DOCSLIB.ORG

The Status Line

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Status Line The Status Line Volume VII Number 1 Formerly The New Zork Times Winter/Spring 1988 Sherlock Holmes - Immortal Legend “You are standing in the spill of a gas The Crown Jewels have been stolen; com’s new “Immortal Legends” series. streetlight outside 221 B Baker Street. The games feature enhanced interaction You have come in response to an urgent You’re the only one who can find them with legendary characters of the past in summons from your old landlady, Mrs. the settings in which they became fa- Hudson. As the fog swirls around you, exposed and the With Holmes by mous. Developed by Bob Bates and you huddle into your coat and shiver in government will fall your side, you use Challenge, Inc., the series combines the predawn chill.” into international your wits, intuition, humor and puzzle-solving into satisfy- Thus begins Sherlock: The Riddle of disgrace. and a myriad of ing adventures that will stay with you the Crown Jewels, which catapults you Only 48 hours clues to solve the long after you turn away from the com- into the fog-bound streets of Victorian remain to solve the riddles and piece puter. The game Sherlock itself is a London. All week long, the city has crime. With Scot- together the mys- comic mystery, and its cast of charac- been bustling with preparations for Her land Yard baffled, tery. From Trafalgar ters includes the Baker Street Irregu- Majesty's Golden Jubilee. Crowds of the Prime Minister Square to Madame lars, Mycroft Holmes, and the always- sightseers and souvenir vendors fill the calls on Sherlock Tussaud’s, from incompetent Inspector Lestrade, about streets. Newspapers detail the gala ar- Holmes, the famous Westminster Abbey whom Holmes says, “Be kind to him, ray of festivities—special services at consulting detec- to the Tower itself, Watson. He has delusions of ade- Westminster Abbey; a Royal proces- tive. But riddles left you criss-cross Lon- quacy.” sion through the streets of London; and at the scene of the Sherlock: Mystery so real you’ll taste don until finally And although Holmes himself disap- Queen Victoria reigning over all, re- crime include a the pipe smoke in your mouth.. you trace the evil to proves, you have access at all times to splendent in the Crown Jewels. direct challenge to its source and find our new on-screen hint system. So if At least, that's the official plan. Unbe- Holmes, and he suspects that the theft is yourself face-to-face with the Napoleon your magnifying glass clouds up, you knownst to the celebrants thronging the as much a deadly trap for him as it is an of Crime—Professor Moriarty. One can simply type HINT and choose from city, a crisis has arisen: the Crown Jew- attempt to embarrass the government. false move here will bring disaster not a carefully designed hint menu that lets els have been stolen from the Tower of To throw the scoundrel off his guard, only to you and Holmes, but to the en- you select anything from a gentle nudge London, If they're not recovered before Holmes turns the investigation over to tire British Empire. to a step-by-step solution. the festivities begin, the theft will be you, his trusted cohort, Dr. Watson. Sherlock is the first game in Info- Please turn to page 10 Yow! Comic books on a computer only $12 Infocom and Tom Snyder Productions Just like comic books but you can see ever seen. present Infocomics, a bold new form of The panels of an Infocomic use storytelling. the plot from different points of view sounds and exciting cinematic effect— By this time, many of you have panning, zooms, dissolves—that bring probably snapped a synapse or two the colorful graphics to life and draw trying to navigate your way through the you right into the action. So you'll actu- wilds of Quendor in Beyond Zork or ally see and hear that ray slice through dodging bloodthirsty guard dogs in space and see the animals grow right Border Zone. So you're probably ready before your eyes. Then you'll watch for a little Rest and Relaxation. Well, them as they run amok, wreaking havoc don't touch that power switch, because on the Earth and munching on famous we've got the cure for what ails you. landmarks for lunch. The cure? Infocomics, of course! And what are Infocomics? Simply put, One story through many eyes they're traditional comic books brought But while Zabor, Chief of the Earth to life on your computer screen in new Defense League, helplessly watches and exciting ways. these munching mutants, elsewhere our Now, we all have our favorite comic hero, Lane Mastodon, rockets through books or comic strips, but what makes space, oblivious of the ray's wrath. And them so special and memorable? It's on Jupiter, the villainous Blubbermen that comics transport you to new and delight in Earth's deadly dilemma. At different worlds, peopled by fantastic any given moment these characters and interesting characters who have each have their own tales to tell. In absorbing stories to tell. And they do all order to get the big picture, you'll want that using a deceptively simple and to see all of them. direct format. When these things come In Infocomics, the tales of these char- together just right, you've got a comic Radnor, the evil magician of Egreth puts the lovely Acia under his spell in the Info- acters and many others are intricately that grabs you and makes you forget comic’s fantasy story ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle. intertwined, their paths merging here about the outside world for a little and diverging there. The end result is a while. Infocomics do that and much, a comic book, mimicking the real thing, animals and insects to mutate and dev- cleverly fascinating story made up of much more. complete with turning pages. Picture astate Earth. Sounds like a great comic the labyrinth-like structure of the When you boot up an Infocomic, this: a deadly ray from a far-off planet already, right? But because it's an Info- various characters' story lines. Infocom- your computer will be transformed into sweeps through space, causing harmless comic, it’s unlike any comic you ye Please turn to page 6 Page 2 The Status Line Winter/Spring 1988 >Read the letters to the editor Dear Assorted Gentlefolk, another dimension to the world of romance AND to Dear Infocom, Come on, people — give me a break! As an avid the world of interactive games. Be assured that I have exercised me brain, and worked me wits interactive games player (would that be games- Plundered Hearts is on my Christmas list. long, but the spell of Logick is incomplete. Long have woman?) who happens, by chance, to make her liv- Thank you all very much... I trekked through strange and savage zones, but to no ing — and thus be able to BUY said games — as a Susan Naomi Horton avail. At long last, I humbly request that thou, in thy romance novelist, I was alternately delighted, amused, Toronto, Ontario infinite wisdom, wouldst tell me the location of that dismayed and plainly ticked-off by your recent arti- [Anyone out there have a copy of “Writhing Slave Magick Stone known as Wishbringer. That my trek cles regarding your new Plundered Hearts game. Girls” we can borrow?—Ed.] may be completed at long last. I was delighted and amused because it's about time Interactively Puzzled, someone saw the fun side of romance fiction and be- Dear Infocom, Alan Estenson sides, if I'm playing Plundered Hearts when I should I am a vicar in good standing with the Anglican Morris, MN be rewriting Chapter Six for the twenty-seventh time, church but you are bringing ruin to me. I am wasting [We hopest thou wilt getst InvisiClues, that thy trek can it truly be said that I'm not working? Should I not my spare time on your games and my head, instead of may truly be fulfilled.—Ed.] be able to write off the cost of the game as... well, as being filled with pious thoughts, is occupied continu- research, perhaps? Inspiration? Playing Hitchhiker's, ally with how I may get the Venus Fly-trap to the Dear All, the various Zorks, Wishbringer etc., while certainly beehive. Having bought the Leather Goddesses of Phobos entertaining and wonderfully effective as “work A few months ago I led a youth camp, and one of and found this card enclosed in the pack I thought I avoidance” ploys, do not have the same... how shall I the kids had his Amstrad there and was playing Hitch- would send it off to you to see if you really will send a put this?... cachet of legitimacy. When my editor calls hiker's Guide on it. After a few late-night sessions copy of The New Zork Times to Britain... to ask why I'm six weeks behind schedule, it's going with a gang of noisy teenagers around the machine, I Although I am enjoying the challenge (and the lady to sound infinitely more reassuring to tell her that I was hooked... gorilla) I do feel that this disc of fiction is a little too have spent the morning trying to keep my heroine safe A week ago, attracted by its theological title, I got tame in whatever mode it is played. I know you have from harm than having to tell her that I've spent all Trinity.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • DESIGN-DRIVEN APPROACHES TOWARD MORE EXPRESSIVE STORYGAMES a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree Of
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ CHANGEFUL TALES: DESIGN-DRIVEN APPROACHES TOWARD MORE EXPRESSIVE STORYGAMES A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in COMPUTER SCIENCE by Aaron A. Reed June 2017 The Dissertation of Aaron A. Reed is approved: Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Chair Michael Mateas Michael Chemers Dean Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright c by Aaron A. Reed 2017 Table of Contents List of Figures viii List of Tables xii Abstract xiii Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 1 Framework 15 1.1 Vocabulary . 15 1.1.1 Foundational terms . 15 1.1.2 Storygames . 18 1.1.2.1 Adventure as prototypical storygame . 19 1.1.2.2 What Isn't a Storygame? . 21 1.1.3 Expressive Input . 24 1.1.4 Why Fiction? . 27 1.2 A Framework for Storygame Discussion . 30 1.2.1 The Slipperiness of Genre . 30 1.2.2 Inputs, Events, and Actions . 31 1.2.3 Mechanics and Dynamics . 32 1.2.4 Operational Logics . 33 1.2.5 Narrative Mechanics . 34 1.2.6 Narrative Logics . 36 1.2.7 The Choice Graph: A Standard Narrative Logic . 38 2 The Adventure Game: An Existing Storygame Mode 44 2.1 Definition . 46 2.2 Eureka Stories . 56 2.3 The Adventure Triangle and its Flaws . 60 2.3.1 Instability . 65 iii 2.4 Blue Lacuna ................................. 66 2.5 Three Design Solutions . 69 2.5.1 The Witness ............................. 70 2.5.2 Firewatch ............................... 78 2.5.3 Her Story ............................... 86 2.6 A Technological Fix? .
    [Show full text]
  • Download As a PDF and Also Offered It for Sale As a Print-On-Demand Book (Daly 2015)
    humanities Editorial Further Reading Nick Montfort Comparative Media Studies/Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; [email protected] Received: 7 March 2018; Accepted: 8 March 2018; Published: 9 March 2018 Keywords: interactive fiction; Twitter bots; computer-generated novels; performance It is clear that the contributions in this volume are not only insightful, but also wide-ranging, reaching into popular culture and across different media forms and practices. Rather than directly comment on this writing further, though, I offered to supplement the topics of these essays by pointing to a few additional categories of computational, poetic production that seem rich but relatively overlooked. Interactive Fiction Over the past 40 years, interactive fiction has occupied several different places in computing and in culture. When the first widely-released version of Adventure by Will Crowther and Don Woods became available to users of time-sharing systems in 1976, it hit them like a wrecking ball. Legends tell that productivity ceased for days, or weeks, while those who were supposed to be programming explored the simulated cave system. Then people in the US and UK went on to program their own Adventure-like games, or, simply, adventure games. Zork was a successful and memorable one, originally created at MIT by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Dave Lebling and Bruce Daniels and then made into a trilogy of home-computer games by Blank and Lebling. Interactive fiction was a pillar of the emerging entertainment software industry—videogames, or to be more specific, computer games. In the 1980s “interactive fiction” (or “IF”) was more widely used a term for this type of production, or “text adventure” if one wanted to distinguish the graphical adventure.
    [Show full text]
  • Manuals Are Best Used As Confetti at Sporting Events, You Should Tasset Still Read the Sections with Names in Bold for Valuable Information About This Game
    What Is A LEGEND Adventure Game? In an adventure game from Legend, you become the main character in an evolv­ ing story that takes place in a world populated with interesting people, places, and things. You see this world through you r main character's eyes, and you play the game by directing his actions. Like a book or a movie, the story unfolds as you travel from location to location, encountering situations which require action on your part. You can think of each of these situations as a puzzle. The key to solving these puzzles will often be creative thinking and clever use of objects you have picked up in your travels. You will get points as you solve puzzles, and your score will help you monitor your progress. Throughout the game the richly textured graphics, prose, sound effects and music will draw you into a spellbinding adventure that could only be brought to you by the master storytellers of Legend Entertainment Company. Legend Entertainment Company 14200 Park Meadow Drive Chantilly, Virginia 22021 703-222-8500 U.S. Customer Support: 1-800-658-8891, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EDT/EST European Customer Support: 081-877-0880 FAX: 703-968-5151 CompuServe E-Mail 76226,2356 24-Hour Hint Line: 1-900-PRO-KLUE (1-900-776-5583) $.75 For the first minute, $.50 for each minute thereafter Hint books are available - call 1-800-658-8891 to order ·. Giovanni's House of Armour "Famous for custom fit" Table Of Contents Name~------~---r­ Fitting Date_£---?'~------ Introduction.....................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The New Zork Times Dark – Carry a Lamp VOL
    “All the Grues New Zork Area Weather: That Fit, We Print” The New Zork Times Dark – carry a lamp VOL. 3. .No. 1 WINTER 1984 INTERNATIONAL EDITION SORCERER HAS THE MAGIC TOUCH InfoNews Roundup New Game! Hint Booklets Sorcerer, the second in the In December, Infocom's long- Enchanter series of adventures in the awaited direct mail operation got mystic arts, is now available. The underway. Many of the functions game was written by Steve formerly provided by the Zork Users Meretzky, whose hilarious science Group were taken over by Infocom. fiction game, Planetfall, was named Maps and InvisiClues hint booklets by InfoWorld as the Best Adventure were produced for all 10 of Game of 1983. In Sorcerer, you are a Infocom's products. The games member of the prestigious Circle of themselves were also made available Enchanters, a position that you primarily as a service to those of you achieved in recognition of your in remote geographical areas and to success in defeating the Warlock those who own the less common Krill in Enchanter. computer systems. When the game starts, you realize Orders are processed by the that Belboz, the Eldest of the Circle, Creative Fulfillment division of the and the most powerful Enchanter in DM Group, one of the most the land, has disappeared. Perhaps he respected firms in direct mail. Their has just taken a vacation, but it facilities are in the New York metro- wouldn't be like him to leave without politan area, which explains the letting you know. You remember strange addresses and phone num- that he has been experimenting with bers you'll see on the order forms.
    [Show full text]
  • THE ART of Puzzle Game Design
    THE ART OF Puzzle Design Scott Kim & Alexey Pajitnov with Bob Bates, Gary Rosenzweig, Michael Wyman March 8, 2000 Game Developers Conference These are presentation slides from an all-day tutorial given at the 2000 Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California (www.gdconf.com). After the conference, the slides will be available at www.scottkim.com. Puzzles Part of many games. Adventure, education, action, web But how do you create them? Puzzles are an important part of many computer games. Cartridge-based action puzzle gamse, CD-ROM puzzle anthologies, adventure game, and educational game all need good puzzles. Good News / Bad News Mental challenge Marketable? Nonviolent Dramatic? Easy to program Hard to invent? Growing market Small market? The good news is that puzzles appeal widely to both males and females of all ages. Although the market is small, it is rapidly expanding, as computers become a mass market commodity and the internet shifts computer games toward familiar, quick, easy-to-learn games. Outline MORNING AFTERNOON What is a puzzle? Guest Speakers Examples Exercise Case studies Question & Design process Answer We’ll start by discussing genres of puzzle games. We’ll study some classic puzzle games, and current projects. We’ll cover the eight steps of the puzzle design process. We’ll hear from guest speakers. Finally we’ll do hands-on projects, with time for question and answer. What is a Puzzle? Five ways of defining puzzle games First, let’s map out the basic genres of puzzle games. Scott Kim 1. Definition of “Puzzle” A puzzle is fun and has a right answer.
    [Show full text]
  • The New Zork Times by Brief but Savage Downpour
    ® “All the Gnus Weather: Thic fog, followed That Fit, We Print” The New Zork Times by brief but savage downpour. VOL. 4. .No. 2 —SUMMER 1985— INTERFERON EDITION New Release: A Mind Forever Voyaging A Mind Forever Voyaging, the first were to be introduced. While you're advanced-level Science Fiction story busy exploring the future, the scien- from Infocom, is for true text- tists and programmers who created adventure buffs. Why? Because it you are honing and perfecting the has more locations to visit (several simulation's parameters. Thus, as the hundred), more things to do, more story progresses, you can travel responses, and a large vocabulary further and further in time, watching (1800+ words) than any of our previ- Rockvil prosper as the Plan ously released products. succeeds, or perish as it fails. Only The story takes place in 21st- you can tell on what course the century Rockvil, South Dakota. The country sets itself by adopting the United States of North America has Plan. fallen prey to incredibly high unem- While there are several puzzles to ployment and crime rates. Political keep players on their toes, designer indiffererence, perhaps caused by Steve Meretzky (author of Planetfall backward educational systems or and Sorcerer, and co-author of The diminishing national resources, has Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) Items from Dr. Perleman’s desk are contained in every A Mind Forever swept the nation. Exploiting this op- concentrated more on immersing the Voyaging package. portunity, Senator Richard Ryder has player in a vast, highly detailed, develop (sic) the Plan for a Renewed realistic world; a vision of the National Purpose, stressing patriot- destiny of mankind.
    [Show full text]
  • 14. Riddle Machines: the History and Nature of Interactive Fiction
    Nick Montfort Riddle Machines: The History and Nature of Interactive Fiction 14. Riddle Machines: The History and Nature of Interactive Fiction Nick Montfort Introduction The genre that has also been labeled "text adventure" and "text game" is stereotypically thought to offer dungeons, dragons, and the ability for readers to choose their own adventure. While there may be dragons here, interactive fiction (abbreviated "IF") also offers utopias, revenge plays, horrors, parables, intrigues, and codework, and pieces in this form resound with and rework Gilgamesh, Shakespeare, and Eliot as well as Tolkien. The reader types in phrases to participate in a dialogue with the system, commanding a character with writing. Beneath this surface conversation, and determining what the computer narrates, there is the machinery of a simulated world, capable of drawing the reader into imagining new perspectives and understanding strange systems. Interactive fiction works can be challenging for literary readers, even those interested in other sorts of electronic literature, because of the text-based interface and because of the way in which these works require detailed exploration, mapping, and solution. Works in this form are often less visually rewarding, and the rewards they do offer are only attained with time and effort. But text-based interactive fiction has provided some of the most the intricate and compelling literary simulations yet developed. Understanding how interactive fiction works, and how it has developed over the past three decades, is an essential part of the puzzle of literary computing. Characteristics of interactive fiction Formally, a work of interactive fiction (often called a "game," even if it does not exhibit the typical qualities of a game) is an interactive computer program.
    [Show full text]
  • Jay Simon 3/18/2002 STS 145 Case Study Zork: a Study of Early
    Jay Simon 3/18/2002 STS 145 Case Study Zork: A Study of Early Interactive Fiction I: Introduction If you are a fan of interactive fiction, or have any interest in text-based games from the early 1980’s, then you are no doubt familiar with a fascinating series known as Zork. For the other 97 percent of the population, the original Zork games are text-based adventures in which the player is given a setting, and types in a command in standard English. The command is processed, and sometimes changes the state of the game. This results in a new situation that is then communicated to the user, restarting the cycle. This type of adventure game is classified as belonging to a genre called “interactive fiction”. Zork is exceptional in that the early Zork games are by far the most popular early interactive fiction titles ever released. It is interesting to examine why these games sold so well, while most other interactive fiction games could not sell for free in the 1980’s. As we will see, this is a result of many different technological and stylistic aspects of Zork that separate it from the rest of the genre. Zork is a unique artifact in gaming history. II: MIT and Infocom – The Prehistory of Zork Zork was not a modern project developed under a strict timeline by a designated team of programmers, but credit is given to two MIT phenoms named Marc Blank and Dave Lebling. Its history can be traced all the way back to the invention of a medium-sized machine called the PDP-10, in the 1960’s.
    [Show full text]
  • The Z-Machine Standards Document: Contents
    The Z-Machine Standards Document: Contents The Z-Machine Standards Document Version 1.0 22nd June 1997 two misprints corrected, 9th August resources appendix updated and discovery added to header table, 4th September ● Preface ● Overview of Z-machine architecture Fundamentals ● 1. The memory map ● 2. Numbers and arithmetic ● 3. How text and characters are encoded ● 4. How instructions are encoded ● 5. How routines are encoded ● 6. The game state: storage and routine calls Input/Output ● 7. Output streams and file handling ● 8. The screen model ● 9. Sound effects ● 10. Input streams and devices Tables ● 11. The format of the header ● 12. The object table ● 13. The dictionary and lexical analysis Instruction Set ● 14. Complete table of opcodes (with Inform assembly syntax) file:///D|/doc/zspec10/index.html (1 of 2) [6/22/2000 4:34:11 PM] The Z-Machine Standards Document: Contents ● 15. Dictionary of opcodes An Unusual Font ● 16. Font 3 and character graphics Appendices ● A. Error messages and debugging ● B. Conventional contents of the header ● C. Resources available (with WWW links) ● D. A short history of the Z-machine ● E. Statistics ● F. Canonical story files file:///D|/doc/zspec10/index.html (2 of 2) [6/22/2000 4:34:11 PM] The Z-Machine Standards Document: Preface Preface The Z-machine was created on a coffee table in Pittsburgh in 1979. It is an imaginary computer whose programs are adventure games, and is well-adapted to its task, implementing complex games remarkably compactly. They were still perhaps 100K long, too large for the memory of the home computers of their day, and the Z-machine seems to have made the first usage of virtual memory on a microcomputer.
    [Show full text]
  • Computer Entertainer / Video Game Update
    1 ^\ ComputerEntertainer the newsletter r 5916 Lemona Avenue, Van Nuys, CA 91411 ©February, 1988 Volume 6, Number 1 $3.50 ^. In This Issue... Chip Shortage in Japan Delays LINK Delayed Again New Games ADVENTURE OF '88 Sierra Plans One of the most eagerly awaited games of 1988 is ZELDA II-THE ADVENTURE OF LINK. The New for Nintendo from Acti vision level of anticipation for this game is so great that we've heard some pretty wild stories: a number REVIEWS Include... SNEAK PREVEW OF... of "sightings" of the game in various stores (not true) and various store clerks telling customers that Fighting Golf they've "just sold out and expect more in a week or two" (also not true). The real story is that all ...for Nintendo you adventurers will have to wait a little longer, since the has been re-scheduled for the Renegade game May Karnov to June time period. According to sources at Nintendo and their licensees, there is an "accelerating Jaws PC chip shortage" in Japan which is affecting release dates on new games as well as the re-stocking Karate Kid of existing titles which were cleaned out of many stores by the hungry hordes of consumers who ...for Nintendo Speed Buggy bought Nintendo systems at Christmas. Before we went to press on this issue, we were given delayed ZigZag release dates on a number of new titles for the Nintendo system, and we expect that there will be MISL Superstar Soccer ...for Commodore 64 many more over the next several months. Be sure to check the Availability Update for any changes, Tetris which will be published as we learn of them.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyondzork-Regcard.Pdf
    Fantastic savings on Brian Moriarty's Wishbringer® ! Now that you're proving your cunning and valor in Wishbringer is the perfect choice for both novices Beyond Zork,® you'll want to take on the fabulous crea­ and seasoned interactive fiction players. Although the tures and explore the fantastic landscape in another magic wishes you're granted will help you solve the captivating lnfocom story. And we've got just the one puzzles, experienced players can challenge them­ for you. Wishbringer, Brian Moriarty's first work of selves by using logic alone. interactive fiction, is now available for only $14.95. To prepare you for your adventure, the In this award-winning story, you're an ordinary Wishbringer package includes a postal map of your mail clerk in an ordinary little town. But there's some­ home town, a mysterious sealed envelope, a copy of thing quite extraordinary in today's mail. It's a ransom note for a The Legend of Wishbringer, and an enchanted glow-in-the-dark kidnapped cat, and it will lead you through amazing adventures Wishbringer stone. to Wishbringer, a stone possessing undreamt-of powers. For You can order Wishbringer by simply filling out the form on although the note is addressed to someone in your ordinary little the reverse side. Then you're on your way to having your most town, it's postmarked for Special Delivery to Parts Unknown. And fabulous wishes come true. its true destination is somewhere beyond your wildest dreams .. .. G-IZB-01 We'll Help You Out! There's a solution to every puzzle in Beyond Zork, and a way out story.
    [Show full text]
  • Z-Machine Interpreters in the 1980S, Infocom Published About Three
    By Hugo Labrande Issue #5 : Z-Machine interpreters In the 1980s, Infocom published about three dozen of text adventures on most platforms of the era, from the TRS-80 to the Atari ST. Their method to spend minimal time on portability was to create a virtual machine, the Z-Machine, and compile their games into bytecode that could be read by the Z-Machine. All was needed was some software that could read this bytecode and execute it on a target machine: an interpreter. To ensure that all interpreters behaved coherently, Infocom actually wrote specifications for the Z-Machine (version 3, 4, and 5 for text-only, and 6 for graphical adventures), which specified how the interpreter should behave; this was to make sure that the people tasked with writing a new interpreter would follow the same rules as the other ones. This specification was then reverse-engineered by amateurs as early as the end of the 1980s (Barry Boone on the TI-99/4A, the InfoTaskForce in Australia, etc.). In the 1990s, people added some features and fixed a few inconsistencies, and created version 8, which was basically the same as version 5 but allowed larger file sizes. This gave the Z-Machine standards, which are available online: http://inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/z1point1/index.html This means that if you’d like to implement a Z-Machine interpreter, all you need to do is follow this specification. Over the years, literally hundreds of Z-Machine interpreters have been written, for sometimes very exotic platforms. They sometimes have their own quirks, can fall out of fashion, or get forgotten; I cannot begin to retrace all the Z-Machine interpreters that have been written.
    [Show full text]