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THE HALLS OF ZK WALKTHROUGH
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By Slartibartfast
To win, install VMS, CDD and DTR on the prototype VAX, pass your physical and
exit interview, then smuggle the system disk out to the helicopter pad and
WAIT, for 175 points. Several things are random, so SAVE often.
BEFORE YOU START
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A few game rules shape the whole route, so read these first.
* Doors: use IN and OUT to go through doors. They open the door for you; a
compass direction stops at a closed door.
* Moves: every command is a move. SCORE shows your move count, which matters
for the petty cash safe in Part 5.
* Darkness: the game is always set at night, and on about one turn in twenty
the lights go out in a random room and every room next to it. Any indoor
room can go dark this way, including the catwalks and mazes, and it stays
dark until the lights are turned back on. The Lab of Implementors and the
Tape Library are dark all the time; the four outdoor rooms never go dark.
Walking from one dark room into another dark room kills you, so turn the
lamp on before you move.
* The lamp: the brass lantern has 120 turns of power in total. Keep it off
unless you are in the dark. Every time you pass through the Lobby, TELL
GUARD, PLEASE START BUILDING LIGHTS. He switches every room back on except
the Lab and Tape Library, which saves lamp power.
* The guard: after move 30 he wanders the building and throws you out to the
entrance unless you are WEARING your badge (Part 2). DROP ALL takes the
badge off and GET ALL only picks it up again, so always WEAR BADGE after a
DROP ALL.
* Travelling light: you can drop things once they've done their job: the
crystal ball after Part 5, and the VMS and CDD tapes after installing
them. The ASCII table in the sack is never needed. Bills, coins, the Coke,
the scratch disk and the card are used up automatically.
* Shortcuts: GET works the same as TAKE and is shorter to type. You can name
several things at once, as in GET SACK AND LAMP. Short names work when
only one thing matches, such as DISK, CARD, DOOR and DOC, and so do short
directions, as in PUSH DOC N.
* The maze: a cleaning crew roams the maze and moves anything you leave
there. Never drop things in a maze room.
* Talking to people: use TELL, for example TELL GUARD, PLEASE GIVE KEYS TO
ME. The guard only obeys if you say PLEASE.
* Saving: SAVE ZK1 and RESTORE ZK1. The officer's timing, the safe
combination, the coin machine and the lights are all random, so save
before each part.
PART 1: INTO THE BUILDING
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The crystal door opens when you say the phrase spelled out by the rods on the
wall: DIGITAL SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (25 points).
You start at the Helicopter Pad.
1. E to the Woods. GET SACK AND LAMP. The sack holds an ASCII table. Leave
the heavy sword behind; it isn't needed.
2. E to the Clearing, then N to the Building Entrance.
3. EXAMINE WALL if you want the puzzle. The wall shows 26 blocks of seven
black and white rods: each block is one character in 7-bit binary.
4. SAY DIGITAL SOFTWARE ENGINEERING. The crystal door clicks open.
5. IN to the Antechamber, then IN to the Lobby. The newspapers in the
Antechamber are optional reading.
6. TELL GUARD, PLEASE START BUILDING LIGHTS.
PART 2: PHYSICAL AND BADGE
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The guard won't let you go west or north from the Lobby until you've had a
physical, but east is open (25 points).
1. E, E, E to Blue Hall, then N, N to the Blue Hall with the health sign. W
into Health Services.
2. DROP ALL. The scale only works with empty hands.
3. STAND ON SCALE.
4. PUT ARM IN BLOOD PRESSURE MACHINE.
5. GET ALL.
6. E to leave. The nurse passes you, and a temporary badge is left at the
reception desk.
7. S, S, W, W, W back to the Lobby.
8. WEAR BADGE. This picks the badge up from the desk and puts it on in one
go.
9. TELL GUARD, PLEASE START BUILDING LIGHTS.
PART 3: KEYS, ELEVATOR AND CRYSTAL BALLS
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This part unlocks the elevators for later, and plants a glowing crystal ball
in Petty Cash so you can spy on the safe combination. Finish it well before
move 85: the petty cash officer leaves at a random time between moves 90 and
109, and you can't get in while he's leaving.
The two crystal balls are linked: when both glow, looking into one shows you
the room the other one is in.
1. In the Lobby: TELL GUARD, PLEASE GIVE KEYS TO ME.
2. W, W to Blue Hall, then N to the Non-descript Hall with the elevator.
3. UNLOCK ELEVATOR DOOR WITH KEYS. This unlocks all three elevators. Then
GET KEYS out of the lock; you must return them to the guard at the end.
4. N to Blue Hall, IN to the stairwell, D, then OUT to the End of Yellow
Corridor.
5. E, E, then N into Ed's Office. GET FLUORESCENT BALL.
6. E, N, then W into Will's Office. GET NEON BALL.
7. RUB NEON BALL, then RUB FLUORESCENT BALL. Both should now glow.
8. Back the way you came: E, S, S, W, W, W, IN, U, OUT to Blue Hall.
9. E, E, then S to the Non-descript Hall with the petty cash sign. IN to
Petty Cash.
10. GIVE FLUORESCENT BALL TO OFFICER. He puts it on his desk. Then OUT.
Keep the neon ball in your hands from now on: it's quicker to type than
fluorescent, and inside the closed sack it can't see anything.
PART 4: FIELD SERVICE AND THE SYSTEM DISK
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Booting the VAX from a scratch disk fails and brings out a field service rep,
who swaps the scratch disk for the system disk you need for both the install
and the ending.
1. From the petty cash hall: N, W, W to Blue Hall, IN, D, D to the bottom
of the stairwell, OUT to the End of Red Passage.
2. E, E, then S into the VMS Lab. S into the Operator's Room.
3. GET DISK. It's the only disk in the game at this point. READ NOTES if
you like: they say START, BOOT, STOP. Then N back to the lab.
4. OPEN DISK DRIVE, PUT DISK IN DISK DRIVE, CLOSE DISK DRIVE.
5. START COMPUTER, then BOOT COMPUTER.
6. READ CONSOLE. The boot has failed, and the field service rep arrives.
7. OPEN DISK DRIVE, GET DISK, then GIVE DISK TO REP. He leaves. Leave the
disk drive open and the computer on; Part 9 picks up from there.
8. WAIT three times. He comes back and hands you the system disk.
Never open the media cabinet in the VMS Lab: it kills you.
PART 5: THE PETTY CASH SAFE
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Watch the officer through the crystal ball as he locks up, read the four-digit
combination off the keypad, then open the safe after he leaves (10 points).
The combination is different every game.
1. Wait inside the building. Between moves 90 and 109 a message says the
petty cash officer is leaving.
2. From then on, LOOK IN NEON BALL every turn. For three turns it shows him
getting ready.
3. On the fourth turn the ball shows him at the safe, keying in the
combination. Write it down.
4. One turn later he leaves and the lights in Petty Cash go off.
5. Go back to the petty cash hall: from the VMS Lab that is N, W, W, IN, U,
U, OUT, E, E, S.
6. TURN ON LAMP, then IN to Petty Cash.
7. TYPE followed by the combination, for example TYPE 4721. The safe
clicks.
8. OPEN SAFE, GET BILLS, DROP NEON BALL, then OUT.
9. TURN OFF LAMP.
PART 6: COINS, COKE AND THE CDD TAPE
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Change the bills into coins in the maze, buy a Coke, and trade it unopened to
the CDD developer for the CDD tape (15 points in all).
1. From the petty cash hall: S to the Lobby. TELL GUARD, PLEASE START
BUILDING LIGHTS, then E, E, E to Blue Hall.
2. E into the maze, then W, E, S, SW. You're now in the maze room with the
working coin machine.
3. PUT BILLS IN COIN MACHINE. It only works one time in four, but you keep
the bills when it fails, so repeat until it works.
4. GET COINS.
5. N, N, E, then IN to the stairwell. D, then OUT into the lower maze.
6. SW, NW, then SW to Yellow Corridor. S to the Corridor Stub with the Coke
machine.
7. PUT COINS IN COKE MACHINE, then GET COKE.
8. N, E into the maze, SE, N, N into CDD Development.
9. GIVE COKE TO CDD DEVELOPER. He gives you the CDD tape.
Don't open, shake or drink the Coke: an opened or shaken can only annoys the
developer. The coin machine in Yellow Corridor, near Ed's office, is broken
and never pays out.
PART 7: THE DTR TAPE
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The DTR tape sits in a hanging plant that's out of reach, so push the huge
documentation set over to DTR Development and stand on it (25 points). The set
is too big to carry and too big for the stairwell doors, so it travels by
elevator.
1. From CDD Development: S, S, NW, SW to Yellow Corridor.
2. W, W across the catwalk, then W, W, W, W along Yellow Corridor.
3. SW to the Corridor Stub, then IN to the elevator.
4. PUSH BLUE BUTTON. OUT to the Non-descript Hall.
5. S to Blue Hall, E, then S into RSX Development, where the documentation
set is.
6. PUSH DOC N, PUSH DOC W, PUSH DOC N. You're back at the elevator.
7. OPEN DOOR, then PUSH DOC W into the elevator.
8. PUSH YELLOW BUTTON. The elevator takes you and the documentation set
together.
9. OPEN DOOR. PUSH DOC E, then PUSH DOC NE.
10. PUSH DOC E seven times: along Yellow Corridor, across the catwalk, and
into the maze.
11. PUSH DOC N into DTR Development.
12. STAND ON DOC. Now you can reach the plant.
13. GET DTR TAPE, then STEP OFF DOC.
You can't walk anywhere while you're standing on the documentation set.
PART 8: THE VMS TAPE
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Expose a blank card to the strange light in the dark tape library, then rush
the card to the VMS product manager before it fades (25 points). The card goes
blank again after 15 moves.
1. From DTR Development: S, SW to Yellow Corridor. W, W across the catwalk,
W, W, then S, E into the Rest Room.
2. DROP ALL. The stall door is too narrow to squeeze through carrying
anything.
3. IN to the stall, GET CARD, then OUT.
4. GET ALL, then WEAR BADGE. GET ALL only picks the badge up, and the guard
throws you out if you aren't wearing it. Then W to Yellow Corridor.
5. TURN ON LAMP. W into the Lab of Implementors, then W into the Tape
Library. Both are always dark.
6. TURN OFF LAMP. The strange light exposes the card.
7. TURN ON LAMP straight away. Moving between the two dark rooms in the
dark kills you.
8. Now hurry, with no detours: E, N, W, W, IN, D, OUT, E, N, N into VMS
Development.
9. GIVE CARD TO MANAGER. He gives you the VMS tape.
10. TURN OFF LAMP.
PART 9: INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE
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Boot the VAX from the system disk and install the three tapes, in the order
VMS, CDD, DTR (25 points on the last one). The tape drive holds one tape at a
time.
1. From VMS Development: S, S, E, then S into the VMS Lab.
2. PUT DISK IN DISK DRIVE, then CLOSE DISK DRIVE. The drive is still open
from Part 4.
3. BOOT COMPUTER. It's still on from Part 4. READ CONSOLE should report a
successful boot.
4. OPEN TAPE DRIVE, PUT VMS TAPE IN TAPE DRIVE, CLOSE TAPE DRIVE, then
INSTALL.
5. OPEN TAPE DRIVE, GET VMS TAPE, DROP VMS TAPE, PUT CDD TAPE IN TAPE
DRIVE, CLOSE TAPE DRIVE, then INSTALL.
6. OPEN TAPE DRIVE, GET CDD TAPE, DROP CDD TAPE, PUT DTR TAPE IN TAPE
DRIVE, CLOSE TAPE DRIVE, then INSTALL.
7. STOP COMPUTER. This releases the disk drive.
8. OPEN DISK DRIVE, then GET DISK.
9. OPEN SACK, PUT DISK IN SACK, CLOSE SACK. The guard searches you on the
way out but can't see inside a closed sack.
READ CONSOLE after any step that seems to fail; it says what's wrong.
PART 10: THE EXIT INTERVIEW
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Once all three products are installed, Personnel asks you six questions drawn
at random from twelve; answer each with SAY (25 points). Only the keyword
matters, so SAY DARK works as well as a full sentence.
1. From the VMS Lab: N, W, W, IN, U, U, OUT to Blue Hall.
2. S, S, E, E to the Lobby. TELL GUARD, PLEASE START BUILDING LIGHTS, then
E, E, E to Blue Hall.
3. N, then IN to Personnel. The interview starts.
4. Answer each question with SAY and the keyword from the table.
If you get one wrong, go OUT and back IN to carry on. Correct answers so far
still count.
Question asks about Say
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The light on the working coin machine DARK
Waiting in line at the DCU NOTHING
The colour of the rectangular bars BLACK
Where the picture of Bill the Cat is ED
How many computers you saw 4
A C-word that's ambiguous in four letters COMP
What the ZK Enquirer is worth 1 BIT
What the CDD developer wishes on you for a shaken can BUG
The colour of the corridors YELLOW
What the sword can be used for NOTHING
What happens when you push the orange button DIE
What you can ask the hacker in the maze to do FIND
PART 11: ESCAPE AND WIN
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Hand back the keys and badge, slip past the guard with the system disk hidden
in the closed sack, then wait at the helicopter pad with the disk in hand.
1. OUT of Personnel. S, then W, W, W to the Lobby.
2. GIVE KEYS TO GUARD, then GIVE BADGE TO GUARD.
3. Check the sack is closed with the system disk inside. The guard stops
you if he can see it.
4. OUT to the Antechamber, OUT to the Building Entrance.
5. S to the Clearing, W to the Woods, W to the Helicopter Pad.
6. OPEN SACK, then GET DISK.
7. WAIT. The helicopter arrives and you win.
The guard also refuses to let you leave if you finished the installs but
skipped the interview, or still have his keys.
POINTS AND WAYS TO DIE
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The full 175 points earns the top rank, ZK Grand Master.
Event Points
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Opening the crystal door 25
Passing the physical 25
Standing on the documentation set in DTR Development 25
Giving the SDC card to the VMS manager 25
Installing DTR 25
Finishing the exit interview 25
Opening the petty cash safe 10
Getting coins from the coin machine 5
Buying a Coke 5
Getting the CDD tape 5
These all kill you:
* Opening the media cabinet in the VMS Lab.
* Pushing the orange elevator button.
* Walking from one dark room into another without a light.
* Attacking someone twice, or once after you've annoyed them.
* Smashing a crystal ball while it's glowing.
* Attacking yourself.
