, but as long as it isn’t critical to bootup, I can write a routing to fill that RAM with the ROM contents.

So, with all of that sorted out… I just need to solder some components, burn a ROM, and put it all together.

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Retro Challenge 2024/10 – Finding a donor

If you remember from my initial post at the start of the month, the first thing that I needed to do in order to make progress on the ZX81 Module was to find a donor for the ULA. Some things can’t be rushed though, so this has only just happened. Luckily I have several candidates to choose from.

I had some constraints though. Obviously the ULA had to come from a machine that worked. Ideally one that had undergone a composite mod. And preferably not the original one that my dads school friend bought back in the day and passed on to me a few years ago. (The ULA will only be borrowed to check that things work, but I would rather not risk damaging one that has sentimental value)

This one seemed to fit the bill. Apart from the fact that it is housed in a full size case with mechanical keyboard, there is nothing special about it. I think this may well have had various expansions or add-ons back in the day, but those are long gone now.

Luckily, it also has also been composite modded. In particular, this has been done via a transistor, rather than just sending the video signal out of the socket. This means that I can test that this works with my monitor before taking the ULA. I know that some modern monitors are fussy with ZX81 signals as there is no back-porch generated. Adding the circuitry to do that isn’t overly complex, but if I can keep things simple then all the better.

The TV image is actually really sharp, and certainly works with my monitor. So it looks like I have a donor chip!

Before removing it, however, there were a couple of checks that I wanted to make. Firstly, I have a file on my computer called ZX81.ROM which I think might be exactly what it sounds like. When opening it up in a hex editor, though, there is nothing readable in there at all. I would have expected to see something like the copyright message or the keywords listed. So I will take this opportunity to dump the first couple hundred bytes of the ROM to the screen so that I can compare it to the file I have.

I also want to take a quick look at the output signal on a scope.

Everything looks good and just what I would expect from a video signal (without a back porch)

So, with no further ado, out comes the ULA, ready for its new mission in an RC2014

Next up, I need to finish the schematic so that I know what value components I need to populate the rest of this board…

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Retro Challenge 2024/10 Talking The talk… at 9600

Following on from the failure to get the Portfolio talking directly to the RC2014, I decided to turn my attention to the Cambridge Z88. I already have a custom RS232 to TTL serial adapter for that, and the RC2014 is all set up ready for the Portfolio at 9600 baud, so this should be straightforward…

Well, would you believe it, it was a success! The Z88 is a fantastic machine, with some good built in programs. One of those is a terminal emulator, so it really was just a case of plugging the RS232 adapter in to the RC2014, with Port B set as the primary port set at 9600 baud.

To test it properly, I typed in the test program for the LCD module https://rc2014.co.uk/modules/lcd-driver-module/ (The initial test failed, but after I plugged the LCD in correctly, everything worked fine).

Buoyed on by the success there, I decided to turn my attention back to the Portfolio. Knowing that the Z88 RS232 to TTL serial adapter worked meant I didn’t have to burn my fingers again! The only issue was that the Z88 had an almost but not quite standard pinout on the DB9

I blogged about the Z88 RS232 to TTL Serial adapter back in 2013 https://sowen.com/466/z88-to-ftdi-lead-via-max3232/ The important takeaway from this is that Gnd is on Pin7 on the Z88, although it is Pin5 on the Portfolio. It is also worth noting that Pin1 and Pin9 both carry 5v, and whilst these aren’t used in my adapter, they could break other things they are plugged in to. Pin2 and Pin3 are Tx adn Rx respectively on both the Z88 and Portfolio.

Time for a Frankenconnector to adapt them!

The other bit of unfinished business on the Portfolio was putting some terminal software on there. A copy of xterm2, as supplied on the Portfolio utility card was easy enough to find. In the past I had transferred programs to the Portfolio via the parallel adapter, however, I had recently bought an APF-01 memory card from https://apfram.com/ Whilst I had to use some propriety software on a Windows machine to copy the files on to it, it worked really well.

With everything connected up and Xterm2 started, the Portfolio and RC2014 were talking!

Again, I typed the LCD test program and sent a message to be displayed from the Portfolio to the RC2014

Although, of course, it was only as I type this blog post that I notice the Off-By-Ten error in that message! Ooops!

So, that is the Z88 and the Portfolio both ticked off of the list of computers to talk to the RC2014. Whilst the Portfolio wasn’t a complete failure before, I am really glad I revisited this and got a more satisfying result. And it has reminded me just how good both of those two machines are. I really should use them more.

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Retro Challenge 2024/10 – Getting my fingers burned

If you read the intro post to this years challenge, I set myself a secondary goal of getting many of my old computers talking to my RC2014. So I decided to kick things off with the Atari Portfolio. This was going to be an easy intro in to things as this little DOS compatible palmtop has a serial port expansion and can run DOS based terminal software. So this would be pretty straightforward, right?

The Portfolio serial port is limited to 9600 baud, so this gives me a couple of options on the RC2014. I could either slow main clock right down, which will slow the CPU, but I will get 9600 baud on serial Port A. Or I could slow down Clock 2 and use Port B as the primary port. Rather than dive in headfirst and make a mess of things, I came up with a simple step by step plan;

  • Power up the RC2014 and check that it is all working
  • Plug in to PC and verify 115200 baud on Port A is working.
  • Connect to Port B and verify this works at115200 baud
  • Change Clock 2 and check the PC can communicate at 9600 baud on Port B
  • Install terminal software on the Portfolio
  • Plug the Portfolio in to a serial to USB adapter and check it can communicate with the PC at 9600
  • Build a simple MAX232 adapter to convert the RS232 on the Portfolio to TTL serial
  • Check this can communicate with PC FTDI
  • And, finally, connect the RC2014 and the Portfolio, via the MAX232 adapter, using Port B at 9600

The first 3 steps went without a hitch. Using Port B as the primary port was as simple as flipping a switch when using the Front Panel. However, when I dropped the RC2014 down to divide Clock 2 by 12, I was unable to communicate at 9600 baud. This didn’t bode well. In case I didn’t get the jumper right, I tried setting the terminal to 4800 and 19200, being the speed just above and below 9600, but to no avail. Anyway, long story short, I wasted an hour before discovering that indeed the jumper was of by one, but it gave 14400 baud, which my terminal software didn’t support! So ok, progress, but slow progress.

On to the Portfolio. I plugged in the Serial Port expansion, connected a RS232 to USB adapter, and plugged it in to the PC. Using the DOS command COPY AUX CON meant that whatever I typed on the PC came out on the Portfolio screen, and COPY CON AUX meant that whatever was typed on the Portfolio appeared on the serial terminal.

Now the easy part. I had a few MAX3232 modules which do the RS232 level shifting/inverting. On the Portfolio side I just need Ground, Tx and Rx. On the RC2014 side, Ground, 5v, Tx and Rx. Soldering was about as easy as things get, and it all looked good. Just to be safe, I decided to add an extra step and connect it to my FTDI adapter plugged in to the PC. A second later I dropped it as I felt burn my fingers!

Quickly unplugged everything and checked the soldering, the pin labels, and made sure I was 100% confident that everything looked fine. Plug it in again, touch the chip… Ouch! This was not good.

Time to bust out the FLIR thermal imaging camera. Wow! This thing gets up to 150’C (or 300’F) before I chicken out and pull the power.

Checking online and social media, people had reported problems with the cheap Chinese MAX232 modules. I had my doubts that the chips were genuine. However, some reports stated that the internal pull-up resistors are too weak, so without an input signal it is bouncing around all over the place and causing it to heat up. Others said that a resistor inline with the 5v power might fix it. Those ideas were certainly worth a try.

I can confirm, for my module at least, pull-up resistors made no difference. A resistor in series with the 5v meant that it didn’t get hot… but it didn’t work either. (although quite possibly the vital parts were already burned out?)

It was also pointed out that the chip is actually a MAX3232, which is a 3v3 chip. This would explain a lot! However, the datasheet says that it can work with Vcc from 3v – 5.5v. The TTL input can also be 5v even with a 3v3 Vcc. So, if it is a genuine chip, it _should_ still work

So I had to accept only a partial success, but mostly a failure on this one. The RC2014 worked at 9600 baud on Port B, and the Portfolio could talk at 9600 baud. It was just that they hadn’t talked to each other.

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Retro Challenge 2024/10 Update 1 – The Riddler

When I failed to complete the Retro Challenge in 2016 I finished by saying that the dog ate my homework. That sounded like a reasonable enough excuse.

This year any failure to complete is because The Riddler ate my schematic!

One of the first things I wanted to do was familiarise myself with what 2016-me did regarding the ZX81 module I designed for the RC2014. I have 3 PCBs here, and whilst they look great, they lack some info, such as the component values. So I opened up the schematic I created and discovered that all of the components have been replaced by ?? boxes!

To be fair, this isn’t the first time I have seen this situation. This was probably created in Kicad v4 or possibly earlier, and one thing which Kicad was terrible with back then was keeping track of component libraries whenever there was an upgrade. I am now using Kicad v8, so there have been a lot of upgrades.

I might be able to install a fresh copy of an old version and hope that has the right libraries and I can map them in to work with the schematic. I think that most of the components are resistors and capacitors though, so even if that worked, I wouldn’t have the values anyway.

I think it will actually be easier to convert the schematic to the v8 standard and manually change each of the parts to the resistor, capacitor or diode as approprite. I still won’t have the values, but the thing I do have is the original ZX81 schematic that this module was based on, so it should be a case of matching things up.

Mid-blog update

I looked back at the intro post that I made and noticed that the photo I reused from 2016 was a picture of the partially assembled module that was sitting on a schematic printout. The values can be seen too!

So that makes life easier!

Not only that, but another blog post from 2016 also has the full schematic (less component values) so that helps too!

The RC2014 has come along way since this module was conceived 8 years ago. I think some of the stuff that I had learned about the ZX81 back then had guided some of the decisions that I made later, which actually helps this a lot.

Firstly, the Backplane 8 and Backplane Pro both have the ability to add resistors on the data and address bus, as the ZX81 did. There is now an RC2014 keyboard which mimics the ZX81 or Spectrum layout and has the diodes onboard, so that makes things easier too. The Pageable ROM module supports 16k blocks, which will help if anything on the ZX81 needs to access the shadow ROM in 0x2000 – 0x3FFF. And, lastly, the 64k RAM module can be set to start at any address. With the ZX81 having RAM mapped from 0x4000 – 0x8000 this is perfect.

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Retro Challenge 2024/10 – Intro Post

It has been a while since I entered Retro Challenge, but I think I remember what to do. It goes something along the lines of stating at the start of the month by saying that you are going to design a ZX81 module for the RC2014, and then at the end of the month report back in with minimal progress. Looking back, I seem pretty good at that. Retro Challenge 2016/1 started off like this and ended like this. Then later for Retro Challenge 2016/10 it looked like this.

I hope you will excuse me for using the same image I finished on 8 years ago, but, honestly nothing has changed. The ZX81 module is still in this state.

So, before we get to far ahead of ourselves, lets take a look at how we got to this point. My original goal was to recreate either a ZX Spectrum, ZX81, ZX80 or Jupiter Ace module for the RC2014. They are all fairly similar architecture, although the Jupiter Ace has weird dual port memory RAM. They all have a Z80 CPU, some ROM, some RAM and a clock, the same(ish) as theRC2014, so those parts of the schematic can all be ticked off. The ZX80 does everything else with conventional 74 series logic. The ZX81 is almost identical, except that 74 series logic is all smooshed in to a ULA. The Spectrum is similar except the ULA does more stuff (which can also be done with 74 series logic).

I ended up choosing the ZX81 as a good place to start because it is pretty much just a ULA chip with a little bit of support circuitry. The ULA is no longer manufactured, which will mean taking one from a working ZX81 to get this up and running. There are, however, modern FPGA replacements available, so I might well end up getting one of those to swap in at some point. So in January 2016 I translated the relevant parts of the ZX81 schematic in to KiCad and designed a module around that. I got some boards made, but that was as far as things got. Then later that year I soldered in 9 components.

To get started this year I need to do two things. Firstly, familiarise myself with the ZX81 circuit and the one I designed 8 years ago. I seem to remember being fairly confident it would work, but at this stage I have Schrodingers PCB. It both works and does not work simultaneously, needing a test to clarify the actual state. The second thing is that I need to check my stock of ZX81 and select a donor one that the ULA can be borrowed from. I probably want to make note of some of the pin voltages or signal traces before taking it out so I can check those when it is in the module.

There is a chance that I will end up waiting for parts, so the secondary part of my Retro Challenge challenge is to talk to my RC2014 with as many of my retro computers as possible. This may include but not be limited to;

  • Atari Portfolio
  • Cambridge Z88
  • Psion Organiser II
  • Psion Organiser 3a
  • Sinclair Spectrum (with Interface I)
  • Sinclair Spectrum 128
  • Sinclair Spectrum +2 or +3
  • Sinclair QL
  • Amstrad PPC640
  • Toshiba T1200

I think this will be limited to serial communication, and luckily I have a few MAX232 chips and boards here. I expect it will mainly be using the device as a serial terminal for the RC2014, but it would be nice to maybe send a Spectrum loading screen from the RC2014 to the Spectrum. It might sound trivial, but understanding how the serial ports work on those devices, and finding/writing software to use them could be the challenging part.

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Retro Challenge 2024/10 Prize

2024 marks the 10 year anniversary since I entered the Retro Challenge in… hmmm… let me see now… that’ll be… 2014! Yes, I remember it well, because Retro Challenge 2014 had a catchy hashtag on Twitter, something like #RC2014.

Well, the good folks behind Retro Challenge approached me and asked if I would consider donating a prize for this years event. There were no prizes back in my day, it was all about likes and subs, and inadvertently starting a new career back then. But, hey, I understand that people like prizes, so I said yes. I said I would like to offer an RC2014 Classic II kit to the winner of the RC2014 category

After thinking about it for a little while, I figured I could come up with something a little bit more special. But before I reveal what that is, and before you skip to the bottom of this post for a sneak peek, I wonder if I should explain what Retro Challenge is. Well, it is a challenge revolving retro computers. The challenge is self-set, and you can do pretty much whatever interests you if it involves a retro computer, and you blog about it to share your knowledge and inspire others. Maybe you want to right software for your old Dragon 32, or get that VIC20 cleaned up, recapped and retrobrited, or scan in the original PDP manuals and upload them to the Internet Archive.

Back in 2013 I had built a Z80 computer on a breadboard that ran BASIC. The challenge I set myself for Retro Challenge 2014 was to make my name appear in lights. More specifically I was going to write Z80 code to do it, using a Z80 computer which I also had to design. You can read more about it here https://rc2014.co.uk/653/retro-challenge-2014/

Part of the challenge was to get the PCBs designed and manufactured. I used OSHPark which meant I had 3 of each board. Luckily the designs worked and no serious modifications were needed (although a hammer was required to fit the header pins). You can read about the boards arriving here https://rc2014.co.uk/791/retro-challenge-pcbs-arrived-and-built/

Of the three sets of PCBs I had made, one set was used to build my original RC2014. Obviously. Another set was traded with John Fletcher for an original unpopulated Jupiter Ace PCB (See https://sowen.com/995/ace-adventures-on-jupiter/), and the feedback from that made me wonder if I should get some more made in case anybody else wanted to build their own RC2014.

So, what about the third set? It could be yours!

That’s right. In addition to the RC2014 Classic II kit, I will be giving away the final set of the original RC2014 PCBs to the lucky winner. Well, the original 32k RAM, Pageable ROM, Serial I/O and clock/reset module. The CPU module is a later one which the PCB manufacturer screwed up and didn’t put the silkscreen on the back! And I will throw in an original Digital I/O PCB too. As well as some stripboard.

Everything needed to complete the build is part of the Classic II kit. So when you receive your prize, you will need to decide if you want to build it as a Classic II, or go old school and make the most authentic RC2014 there is.

Not sure if I should put some legal disclaimer here or whatever. The winner will be chosen by the Retro Challenge organisers. I will post out the Classic II kit along with the original RC2014 PCBs mentioned above to the winner within a month of the winner being announced. This includes free international shipping if you are outside of the UK. No cash alternative is offered. Neither myself or the organisers of Retro Challenge can be held liable if you end up starting a new career based on your competition entry.

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Retro Challenge 2017/10 – Returning to Zork

After what felt like a lot of aimless bumbling around and poor progress on the first streamed game of Zork, I decided to take a peek at a walkthrough solution before playing this.

The last live stream finished off with me getting frustrated with not being able to undo a bolt at the Dam, despite having a wrench.  A peek at the walkthrough mentioned pushing a yellow button in the control room first.  Really?  Like, how was I supposed to know that?  Ok, I’ll admit that I hadn’t spotted any of the buttons in the control room (there was a lot of text bombarding me as I arrived in there), but if I had, I would have probably pushed all the buttons.  I don’t know if you must push only the yellow one, or if pushing them all would render the bolt still unturnable, but if this is the level of puzzle I’m supposed to solve, then it’s unlikely that I’m going to make too much progress after this part.

So, instead, I decided to print off the first couple of pages of the walkthrough, and planned to just follow along with it.

The live stream started at 7pm on Thursday evening, and the set up was the same as the previous one.  The only difference was that I’ve now upgraded from the free version of Wirecast to a licence one with no interruptions.  There was 5 viewers on YouTube and 4 on the text stream, although towards the end I spotted a tweet from a viewer that was unable to connect to the text stream (Sorry!), but I never found out if it was a problem at my end or his.

The first thing I wanted to do was test out the instructions on pushing the yellow button before undoing the bolt.  Sure enough, this worked!  However, there were a few other things that I’d missed out between the start and the dam.  I could have possibly caught up with those in a different order, but decided to quit this game and start afresh.

Progress went well, and within an hour I had completed around 50% of the game.  Some of the walkthrough was invaluable.  I can imagine I’d have ended up stuck in the maze for ever, and probably unable to map it too, but when the walkthrough tells you to just go northwest, south, west, up, west, southwest, and northeast, it is much more enjoyable.  Even following along on the map this was hard to work out.

I feel like I’ve successfully completed the Retro Challenge I set myself, and I’m happy that things went pretty well.  As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not much of a text adventurer, and I don’t think this experience has changed that.  Zork was actually better than I thought it would be, and at some point I’ll play through the 2nd half of the walkthrough.  The best part for me, however, was the technical side of things, and hooking up an ESP8266 as a wifi link for the RC2014.  There seems to be a few different bits of ESP8266 software that will add value to the RC2014, so I’ll be developing a proper ESP8266 Module soon.

A big thanks to those that have followed along with this blog, via Twitter, and, of course, via YouTube and the text stream.

Transcript of this adventure here;

ZORK1

ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire
Copyright (c) 1981, 1982, 1983 Infocom, Inc. All rights
reserved.
ZORK is a registered t
>RESTORE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is ZORK1.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > ZORK1.SAV

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >
Failed.

>RESTORE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is ZORK1.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >
Failed.

>QUIT
Your score is 0 (total of 350 points), in 0 moves.
This gives you the rank of Beginner.
Do you wish to leave the game? (Y iY

G>DIR

G: ZORK1    COM : ZORK1    DAT : ZORK2    COM : ZORK2    DAT
G: ZORK3    COM : ZORK3    DAT : FIRSTGO     
G>L ZORK1

ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire
Copyright (c) 1981, 1982, 1983 Infocom, Inc. All rights
reserved.
ZORK is a registered tRESTORE FIRSTGO
I don't know the word "firstgo".

>RESTORE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is ZORK1.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > FIRSTGO

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>LOOK
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. Thered dam.
There is a control panel here, on which a large metal bolt is
mounted. Directly above the bolt is a small green plastic
buLOOK
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. There are
paths to the nortThe brown sack contains:
  A leaflet
  A ZORK owner's manual
  A clove of garlic
There is a tour guidebook here.
There is a
>N
Dam Lobby

>N
Maintenance Room

>LOOK
Maintenance Room
This is what appears to have been the maintenance room for
Flood Control Dam #3. Apparently, this room has PUSH YELLOW BUTTON
Click.

>
I beg your pardon?

>S
Dam Lobby

>S
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in timesI
You are carrying:
  A sword
  A tube
  A wrench
  A matchbook
  A pile of plastic
  A nasty knife
  A brass lantern (prUSE WRENCH ON BOLT
I don't know the word "use".

>UNSCREW BOLT
I don't know the word "unscrew".

>UB NBOLT WRENCH
I don't know the word "unbolt".

>TURN BOLT
What do you want to turn the bolt with?

>TURN BOLT WITH WRENCH
The sluice gates open and water pours through the dam.

>E
Dam Base

>LOOK
Dam Base
You are at the base of Flood Control Dam #3, which looms above
you and to the north. The river Frigid is flowing by here.
AlonE
You can't go that way.

>S DIAG
I don't know the word "diag".

>DIAGNOSTIC
You are in perfect health.
You can be killed by a serious wound.

>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is FIRSTGO.).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > FIRSTGO2

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>RESTART
Your score is 44 (total of 350 points), in 156 moves.
This gives you the rank of Amateur Adventurer.
Do you wish to restartY
Restarting.
ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire
Copyright (c) 1981, 1982, 1983 Infocom, Inc. All rights
reserved.
ZORK iOPEN MAILBOX
Opening the small mailbox reveals a leaflet.

>GET LEAFLET
Taken.

>READ LEAFLET
"WELCOME TO ZORK!

ZORK is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it
you will explore some of the most amazing terrN
North of House
You are facing the north side of a white house. There is no
door here, and all the windows are boarded up. ToN
Forest Path
This is a path winding through a dimly lit forest. The path
heads north-south here. One particularly large tree UP
Up a Tree
You are about 10 feet above the ground nestled among some
large branches. The nearest branch above you is above yourGET EGG
Taken.

>OPEN EGG
You have neither the tools nor the expertise.

>D
Forest Path

>E
Forest
This is a dimly lit forest, with large trees all around.

>W
Forest Path

>S
North of House

>E
Behind House
You are behind the white house. A path leads into the forest
to the east. In one corner of the house there is aOPEN WINDOW
With great effort, you open the window far enough to allow
entry.

>ENTER WINDOW
Kitchen
You are in the kitchen of the white house. A table seems to
have been used recently for the preparation of food. A p
>GET SACK
Taken.

>GET BOTTLE
Taken.

>OPEN SACK
Opening the brown sack reveals a lunch, and a clove of garlic.

>EAT GARLIC
What the heck! You won't make friends this way, but nobody
around here is too friendly anyhow. Gulp!

>W
Living Room
You are in the living room. There is a doorway to the east, a
wooden door with strange gothic lettering to the wOPEN TROPHY CASE
Opened.

>GET SWORD
Taken.

>GET LAMP
Taken.

>REMOVE RUG
The rug is extremely heavy and cannot be carried.

>PULL UP RUG
With a great effort, the rug is moved to one side of the room,
revealing the dusty cover of a closed trap door.

>OPEN TRAPDOOR
The door reluctantly opens to reveal a rickety staircase
descending into darkness.

>DOWN
You have moved into a dark place.
The trap door crashes shut, and you hear someone barring it.

It is pitch black. You are
>LIGHT THE LAMP
The brass lantern is now on.

Cellar
You are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passageway
leading north, and a crawlwaDROP EGG
Dropped.

>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is ZORK1.).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 2NDGO.SAV

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>N
The Troll Room
This is a small room with passages to the east and south and a
forbidding hole leading west. Bloodstains andATTACK TROLL
(with the sword)
A quick stroke, but the troll is on guard.
The troll swings; the blade turns on your armor but crashes
broadATTACK TROLL
(with the sword)
You are still recovering from that last blow, so your attack
is ineffective.
The troll swings his axe, but i
>ATTACK TROLL
(with the sword)
The haft of your sword knocks out the troll.

>ATTACK TROLL
(with the sword)
The unarmed troll cannot defend himself: He dies.
Almost as soon as the troll breathes his last breath, a cloud
of sinister blDIAGNOSTIC
You are in perfect health.
You can be killed by a serious wound.

>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is 2NDGO.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>W
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
A "lean and hungry" gentleman just wandered through, carrying
a large bag. Finding nothing of value, he left disgruntled.

>W
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

>U
You can't go that way.

>W
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

>U
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. A
skeleton, probably the remains of a luckless adventurer,
>GET COINS
Taken.

>GET KEY
Taken.

>SW
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

>E
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

>S
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Your sword is glowing with a faint blue glow.

>SE
Cyclops Room
This room has an exit on the northwest, and a staircase
leading up.
A cyclops, who looks prepared to eat horses (much less merI
You are carrying:
  A skeleton key
  A leather bag of coins
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A sword
  A glass bottlOPEN SACK
It is already open.

>TAKE LUNCH
Taken.

>GIVE LUNH CH TO Y\CYCLOPS
I don't know the word "y\cyclops".

>GIVE LUNCH TO CYCLOPS
The cyclops says "Mmm Mmm. I love hot peppers! But oh, could I
use a drink. Perhaps I could drink the blood of that thing." 
FOPEN BOTTLE
Opened.
The cyclops is moving about the room, looking for something.

>GIVE WATER TO CYCLOPS
The cyclops takes the bottle, checks that it's open, and
drinks the water. A moment later, he lets out a yawn that
nearly blI
You are carrying:
  A skeleton key
  A leather bag of coins
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A sword
  A brown sack
NW
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Your sword is glowing with a faint blue glow.

>S
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Your sword is no longer glowing.

>W
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

>U
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

>W
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

>SW
Maze
This is part of a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.

>NE
Grating Room
You are in a small room near the maze. There are twisty
passages in the immediate vicinity.
Above you is a gra
>UNLOCK GRATING
(with the skeleton key)
The grate is unlocked.

>OPEN GRATING
The grating opens to reveal trees above you.
A pile of leaves falls onto your head and to the ground.

>UP
Clearing
You are in a clearing, with a forest surrounding you on all
sides. A path leads south.
There is an open grating, dW
Forest
This is a forest, with trees in all directions. To the east,
there appears to be sunlight.
You hear in the distanceW
You would need a machete to go further west.

>LOOK
Forest
This is a forest, with trees in all directions. To the east,
there appears to be sunlight.

>E
Forest Path
You hear in the distance the chirping of a song bird.

>LOOK
Forest Path
This is a path winding through a dimly lit forest. The path
heads north-south here. One particularly large tree E
Forest

>W
Forest Path

>S
North of House

>E
Behind House

>ENTER WINDOW
Kitchen

>W
Living Room

>OPEN TROPHY   CASE
It is already open.

>PUT COINS IN TROPHY CASE
Done.

>DROP KEY
Dropped.

>DROP BOTTLE
You don't have that!

>I
You are carrying:
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A sword
  A brown sack
  A leaflet

>OPEN TRAPDOOR
The door reluctantly opens to reveal a rickety staircase
descending into darkness.

>D
Cellar
There is a jewel-encrusted egg here.

>S
East of Chasm
You are on the east edge of a chasm, the bottom of which
cannot be seen. A narrow passage goes north, and theE
Gallery
This is an art gallery. Most of the paintings have been stolen
by vandals with exceptional taste. The vandals left tGET PAINTING
Taken.

>W
East of Chasm

>N
Cellar
There is a jewel-encrusted egg here.

>U
Living Room
There is a skeleton key here.
Your collection of treasures consists of:
    A leather bag of coins

>PUT PAINTING IN TROPHY CASE
Done.

>D
Cellar
There is a jewel-encrusted egg here.

>N
The Troll Room
There is a bloody axe here.

>E
East-West Passage
This is a narrow east-west passageway. There is a narrow
stairway leading down at the north end of the rooE
Round Room
This is a circular stone room with passages in all directions.
Several of them have unfortunately been blocked byE
Loud Room
This is a large room with a ceiling which cannot be detected
from the ground. There is a narrow passage from east GET BAR
bar bar ...

>LOOK
look look ...

>GET BAR BAR BLACKSHEEP
blacksheep blacksheep ...

>BAR BAR BARBRANNE!
barbranne! barbranne! ...

>ECHO
The acoustics of the room change subtly.

Loud Room
On the ground is a large platinum bar.

>GET PLATINUM BAR
Taken.

>W
Round Room

>W
East-West Passage

>W
The Troll Room
There is a bloody axe here.

>S
Cellar
There is a jewel-encrusted egg here.

>U
Living Room
There is a skeleton key here.
Your collection of treasures consists of:
    A painting
    A leather bag of coins

>PUT PLATINUM BAR IN TROPHY CASE
Done.

>LOOK
Living Room
You are in the living room. There is a doorway to the east, a
wooden door with strange gothic lettering to the wD
Cellar
There is a jewel-encrusted egg here.

>N
The Troll Room
There is a bloody axe here.

>E
East-West Passage

>E
Round Room

>E
Loud Room

>N
You can't go that way.

>U
Deep Canyon
You are on the south edge of a deep canyon. Passages lead off
to the east, northwest and southwest. A stairway l
>E
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. TherN
Dam Lobby
This room appears to have been the waiting room for groups
touring the dam. There are open doorways here to the noGET B \ MATCHBOOK
Taken.

>READ MATCHBOOK

(Close cover before striking)

YOU too can make BIG MONEY in the exciting field of PAPER
SHUFFLING!

Mr. Anderson of MuddREAD MATCHBOOK

(Close cover before striking)

YOU too can make BIG MONEY in the exciting field of PAPER
SHUFFLING!

Mr. Anderson of M
I beg your pardon?

>READ MATCHBOOK

(Close cover before striking)

YOU too can make BIG MONEY in the exciting field of PAPER
SHUFFLING!

Mr. Anderson of Mupromising future and make really big Zorkmids."

GUE Tech can't promise these fantastic results to everyone.
But when you earN
Maintenance Room
This is what appears to have been the maintenance room for
Flood Control Dam #3. Apparently, this room hasPUSH YELLOW BUTTON
Click.

>GET WRENCH
Taken.

>S
Dam Lobby
Some guidebooks entitled "Flood Control Dam #3" are on the
reception desk.

>S
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. TherTURN BOLT
(with the wrench)
The sluice gates open and water pours through the dam.

>DROP WRENCH
Dropped.

>W
Reservoir South
You are in a long room. To the north is a large lake, too deep
to cross. You notice, however, that the water lLOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room. To the north is a large lake, too deep
to cross. You notice, however, that the watsouthwest along the edge of a chasm, and a
path leading into a canyon to the southeast.

>WAIT
Time passes...

>LOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room. To the north is a large lake, too deep
to cross. You notice, however, that the wat
>WAIT
Time passes...

>LOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room. To the north is a large lake, too deep
to cross. You notice, however, that the wateThe water level is now quite low here and you could easily
cross over to the other side.

>WAIT
Time passes...

>LOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room, to the north of which was formerly a
lake. However, with the water level lowered, thWAIT
Time passes...

>LOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room, to the north of which was formerly a
lake. However, with the water level lowered, t
>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is 2NDGO.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>LOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room, to the north of which was formerly a
lake. However, with the water level lowered, thSA\  TATUS
I don't know the word "status".

>SCORE
Your score is 85 (total of 350 points), in 131 moves.
This gives you the rank of Novice Adventurer.

>LOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room, to the north of which was formerly a
lake. However, with the water level loweredWAIT
Time passes...

>LOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room, to the north of which was formerly a
lake. However, with the water level lowered, tLOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room, to the north of which was formerly a
lake. However, with the water level loweredWAIT
Time passes...

>LOOK
Reservoir South
You are in a long room, to the north of which was formerly a
lake. However, witN
Reservoir
You are on what used to be a large lake, but which is now a
large mud pile. There are "shores" to the north and sGET TRUNK
Taken.

>I
You are carrying:
  A trunk of jewels
  A matchbook
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A sword
  A brown sack
  A leaS
Reservoir South

>SW
Chasm
A chasm runs southwest to northeast and the path follows it.
You are on the south side of the chasm, where a crack opeSW
East-West Passage

>W
The Troll Room
There is a bloody axe here.

>S
Cellar

>U
Living Room
There is a skeleton key here.
Your collection of treasures consists of:
    A platinum bar
    A painting
   PUT JEWELS IN TROPHY CABINET
I don't know the word "cabinet".

>PUT JEWELS IN TROPHY CASE
Done.

>SCORE
Your score is 105 (total of 350 points), in 148 moves.
This gives you the rank of Junior Adventurer.

>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is 2NDGO.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>D
Cellar

>N
The Troll Room
There is a bloody axe here.

>E
East-West Passage

>N
Chasm

>NE
Reservoir South

>N
Reservoir

>N
Reservoir North
You are in a large cavernous room, the south of which was
formerly a lake. However, with the water level lowerGET AIR PUMP
That sentence isn't one I recognize.

>GET PUMP
Taken.

>N
Atlantis Room
This is an ancient room, long under water. There is an exit to
the south and a staircase leading up.
On the sGET GET\    TRIDENT
Taken.

>U
Cave
This is a tiny cave with entrances west and north, and a
staircase leading down.

>N
Mirror Room
You are in a large square room with tall ceilings. On the
south wall is an enormous mirror which fills the enti
>LOOK IN MIRROR
There is an ugly person staring back at you.

>N
Cold Passage
This is a cold and damp corridor where a long east-west
passageway turns into a southward path.

>W
Slide Room
This is a small chamber, which appears to have been part of a
coal mine. On the south wall of the chamber the let
>D
Cellar

>U
Living Room
There is a skeleton key here.
Your collection of treasures consists of:
    A trunk of jewels
    A platinum bPUT TRIDENT IN TROPHY CASE
Done.

>SCORE
Your score is 120 (total of 350 points), in 166 moves.
This gives you the rank of Junior Adventurer.

>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is 2NDGO.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>E
Kitchen

>U
Attic
This is the attic. The only exit is a stairway leading down.
A large coil of rope is lying in the corner.
On a table isGET ROPE
Taken.

>D
Kitchen

>W
Living Room
There is a skeleton key here.
Your collection of treasures consists of:
    A crystal trident
D
Cellar

>N
The Troll Room
There is a bloody axe here.

>E
East-West Passage

>E
Round Room

>SE
Engravings Cave
You have entered a low cave with passages leading northwest
and east.
There are old engravings on the walls
>E LOOK AT ENGRAVINGS
The engravings were incised in the living rock of the cave
wall by an unknown hand. They depict, in symbolic form, the
beli
>E
Dome Room
You are at the periphery of a large dome, which forms the
ceiling of another room below. Protecting you from a
precipitous drop is a wooden railing which circles the dome.

>TIE ROPE TO T RAILING
The rope drops over the side and comes within ten feet of the
floor.

>D
Torch Room
This is a large room with a prominent doorway leading to a
down staircase. Above you is a large dome. Up around Sitting on the pedestal is a flaming torch, made of ivory.

>GET FLAMING TORCH
Taken.

>TURN OFF LAMP
The brass lantern is now off.

>LOOK
Torch Room
This is a large room with a prominent doorway leading to a
down staircase. Above you is a large dome. Up around t
>S
Temple
This is the north end of a large temple. On the east wall is
an ancient inscription, probably a prayer in a long-forThere is a brass bell here.

>I
You are carrying:
  A torch (providing light)
  A hand-held air pump
  A matchbook
  A brass lantern
  A sword
  A browDROP PUMP
Dropped.

>DROP MATCHBOOK
Dropped.

>DROP LANTERN
Dropped.

>FROP
I don't know the word "frop".

>DROP SWORD
Dropped.

>DROP SACK
Dropped.

>DROO P LEAFLET
Dropped.

>LOOK
Temple
This is the north end of a large temple. On the east wall is
an ancient inscription, probably a prayer in a long-for
>I
You are carrying:
  A torch (providing light)

>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is 2NDGO.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>E
Egyptian Room
This is a room which looks like an Egyptian tomb. There is an
ascending staircase to the west.
The solid-goldLOOK AT COFFIN
The gold coffin is closed.

>OPEN COFFIN
The gold coffin opens.
A sceptre, possibly that of ancient Egypt itself, is in the
coffin. The sceptre is ornamented with coloTAKE SCEPTRE
Taken.

>W
Temple
A small leaflet is on the ground.
There is a brown sack here.
There is a sword here.
There is a brass lantern (battS
Altar
This is the south end of a large temple. In front of you is
what appears to be an altar. In one corner is a small holePRAY
Forest

>E
Forest Path

>S
North of House

>E
Behind House

>ENTER WINDOW
Kitchen

>W
Living Room
There is a skeleton key here.
Your collection of treasures consists of:
    A crystal trident
    A trunk of jPUT SCEPTE\RE IN TROPHY CASE
Done.

>SCORE
Your score is 144 (total of 350 points), in 206 moves.
This gives you the rank of Junior Adventurer.

>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is 2NDGO.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>D
Cellar

>N
The Troll Room
There is a bloody axe here.

>E
East-West Passage

>E
Round Room

>SW E
Engravings Cave
There are old engravings on the walls here.

>E
Dome Room

>D
Torch Room

>S
Temple
A small leaflet is on the ground.
There is a brown sack here.
There is a sword here.
There is a brass lantern (battGET MATCHN BOOK
Taken.

>GET BELL
Taken.

>OPEN MATCHBOOK
You have 5 matches.

>S
Altar
On the two ends of the altar are burning candles.
On the altar is a large black book, open to page 569.

>GET CANDLES
Taken.

>GET BOOK
Taken.

>I
You are carrying:
  A black book
  A pair of candles (providing light)
  A brass bell
  A matchbook
  A torch (providing TURN OFF CABL\   NDE LES
The flame is extinguished.

>D
Cave
This is a tiny cave with entrances west and north, and a dark,
forbidding staircase leading down.
Someone carrying a larD
Entrance to Hades
You are outside a large gateway, on which is inscribed

  Abandon every hope all ye who enter here!

Th
>RING BELL
The bell suddenly becomes red hot and falls to the ground. The
wraiths, as if paralyzed, stop their jeering and slowly turn
 expression of a
long-forgotten terror takes shape.
In your confusion, the candles drop to the ground (and they
are out).

>GET CANDLES
Taken.

>LIGHT MATCH
One of the matches starts to burn.

>LIGHT CANN DLE
(with the match)
The candles are lit.
The flames flicker wildly and appear to dance. The earth
beneath your feet trembles, I
You are carrying:
  A pair of candles (providing light)
  A black book
  A matchbook
  A torch (providing light)

>LOOK AT BOOK
Commandment #12592

Oh ye who go about saying unto each:  "Hello sailor":
Dost thou know the magnitude of thy sin before thTURN OFF CAB NDLES
The flame is extinguished.

>DROP BOOK
Dropped.

>LOOK
Entrance to Hades
You are outside a large gateway, on which is inscribed

  Abandon every hope all ye who enter here!

ThSAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is 2NDGO.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > 

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>SCORE
Your score is 144 (total of 350 points), in 233 moves.
This gives you the rank of Junior Adventurer.

>EXIT
You can't go that way.

>QUIT
Your score is 144 (total of 350 points), in 234 moves.
This gives you the rank of Junior Adventurer.
Do you wish to leave tY

G>

If you need to watch the YouTube stream, it can be found here https://youtu.be/K-Kv5saIHyE

-

Retro Challenge 2017/10 Zork First Stream

At 7pm UK time on Sunday (yesterday), I did the first Zork live stream.  This post is going to look back at how this went, from a technical point of view, from my point of view as a new YouTube streamer, and from the point of view of a non-adventure gamer playing Zork for the first time.

There was two aspects to the hardware.  The RC2014 running Zork was almost completely stand-alone.  It had it’s own keyboard and monitor, and the only connection to the outside world was via the ESP8266 module.  The ESP connected to the internet over Wifi, and streamed everything that was sent to the monitor via web sockets.  The Tx line from the ESP also went to a laptop so that I could monitor how many connections were open.

The laptop was also running Wirecast, and streaming it’s webcam and microphone to a live (live-ish.  About a 10 second delay) YouTube feed.  I could then talk, mumble, gesture, or use the chat feature, as well as read the chat messages as they came in.

Overall, this worked reasonably well – however there were a few things that could have been better.  About 20 minutes in, there were a couple of people complaining that they couldn’t connect to the text stream from the ESP.  The 3 people still connected were ok and getting updates, but nobody else could connect.  After a reboot everyone could connect and I was streaming to an audience of 5.  There was a report of odd characters being sent, although I think this was only when I used the delete key, which couldn’t be displayed properly in the live feed.  Also, there was still the issue with some lines being truncated.  If anybody viewing has kept a transcript, it will be interesting to compare with my transcript to see if they are both truncating at the same point (indicating a dropout between the web socket server and the ESP), or if they are different (indicating a dropout between the web socket server and the viewer)

I felt a bit awkward on YouTube.  It was kind of odd, and I couldn’t quite decide if I should just be playing Zork on my own and ignoring everyone looking over my shoulder – or if I should be ‘performing’ for the audience and involving them more.  As someone that isn’t that comfortable in front of the camera, and not good at text adventure games, I am beginning to question my life choices that lead to me narrating my fumbling through a troll filled underworld live on YouTube :-/

Although I had loaded up Zork a few times in the past, I had never gone further than randomly typing in directions, or going in to the house.  So I really was treading new ground here.  One of the things that surprised me for a 40 year old game is just how large the place is, and how much is going on.  I didn’t realise that there would be other characters that moved around, stole things from you and dropped things in different rooms.

The first game didn’t last too long, after picking a fight with the thief left me injured and a troll finished me off.  So I restarted the game, and decided to take a different approach in attacking the thief – but was surprised to find he wasn’t where he was in the previous game.

I did find myself questioning my motives here though.  Basically, I broke in to somebodys house, took all of their possessions, and tried to kill the first person I met.  I should be asking myself who the bad guy is in this game!

I had downloaded a map from the internet to make things a little bit easier for me.  It saved me from trying to go in directions that didn’t exist, and meant that I didn’t have to map things out for myself as I went along.  However it didn’t mean that I could just get to where I thought I wanted to go.  For example, once I went downstairs from the house, I couldn’t get back up again.  Well, one way up was up an unclimbable slope, one was up through the trap door that was locked behind me (probably by the house owner after I stole his lunch), and the stairs to the kitchen could only be climbed if I dropped most of what I was carrying.

Eventually I ended up at the Dam, and there was a control panel with a bolt and a green bubble on it.  In the Maintenance Room I found a wrench.  Also a tube of magical gunk.  So, surely these things were all related, and something good would happen if I could remove the bolt.  But no matter what combination of words I used, it just wouldn’t do anything.

I’d been playing for an hour by this time, so decided to call it a day for now.  I’ll resume again soon, although I can’t promise that I won’t have looked up how to remove the bolt before I try again :)

A transcript of my adventure can is below

G>ZORK1

ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire
Copyright (c) 1981, 1982, 1983 Infocom, Inc. All rights
reserved.
ZORK is a registered tn field west of a white house, with
a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.

>OPEN MAILBOX
Opening the small mailbox reveals a leaflet.

>READ LEAFLET
(Taken)
"WELCOME TO ZORK!

ZORK is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it
you will explore some of the most ama
>SOUTH
South of House
You are facing the south side of a white house. There is no
door here, and all the windows are boarded.

>EAST
Behind House
You are behind the white house. A path leads into the forest
to the east. In one corner of the house there is a small
window which is slightly ajar.

>OPEN WINDOW
With great effort, you open the window far enough to allow
entry.

>ENTER WINDOW
Kitchen
You are in the kitchen of the white house. A table seems to
have been used recently for the preparation of food. A pasing on the table.
The glass bottle contains:
  A quantity of water

>GET BOTTLE
Taken.

>UP
You have moved into a dark place.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

>DOWN
Kitchen
On the table is an elongated brown sack, smelling of hot
peppers.

>WEST
Living Room
You are in the living room. There is a doorway to the east, a
wooden door with strange gothic lettering to the wes
>GET LANTERN
Taken.

>OPEN TROPHY CASE
Opened.

>GET SWORD
Taken.

>I
You are carrying:
  A sword
  A brass lantern
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quantity of water
  A le
>W
The door is nailed shut.

>E
Kitchen
On the table is an elongated brown sack, smelling of hot
peppers.

>UP
You have moved into a dark place.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

>USE LAMP
I don't know the word "use".

>TURN ON LAMP
The brass lantern is now on.

Attic
This is the attic. The only exit is a stairway leading down.
A large coil of rope is lying in the corner.
On a table is
>GET ALL
nasty knife: Taken.
rope: Taken.

>I
You are carrying:
  A rope
  A nasty knife
  A sword
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A glass bottle
  The glass bott
>I
You are carrying:
  A rope
  A nasty knife
  A sword
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quantity of
>I
You are carrying:
  A rope
  A nasty knife
  A sword
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quantity of water
  A lea
>LOOK
Attic
This is the attic. The only exit is a stairway leading down.
There is a table here.

>D
Kitchen
On the table is an elongated brown sack, smelling of hot
peppers.

>W
Living Room

>D
You can't go that way.

>LOOK
Living Room
You are in the living room. There is a doorway to the east, a
wooden door with strange gothic lettering to the wes
>GET RUG
The rug is extremely heavy and cannot be carried.

>LIFT RUG
The rug is too heavy to lift, but in trying to take it you
have noticed an irregularity beneath it.

>MOVE RUG
With a great effort, the rug is moved to one side of the room,
revealing the dusty cover of a closed trap door.

>OPEN TRAP DOOR
The door reluctantly opens to reveal a rickety staircase
descending into darkness.

>DOWN
The trap door crashes shut, and you hear someone barring it.

Cellar
You are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passageway
leading north, and a crawlway to the south. On the wes
>S
East of Chasm
You are on the east edge of a chasm, the bottom of which
cannot be seen. A narrow passage goes north, and the pa
>E
Gallery
This is an art gallery. Most of the paintings have been stolen
by vandals with exceptional taste. The vandals left thr
>GET PAINTING
Taken.

>I
You are carrying:
  A painting
  A rope
  A nasty knife
  A sword
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A
>N
Studio
This appears to have been an artist's studio. The walls and
floors are splattered with paints of 69 different colors.

>GET PAPER
Taken.
Someone carrying a large bag is casually leaning against one
of the walls here. He does not speak, but it is clear fromaspect that the bag will be taken only over his dead body.
Your sword has begun to glow very brightly.

>TALK TO MAN
The thief is a strong, silent type.
The thief pauses for a moment, perhaps thinking that you
should re-read the manual.

>KILL THEIF
I don't know the word "theif".

>KILL MAN
What do you want to kill the man with?

>KILL MAN WITH KINDNESS
I don't know the word "kindness".

>L\KILL MAN WITH SWRO  OW RD
I don't know the word "l\kill".

>KILL MAN WITH SWR ORD
The thief is confused and can't fight back.
The thief slowly regains his feet.

>G
You charge, but the thief jumps nimbly aside.
The stiletto flashes faster than you can follow, and blood
wells from your leg.

>G
Your stroke lands, but it was only the flat of the blade.
The thief just left, still carrying his large bag. You may not
have 
>I
You are carrying:
  A ZORK owner's manual
  A rope
  A nasty knife
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quantity o
>KILL MAN WITH KNIFE
You can't see any man here!

>LOOK
Studio
This appears to have been an artist's studio. The walls and
floors are splattered with paints of 69 different colors.
Strangel
>U
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>WESW T
You can't go that way.

>S
Gallery

>LOOK
Gallery
This is an art gallery. Most of the paintings have been stolen
by vandals with exceptional taste. The vandals left t
>W
East of Chasm

>N
Cellar

>UP
The trap door is closed.

>S
East of Chasm

>W
You can't go that way.

>N E
Gallery

>N
Studio

>UP
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>I
You are carrying:
  A ZORK owner's manual
  A rope
  A nasty knife
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quantity of water
 
>READ MANUAL

Congratulations!

You are the privileged owner of ZORK I: The Great Underground
Empire, a self-contained and self-maintainie operation.



>READ LEAFLET
"WELCOME TO ZORK!

ZORK is a game of adventure, danger, and low cunning. In it
you will explore some of the most amazing terr
>DROP LEAFLET
Dropped.

>DROP MANUAL
Dropped.

>UP
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>DROP ROPE
Dropped.

>DROP BOTTLE
Dropped.

>UP
Kitchen
On the table is an elongated brown sack, smelling of hot
peppers.

>GET SACK
Taken.

>D
Only Santa Claus climbs down chimneys.

>W
Living Room

>OPEN DOOR
Which door do you mean, the wooden door or the trap door?

>OPEN TRAP DOOR
The door reluctantly opens to reveal a rickety staircase
descending into darkness.

>D
The trap door crashes shut, and you hear someone barring it.

Cellar

>S
East of Chasm

>E
Gallery

>N
Studio
There is a glass bottle here.
The glass bottle contains:
  A quantity of water
There is a rope here.
There is a ZORK owner's manual here.
A small
>GET ALL
glass bottle: Taken.
rope: Taken.
ZORK owner's manual: Taken.
leaflet: Taken.

>I
You are carrying:
  A leaflet
  A ZORK owner's manual
  A rope
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quantit  A brass lantern (providing light)

>U
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>S
Gallery

>W
East of Chasm

>N
Cellar

>N
The Troll Room
This is a small room with passages to the east and south and a
forbidding hole leading west. Bloodstains and de
>TALK TO TROLL
The troll isn't much of a conversationalist.
The troll pauses for a moment, perhaps thinking that you
should re-read the manua
>LOOK
The Troll Room
This is a small room with passages to the east and south and a
forbidding hole leading west. Bloodstains and de
>E
The troll fends you off with a menacing gesture.

>S
Cellar

>W
You try to ascend the ramp, but it is impossible, and you
slide back down.

>
I beg your pardon?



//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

This is where I reset the ESP8266 and waited for everyone to reconnect

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


Connected to Serial on 192.168.0.14

I beg your pardon?

>I
You are carrying:
  A leaflet
  A ZORK owner's manual
  A rope
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quant
>I
You are carrying:
  A leaflet
  A ZORK owner's manual
  A rope
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quant  A nasty knife
  A brass lantern (providing light)

>LOOK
Cellar
You are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passageway
leading north, and a crawlway to the south. On the west is
I beg your pardon?

>
I beg your pardon?

>I
You are carrying:
  A leaflet
  A ZORK owner's manual
  A rope
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quantity of water
  A brown sack
  A nasty knife
  A brass lantern (providing light)

>
I beg your pardon?

>LOOK
Cellar
You are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passageway
leading north, and a crawlway to the south. On the west is tUSE ROPE
I don't know the word "use".

>ROPE
There was no verb in that sentence!

>CLIMB WITH ROPE
That would involve quite a contortion!

>N
The Troll Room
A nasty-looking troll, brandishing a bloody axe, blocks all
passages out of the room.
The flat of the troll'Conquering his fears, the troll puts you to death.
It appears that that last blow was too much for you. I'm
afraid you are deaRESTART
Your score is 29 (total of 350 points), in 91 moves.
This gives you the rank of Amateur Adventurer.
Do you wish to restart? 

>RESTART
Your score is 29 (total of 350 points), in 91 moves.
This gives you the rank of Amateur Adventurer.
Do you wish to restart? Y
Restarting.
ZORK I: The Great Underground Empire
Copyright (c) 1981, 1982, 1983 Infocom, Inc. All rights
reserved.
ZORK is a registered tOPEN MAILBOX
Opening the small mailbox reveals a leaflet.

>GET LEAFLET
Taken.

>S
South of House
You are facing the south side of a white house. There is no
door here, and all the windows are boarded.

>E
Behind House
You are behind the white house. A path leads into the forest
to the east. In one corner of the house there is a sOPEN WINDOW
With great effort, you open the window far enough to allow
entry.

>ENTER WINDOW
Kitchen
You are in the kitchen of the white house. A table seems to
have been used recently for the preparation of food. A pas
>GET BOTTLE
Taken.

>GET SACK
Taken.

>W
Living Room
You are in the living room. There is a doorway to the east, a
wooden door with strange gothic lettering to the w
>GET LAMP
Taken.

>OPEN TROPHY CASE
Opened.

>GET SWORD
Taken.

>E
Kitchen

>U
You have moved into a dark place.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

>LIGHT LAMP
The brass lantern is now on.

Attic
This is the attic. The only exit is a stairway leading down.
A large coil of rope is lyi
>GET ROPE
Taken.

>GET KNIFE
Taken.

>D
Kitchen

>W
Living Room

>MOVE RUG
With a great effort, the rug is moved to one side of the room,
revealing the dusty cover of a closed trap door.

>OPEN TRAP DOOR
The door reluctantly opens to reveal a rickety staircase
descending into darkness.

>DOWN
The trap door crashes shut, and you hear someone barring it.

Cellar
You are in a dark and damp cellar with a narrow passagewS
East of Chasm
You are on the east edge of a chasm, the bottom of which
cannot be seen. A narrow passage goes north, and the paE
Gallery
This is an art gallery. Most of the paintings have been stolen
by vandals with exceptional taste. The vandals left tainting of unparalleled beauty.

>GET PAINTING
Your load is too heavy.

>GET PAINTING
Your load is too heavy.

>N
Studio
This appears to have been an artist's studio. The walls and
floors are splattered with paints of 69 different colors.
GET PAPER
Taken.

>READ PAPER

Congratulations!

You are the privileged owner of ZORK I: The Great Underground
Empire, a self-contained and self-maintaiDROP PAPER
Dropped.

>DROP LEAFLET
Dropped.

>S
Gallery
Fortunately, there is still one chance for you to be a vandal,
for on the far wall is a painting of unparalleled bea
>GET PAINTING
Your load is too heavy.

>I
You are carrying:
  A nasty knife
  A rope
  A sword
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A brown sack
  A glass bottle
>DROP SWO   ROPE
Dropped.

>GET PAINTING
Taken.

>GET ROE PE
Your load is too heavy.

>N
Studio
A small leaflet is on the ground.
There is a ZORK owner's manual here.
A seedy-looking individual with a large bag just wandered
through the room. On the way through, he quietly abstracted
some valI
You are carrying:
  A nasty knife
  A sword
  A brass lantern (providing light)
  A brown sack
  A glass bottle
  The gl
>U
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>DROP BOTTLE
Dropped.

>UP
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>DROP SACK
Dropped.

>UP
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>GET ALL
brown sack: Taken.
glass bottle: Taken.
leaflet: Taken.
ZORK owner's manual: Taken.

>PUT ALL IN SACK
ZORK owner's manual: The brown sack isn't open.
leaflet: The brown sack isn't open.
glass bottle: The brown sack isn't open.

>OPEN SACK
Opening the brown sack reveals a lunch, and a clove of garlic.

>PUT ALL IN SACK
ZORK owner's manual: Done.
leaflet: There's no room.
glass bottle: There's no room.
brown sack: How can you do that?
nasty knife: There's no room.
sword:

>EAT U LUNCH
Thank you very much. It really hit the spot.

>PUT ALL IN SACK
leaflet: Done.
glass bottle: There's no room.
brown sack: How can you do that?
nasty knife: There's no room.
sword: There's brass lantern: There's no room.

>U
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>I
You are carrying:
  A glass bottle
  The glass bottle contains:
    A quantity of water
  A brown sack
  The brown sack c
>DRINK WATER
You'll have to open the glass bottle first.

>I OPEN BOTTLE
Opened.

>DRINK WATER
Thank you very much. I was rather thirsty (from all this
talking, probably).

>DROP BOTTLE
Dropped.

>U
You can't get up there with what you're carrying.

>I
You are carrying:
  A brown sack
  The brown sack contains:
    A leaflet
    A ZORK owner's manual
    A clove of garlic
S
Gallery
There is a rope here.

>W
East of Chasm

>N
Cellar
Your sword is glowing with a faint blue glow.

>N
The Troll Room
This is a small room with passages to the east and south and a
forbidding hole leading west. Bloodstains and deFIGHT TROLL WITH SWORD
Your sword crashes down, knocking the troll into dreamland.

>E
East-West Passage
This is a narrow east-west passageway. There is a narrow
stairway leading down at the north end of the roo
>E
Round Room
This is a circular stone room with passages in all directions.
Several of them have unfortunately been blocked by
>E
Loud Room
This is a large room with a ceiling which cannot be detected
from the ground. There is a narrow passage from east toGET BAR
bar bar ...

>I
i i ...

>
I beg your pardon?

>GET BAR
bar bar ...

>BARBRAANN
barbraann barbraann ...

>GET BAR
bar bar ...

>BAR BAR
bar bar ...

>BLACK SHEEP
sheep sheep ...

>GET BAR BAR
bar bar ...

>I
i i ...

>I
i i ...

>I
i i ...

>W
Round Room

>N
North-South Passage
This is a high north-south passage, which forks to the
northeast.

>NE
Deep Canyon
You are on the south edge of a deep canyon. Passages lead off
to the east, northwest and southwest. A stairway lNW
Reservoir South
You are in a long room on the south shore of a large lake, far
too deep and wide for crossing.
There is a p
>W
Stream View
You are standing on a path beside a gently flowing stream. The
path follows the stream, which flows from west toN
You can't go that way.

>W
The stream emerges from a spot too small for you to enter.

>W E
Reservoir South

>E
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. Ther
>GET BUBBLE
It is an integral part of the control panel.

>P EXAMINE BUBBLE
There's nothing special about the green bubble.

>EXAMINE BOLT
There's nothing special about the bolt.

>GET BOLT
It is an integral part of the control panel.

>GET BOLT
It is an integral part of the control panel.

>OXY OFF CONTROL PANEL
I don't know the word "oxy".

>I
You are carrying:
  A brown sack
  The brown sack contains:
    A leaflet
    A ZORK owner's manual
    A clove of garlic
HIT BOLT WOT  ITH SWORD
I've known strange people, but fighting a bolt?

>E
Dam Base
You are at the base of Flood Control Dam #3, which looms above
you and to the north. The river Frigid is flowing by
>GET PLASTIC
Taken.

>EXAMINE PLASTIC
There's nothing special about the pile of plastic.

>N
Dam

>LOOK
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. Ther>USE PLASTIC ON BUBBLE
I don't know the word "use".

>PUT PLASTIC ON BUBBLE
There's no good surface on the green bubble.

>GET BUBBLE
It is an integral part of the control panel.

>EXAMINE BUBBLE
There's nothing special about the green bubble.

>N
Dam Lobby
This room appears to have been the waiting room for groups
touring the dam. There are open doorways here to the no
>GET B MATCHBOOK
Taken.

>EXAMINE MATCHBOOK
The matchbook isn't very interesting, except for what's
written on it.

>READ MATCHBOOK

(Close cover before striking)

YOU too can make BIG MONEY in the exciting field of PAPER
SHUFFLING!

Mr. Anderson of MuddG

(Close cover before striking)

YOU too can make BIG MONEY in the exciting field of PAPER
SHUFFLING!

Mr. Anderson of MuddG

(Close cover before striking)

YOU too can make BIG MONEY in the exciting field of PAPER
SHUFFLING!

Mr. Anderson of MuTech I feel really important and can obfuscate and confuse
with the best."

Dr. Blank had this to say: "Ten short days ago alN
Maintenance Room
This is what appears to have been the maintenance room for
Flood Control Dam #3. Apparently, this room hasGET ALL
group of tool chests: The chests are so rusty and corroded
that they crumble when you touch them.
wrench: Your load is too hI
You are carrying:
  A screwdriver
  A matchbook
  A pile of plastic
  A brown sack
  The brown sack contains:
    A leaDROP W SWORD
Dropped.

>TURN OFF LAP MP
The brass lantern is now off.
It is now pitch black.

>DROP LA       LIGHT LAMP
The brass lantern is now on.

Maintenance Room
This is what appears to have been the maintenance room for
Flood Control Dam #3. Apparently, this room has GET WRENCH
Taken.

>S
Dam Lobby
Some guidebooks entitled "Flood Control Dam #3" are on the
reception desk.

>S GET GUIDEBOOKS
Taken.

>S
Dam

>LOOK
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. 
>U REMOVE BOLT WITH WRENCH
That sentence isn't one I recognize.

>UNDO BOLT WITH WRENCH
I don't know the word "undo".

>TAKE BOLT WITH WRENCH
That sentence isn't one I recognize.

>TAKE BOLT
It is an integral part of the control panel.

>UNSCREW BOLT WITH WRENCH
I don't know the word "unscrew".

>I
You are carrying:
  A tour guidebook
  A wrench
  A screwdriver
  A matchbook
  A pile of plastic
  A brown sack
  The READ GUIDEBOOK
" Flood Control Dam #3

FCD#3 was constructed in year 783 of the Great Underground
Empire to harness the mighty Frigid RiPUSH BOLT
Pushing the bolt isn't notably helpful.

>PULL BOLT
You can't move the bolt.

>MOVE BOLT WITH WRENCH
The bolt won't turn with your best effort.

>N
Dam Lobby

>N
Maintenance Room
There is a sword here.
There is an object which looks like a tube of toothpaste here.

>EXAMINE TOOTHA\  PASTE
I don't know the word "toothpaste".

>EXAMINE TUBE
---> Frobozz Magic Gunk Company <---
   All-Purpose Gunk

>GET TUBE
Taken.

>GET SWORD
Your load is too heavy.

>S
Dam Lobby

>S
Dam

>PUT GUNK ON BOLT
You don't have that!

>I
You are carrying:
  A tube
  A tour guidebook
  A wrench
  A screwdriver
  A matchbook
  A pile of plastic
  A brown sPUTTUB    TUBE ON BOLT
There's no good surface on the bolt.

>SQUEEZE TUBE ON BOLT
You can't do that.

>
I beg your pardon?

>EXAMINE TUBE
---> Frobozz Magic Gunk Company <---
   All-Purpose Gunk

>MAKE BOLT UNDO
I don't know the word "undo".

>MAKE BU OLT LOOSE WITH G TUBE OF GUNK
I don't know the word "loose".

>I
You are carrying:
  A tube
  A tour guidebook
  A wrench
  A screwdriver
  A matchbook
  A pile of plastic
  A brown sa  A brass lantern (providing light)

>LOOK
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. Thermounted. Directly above the bolt is a small green plastic
bubble.

>CUT BUBBLE WITH KNIFE
Strange concept, cutting the green bubble....

>TURN BOLT WTH    ITH WRENCH
The bolt won't turn with your best effort.

>PRESS BUBBLE
Pushing the green bubble has no effect.

>PU OUR TUBE ON BOLT
You can't pour that.

>DROP TUBE ON BOLT
There's no good surface on the bolt.
The robber, rummaging through his bag, dropped a few items he
found valueless.

>LOOK
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. TheThere is a sword here.

>GET SWORD
Your load is too heavy.

>DROP SCREWDRIVER
Dropped.

>GET SWORD
Your load is too heavy.

>I
You are carrying:
  A tube
  A tour guidebook
  A wrench
  A matchbook
  A pile of plastic
  A brown sack
  The brown sDROP GUIDEBOOK
Dropped.

>GET SWORD
Your load is too heavy.

>DROP SACK
Dropped.

>GET SWORD
Taken.

>GET D SACK
Your load is too heavy.

>LOOK
Dam
You are standing on the top of the Flood Control Dam #3, which
was quite a tourist attraction in times far distant. TheThere is a brown sack here.
The brown sack contains:
  A leaflet
  A ZORK owner's manual
  A clove of garlic
There is a touPRAY
If you pray enough, your prayers may be answered.

>SAVE
Load SAVE disk then enter file name.
(default file name is ZORK1.SAV).
Type <ENTER> to continue  > FIRSTGO

Load Game Disk if it was removed.
Type <ENTER> to continue >

Ok.

>

The YouTube stream can be found here https://youtu.be/Gdjq2Rb9y64 But, really, it’s probably not going to be one of those thing I expect anybody to sit through!

 

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