Sorcerer


                         BUG
         VERSION   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
         4/840131  Y Y Y Y Y Y Y N
         6/840508  N Y Y Y Y Y Y N
        13/851021  N N N N Y Y Y N
       *15/851108  N N N N Y Y Y N
        18/860904  N N N N Y Y Y Y

          1. In Version 4, you can TAKE any spell scroll except VARDIK and AIMFIZ at any point in the game, no matter where it is, as long as you are not in bed (awake), and the spell has not yet geen GNUSTOed. If you are in bed, you will be told you can't reach it.
          If you try to TAKE VARDIK, you are told that your twin refuses to part with the smelly scroll. AIMFIZ can only be taken after the chest is opened, and you can get a second AIMFIZ scroll this way.
          If you try to TAKE SWANZO, the glass maze rearranges, and you get the normal message about turning around and seeing it happen, no matter where you are.
          If you TAKE GOLMAC and cast it on yourself outside the mine, the game says "You are surrounded by a puff of smoke and feel disoriented for a moment. When the smoke clears, nothing seems to have changed." In most cases, this is a reasonable response if all that has happened is that you've gone back in time a couple of minutes. Golmac can be GNUSTOed, but casting it on yourself twice in the same game will make you cease to exist.
          Trying to take a scroll that has already been GNUSTOed will give you one of several different error messages, claiming that it's impossible. Apparently, to the game the scroll no longer exists to be taken after it has been GNUSTOed, but it does still exist if it has only been used, but not GNUSTOed. If you take and GNUSTO the MALYON spell, then play and win the Hawker's game (which should make him give you the no-longer-existing MALYON Scroll), he will seemingly give you the glittering scroll, and you will be able to see it in your inventory, but any attempt to interact with it (i.e. READ, EXAMINE, DROP, GNUSTO, et cetera) produces the response "Bug #72." Although the scroll doesn't exist any more, the fact that it is listed in your inventory will make the game think that you are encumbered, and you will be unable to stop in the Slanted Room when you go down the chute.
          If you TAKE YONK, and then go to the cannon and look in the barrel, you will see the pile of identical scrolls. This is supposed to represent the Yonk scroll that you have plus the Yipples imitating it, but the game considers the Identical scrolls to be a separate item). If you then put the guano in the cannon, the yipples will leave the cannon, and the yonk scroll will be moved from wherever it is (even if it is in your inventory), and put into the cannon in place of the Identical Scrolls. Since the Yonk spell cannot be GNUSTOed, there is no way to create a "Bug #72" error, like the one in the preceding paragraph.
          If you FROTZ a scroll, use it (without GNUSTOing it), and then take it again, it will still be frotzed.
          If you take a scroll while dreaming at the beginning of the game, you will still have it when you wake up. Apparently the implementors never considered the possibility that you might acquire an item while asleep. -- New Zork Times



          2. In versions 4 and 6, Belboz's journal can be opened with the key, but cannot be closed. If you try to close it, you get a message saying "It's already open." -- Graeme Cree



          3. In versions 4 and 6, the Spell Book is ruined by water, but scrolls are not. -- Graeme Cree



          4. In versions 4 and 6 you cannot drop items down the lower coal chute in the Coal Bin Room. -- Matthew T. Russotto



          5. Trying to fill a vial with water causes a warning nymph to appear and warn you against damaging the vial this way, even if you are underwater with the vial already open when you do it. -- Graeme Cree



          6. THE VILE VIAL BUG:  Vials and water don't mix in Sorcerer. In all versions of the game, if you try to open a vial full of potion in the Lagoon (either at Surface of Lagoon, or Lagoon Floor), you get the message ""As you open the vial it fills with water, washing away the potion. A moment later a fish swims by, acting very strangely." However, the vial isn't opened at all. It is in fact impossible to open a vial at either of those locations.
          Furthermore, in versions 4 and 6 (only) just trying to do this will make it impossible to interact with the white door, making the game unwinnable.
          Okay, well what about if the vial is opened before you enter the lagoon? Well, in every version except Version 18, taking an opened vial full of potion with you into the lagoon has no effect on the potion at all. You don't lose it, and in fact, can even drink it underwater! In Version 18, opening the (already opened!) vial will cause you to lose the potion, though there is no message telling you that this has happened. -- Matthew Russotto



          7. If you die while in the presence of your older self and get resurrected, the game continues to report his exploits, even though you cannot see them. Go to the Sooty Room and have the Vilstu and Blort potions handy. Then GASPAR yourself, and from the Sooty Room, type the following commands: EAST. DRINK ORANGE POTION (your older self will now appear). DRINK AMBER POTION (being under the effects of both potions at once will kill you). You will die and reappear at the West End of the Midway. After the room description, it will say "From the NEXT room you glimpse someone gasping for air." At the end of the next turn's output it will say:   "Someone in the coal bin room dives into the lower chute." Strange.
          You will be unable to enter the Coal Bin Room again, as it has been permanently blocked by a cave in. Therefore, your older self should have ceased to exist. This works in all versions, but was apparently never spotted before owing to the difficulty of finding a way to die after drinking the Vilstu potion. -- Graeme Cree



          8. There have been numerous rumours of problematic responses in version 18 of Sorcerer. Here are a couple of examples. From the beginning of the game, input the following commands in sequence: Z, GET UP, WEST. Then, you can get the following responses:

>LOOK AT THE SORCERER
You see nothing special about the Servants' Quarters.

>LOOK AT THE SERVANT
Someone must have cast the frotz spell on the River Bed, because it is glowing brightly.
In all previous versions of the game, you get a normal response telling you that those things aren't there. -- Linards Ticmanis



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