Guard Duty

Guard Duty
Game
Main links	Play onlineDownload IFDB IF Archive
Published	1999
Credits
Author	Jason F. Finx
Reception
Events	IFComp 1999 36th of 37
IFDB rating	3 out of 5 (2 ratings)
Gameplay
Interaction style	Parser
Literary genres	Adventure Comedy Fantasy
Location	Underground
Language	English
Accessibility	Colour: none. Graphics: none. Sound: none.
Technical details
Authoring system	Inform 6
Format	Z-code 8
License	Freeware
IFID	ZCODE-1-990930-D879, ZCODE-1-991231-E2E2
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Notable features

• Many reviewers liked the premise, but found the competition entry too buggy to actually play, so much so it was considered unfinishable. (Unfortunately, this is the game best known for crashing as soon as the player attempts to take inventory.)

Trivia and Comments

• The readme file included with the second release says that a help file called guardhlp.z5 would be uploaded to the IF Archive in early 2000, but the archive doesn't seem to list that file.

Versions

Release 1 (Competition entry)

Date: 1999

• Guard Duty (Jason F. Finx; 1999; Z-code 8).
  • Release 1 / Serial number 990930 / Inform v6.20 Library 6/9
  • IFID: ZCODE-1-990930-D879
    IFID links: IFDB
  • IF Comp 1999: 36th place of 37 entries.
  • Download guard.z8 from the IF Archive - The story file.

Release 1, attempt 2 (Post-comp release)

Date: 1999

• Guard Duty (Jason F. Finx; 1999; Z-code 8).
  • Release 1 / Serial number 991231 / Inform v6.20 Library 6/9 SD
  • IFID: ZCODE-1-991231-E2E2
    IFID links: IFDB
  • Download guard.zip from the IF Archive

The zipfile contains the following files:

• guard.z8 - The story file.
• guardpic.gif - A cryptic map, of sorts.
• readme.txt - An explanation of the "new" version: it's actually the old version recompiled with strict error checking turned on (which worked), and the debug verbs disabled. (Which the author admits is kludgy, but should make the game much less error-prone than the first release.)

Links

N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.

General info

• Guard Duty (archived) - at Baf's Guide.

Reviews

• Guard Duty - at IF Ratings.
• Review - by Paul O'Brian.
• Review - by Dan Shiovitz.

Note: To refer to this game from another page, you can type {{game citation|Guard Duty}}. This will display as Guard Duty (Jason F. Finx; 1999; Inform 6; Z-code).

Date: 1999

Date: 1999