Infocom Text Adventures On Pandora?

[MikeNZ]

Just wondering what will be the best way (or if it's even possible?)to run the old Infocom games on Pandora?

Would I need something like DosBox or a Linux version of WinFrotz?

I'm not familiar with the Linux operating system and have never tried running DosBox so I was hoping there would be an easy method.

I still love to dust these games off and play once and a while - great times.

 

[Tom`]

Just wondering what will be the best way (or if it's even possible?)to run the old Infocom games on Pandora?

Would I need something like DosBox or a Linux version of WinFrotz?

I'm not familiar with the Linux operating system and have never tried running DosBox so I was hoping there would be an easy method.

I still love to dust these games off and play once and a while - great times.

There is a Linux version of Frotz already out there, which will almost certainly build and run without modification. (Last I checked, it doesn't do V6 games quite right - you don't get any graphics on e.g. Shogun or Arthur: Quest for Excalibur, but you can still play the games.) I imagine there are other interpreters out there that do graphics, though, or as a last resort you could run those in DOSbox.

 

[DeadName]

Gargoyle has been proven to work on the Pandora.

http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/

It is an interactive fiction (IF) interpreter. The same one I use on my computer! Works nice!
Doesn't allow graphics though, so if your IF contains graphics, they just won't show. Okay, scratch this.
There seems to be a little support for graphics, as I can see from the screenshots page.
( http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/screenshots.html ) My apologies.

It's cool to see another fan of IF on these boards too. Nice to meet you Mike! Welcome to the community!

 

[Tom`]

Doesn't allow graphics though, so if your IF contains graphics, they just won't show. Okay, scratch this.
There seems to be a little support for graphics, as I can see from the screenshots page.
( http://ccxvii.net/ga...creenshots.html ) My apologies.

It supports Glulx games with (blorb) graphics, but this isn't the same as the Infocom graphical format - support for this isn't as common, probably because only two or three games used it. I couldn't find whether Gargoyle supports this or not - if it conforms to the Z-machine specification 1.2 it should (most interpreters only implement 1.0 or lower, it seems).

 

[DeadName]

It supports Glulx games with (blorb) graphics, but this isn't the same as the Infocom graphical format - support for this isn't as common, probably because only two or three games used it. I couldn't find whether Gargoyle supports this or not - if it conforms to the Z-machine specification 1.2 it should (most interpreters only implement 1.0 or lower, it seems).

Well, I'm not sure about the specification exactly...but there's a page here which lists all Gargoyle supports.

http://ifwiki.org/index.php/Gargoyle

I can't tell however, from this list, what graphical format it supports. It says:

for Inform & Infocom games:
o Z-code (Z-machine VM):
+ Glk Frotz 2.4.3
+ Nitfol 0.5
+ no version 6 support
o Glulx VM:
+ Git 1.2.4
+ Glulxe 0.4.4

Does this give you enough information as to whether or not it could display Infocom graphics?

EDIT: I wish the world of IF was a little more simple than this. Would've made things so much easier for us today if they could just come out with a standard everyone could use. The formats I see the most now either come from TADS or Inform. I've played around with Inform myself (Inform 7). The language it uses is very unique. It was fun to play with for a while. But I gave up on trying to create an IF of my own. I'll just stick with short stories and poetry from now on, when it comes to my writing.

 

[Gary13579]

I'll personally be working to get Infocom games running, if they don't using any of the public emulators (there are many). And I am nearly positive the games will run in DOSBox, handling a text game such as those should be a breeze.

And yeah, I'd love to get the chance to play some of those again. I know I could just use my PC, but meh. I'm sure there are also some I've never finished (like HGTTG, *hides*)

 

[Tom`]

for Inform & Infocom games:
o Z-code (Z-machine VM):
+ Glk Frotz 2.4.3
+ Nitfol 0.5
+ no version 6 support
o Glulx VM:
+ Git 1.2.4
+ Glulxe 0.4.4

Does this give you enough information as to whether or not it could display Infocom graphics?

Yeah, "no version 6 support" means no graphical support, since the only V6 games that Infocom produced were graphical (or, the only graphical games Infocom produced used version 6 of the Z-Machine). Fortunately, the games can still be played without graphics (IIRC, but it's been a while).

I don't know, I think the variety of systems for creating IF is not bad, or even beneficial - even leaving aside the fact that (IMO) TADS (for example) would be nowhere near what it is today, if it existed at all, without the reverse-engineering of the Z-machine, Inform, and the interest in IF it generated - same for the other systems. Just like if there was only one WM for Linux, it would be boring.

 

[DeadName]

Yeah, "no version 6 support" means no graphical support, since the only V6 games that Infocom produced were graphical (or, the only graphical games Infocom produced used version 6 of the Z-Machine). Fortunately, the games can still be played without graphics (IIRC, but it's been a while).

I believe they could be played without graphics. I once played a game that had graphics through a non-graphical interpreter. But it wasn't an Infocom game, so I can't say for sure on that specifically.

I don't know, I think the variety of systems for creating IF is not bad, or even beneficial - even leaving aside the fact that (IMO) TADS (for example) would be nowhere near what it is today, if it existed at all, without the reverse-engineering of the Z-machine, Inform, and the interest in IF it generated - same for the other systems. Just like if there was only one WM for Linux, it would be boring.

You certainly have a point there. Wouldn't want 'just one' of anything now that I think about it! It would definitely be boring. Can you imagine if there was 'just one' flavor of ice cream?!

:lol:

 

[Pinballwzd]

I cannot wait to play Adventure, Zork 1 and HGTTG on the Pandora !!

Love the text adventures.. Kids now a days have it too easy with all that graphic stuff...

David...

 

[MikeNZ]

Yep, I think the Pandora is going to be brilliant for playing these old text adventures.
Having a proper keyboard is just the thing for emulating the old 8 bit computers. Especially for running the old adventure games.

I remember drooling over all the ZZAP64 reviews of Infocom games back in the day, but was unable to afford them at the time. I finally managed to get a couple for my C64 but I was never very good at them so didn't get very far.

I eventually managed to pick up both sets of 'The lost Treasures of Infocom' for the PC and had some great times playing them in MS-DOS.
I can now play those versions using WinFrotz but I think it would be more fun to play them on the Pandora emulated.

I don't think the younger generation would understand the concept of text adventures these days. Too oldskool.

 

[chiark]

You've got me thinking about porting Magnetic to the Pandora, although there's already a linux version so that should just compile... Those text adventures from Magnetic Scrolls are still a joy

(I'll have to be a batch 2 buyer now)

 

[Bosbeetle]

Id like to enjoy some bureaucracy while Im in the train after work. Just to vent my anger to the real bureaucracy

 

[Asmo]

They'll all run fine under an ST emulator, and they're easy to find on that format!

If the concept is totally alien to anyone but they feel like giving it a go, I'd start with 'Moonmist'.

 

[WizardStan]

You certainly have a point there. Wouldn't want 'just one' of anything now that I think about it! It would definitely be boring. Can you imagine if there was 'just one' flavor of ice cream?!

Well yes and no. It's more like having just one iced cream shop with a thousand flavours, or a thousand iced cream shops with one flavour each. Or even one hundred iced cream shops with two dozen flavours each, and there's a lot of overlap. There's arguments for having just one iced cream shop with every flavour of iced cream you could ever want, and there's argument for all these different shops which have a standard set of flavours plus their own unique flavours as well. Each shop looks a little different, so if you're looking for a generic flavour, you can choose the aesthetically pleasing shop. If you want one of the more unique flavours, you don't have a choice, and the shop that has your favourite flavour might look ugly to you. Consolidating all these hundred shops into just a couple with a few different layouts that can handle all one thousand flavours would be ideal, and anytime anyone comes out with a new flavour, it's easy to roll out in a way that everyone can get a sample.
Anywho, can we go back to car analogies? This one is making me hungry.

 

[skeezix]

I have built Frotz (Infocom/zmachine) and Scottfree (Scott Adams) and Magnetic (Magnetic Scrolls) already, so they work for sure; they're all very trivial ports and can use stdio or slightly better UIs; I've always intended (time permitting) to wrap up a nicer GUI around them, but we'll see. (Very few people seem to take text advent GUIs seriously; even Gargoyle which is one of the better ones doesn't have things like 'click on word to copy it into buffer' or 'word memory' or the like . .I built all that into my Palm OS IF interp collection ("Kronos"), but I just can't believe no one else does.) Seems everyone assumes you have a keyboard and no touch-screen

Anyway, yeah, looks like a lot of people will tackle IF on Pandora; its a great fit for such games.

jeff

 

[MikeNZ]

You've got me thinking about porting Magnetic to the Pandora, although there's already a linux version so that should just compile... Those text adventures from Magnetic Scrolls are still a joy

(I'll have to be a batch 2 buyer now)

chiark - If you want to be a first batch buyer I'd say there could still be a very good chance.

I only just managed to order one from the first batch yesturday from Jacuelyn at openpandorasales.

I had been trying for about a month to get one, but it seems that none of my emails were getting through - I didn't hear back.
I finally tried emailing using a different host and got a reply from Jacuelyn within a couple of hours. Have just gone through the Google Checkout this morning.
Now I really am getting excited

 

[MikeNZ]

I have built Frotz (Infocom/zmachine) and Scottfree (Scott Adams) and Magnetic (Magnetic Scrolls) already, so they work for sure; they're all very trivial ports and can use stdio or slightly better UIs; I've always intended (time permitting) to wrap up a nicer GUI around them, but we'll see. (Very few people seem to take text advent GUIs seriously; even Gargoyle which is one of the better ones doesn't have things like 'click on word to copy it into buffer' or 'word memory' or the like . .I built all that into my Palm OS IF interp collection ("Kronos"), but I just can't believe no one else does.) Seems everyone assumes you have a keyboard and no touch-screen

Anyway, yeah, looks like a lot of people will tackle IF on Pandora; its a great fit for such games.

jeff

Would love to see you continue your GUI work on those tools for the Pandora Jeff.
That would give us access to loads of great classics.

I guess a good C64 emulator would suffice for a lot of adventure games I remember playing. Man, I've just remembered how good the C64 graphics were on Magnetic Scrolls 'The Pawn'.

I also remember how infuriating some of the Scott Adams adventures were. Does anyone remember "BITE LIP" in the first scene in 'The Hulk'? Took me ages to figure that one out. Classic :lol:

 

[skeezix]

Going 'native' is often better than an emu running them; ie: scummvm on Atari ST emu is not as good as native ScummVM -- battery performance, new updates and localization to the platform. ie: Magnetic Scrolls on an Atari ST emu is cool and fun, but when I did my Kronos wrapper I added the 'tap to copy word' and 'smart verbs' and auto-mapper and such; you can't do that easily with an emu

At the same time, going to an original platform is groovy -- I played Hitchhikers Guide on my STacy (Atari ST laptop) awhile back, way awesome (And Empire Battle of the Century

Anyway, sounds like lots of people will be on it, but I might also be on it; one GUI frontend for multiple interps (Scott Adams, Zmachine and Magnetic.. I'm a huge fan of all three of these.) Really, just a C or C++ wrapper to encapsulate the backends and provide a common IO framework, then plug in other interps.. good times. We'll all see when the Panda launches, but I've confirmed these all work no problem on Panda dev units

jeff