Page History

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h2. History

Zen Again was the sequel to [Quest For Zen|QuestForZen]. It included many features not available in the predecessor, including non-player characters 

History

Zen Again was the sequel to Quest For Zen. It included many features not available in the predecessor, including non-player characters (NPCs),

and

an

advanced

battle

system.

Zen

Again

was

advertised

in

the

Moonshae

Telecomm

Summer

1989

catalog

,

however,

it

was

never

finished.

Developer

Jeffrey

Kobal

states

that

he

finished

a

little

over

half

of

the

game,

but

other

Moonshae

Telecomm/Galactic

Innovations

,

and

later,

Galacticomm

projects

hindered

the

completion

of

the

game.

He

was

interested

in

completing

it,

and

we

hope

to

work

with

him

to

finish

this

fantastic

game

and

bring

it

to

you!

Game Information

After years of training through the ranks of nin-jitsu

in

the

secluded

lands

of

the

Shinto

Trilogy

(in

Quest

For

Zen

),

the

time

has

come

to

journey

into

the

outside

world.

This

time,

not

only

must

greater

discipline

of

the

mind

and

body

be

achieved,

but

the

fighting

arts

of

Oriental

weaponry

and

the

many

mystical

powers

of

nin-jitsu

must

be

mastered.

In

a

complete

Oriental

world

of

elaborate

Japanese

gardens

and

ancient

Far

East

castles,

players

learn

the

deadly

arts

of

katanas,

nunchakus,

shurukins,

sais,

and

more.

They

then

must

use

this

knowledge

ans

mastery

to

combat

both

rival

ninjas

as

well

as

computer-controlled

enemies.

Yes,

true

NPCs

who

act

as

guards,

merchants,

and

assassins,

actually

fighting

the

players,

talking

with

them,

and

playing

essential

roles

within

the

context

of

the

solution.

For

the

actual

combat,

Zen

Again

contains

the

best

real-time

battle

system

of

ANY

Major

BBS

adventure/strategy

game.

Instead

of

using

User-IDs

(which

subtract

from

the

"suspension

of

disbelief"),

Zen

Again

uses

a

four-quadrant

"attack

by

location"

scheme

that

adds

realism

and

new

strategic

components

to

game

play.

Also,

freeing

up

the

previous

reliance

on

User-IDs

allows

the

elements

of

"player

disguises",

espionage,

and

deception

among

the

players...

delivering

excitement

and

intrigue

unmatched

by

any

other

multi-player

game.

The

solution

levels

are

true

tests

of

players

skill,

creativity,

wit,

and

wisdom,

requiring

both

puzzle

solving

(based

upon

Japanese

folklore)

and

defeat

of

rival

nin-jitsu

opponents.

Developed

by

a

fantasy

author

and

a

true

black-belt,

this

world

of

ancient

Japanese

adventure

explores

new

horizons

in

gaming

by

combining

true

history

with

legend.

Computer

role-playing

has

new

meaning

in

this

interactive,

multi-player

masterpiece.

Let

your

users

seek

their

destiny

in

this

full-scale

world

of

Oriental

rivalry.

Beware

the

Zen

Master

ninjas!

Gameplay

Gameplay within Zen Again is fairly typical of text "adventure"

games

(now

more

commonly

called

interactive

fiction

games)

like

Zork,

Colossal

Cave,

etc;

and

MUD

games,

like

Dungeon,

Rogue,

etc.

Players

issue

simple

verb-noun

command

pairs,

such

as

"north",

"get

object",

"kick

player",

etc.

Players

can

interact

with

other

players

in

the

game,

as

well.