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What Is This?
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"This" is a collection of the complete maps to Infocom's Zork Zero:  The
Revenge of Megaboz, done in the same style as the maps that came with
Infocom's InvisiClues packages.  They are split into 16 JPEG images.
KEY is the map key, and MAP01 to MAP15 are the maps to each sub-section
of the game, divided and named according to the in-game automap.  Also
mapped are some areas not included in the automap, like the construction
site and the chessboard plain.  Together, these maps should include
every room that can conceivably be entered over the course of playing
Zork Zero.

Why?  I'm a crazy fan of the Zork series, and I've always enjoyed
mapping all the remote nooks and crannies of the Great Underground
Empire.  Good maps to most of the original text adventures set in
Quendor (the Zork and Enchanter trilogies, Beyond Zork, and Wishbringer)
are readily available from a variety of sources, but Zork Zero has
always been left out.  I suppose everyone felt mapping the largest of
the Zorks wasn't worth the trouble because of the automap feature.  I
disagree, and I hope this series of maps will fill the void.

The contents of the files are as follows:

README.TXT	This (long-winded) intro
KEY.JPG		Map key
MAP01.JPG	Flathead Castle, main floor (with east & west wings)
MAP02.JPG	Flathead Castle, secret wing
MAP03.JPG	Flathead Castle, lower levels
MAP04.JPG	Flathead Castle, underground lake, mountain, woods, etc.
MAP05.JPG	Flathead Castle, underground desert
MAP06.JPG	Flathead Castle, baileys & village
MAP07.JPG	Port Foozle & underground highway
MAP08.JPG	Fenshire, ruined summer castle
MAP09.JPG	Flathead Fjord
MAP10.JPG	Gray Mountains
MAP11.JPG	Frigid River Delta
MAP12.JPG	Fublio Valley
MAP13.JPG	Antharia
MAP14.JPG	Rockville Estates construction site
MAP15.JPG	Magic chessboard

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Specific Comments on the Maps
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- The bat that periodically picks you up and deposits you in various
  locations will on rare occasions take you to the Bat's Lair (Map 5).
  There is no other way to reach this room that I know of (other than
  by leaving the perch there and transporting to it via pigeon).

- A west exit is shown from the Stream (Map 5).  This exit initially
  appears on the automap, but disappears when you attempt to use it.
  Therefore, the exit is indicated, but as a "transient" exit (see key).

- There is no easy way to get to the Penthouse on top of FrobozzCo HQ
  (Map 6) short of climbing up all 400 floors.  Do you suppose I was
  obsessive-compulsive enough to visit all 1,592 offices along the way
  in search of anything interesting?  You bet I was!  Unfortunately,
  other than the T-square and note near the bottom, there was a damaged
  instruction booklet for the pigeon & perch somewhere, I believe, on
  the 192nd floor, and that's about it.

- Surrounded by Water (Map 5) is an instant-death room reached by
  throwing the pigeon perch into the lake or moat and transporting to it
  using the pigeon.  Pevaricon Territory and Veritassi Territory (Map 8)
  are instant-death rooms reached by making an incorrect choice in the
  Room of Three Doors.  I included these rooms in the map because when
  they are reached, the descriptive text that accompanies the death
  message offers a room name just as an ordinary room would.  However,
  there are a handful of other instant-death locations that do not give
  a room name in the death message and therefore were not included in
  the maps.  These are: the alien world (reached by throwing the perch
  from under the world and "pigeoning" to it); the castle moat (reached
  by waiting for the jester to turn you into an alligator and then
  entering it); a "surrounded by earth" location (reached by throwing
  the perch off the gondola or other high place and "pigeoning" to it);
  a location in Antharia (reached by trying to throw the perch over the
  barricade and "pigeoning" to it).  There may be others I can't think
  of right now.

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Work in progress
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- Include a list of items immediately visible in each room (just like in
  the original InvisiClues maps).  I've actually done this already for
  my personal handwritten Zork Zero maps, but I didn't get around to
  typing them up for these maps.  Lazy me.

- Designate each room as an outdoor, indoor, or underground location, as
  indicated by the graphics in the margins of the game screen.

- On each page include the general region names given in the status line
  (ie, Flatheadia, Fenshire, Unknown, etc).

- Shade or somehow highlight unlit areas.

- Combine some of the smaller maps into single JPEGs, to cut down on the
  number of files.

- Aesthetic considerations, such as thicker room connections, or maybe a
  tastefully understated background like in some of Infocom's original
  maps.

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Links to Maps for Other Infocom Games
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- Druadic's Apple // and IBM Adventure Map Archives

  For cartographers like me, this is a great site, with a HUGE
  collection of maps for all sorts of old adventure games (this is the
  only place on the internet where you can find maps for Wishbringer and
  many other Infocom adventures).  Also covers old computer RPGs, in
  addition to interactive fiction.

  http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/druadic/archives.html

  This site, I believe, is eventually going to move to

  http://www.adventuremaps.com/

- Jacob Gunness' The Classic Adventures Solutions Archive

  One of my favorite sites, with a large collection of solutions and
  maps for games on many old platforms.  You'll find here walkthroughs
  for a lot of very difficult games, hints for which aren't available
  anywhere else on the internet (for example, such infamous titles as
  Adventure Soft's Blizzard Pass, Melbourne House's Castle of Terror,
  and Acornsoft's Philosopher's Quest)

  http://hjem.get2net.dk/gunn/

- Peter Scheyen's INFOCOM homepage

  A fantastic tribute to Infocom.  Offers walkthroughs, several maps,
  historical information, version information, transcribed articles,
  Infocom-related, etc.  You can also download from here Zork I, II, and
  III, which have been released as freeware by Activision.

  http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/

- Robin Lionheart's Chronology of Quendor

  No maps here, but Robin has done an impressive job of compiling and
  reconciling a tremendous amount of contradictory information from
  Infocom's games, to create this extremely informative timeline.  A
  must-visit for any serious scholar of the Great Underground Empire.

  http://www.robinlionheart.com/quendor/

  (In the past, this site has moved around a lot, but I think it's
  finally settled down for a while.)

- The Interactive Fiction Archive, maintained by Volker Blasius

  Immense collection of stuff on interactive fiction.  Tons of
  shareware and freeware games, walkthroughs, adventure authoring
  systems, etc.  You name it, it's here.  Except for maps to Zork Zero.
  Let's just see about that.  :)

  ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive

  My favorite eastern United States mirror...

  http://www.ifarchive.org

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Closing Remarks
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I have spent a long time insuring that these maps are complete and
accurate, as well as looking for new and interesting locations using the
pigeon and perch.  Of course, there are could always be mistakes or
things I missed.  I am VERY interested in hearing about inaccuracies,
regardless of how trivial they might be -- e.g., even if it's just an
inappropriately capitalized letter that was lowercase in the room name
given in the status line.  You can go ahead and e-mail me even if you
don't have any quibbles -- it's always nice to know the effort wasn't a
waste of my time and somebody else is as interested as I am in the
geography of the Great Underground Empire.  :)

For at least the next two years I can be reached at

mcavagna@umaryland.edu

After that, you can try

marco@forstle.com

Enjoy!

Marco Cavagna
May 1, 2000


(Infocom, Zork and Quendor are trademarks of Activision)
