Solving the “Zork” Mystery
dpolakovic.space
Solving the “Zork” Mystery
1–10 of 29 posts
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#2I looked into the well known triva about name of most popular text adventure.
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#3I looked into the well known triva about name of most popular text adventure.
Don’t want to be that guy but brace yourself for part 2… if the first one disappointed you in some places, the 2nd is going to beat you to a pulp. And I won’t even start on the third. I’m the kind of person who prefers not to finish a game than to read hints or walkthroughs, and parts 2 and 3 have been sitting on my unfinished stack for literally decades. :(
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#4General jargon like foobar is not that far off in meaning from "unfinished software". I think it's possible there's not really a contradiction between the different sources. The "unfinished software" meaning in the NYT article might have just been an example of one possible use of a more general nonsense word.
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#5General jargon like foobar is not that far off in meaning from "unfinished software". I think it's possible there's not really a contradiction between the different sources. The "unfinished software" meaning in the NYT article might have just been an example of one possible use of a more general nonsense word.
Isn't it supposed to be fubar? fucked up beyond any recognition?
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#6Before I came across Zork, I thought I was quite intelligent...
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#7General jargon like foobar is not that far off in meaning from "unfinished software". I think it's possible there's not really a contradiction between the different sources. The "unfinished software" meaning in the NYT article might have just been an example of one possible use of a more general nonsense word.
Isn't it supposed to be fubar? fucked up beyond any recognition?
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#8General jargon like foobar is not that far off in meaning from "unfinished software". I think it's possible there's not really a contradiction between the different sources. The "unfinished software" meaning in the NYT article might have just been an example of one possible use of a more general nonsense word.
Isn't it supposed to be fubar? fucked up beyond any recognition?
not in code, the tradition has been two words actually, foo and bar
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#9General jargon like foobar is not that far off in meaning from "unfinished software". I think it's possible there's not really a contradiction between the different sources. The "unfinished software" meaning in the NYT article might have just been an example of one possible use of a more general nonsense word.
Isn't it supposed to be fubar? fucked up beyond any recognition?
Yes that’s the original spelling & meaning. But using the spellings foobar, foo, bar, and sometimes baz, have been used for decades in programming as examples, temporary names, stand-ins etc. I just assumed that spelling it foo was meant to distance it from the curse word slightly while simultaneously making the pronunciation more clear (i.e. foo not fuh); foo just makes a good nonsense word.
Re: Solving the “Zork” Mystery
#10Before I came across Zork, I thought I was quite intelligent...
To be fair, the earliest text adventures are brutally, brutally difficult and in many cases, very much unfair! There are nowhere near enough in-game indicators or foreshadowing of what might work in a certain context. Some solutions are obvious, but others are truly ridiculous and won’t realistically be solved without a walkthrough or “invisi-clue” book. All imo, of course.
Back in the 80’s we used to play these games in a group, with one person driving and a group of others helping out. Even then we used to fall back on hints occasionally.