Return to Zork (1993 DOS)

Edit history:

uematsufreak: 2016-02-12 11:47:33 pm

uematsufreak: 2016-02-12 09:35:17 pm

2016-02-12 09:33:36 pm

I've been toying around with a path for an Any% run of the gog.com version of Return to Zork lately, and my second attempt was a 34:02. I plan on streaming future attempts and am curious if anyone else is interested in trying to crack this game open with me.

I've been starting the clock when you click to activate the first Wizard Trembyle clip and ending it on the final move in the Survivor game against Morphius. Here's a list of things I skip with my current path:
* All but two Wizard Trembyle clips.
* Talking to the Lighthouse Keeper at the beginning.
* Ms. Peepers altogether.
* The silo of carrots.
* The sword voucher.
* The Inn of Isenough.
* All but one bat animation in the Whispering Woods.
* The Money Tree in the Forest of the Spirits.
* The Tree Spirit in the Forest of the Spirits.
* All "You stink!" interactions.
* Those friggin' bogs. I never have to do them again!
* Items skipped: Crank, battery, mice (obviously), notebook, carrots

Things I *want* to be able to skip:
* The ferry animation on the way to Canuk's.
* The whole Boos Myller ritual. Want some rye? Guh. Takes forever.
* The minecart section.

All glitches I've found in the game so far have been detrimental to the run instead of helpful. Oh, and I need to find out how to manipulate the RNG that determines where Rebecca is when she starts wandering. On both attempts, I only ran into her once, but on a slow run while figuring out the path, I ran into her *three* times, and the path doesn't require any interaction with her after the copy protection question.

If anyone is interested in helping, I'll gladly share notes. (That is, if anyone even remembers this game.) >.<

Thread title:

I've been toying around with a path for an Any% run of the gog.com version of Return to Zork lately, and my second attempt was a 34:02. I plan on streaming future attempts and am curious if anyone else is interested in trying to crack this game open with me.

I've been starting the clock when you click to activate the first Wizard Trembyle clip and ending it on the final move in the Survivor game against Morphius. Here's a list of things I skip with my current path:
* All but two Wizard Trembyle clips.
* Talking to the Lighthouse Keeper at the beginning.
* Ms. Peepers altogether.
* The silo of carrots.
* The sword voucher.
* The Inn of Isenough.
* All but one bat animation in the Whispering Woods.
* The Money Tree in the Forest of the Spirits.
* The Tree Spirit in the Forest of the Spirits.
* All "You stink!" interactions.
* Those friggin' bogs. I never have to do them again!
* Items skipped: Crank, battery, mice (obviously), notebook, carrots

Things I *want* to be able to skip:
* The ferry animation on the way to Canuk's.
* The whole Boos Myller ritual. Want some rye? Guh. Takes forever.
* The minecart section.

All glitches I've found in the game so far have been detrimental to the run instead of helpful. Oh, and I need to find out how to manipulate the RNG that determines where Rebecca is when she starts wandering. On both attempts, I only ran into her once, but on a slow run while figuring out the path, I ran into her *three* times, and the path doesn't require any interaction with her after the copy protection question.

If anyone is interested in helping, I'll gladly share notes. (That is, if anyone even remembers this game.) >.<

uematsufreak

Edit history:

uematsufreak: 2016-02-14 10:34:00 am

2016-02-14 10:33:33 am

Okay, so I feel stupid and realized while running that I can totally skip the mirror in Rebecca's place. The "shiny metal thing" inside Canuk's bottle serves the same purpose. Also, in this run, it's better to give the coin to the ferryman instead of showing it. This is because of something I learned about the endgame.

The way the citadel bridge works is this: (Keep in mind that I didn't do any hacking, so specifics may be wrong, but this is the gist of it.) When you enter the citadel, the game checks your inventory to see how many non-permanent items are in your inventory. (If you're wearing the helmet, it's not counted.) It then figures what percentage each single item is. (If you enter with seventeen items, 0.059 would be a single item value, rounded.) There are eight animations for the bridge, and each time you throw an item at it, it checks to see if your number is above the threshold (1/8 since there are eight animations), and if it is, the bridge does its thing, but ONLY one forward.

So, my strategy is this: just after shooting the hand with Graham's bow and arrows but before entering the Citadel, I drop all but eight non-permanent items, making sure to keep the potion-filled flask. This is because it's quicker to drop items than to throw them (due to the sound effect as well as the fact that you can drop straight from the inventory.) If I were to drop all but the flask, the bridge would only move once even though my number is above the all threshholds.

This also means that it's still advantageous to miss as many items as possible and to give away whatever is possible. Since I only need the ferryman's ride one time, I give him the coin instead of showing so I have one fewer item to drop. Skipping the crank, battery, and carrots helps, as well as not picking up the zorkmid that the blacksmith gives you back for the joke, since this means you end the game with exactly zero zorkmids, so one fewer item to drop. Cheesy

Here's a video to my first recorded run of the game. (There's swearing in the video, and I screwed up some splits, but the ideas are still there. Smiley

)

Okay, so I feel stupid and realized while running that I can totally skip the mirror in Rebecca's place. The "shiny metal thing" inside Canuk's bottle serves the same purpose. Also, in this run, it's better to give the coin to the ferryman instead of showing it. This is because of something I learned about the endgame.

The way the citadel bridge works is this: (Keep in mind that I didn't do any hacking, so specifics may be wrong, but this is the gist of it.) When you enter the citadel, the game checks your inventory to see how many non-permanent items are in your inventory. (If you're wearing the helmet, it's not counted.) It then figures what percentage each single item is. (If you enter with seventeen items, 0.059 would be a single item value, rounded.) There are eight animations for the bridge, and each time you throw an item at it, it checks to see if your number is above the threshold (1/8 since there are eight animations), and if it is, the bridge does its thing, but ONLY one forward.

So, my strategy is this: just after shooting the hand with Graham's bow and arrows but before entering the Citadel, I drop all but eight non-permanent items, making sure to keep the potion-filled flask. This is because it's quicker to drop items than to throw them (due to the sound effect as well as the fact that you can drop straight from the inventory.) If I were to drop all but the flask, the bridge would only move once even though my number is above the all threshholds.

This also means that it's still advantageous to miss as many items as possible and to give away whatever is possible. Since I only need the ferryman's ride one time, I give him the coin instead of showing so I have one fewer item to drop. Skipping the crank, battery, and carrots helps, as well as not picking up the zorkmid that the blacksmith gives you back for the joke, since this means you end the game with exactly zero zorkmids, so one fewer item to drop. :D

Here's a video to my first recorded run of the game. (There's swearing in the video, and I screwed up some splits, but the ideas are still there. :) )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9A3QHtTzzQ

kooz

2016-02-14 10:15:20 pm

Just watched your 32:16 run. Well done. Looks like the route is really well optimized. This was one of my childhood favorites, and I've played through it countless times. I didn't realize so much could be skipped!

uematsufreak

2016-02-14 10:26:30 pm

Thanks.

I still have to get some stuff memorized and in muscle memory, and I'd *really* like to figure out a way to skip some of the more annoying cutscenes. Honestly, I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't simply a way to just glitch past the Wall of Illusion altogether. I'll see if I can somehow accomplish it, but I doubt it's possible. Worth trying, though. Smiley

kooz

Edit history:

kooz: 2016-02-15 12:01:20 am

2016-02-14 11:50:09 pm

Good luck =) BTW, in your run, you made mention of the MPEG (ReelMagic/Mac?) version of the game... Do you have any plans on running that one? I've never had a chance to witness it myself. Could there be any time-saving advantages to running that version (or, perhaps more likely, the floppy version)? I assume that the floppy version would have no spoken dialogue, so text might be easily skipped.

I'm at work currently so I don't have the opportunity to try it out, but I know ScummVM supports the floppy version. I'll have to give it a try when I get home.

Edit: On the topic of ScummVM, I just thought of an idea that might be helpful for figuring out some of the RNG elements you're trying to tackle. ScummVM has emulator-like savestate capabilities. If Rebecca's appearances are governed by something like number of turns or actions, you could possibly devise a way to avoid her altogether. Maybe.

uematsufreak

2016-02-15 05:41:10 am

I wouldn't mind running through all versions of the game to see what can be achieved in each. The main reason I picked the gog.com version first is because it's the most accessible and it's arguably the most controlled on modern computers since the DOSBox settings have already been decided for you. (Also, I think the only thing that is much quicker in the floppy version is the ferry ride since the cutscene is replaced with just a crossfade. Of course, I'm sure I'll find out when I tackle that version.)

Regarding the ReelMagic version of the game, honestly, I'm just another one of those plebians who haven't gotten a chance to play it, either. I have seen the files from the CD play on a modern computer, but because of something the old codec did, modern MPEG codecs have glitchy results with them. I did get to hear Boos say he's too drunk to drive, though.

Regarding Rebecca's appearances, I don't think it's turns or actions that move her, because I spent probably two whole minutes just clicking to and from the Ruins and she never popped up. This deserves more testing, obviously, but at the moment, that's where I stand. Using ScummVM to try to dig up more information sounds like an interesting idea I'll have to look into more while I'm not at work. Smiley

Oh, and random aside, while trying to figure out Rebecca stuff, I learned about this: http://www.twitch.tv/uematsufreak/v/45230357 (Sorry about the length. Skip to 4:26 to see the beginning of the infinite kills.)

I wouldn't mind running through all versions of the game to see what can be achieved in each. The main reason I picked the gog.com version first is because it's the most accessible and it's arguably the most controlled on modern computers since the DOSBox settings have already been decided for you. (Also, I think the only thing that is much quicker in the floppy version is the ferry ride since the cutscene is replaced with just a crossfade. Of course, I'm sure I'll find out when I tackle that version.)

Regarding the ReelMagic version of the game, honestly, I'm just another one of those plebians who haven't gotten a chance to play it, either. I have seen the files from the CD play on a modern computer, but because of something the old codec did, modern MPEG codecs have glitchy results with them. I did get to hear Boos say he's too drunk to drive, though.

Regarding Rebecca's appearances, I don't think it's turns or actions that move her, because I spent probably two whole minutes just clicking to and from the Ruins and she never popped up. This deserves more testing, obviously, but at the moment, that's where I stand. Using ScummVM to try to dig up more information sounds like an interesting idea I'll have to look into more while I'm not at work. :)

Oh, and random aside, while trying to figure out Rebecca stuff, I learned about this: http://www.twitch.tv/uematsufreak/v/45230357 (Sorry about the length. Skip to 4:26 to see the beginning of the infinite kills.)