External Links

t-zero.zip
Contains T-ZERO.EXE
MS-DOS Application (Compressed with ZIP. Free Unzip tools are available for most systems at www.info-zip.org.)
t-zero.sol
solution
T-Zero Online
Play T-Zero at Archive.​org
MS-DOS Application
Present Time Map
Trizbort map of Present Time in T-Zero
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T-Zero

by Dennis Cunningham

Time Travel, Surreal, Wordplay, Fantasy
1991

About the Story

PROLOGUE

A dream came to you as you tossed uneasily upon an unfamiliar bed. In your dream, a time-worn figure waved a scythe in slow arcs across your sky-blue field of vision and picked, out of thin air, letters from a runic alphabet. The sky-writing from the scythe crystallized in icy trails as a new letter materialized with each sleeping breath your dream encompassed. When the message was complete, the entire sky was slivered with shining icicles that spelled in full:

"Somewhere scattered across ages and landscapes are six enticingly round objects that you must locate and somehow transport to progressively future time zones where they can be manipulated in a fashion that will right the troubled times."

As you deciphered the message, the icicles shattered in a brittle and sparkling avalanche. You tossed some more and awaited your awakening . . .

River Bed.
You are on the bed of a swiftly moving river.
You have in your possession:
A Compass.
A Journal Page.
A Pink Slip.
You cut a dashing figure in:
Khaki Fatigues.
Red Suspenders.

>>read pink slip
In dark pink script, the light pink slip officiously reads:

"Our project is too near completion to allow us to keep in our
employment a custodian who is prone to sweep subatomic particles
under the carpet along with the dust. Also, after repeated
warnings, you have approached the restricted areas once too
often. You may not enter the museum again--your personal
effects will be delivered to you."

The missive closes with "Counting down from ten" and is signed
with the name Count Zero followed by a flourish and a slashed zero.
In addition, a single word has been faintly outlined in bold
capital letters by an impression from light blue carbon paper.
However, with all that red upon red, the word is not readable in
the current light


>>read journal page
On the journal page you've scribbled the following cryptic
instructions:

Shadow the sun . . .

A spire to the sky at noon.
Into no man's land at nine.

Read in the red light at noon.
Transcribe from the violet light at nine.


Game Details

Off-Site Reviews

SPAG
T-Zero is an anomaly of IF. Released in 1991, after the heady Infocom days but before Inform and the renaissance of IF, T-Zero is a surprisingly modern game. Dennis Cunningham's puzzle-based work evokes a rich atmosphere in a land familiar and yet unknown. (Neil Yorke-Smith)

The plot goes from the mundane, to the prehistoric, to an Orwellian nightmare with landscapes that are as evocative as So Far's surreal worlds but held together more succinctly, with the common thread of slightly familiar settings that change notably over different time periods. (Francesco Bova)
See the full review

SynTax
The standard of writing is exquisite and the author has a turn of phrase which many text adventure writers would kill for. For example; if you try to cross the river in the wrong place you don't just get wet feet or drown or, worse, simply get the response, "You can't do that!" What does Cunningham come up with? "The rushing river runs in that direction, uncrossable, a rubicon of dreams." And, to describe a flock of terns flying above your head, how about, "They tirelessly twirl in a circular swirl."? Marvellous!
See the full review

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