So, I was kicking around an idea for the 30th anniversary IFComp (in 2025), as a donation for prizes. But to pull it off, I’d need to be able to make a cast.
Who among us still has an original Infocom Zorkmid hanging around? I suspect a handful are lurking among us. Not doing anything just yet, just trying to determine how prevalent they are.
Also, anyone have a pile of dead 3 1/2 floppies from that era they don’t have any use for?
I only have the Get Lamp version. It’s mine. It’s precious.
I was thinking about stripping the steel from the floppies. Given the dimensions of the coin and the amount of steel in the hub and the shutter of a floppy, I figure it’d take 3 and a half 3 1/2 floppies to cast one coin. 70 floppies would make 20 coins.
The 2020 IFComp holds the record for entries, 117, but the recent average is ~80. So if I were to budget for 120, that’d be 420 floppies.
A steel zorkmid cast from the hearts of dead IF floppies would be a really awesome 30th anniversary prize.
I’ve got nearly 2 years, so might as well swing big.
The Zorkmid is the only good feelie associated with the gray box content for the Zork Trilogy. Which is why I haven’t got one! Getting one without buying the gray box trilogy would be super cool! I would be happy with it as a prize.
I do have an Enchanter pin, which I like quite a bit.
Edit: oh, I misunderstood.
Yeah, given that I found an original one selling on ebay for $500, I figured procuring an original as an actual prize was not going to be easy (or at least not inexpensive). But creating a cast from the original might be easier. Obviously, if funds work out, it’d be awesome to have one original zorkmid as the 1st prize as well, but I dunno if I could pull that off in time.
I never had a Zorkmid because the Personal Software edition predates feelies.
(I did just find my Wishbringer stone in a box, though.)
Yeah, I know they’re fairly rare because they were only shipped with the Trilogy grey box, but Infocom did run off 20,000 of them at the time. Surely a few are still hiding around?
There’s a cheaper one, but you can get, say, a Japanese Sega Saturn copy of Zork I for much cheaper.
I do think people overestimate the popularity of Zork (and Infocom generally) in the contemporary IF community. While Zork made Victor’s 2019 “best of” poll, I think its days in such polls are numbered. There are a lot of people playing and making games that don’t know what a Zorkmid is. I don’t think [redacted] has completed a Zork game, and he plays tons of parser IF. That’s not a dig at [redacted]! It just illustrates that a prolific and thoughtful critic can get by without Zork these days.
This isn’t a knock on Zork. Everybody knows I love Zork. Except for Zork Zero. Don’t get me started!
Not to discourage you! But maybe commemorating a game from the first comp would please more people. Or something near the top of one of Victor’s polls.
Nice! That manual is huge!
I had the C64 version.
I do have blister packs (unopened) for I, II, and III lying around. They aren’t the same size, though, which bugs me.
It’s mine! (Yes)
Something durable like a coin would be cool and appropriate for the 30th anniversary, and I concede your point about Zork’s diminishing relevance, but I haven’t had any better ideas. Also thought casting them from floppy skeletons was sorta metal, heh.
I think my ears are burning (or I’m just an egotist who sees “[redacted]” and thinks “ooh, I bet they’re talking about me!”) But it’s true, I’ve only faffed around a little bit in Zork I, and have never even tried II or III.
I’d still think a zorkmid would be a cool prize, though – I’ve read and enjoyed a bunch of histories, analyses, and appreciations of the Zork games and understand the role they played in getting us to where we are now, which I think is probably fairly common these days. Anyway it’s probably easier to wrangle a zorkmid than to counterfeit a monkey (haven’t played that one either. Man!)
I like the idea, but i also have to agree with @kamineko that the Zork relevancy has waned. Especially considering the 30 years of IFComp is all post-Infocom anyhow.
Nevertheless, the idea of minting a coin is still cool. I must have stacks of old floppies here somewhere, if you need some. Will need some sorting out tho’
Alright, I’m getting back meh on the Zorkmid, but folks like the cast coins idea.
If I were to do something other than a Zorkmid, what would you all suggest? Any other as easily recognized coin concept in IF, or perhaps a custom designed coin, like the Get Lamp coin above? If the latter, what should be on the design? I’m assuming folks would want something unique that commemorates their participation in the 30th anniversary IFComp?
Thanks! I’ll keep you in mind assuming we get things ironed out here.
Also @Encorm helpfully pointed out that I can pick up a 3D printed nonmetal Zorkmid for fairly cheap, which would solve the casting issue. With that said, I’m now unsure that’s the best course of action.
I think a Zorkmid is a great idea!
Last weeks mega-event, still call its trophy “The Vince Lombardi Trophy”, and Vince Lombardi has been dead for over 50 years.
Celebrate the history and honour the founders!
Despite the fact that I’ve never played Zork I’m totally on board with the idea. 1) I like the connection to IF history even if I’m not a fan, and 2) the caveman part of my brain is going SHINY OBJECT. WANT! So that’s my two cents.
Making a custom coin is obviously going to be harder than one where the design already exists, but I’d be happy with that as well for similar reasons. (I know roughly what needs to happen to make a custom design but I don’t have the skills to do most parts of it, so I might be able to help out some if you go this route.)
I’ve done a great deal of casting, and I have a proposal.
You can get casting rubber at any art supply store and make a cast of each side of a zorkmid. Anyone who has an original can do this very easily.
Then a cheap and easy way to make coins is to do resin casts from the mold with a metallic-tinted 2-part epoxy resin. Cheap and easy. Metal casting is harder and more expensive to do.
Actually, I think shipping counterfeit monkeys would be a lot easier than real live ones. Customs issues and all that.
If it were just a feelie or a participation token for some random comp, I’d readily agree. I really wanted to do something special for the 30th anniversary of IFComp, though. There’s visceral appeal to a thick heavy metal coin that epoxy simply can’t match. They may look the same, but they wouldn’t feel the same. I’ll keep it in mind, as I haven’t fully committed to a path yet here, but, assuming I can pull it off, I know what I’d prefer.
Are you sure that 3.5" floppy shutters were steel? I’m not readily finding an answer online, but would have thought one would prefer something unmagnetizable for that.
