HORROR OF RYLVANIA AND UNNKULIA ZERO

"The Horror of Rylvania" and "Unnkulia Zero" are two high-quality text adventures available from Adventions. Though the games are both written by the same author, D. A. Leary, they take place in different environments, and offer different challenges.

"Rylvania" is a gothic horror game, and the player character must solve a mystery involving a vampire, an evil scientist, and a haunted castle. The first thing that must be said about the full version of this game is that it is MUCH better than the "demo" version, which only presented the first few locations of the game, and did not show the depth of the different puzzles involved in the full game. In fact, a crucial event occurs just after the point where the demo abruptly ends--a surprise that really draws the player into the world of the game.

But by far the most significant feature that draws the player into the world of the game is Leary's atmospheric text. Press "F10" for a screen shot. . . . --oops! If that didn't work, try the "page down" key:

   >EAST
   Master Bedroom

   You're standing in a gloomy bedchamber that hasn't been used
   in years.  Cobwebs cover everything, and the panelling here
   is scratched and flaking.  A grand old four-poster bed dominates
   the room, and an antique wardrobe stands against one wall.
   Lying on the bed are what appear to be human remains,
   skeletal and ghastly in the pale light that filters in from
   the hall.  The only exit is through a doorway to the west.

   >LOOK AT REMAINS
   The remains are old - mostly just a skeleton though a few
   bits of tattered skin remain.  The head of the skeleton
   appears to have been severed from the body.  A few crumbling
   leaves have been stuffed in the mouth of the skull.

The capital letters would be typed by the player: there are no icons to click here, and no "state-of-the-art" graphics. But, of course, this is interactive fiction (nobody wants a NOVEL to be "state-of-the-art"!): instead, the player gets complex puzzles, and fine descriptive passages. The quest in "Rylvania" unfolds nicely in response to the player's typed input. The puzzles throughout will take quite a bit of thought, but never really become frustrating. The ending is also quite nice, since it presents the player with a moral dilemma that can be solved "successfully" in two different ways.

One thing that I respect the most about "Rylvania" is that the author chose not to spoil the horrific atmosphere of the game by injecting unnecessary humor into the room descriptions. The few jokes in the game result from odd input by the player, or are included as optional "footnotes."

Humor is more of a presence in the second game, "Unnkulia Zero: The Search for Amanda." In fact, thinking humorously is often essential to solving some of the puzzles. Whereas all of the puzzles in "Rylvania" are logical, many of the puzzles in "Zero" involve what we might call a kind of ANTI-logic: the "obvious" use for an object is seldom the right one in this game. Another perverse trick in this game is that you will often easily uncover an object that SEEMS right, only to discover otherwise:

   >THROW BALL TO KID
   The child fields the lightweight ball trivially.  He looks at
   it curiously, then tries to eat it.  A disturbing cracking
   sound fills the air - was that the ball, or the boy's teeth?
   The kids howls in agony, dropping the ball.  You try to quiet
   him, but it's only a matter of seconds before the demon guards
   arrive.

   *** You've perished horribly!  ***

You can guess from this input that there is another, "softer" ball somewhere, and you better hunt for it!

"Unnkulia Zero" takes place in a world that will seem familiar to fans of Infocom's "Zork" series: it is a large game, with many of the locations in an underground cavern. The creatures the player will encounter are quite funny, such as a crazed monk with an obsession for eggs, and a group of demons including "Ug'lee Ist, the six-headed Warlord" and "Gher'ee Phahl- wil, the Bishop of the false prophets of Unnkul." Some of the objects the player must collect to solve puzzles are often particularly amusing: many of them are "cheez" items, made by the incompetent Acme company. For example, if you EXAMINE THE PILLOW the game responds: "The pillow is about as hard as a brick. Tiny letters on one side read 'Acme Soopur-Sopht Downee Pillough.'" Though the game is obviously inspired by the Zork universe, it has a "cheezy" charm all its own.

Of the two games, "Zero" is more difficult: it has more locations, and more objects to keep track of. "Zero" is great because of its humor; "Rylvania" succeeds by creating and maintaining a gothic atmosphere. Both games share a common interface, with some nice options similar to ones implemented in later Infocom text games: there is a small program that will allow you to adjust the screen colors; even better, there is an "undo" option that will let you take back a misguided move, so it's safe to experiment! The parser (the part of the program that interprets the player's typed input) is good in both games--in places where the parser is "tricky," the game messages will usually point the player towards the right phrasing. But the main point is that both games offer an involving and satisfying gaming experience, and are well worth purchasing.

[The games are not shareware: they are available only from Adventions (P. O. Box 851, Columbia, Maryland 21044. Internet e-mail, "dmb@ai.mit.edu").]