Let’s take a look at the 2nd Episode. As pointed out here I was unable to decode the file with the correct md5sum. Nevertheless I was able to use it.
Barber.z5 is a story file for a z-machine. See wikipedia
Just download one of the many interpreters and load up the file. It’s a text adventure, set in a well known environment. For instructions on how to play, take a look here:
- A Beginner’s Guide to Playing Interactive Fiction
- Interactive Fiction – Getting started
- Interactive Fiction Player’s Guide
If you want a walkthrough, try using “strings” at the linux prompt. Otherwise, here’s one tip, without it you won’t even be able to get into the office: Take a look here
I haven’t solved the whole game myself yet, but when I do, I’ll inform you 
Now, have a nice game-
December 20, 2007 at 11:29 pm
I Feel Like a Geek now!
February 10, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I had a go at this as well and I managed to get the files from chapter 1 and 2 out with the correct MD5SUM. I wrote a custom OCR program that takes advantage of the fact that the font is monospaced and the characters are arranged in a grid. I’ve put them up here: http://www.busydoingnothing.co.uk/itcrowd.jpg and http://www.busydoingnothing.co.uk/barber.z5 .
I managed to get out of the lift in the game but haven’t got any further. Anyone got any ideas?
February 10, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I managed to get the BASIC program working as well. It is a BBC basic program that loads an image from the EggDump file in the previous chapter and plays the IT Crowd theme song. The picture is of Roy holding a bottle:
http://www.busydoingnothing.co.uk/EggDump.png
I’ve made a disk image suitable for BeebEm if anyone else wants to try it:
http://www.busydoingnothing.co.uk/sophie.ssd
You just have to load the disk into the emulator and type:
> CHAIN “SOPHIE”
I added an extra line to the program (210 ENDPROC) because it seemed like it was missing.
February 11, 2008 at 8:23 am
The page size of the BBC3 was 3584.
With that, you should be able to enter the office.