DOCSLIB.ORG

GRUE: an Architecture for Agents in Games and Other Real-Time Environments

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
GRUE: an Architecture for Agents in Games and Other Real-Time Environments GRUE: An Architecture for Agents in Games and Other Real-Time Environments Elizabeth Gordon, BS, MSc. Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2005 Abstract This thesis presents an architecture, which we call GRUE, for intelligent agents in real-time dynamic worlds. Such environments require agents to be able to flexibly adjust their behaviour to take into account changes in the environment or other agents’ actions. Our architecture is based on work done in robotics (Nilsson, 1994; Benson and Nilsson, 1995; Benson, 1996), which also deals with complex, dynamic environments. Our work focuses on goal arbitration, the method used by the agent to choose an appropriate goal for the current situation, and to re-evaluate when the situation changes. In the process, we have also developed a method for representing items in the environment, which we call resources, in terms of their properties. This allows the agent to specify a needed object in terms of required properties and use available objects with appropriate properties interchangeably. We show that the GRUE architecture can be used successfully in both a typical AI test bed and a commercial game environment. In addition, we have undertaken to experimentally test the effects of the features included in our architecture by comparing agents using the standard GRUE architecture to agents with one or more features removed and find that these features do improve the performance of the agent where expected. ii Acknowledgments First of all I would like to thank Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, who provided the majority of my funding, and express my gratitude to Ian Wright and Dave Ranyard who made it possible. I would also like to thank the School of Computer Science for providing the remainder of my funding. Next I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Brian Logan, for all his help in getting to this point. I would also like to thank Nick Hawes, for allowing me to use his Sim Agent code for connecting to Unreal Tournament, and Mike Lees, who allowed me to use his Tileworld implementation. Thanks also to Neil Madden and Mike Lees for help proofreading this document. Finally, thanks to Jamie Strachan for proofreading above and beyond the call of duty, as well as help, support, advice, and generally putting up with me. iii iv Contents List of Figures vi List of Tables viii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The Problem Addressed 5 1.2 Summary of Work Done 8 1.3 Applications to Other Problem Domains 12 1.4 Overview of Thesis 16 2 Approaches to Agent Development 17 2.1 Behaviour-Based Architectures 19 2.2 BDI Architectures 22 2.3 The Cognitive Modeling Approach: Soar 23 2.4 The Cognition and Affect Project 26 2.5 Teleo-reactive Programs and the Teleo-reactive Architecture 29 2.6 Summary 34 3 The GRUE Architecture 36 3.1 Benson and Nilsson’s Architecture 36 3.2 GRUE: A New Architecture 43 3.3 Correcting Deficiencies of the Architecture Design 67 3.4 Comparing GRUE to Similar Systems 68 4 Implementation 73 4.1 Sim Agent 74 4.2 Implementation of GRUE Components 75 4.3 The GRUE Tileworld Agent 82 4.4 The GRUE Unreal Tournament Agent 96 4.5 Properties of TRPs 110 5 Evaluation of the GRUE architecture 112 5.1 The Tileworld Environment and Experimental Results 116 5.2 The Unreal Tournament Environment 158 CONTENTS v 6 Extensions to the GRUE Architecture 182 6.1 Flaws in the GRUE architecture 182 6.2 Garbage Collection 184 6.3 Task Suspension 185 6.4 Combining Actions 186 6.5 Optimizing the Architecture 187 6.6 Dynamic Filter adjustment 189 6.7 Meta-Management 190 6.8 Extensible Agents 191 6.9 Addition of a Reactive Layer 192 6.10 Planning 192 6.11 Learning 193 7 Conclusions 195 7.1 Implementation of GRUE Agents 197 7.2 Summary of Experimental Results 200 7.3 Changes to the Architecture Description 207 7.4 Limitations of GRUE 209 7.5 Wider Applications of Resource-Based Goal Arbitration and GRUE 211 Appendices A Summary of Architecture Components and Data Structures 213 B Resources used in Tileworld 218 C Resources used in Unreal Tournament 221 D Code for the Components of GRUE 225 D.1 File: grue components.p 225 D.2 File: grue binding.p 231 D.3 File: grue property utilities.p 242 D.4 File: grue number utilities.p 244 D.5 File: grue utilities.p 253 E Tileworld Specific Code 264 E.1 Tileworld Goal Generators 264 E.2 Tileworld Actions 268 E.3 Get Tile TRP 273 E.4 Fill Hole TRP 282 E.5 Avoid Obstacle TRP 292 CONTENTS vi F Unreal Tournament Specific Code 299 F.1 Unreal Tournament Goal Generators 299 F.2 The go to TRP 315 F.3 Other TRPs 324 G T-Tests for the Tileworld Agent 347 References 352 vii List of Figures 3.1Pseudocodeteleo-reactiveprogramsforaPac-Managent........... 39 3.2Ruleswithdisjunctions.............................. 42 3.3GRUE....................................... 44 3.4 Graph of utility for the value range #:5–>10:#................ 53 3.5 Graph of utility for the value range #|5–>10:#................ 53 3.6 Graph of utility for the value range #|5–>:#................. 54 3.7 Graph of utility for the value range #:<–5|# ................. 54 3.8AGRUETRPforaPac-Managent....................... 60 4.1PseudocodefortheBindingAlgorithm..................... 78 4.2TheCTF-simpleUnrealTournamentmap.................... 101 4.3RelativePrioritiesforGoalsinUnrealTournament............... 104 5.1TheTileworld................................... 117 5.2 Comparison of All Goals agent and the GRUE agent when N=70 and Density=10.................................... 122 5.3 Comparison of All Goals agent and the GRUE agent when N=10 and Density=10.................................... 123 5.4 Comparison of No Updates agent and the GRUE agent when N=70 and Density=100................................... 124 5.5ErrorcaseinTileworldwithincorrectpriorities................ 127 5.6 Comparison of Constant Priorities agent and the GRUE agent when N=70andDensity=100............................. 128 5.7 Comparison of All Goals Constant Priorities agent and the GRUE agentwhenN=70andDensity=10....................... 130 5.8 Comparison of All Goals Constant Priorities agent and the GRUE agentwhenN=10andDensity=10....................... 131 5.9 Comparison of Deleted Properties agent and the GRUE agent when N=100andDensity=40............................. 134 5.10 Comparison of Required Properties agent and the GRUE agent when N=100andDensity=70............................. 135 5.11 The GRUE agent compared to agents without preferred properties for N=100.136 LIST OF FIGURES viii 5.12 The GRUE agent compared to agents without numerical features with density setto40...................................... 137 5.13 Comparison of No Divisible agent and the GRUE agent when N=70 and Density=40.................................... 138 5.14 Comparison of No Ranges agent and the GRUE agent when N=70 and Density=40.................................... 139 5.15 Comparison of No Numerical agent and the GRUE agent when N=100 andDensity=40.................................. 140 5.16 GRUE agent compared to agents with binding features disabled with density setto40...................................... 142 5.17 Comparison of Non-exclusive agent, No Persistence agent and the GRUE agentwhenN=40andDensity=40....................... 143 5.18 Comparison of Non-exclusive agent, No Persistence agent and the GRUE agentwhenN=70andDensity=40....................... 144 5.19CaseinTileworldwheredisablingexclusivebindingsisbeneficial...... 146 5.20 GRUE compared to an agent with parallel execution of actions disabled with densitysetto40.................................. 148 5.21 Comparison of an agent with parallel execution of actions disabled and the GRUEagentwhenN=40andDensity=40................... 149 5.22 Comparison of an agent with parallel execution of actions disabled and the GRUEagentwhenN=70andDensity=40................... 150 5.23UnrealTournament................................ 158 5.24TheCTF-simpleUnrealTournamentmap.................... 159 5.25RelativePrioritiesforGoalsinUnrealTournament............... 160 5.26 Boxplot comparison for several agents in Unreal Tournament with no opponent166 5.27BoxplotcomparisonforseveralagentsinUnrealTournament........ 177 5.28 Boxplot comparison showing the difference in score between modified agents andthestandardGRUEagentinUnrealTournament............ 178 ix List of Tables 5.1ScoresforthestandardGRUEagentinTileworld............... 120 5.2ProcessortimetakenbythestandardGRUEagentinTileworld....... 121 5.3 Performance of an agent with all goals generated in all situations in Tileworld 122 5.4 Average processor time used by an agent with all goals generated in all sit- uationsinTileworld............................... 123 5.5 Performance of an agent with dynamic updating of goal priorities disabled . 124 5.6 Average processor time used by an agent with dynamic updating of goal prioritiesdisabledinTileworld......................... 125 5.7 Performance of an agent with constant goal priorities in Tileworld . 126 5.8 Average processor time used by an agent with constant goal priorities in Tileworld..................................... 127 5.9 Performance of an agent with goals generated in all situations and constant goal priorities in Tileworld . .................... 130 5.10 Average processor time used by an agent with goals generated in all situations and constant goal priorities in Tileworld .................... 131 5.11 Performance of an agent with preferred properties deleted in Tileworld . 133 5.12 Performance of an agent with preferred properties changed to required
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 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]
  • 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]
  • Reading and Acting While Blindfolded: the Need for Semantics in Text Game Agents
    Reading and Acting while Blindfolded: The Need for Semantics in Text Game Agents Shunyu Yaoy∗ Karthik Narasimhany Matthew Hausknechtz yPrinceton University zMicrosoft Research {shunyuy, karthikn}@princeton.edu [email protected] Abstract et al., 2020), open-domain question answering systems (Ammanabrolu et al., 2020), knowledge Text-based games simulate worlds and inter- act with players using natural language. Re- graphs (Ammanabrolu and Hausknecht, 2020; Am- cent work has used them as a testbed for manabrolu et al., 2020; Adhikari et al., 2020), and autonomous language-understanding agents, reading comprehension systems (Guo et al., 2020). with the motivation being that understanding Meanwhile, most of these models operate un- the meanings of words or semantics is a key der the reinforcement learning (RL) framework, component of how humans understand, reason, where the agent explores the same environment and act in these worlds. However, it remains in repeated episodes, learning a value function or unclear to what extent artificial agents utilize semantic understanding of the text. To this policy to maximize game score. From this per- end, we perform experiments to systematically spective, text games are just special instances of reduce the amount of semantic information a partially observable Markov decision process available to a learning agent. Surprisingly, we (POMDP) (S; T; A; O; R; γ), where players issue find that an agent is capable of achieving high text actions a 2 A, receive text observations o 2 O scores even in the complete absence of lan- and scalar rewards r = R(s; a), and the under- guage semantics, indicating that the currently lying game state s 2 S is updated by transition popular experimental setup and models may 0 be poorly designed to understand and leverage s = T (s; a).
    [Show full text]
  • Zork • Manual Cover C M Y K August 1993
    It was once believed that evil magic had been defeated and cast from the lands forever…that a once great underground empire had collapsed, never to rise again. This was foolish, wishful thinking…prayers of the innocent and naive. Evil magic can not die…it waits. Waits for the precise moment in time to regroup and return to claim its dominance. In the dark recesses of every shadow… In the heart of every terrifying nightmare… In the echo of every painful shriek… These are the way stations for the dark An Epic Adventure elements! in the And now is the moment of their return… Great ™ Underground Empire ™ ™ An Activision™ Company An Activision Company 28849 The Disc Company Return To Zork • Manual Cover C M Y K August 1993 25% 75% 100% 50% 50% 25% 75% 100% 50% 50% 25% 75% 100% 50% 50% 25% 75% 100% 50% 50% 25% 75% 100% 50% 50% 25% 75% 100% 50% 50% 25% 75% 100% 50% 50% 25% 75% 100% 50% 50% 2% 97% 2% 97% 2% 97% 2% 97% 2% 97% 2% 97% 2% 97% 2% 97% 3% 95% 3% 95% 3% 95% 3% 95% 3% 95% 3% 95% 3% 95% 3% 95% 4% 93% 4% 93% 4% 93% 4% 93% 4% 93% 4% 93% 4% 93% 4% 93% C+M+Y K C+Y C C+M M M+Y Y 3x80% 3x50% 50% K 50% C, 41% M, 41% Y C+M+Y K C+Y C C+M M M+Y Y 3x80% 3x50% 50% K 50% C, 41% M, 41% Y Manual 6/9/99 12:17 PM Page 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS HOW TO PLAY RETURN TO ZORK .........................................................¤ Navigating through the Empire of Zork .............................................¤ Using your Inventory.........................................................................› Action Interface.................................................................................‡
    [Show full text]
  • Z-Machine and Descendants
    Glk! A universal user interface for IF! Andrew Plotkin — BangBangCon ’17 Glk! A universal user interface! for interactive fiction! Relatively universal, anyhow. Universal-ish. # 1 Glk! A universal user interface for IF! Andrew Plotkin — BangBangCon ’17 Andrew Plotkin [email protected] http://zarfhome.com/ https://github.com/erkyrath @zarfeblong on Twitter Glk, Glulx, Hadean Lands, System’s Twilight, Spider and Web, Capture the Flag with Stuff, Shade, this t-shirt I’m wearing, Seltani, The Dreamhold, Branches and Twigs and Thorns, quite a lot of adventure game reviews, Praser 5, Boodler, A Change in the Weather, an imperfect diagram of the Soul Reaver timeline, Dual Transform, Draco Concordans, and you know how that game Mafia is also called Werewolf? Ok, funny story there — # 2 Glk! A universal user interface for IF! Andrew Plotkin — BangBangCon ’17 Zork 1 (Infocom) # 3 GrueFacts™: A grue can eat doughnuts indefinitely. Glk! A universal user interface for IF! Andrew Plotkin — BangBangCon ’17 Z-machine and descendants 1979: Z-machine design 1980: Z-machine version 3 (Zork 1) 1985: Z-machine version 4 (A Mind Forever Voyaging) 1987: ITF (first open-source Z-interpreter) 1988: Z-machine version 6 (Zork Zero) 1989: Infocom shuts down 1993: Inform (Curses) 1994: Inform 5 1996: Inform 6 1997: Glk spec 1999: Glulx spec 2006: Inform 7 2008: Parchment (first Javascript Z-interpreter) # 4 GrueFacts™: The first grue to swim around the world was named Amelia Nosewig. Glk! A universal user interface for IF! Andrew Plotkin — BangBangCon ’17 XZip (Curses, Graham Nelson) # 5 GrueFacts™: Grues live an average of 67 years, after which they retire to Iceland.
    [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]
  • The New Zork Times Ask Duffy — P
    “All the Grues ® Puzzle — pp. 7 & 8 That Fit, We Print” Sports — p. 6 The New Zork Times Ask Duffy — p. 5 VOL. 3. .No. 3 SUMMER 1984 INTERGALLACTIC EDITION YOU’RE ABOUT TO GET YOURSELF INTO VERY DEEP TROUBLE INFOCOM INTRODUCES ™ CUTTHROATS Nights on Hardscrabble Island are lonely and cold when the lighthouse barely pierces the gloom. You sit on your bed, thinking of better times and far-off places. A knock on your door stirs you, and Hevlin, a shipmate you haven't seen for years staggers in. "I'm in trouble," he says. "I had a few too many at The Shanty. I was looking for Red, but he wasn't around, and I started talking about.... Here," he says, handing you a slim volume that you recognize as a shipwreck book written years ago by the Historical Society. You smile. Every diver on the island has looked for those wrecks, without even an old boot to show for it. You open the door, hoping the drunken fool will leave. "I know what you're thinking'," Hevlin scowls, "but look!" He points to the familiar map, and you see new locations marked for two of the wrecks. "Keep it for me," he says. "Just for tonight. It'll be safe here with you. Don't let--." He stops and broods for a moment. "I've got to go find Red!" And with that, Hevlin leaves. You put the book in your dresser and think about following Hevlin. Then you hear a scuffle outside. You look through your window and see two men struggling.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mud Sorcererss Tomb
    Confidential information of Wizards of the Coast LLC. Do not distribute. The Mud Sorcerer’s Tomb An adventure for four 14th-level characters By Mike Shel Revision by Chris Sims Revision Developed and Edited by Chris Perkins and Jennifer Clarke Wilkes D&D Next Playtest ©2013 Wizards 1 Confidential information of Wizards of the Coast LLC. Do not distribute. The Jezulein were not ones to rest on their Introduction laurels. Through the use of forbidden oracles, the Centuries ago, the cruel, sadistic mud sorcerers mud sorcerers probed the future, and what they foresaw their cult’s demise and concocted a plan saw displeased them. Their divinations revealed to outlive their adversaries. Retreating beneath that the chaos would soon end, and when a new the surface, the powerful members of the cult’s government subdued the anarchy, efforts to ruling council constructed hidden tombs filled eradicate the Jezulein would begin and succeed. with complex traps and immortal guardians. To This forthcoming doom troubled the Jezulein these crypts they retreated, content to relax in ruling council, the Iron Circle, which met in dark temporal stasis until their enemies had vanished. chambers and fiercely debated methods by which One of these ancient resting places has been the mud sorcerers might thwart fate. discovered, intact and unexplored. Do you have After heated arguments, the council finally what it takes to obtain the fabulous treasures that agreed on an audacious, insidious plan to await you in the mud sorcerer’s tomb? construct labyrinthine crypts beneath the earth. The Mud Sorcerer’s Tomb is a DUNGEONS & There, the most powerful mud sorcerers would DRAGONS® adventure for four 14th-level hide in temporal stasis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Inform Designer's Manual
    Cited Works of Interactive Fiction The following bibliography includes only those works cited in the text of this book: it makes no claim to completeness or even balance. An index entry is followed by designer's name, publisher or organisation (if any) and date of first substantial version. The following denote formats: ZM for Z-Machine, L9 for Level 9's A-code, AGT for the Adventure Game Toolkit run-time, TADS for TADS run-time and SA for Scott Adams's format. Games in each of these formats can be played on most modern computers. Scott Adams, ``Quill''-written and Cambridge University games can all be mechanically translated to Inform and then recompiled as ZM. The symbol marks that the game can be downloaded from ftp.gmd.de, though for early games} sometimes only in source code format. Sa1 and Sa2 indicate that a playable demonstration can be found on Infocom's first or second sampler game, each of which is . Most Infocom games are widely available in remarkably inexpensive packages} marketed by Activision. The `Zork' trilogy has often been freely downloadable from Activision web sites to promote the ``Infocom'' brand, as has `Zork: The Undiscovered Underground'. `Abenteuer', 264. German translation of `Advent' by Toni Arnold (1998). ZM } `Acheton', 3, 113 ex8, 348, 353, 399. David Seal, Jonathan Thackray with Jonathan Partington, Cambridge University and later Acornsoft, Topologika (1978--9). `Advent', 2, 47, 48, 62, 75, 86, 95, 99, 102, 105, 113 ex8, 114, 121, 124, 126, 142, 146, 147, 151, 159, 159, 179, 220, 221, 243, 264, 312 ex125, 344, 370, 377, 385, 386, 390, 393, 394, 396, 398, 403, 404, 509 an125.
    [Show full text]
  • The Status Line See Page 10 Volume VI Number 3 Formerly the New Zork Times Fall 1987 Peril & Passion in Plundered Hearts
    Three classic VisiClues: No titles revisited marker needed See page 6 The Status Line See page 10 Volume VI Number 3 Formerly The New Zork Times Fall 1987 Peril & passion in Plundered Hearts “Infocom’s first romance does the genre proud. Play- You are a beautiful young woman, the daughter of a ing Plundered Hearts was like opening a romance nobleman. You receive news of your beloved father novel and walking inside.” from M. Jean Lafond, who claims to be his dearest —Judith C. friend. Lafond is the governor of St. Sinistra, the tiny tropical isle where your father moved after the death “The main character may be a woman, but I found of your mother. Lafond sends the tidings that spur you Plundered Hearts every bit as challenging and exhila- across the Atlantic: Papa is deathly ill, and needs your rating as other Infocom stories. I can’t think of a bet- loving care to keep him alive. You set out aboard the ter way to exercise my imagination.” Lafond Deux, one of the governor’s ships that just —Andrew I. happens to be in port.. “I love this! This is the most vivid and evocative Info- Falcon, captain of the pirates. com game I’ve seen yet.” As Plundered Hearts begins, just two nights from —Mrs. Thomas E. the end of the hitherto uneventful voyage, the thunder and lightning of cannon fire disturb your slumber— “I was a little afraid that I wouldn’t like the game at pirates! Within minutes you are face to face with the first, being male and playing it as a female, but once notorious Falcon, captain of the pirates.
    [Show full text]
  • The Z-Machine Standards Document
    The Z-Machine Standards Document Graham Nelson Version 1.0 22nd June 1997 two misprints corrected, 9th August resources appendix updated and discovery added to header table, 4th September Additional appendices: Quetzal: Z-machine Common Save-File Format Standard Martin Frost Version 1.3b Blorb: An IF Resource Collection Format Standard Andrew Plotkin Version 1.1 Z-Machine Standard 1.1 Proposal Kevin Bracey, Jason C. Penney Draft 7 1 Overview The Z-Machine Standards Document...................................................................................... 1 Quetzal: Z-machine Common Save-File Format Standard....................................................... 127 Blorb: An IF Resource Collection Format Standard ................................................................ 141 Z-Machine Standard 1.1 Proposal ........................................................................................... 157 Index ...................................................................................................................................... 175 Contents The Z-Machine Standards Document...................................................................................... 1 Contents ..............................................................................................................................................2 Preface ................................................................................................................................................4 Overview of Z-machine architecture....................................................................................................8
    [Show full text]
  • Dragon Magazine #132
    CONTENTS Issue # 132 Vol. XII, No. 11 April 1988 SPECIAL ATTRACTION 49 ORCWARS! Bruce A. Heard A game of looting and world conquest, for the orc in all of us. OTHER FEATURES 6 Bazaar of the Bizarre Stewart Wieck At last, the ultimate hack-n-slash weapon: the one-and-only chainsword. Publisher 8 Role-playing Reviews Jim Bambra Mike Cook Bust ghosts. Party with aliens. Serve The Computer. But most of all, have fun. 16 Beyond the Gate of Dreams John Nephew Editor There are some adventurers for whom dreams come true always. Roger E. Moore 24 Resourceful Sorcery Michael DeWolfe Some RUNEQUEST® game advice: First, you catch a spirit. Assistant editor Fiction editor Robin Jenkins Patrick L. Price 28 With All the Trappings Gregg Sharp If you care enough to give the very best, give em green slime in a spiked pit. Editorial assistants 38 Let the Good Dice Roll Scott David Gray Eileen Lucas Barbara G. Young Probability tables can bring out the hero in your hero. Art director 40 Out of Hand fiction by Nina Kiriki Hoffman Roger Raupp Her drawings were real enough to leap from the page and they did. 46 The Ecology of the Aurumvorax Mark Feil Production Staff Lovely to look at, delightful to hold but if you annoy it. Marilyn Favaro Lori Svikel 58 Arcane Lore Mike Rodgers and Tom Hazel A few spells designed to bring out the animal in any druid. Subscriptions Advertising Pat Schulz Sheila Meehan 60 The King of Conventions Keith Polster and Robert M. Bigelow The 1988 GEN CON®/ORIGINS Game Fair, from both sides now.
    [Show full text]