WinFrotz Version 1.08 (see Revision.txt for update info) WinFrotz is a Win95/NT native version of Frotz, the Z-machine interpreter from Stefan Jokisch. Stefan's code was in turn based on Mark Howell's Zip. My (Rich Lawrence) contribution to this was simply to hack up Stefan's version so it would support the Win32 Console instead of DOS. Christopher J. Madsen did the OS/2 port, from which the alias code in this version comes from (used with permission). You should find WinFrotz a better experience under Win95/NT than the DOS version because it more efficiently shares the CPU and resources (sound) with Windows. There is a fully Windows version of WinFrotz called WinFrotz 5.XX available as well; you can get it from http://www.cris.com/~Twist/WinFrotz/. I keep this (console) version going because it's great for laptops and has full screen text mode via Alt-Enter, which makes it feel just like running an old Infocom game. Differences in WinFrotz from DOS Frotz: * WinFrotz does not support the graphical Infocom games (ie Zork Zero). WinFrotz 5.XX does this if you want to play those games. * Due to limitations in the Win32 Console, I can't use a graphical font ('Beyond Zork') or underline text. Color is supported however, as well as reverse video and emphasis. * WinFrotz can create a console of any size (row/column) up to what your screen will display. You have to pass command line parameters to it to accomplish this, resizing when running doesn't work. * You can vary the size of the input cursor from 1 to 100% of a character using the -s ??? command line/shortcut parameter * WinFrotz will use standard Window file dialogs for save/restore operations unless told not to do so on the command line/shortcut using the -D 0 option * WinFrotz can switch between full screen and window mode via ALT-ENTER I hope folks out there get a kick out of playing using WinFrotz. If you're one of those snobs who thinks text adventures are over with, I've got two things to say to you: 1) Why the hell did you download WinFrotz and 2) Too bad, you are missing out on some of the best writing done for computer games, even if it doesn't have pretty graphics with it. -Rich Lawrence rich@kesmai.com CIS:71101,2272 AOL:KesmaiRL Check out Kesmai, the company I work for, at www.kesmai.com. We make online games, and have been making them for 15 years (that's right, 15). Special Console-Mode Notes Console mode apps are rare so I'll point out a couple of things here - first, cut and paste don't work very well (you have to right click on the title bar of the console). Second, you can make a console go into a special "full screen" mode which is really the ol' familiar text modes. Just hit ALT-ENTER when the console is up. You can even pass WinFrotz a -h 50 (height 50) parameter, hit ALT-ENTER, and you'll get 50 line text mode. Neato torpedo. You can get the Toolbar for WinFrotz by right-clicking on the menu bar and selecting Properties... then click on the Screen tab, then "Show Toolbar". WinFrotz WILL normally display Explorer style dialog boxes when saving/ loading files. You can overload this by passing a -D 0 parameter at launch. If you have the screen in text mode when you do a save/restore operation, WinFrotz will default to standard text prompts for the file operation. The reason for this is the file dialog box will not focus to switch you out of text mode, so it would look like WinFrotz was hung (experimenting with all this was quite an adventure in of itself, let me tell you). Since I can't force the dialog box to front, I figured you might as get text prompts. If you can't stand them hit ALT-ENTER before you try the save/restore operation. Console apps don't resize like you're used to. If you want to make the text larger, look at how to change fonts in the Q/A section here. If you want to display more characters per line or more lines, use the -h or -w parameters. WinFrotz edit keys WinFrotz supports just about every editing style of previous Frotzes (Frotzi?) on the edit line. Here is a list of key combinations and what they do: SPECIAL KEYS: (Frotz DOS & OS/2 keys supported) Alt-A - alias menu (also Options/Alias) Alt-D - debugging menu (Options/Debugging) Alt-N - new game (restart) (File/Restart) Alt-P - turn on input line playback (File/Open/Recording) Alt-R - input line recording on/off (File/Save/Recording) Alt-S - set the random seed Alt-U - multiple UNDO (even for old V1 to V4 games) Alt-X - exit game (quit) Ctrl-A home - move to beginning of line Alt-B ctrl-cursor left - move to previous word ctrl-cursor right - move to next word Ctrl-B or cursor left - move one character to the left Ctrl-D delete - delete character below cursor ctrl-delete - delete word below cursor insert - toggle overwrite mode on/off Ctrl-E end - move to end of line Ctrl-F cursor right - move one character to the right Ctrl-H backspace - delete character to the left ctrl-backspace - delete word to the left Ctrl-L scrollback - view scrollback buffer Ctrl-N cursor down - get next command Ctrl-P cursor up - get previous command Ctrl-T - transpose characters Ctrl-U escape - delete whole input line Command line options: -d # set the display mode (0 mono, 1 text, 2 CGA, 3 MCGA, 4 EGA) -f # set the foreground colour -b # set the background colour -e # set the emphasis colour -F # set the foreground colour for reverse mode -B # set the background colour for reverse mode -w # set the screen width -h # set the screen height -l # set the left margin -r # set the right margin -c # set the number of context lines to keep when scrolling -u # set the number of undo slots for multiple undo -v # set the minimum sound level -V # set the maximum sound level -o monitor object movement -O monitor object locating -a monitor attribute assignment -A monitor attribute testing -t set the Tandy bit (see below) Colours and sound levels range from 0 to 15. WinFrotz Q/A -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q. Uh, what is this for again? A. It's an interpreter for Z-code or 'ZIP' games. This was the language used by Infocom in writing their text adventures, and is still used today by many authors writing interactive fiction. Usually a game will come in the form of a single data file, such as LURKING.DAT (Lurking Horror). You just load that with WinFrotz (either on the command line or by drag and drop). Q. Hey I remember those games, where can I get them? A. Do not even think about e-mailing me for an Infocom game, as you will get nada in reply (they are copyrighted). However there is for now an incredible deal on the Infocom stuff from Activision: You can get 30+ Infocom products on a single CD for $20. Can't beat that. Check www.activision.com, the package is called Masterpieces of Infocom. You can also get lots of public domain stories on the net. Check out ftp.gmd.de, the home of SPAG, an internet-zine dedicated to interactive fiction. Q. Is Frotz/WinFrotz freeware? A. Yup. No money wanted, no money accepted. If you feel compelled ask Stefan, he wrote all the hard stuff. If you really like WinFrotz and want to help in some way, check out the Kesmai web site (the company I work for) at www.kesmai.com or go to keyword KESMAI on AOL/CIS/Prodigy. Q. It's not DOS, but what's the point? A. Two main reasons: 1) WinFrotz doesn't peg the CPU like running Frotz in a DOS session would (this is not an error in Frotz, it's just the way DOS apps behave under Windows) and 2) Because it's Windows native, it's much friendlier about memory and other system resources when running. Q. How do I change the font displayed? A. Float the mouse cursor over the title bar for WinFrotz, right-click, and select properties. Select the Font tab and pick away. You can't grab just any font for a Console app; it needs to be a fixed pitch one - Windows will show you only the fonts that apply. Q. Which games work with WinFrotz? A. I've tested the following Infocom games: --------------------------------------- A Mind Forever Voyaging Ballyhoo Beyond Zork(**) Border Zone Bureaucracy Cutthroats Deadline Enchanter Hollywood Hijinx Infidel Leather Goddesses of Phobos Lurking Horror (*) Moonmist Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It Planetfall (great game) Plundered Hearts Seastalker Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels(*) Sorcerer Spellbreaker Starcross StationFall Suspect Suspended Trinity Wishbringer Witness, The Zork I Zork II Zork III * - Supports sound, providing you have the sound files ** - No graphical font support, so it looks a little weird. Also use / and \ keys to scroll through selection menu instead of arrows Games that do not work (and why): -------------------------------- Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur - Don't have graphics support for this game. Zork Zero: Ditto above. Journey: Ditto again, but basically works. Shogun: You know the story. All of these games work with the full Windows version of WinFrotz, available from http://www.cris.com/~Twist/WinFrotz I've also tested many public domain games from ftp.gmd.de, and they all seemed fine. Usually you can tell the correct kind since they will end in .dat or .Z3, .Z5, etc. Q. How do people write these newer games? A. Most of them use a compiler called Inform. You can find details about it and TADS (a similar system) from ftp.gmd.de. Q. I like the style of these games, but I'd still prefer something more modern, where do I look? A. The only games I've found of comparable depth to the original Infocom games in terms of storyline is the stuff from Legend Entertainment. Not surprising considering Legend has had various old Infocom employees working for them. I am not affiliated with Legend in any way, in case you're wondering. Just like (some of) their games. Q. How come the game doesn't have the icon built in, but has one supplied as a seperate file? A. Because Win95 is broken for Console apps with icons. It works right under NT. The only way to make the icon take effect is create a shortcut to WinFrotz, then select properties for the shortcut, change icon, and select the WinFrotz icon. Don't ask me... Q. Where do I get the sound files? A. For some reason, Activision never wants to distribute these. You can find them at ftp.gmd.de in /if-archive/infocom/missing-files. NOTE: I haven't tested sound extensively. However, it was a pain to add, so somebody please test it on Lurking Horror and make sure it works right. In particular I'm curious what happens with long "looping" sounds. It SHOULD work..... NOTE2: Activision did NOT distribute a Sherlock.dat file that has sound support with Masterpieces. However, you can gets Stefan's converter utility in the archive at ftp.gmd.de and that will modify your .dat file to support sound.