FROTZ V2.40 - an interpreter for all Infocom games. Complies with standard 1.0 of Graham Nelson's specification. Written by Stefan Jokisch in 1995-7 This program once started as a re-make of Mark Howell's Zip, but has grown into an utterly new interpreter. Jim Dunleavy maintains the 32bit DJGPP version. Please report bugs to s.jokisch@avu.de Copyright: Frotz is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. Frotz is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA Syntax: frotz [options] story-file -d # select display mode Available display modes are 0 = monochrome 1 = text 2 = CGA 3 = MCGA 4 = EGA 5 = AMIGA When no display mode is given, Frotz tries to select a mode that is suitable for the given story file. In theory every story file can be run under every display mode; in practice, however, there are story files that don't work well under certain display modes. -f # set the foreground colour -b # set the background colour -F # set the foreground colour for reversed text -B # set the background colour for reversed text -e # set the emphasis colour The emphasis colour is used in text mode instead of underlining; its default value is yellow. The reverse mode colours can be set to change the look of the status line; if you prefer the look of Infocom's V3 interpreter, try -F4 to turn the text on the status line red. All colours range from 0 to 15. For V6 games under Amiga mode switches -F and -B don't work; and even -f and -b accept only certain colours. -g # choose a font for Amiga mode Available fonts are 1 = Sans Serif (default) 2 = Comic Style 3 = Times 4 = Serif This switch sets the proportional-width font used in Amiga mode; if you don't like these fonts at all, try -g0 to get back to the fixed-width system font. -i ignore fatal runtime errors Set this switch and Frotz no longer worries about anything the game tries to do. This can help you to get around fatal errors. -T bold typing In modes 2, 4 and 5 this switch enables boldface characters for location names and other highlighted text bits. Sadly, boldface text tends to be less readable, especially when capital letters are used, which is why this is only an option. -w # set the screen width -h # set the screen height -l # set the left margin -r # set the right margin Setting the screen format can be useful if you are running Frotz under Microsoft Windows, or if you want to test a game on a more narrow screen. Setting the margins is a matter of taste; Infocom interpreters usually set a right margin of one character (-r1). -S # set the width of the transscript file By default your transscript files are formatted to a width of 80 columns per line -- regardless of the current screen width. This switch allows you to change this setting. In particular, use -S0 to deactivate automatic line splitting in transscript files. -c # set the number of context lines When the game prints several pages of text in a row, Frotz stops for a more prompt after each page. The first prompt appears when your input reaches the top of the window. Further prompts appear when the previous page has been scrolled off the window. You can use this switch to make the latter more prompts appear earlier. -u # set the number of undo slots for multiple undo Sets the number of slots available for Frotz's multiple undo hotkey (see below). This defaults to 500, which should be sufficient for most purposes. Setting too high a number here may be dangerous on machines with limited memory. You can turn off the undo feature altogether by using -u0. -s # set the random number seed The given seed value is used as the initial seed value on every restart. This is helpful for testing games like 'Curses' which make random decisions before the first input (such that the hot key Alt-S does not really help). The meaning of seed values is explained in the next section. -x expand abbreviations (g, x, z ==> again, examine, wait) This switch was made for old Infocom games that lack the common abbreviations introduced in later games. Use it with caution: A few games might use "g", "x" or "z" for different purposes. -o watch object movement -O watch object locating -a watch attribute assignment -A watch attribute testing Although these switches may be of assistance while debugging new games, they are are actually meant to be cheat functions. The -o switch, for example, helps to locate the thief in 'Zork 1' and the cat in 'Curses'. The other switches produce a lot of obscure messages during the game; but some of these messages might give you important clues if you watch carefully. -t set the Tandy bit Some old Infocom games were sold by the Tandy Corporation. These games behave slightly different when you use this option. For example, 'The Witness' gets censored: bastards turn into idiots, private dicks into private eyes and so on. -p alter behaviour of piracy opcode The piracy opcode was never used by Infocom, and this switch is only useful for those who like to toy around with Z-code. -R save/restore in old Frotz format By default Frotz save files are stored in the Quetzal format. If you have save files from earlier versions of Frotz you can use the -R switch to restore them. -Z # set error reporting mode Available modes are 0 = no errors are reported 1 = report first occurence of error (default) 2 = report all errors 3 = exit after any error Special keys: Alt-D - toggle debugging options (-a, -A, -o, -O) Alt-H - help on hot keys Alt-N - new game (restart) Alt-P - turn on input line playback Alt-R - toggle input line recording on/off Alt-S - set the random number seed Alt-U - multiple undo, works even for old V1 to V4 games Alt-X - exit game When testing a text adventure it can be difficult to reproduce a specific bug. To avoid this problem you should use the Alt-R key to record all your inputs in a command file. Later you can press Alt-P to feed the command file back into Frotz. In many cases, however, you will find that the result is different because most games contain random events. Luckily, Frotz provides a hot key to control these events. Type Alt-S and you are asked for a seed value, i.e. a value in the range from 1 to 32767. Normally, you would choose a number >= 1000. Smaller values generate a special sequence of random numbers as proposed by Nelson. (For instance, the seed value 4 generates 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1...). In any case, random events become predictable until the next restart. See also the command line option -s above. cursor left - move one character to the left cursor right - move one character to the right ctrl-cursor left - move to previous word ctrl-cursor right - move to next word home - move to beginning of line end - move to end of line backspace - delete character to the left delete - delete character below cursor insert - toggle overwrite mode on/off escape - delete whole input line cursor up - get previous command cursor down - get next command page up - scroll status window up ('Beyond Zork') page down - scroll status window down ('Beyond Zork') tab - word completion (like "tcsh" under Unix) When you need to type an unpleasantly long word, try to type the first three or four letters then press the tabulator key. If you are lucky, Frotz fills in some or all of the missing letters. A high beep noise indicates that the word is ambiguous; a low beep indicates that it does not exist. Apart from that, you can also use the history feature to get to previous input lines. Type the beginning of the input line you are looking for, then use cursor up/down to scroll through all input lines matching that prefix. Environment variables: If Frotz can't find a game in the current directory it searches the semicolon-separated list of paths in the ZCODE_PATH environment variable. If ZCODE_PATH is undefined it will try the INFOCOM_PATH variable. Questions and answers: Q: What is Frotz? A: Frotz runs text adventures which come in so-called story files: ZORK1.DAT, TRINITY.DAT, CURSES.Z5, JIGSAW.Z8, ARTHUR.ZIP etc. Q: Where can I find story files to use with Frotz? A: First, you can use the files from your original Infocom games. It is possible to play Atari ST, Amiga or Macintosh games on your PC once you manage to transfer the story files. Some people even extracted story files from old Atari 800, Apple II and C-64 disks (ask your local 8bit guru). Second, there is an increasing number of new games available on the Internet. Check the if-archive at ftp.gmd.de. Q: Why does Frotz stop with an error message? A: It might have detected a bug in the story file other interpreters overlooked. Use the -i switch to run your story file anyway. It's also possible that the story file is corrupt; be sure to download story files in binary mode, especially when you use a WWW browser. Q: Is there a way to exit Frotz in emergency situations? A: Use ctrl-break or ctrl-C. Q: What do I need to play graphic games? A: In addition to the story file, you also need appropriate graphics files in your current directory. CG1 files work for CGA mode, MG1 files for both MCGA and AMIGA modes and finally EG1/EG2 files for EGA mode. If you extract a story file from Amiga/Macintosh disks, you should get the MG1 file from the if-archive at ftp.gmd.de and run the game in AMIGA mode (-d5). Q: What do I need for sound? A: You need the original 'Sherlock' or 'Lurking Horror'. Next get the SHSOUND.ZIP or LHSOUND.ZIP package from ftp.gmd.de (directory is /if-archive/infocom/missing-files). Each package contains a readme file, sound files and a tool to update your old story file. Follow the instructions in the readme file. Q: When exactly should I hear sound? A: Here are two examples: In 'Lurking Horror', you can hear chanting during your dream in the terminal pool. In 'Sherlock', you should play the violin. Q: Why doesn't the sound work? A: Be sure to use the correct story files: 'Sherlock' release 26 (not release 21) or 'Lurking Horror' release 221 (not release 203). The release number is shown at the start of the game. Furthermore, look at your AUTOEXEC.BAT file: It must set the BLASTER variable to the proper values, e.g. "A220 I7 D1 T6" with capital A, I, D and T. Finally, all sound files should be placed in a subdirectory called SOUND. Q: How can I send transscription to the printer? A: Type PRN as file name. Q: Why does Frotz crash in monochrome mode? A: Some systems are configured to use the monochrome video area for upper memory blocks. Check your CONFIG.SYS: If EMM386.SYS is set with the option -I=B000-B7FF then Frotz will crash in monochrome mode. Remove this option or try -I=B100-B7FF instead. Q: Why is it impossible to save or restore? A: When your story file is stored on a floppy disk, don't remove the disk during save and restore. Furthermore, an excessive amount of DOS environment variables (say, over 2KB) might occupy the memory required for opening files. If this problem occurs, please e-mail the author. Q: Why do I get weird characters instead of accented letters? A: Activate IBM font 850 (consult your DOS manual). Alternatively, the hardware default font 437 displays most important characters such as French, German or Spanish letters properly. Q: Why don't the number pad keys work in 'Beyond Zork'? A: NumLock must be set. Q: How can I scroll the status window in 'Beyond Zork'? A: Use page up/down instead of cursor up/down. Q: Why do I get the error: Load error: no DPMI - Get csdpmi*b.zip? A: You don't have a DPMI server installed, and DJGPP v2 requires it to run. You can either use one of the commercial DPMI servers (e.g., run Frotz in a DOS box from Windows) or install CWSDPMI from CSDPMI4B.ZIP (included in this distribution) which is a free DPMI server written for DJGPP. List of fatal errors: - "Bad stack frame" - "Byte swapped story file" - "Call to illegal address" - "Call to non-routine" [1] - "Cannot open story file" - "Division by zero" - "Error reading save file" - "Illegal attribute" - "Illegal object" [2] - "Illegal window" - "Illegal window property" - "Jump to illegal address" - "Nesting stream #3 too deep" - "No such property" - "Out of memory" - "Print at illegal address" - "Stack overflow" [3] - "Stack underflow" [4] - "Store out of dynamic memory" - "Story file read error" - "Text buffer overflow" - "Unknown opcode" - "Unknown Z-code version" [1] The first byte of a routine must be less than 16. [2] In V4 and above, object numbers > 2000 are considered illegal. [3] Checked on every call instruction. [4] Checked on every return from a subroutine. Table of display modes: +---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+ | # name | format | available fonts | text styles | colour | Latin1 | +=========+=========+==================+================+========+========+ | 0 MONO | 80x25 | fix | bold underline | | * | +---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+ | 1 TEXT | 80x25 | fix | bold [1] | * | * | +---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+ | 2 CGA | 640x200 | fix graphic | underline [2] | | [3] | +---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+ | 3 MCGA | 320x200 | fix prop | underline | * | [3] | +---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+ | 4 EGA | 640x200 | fix graphic | underline [2] | * | * | +---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+ | 5 AMIGA | 640x400 | fix graphic prop | bold underline | * | * | +---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+ [1] Underlined text is shown in emphasis colour (-e switch). [2] Boldface text is available using the -T switch. [3] ISO Latin 1 characters are replaced with suitable substitutes. Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Paul D. Doherty for his continuing support of this project. Thanks to everyone who sent bug reports, contributions or helpful hints (in alphabetical order): Thomas Biskup, Ian Carpenter, Graeme Cree, Jason Dyer, Carl Edman, Julian Eggebrecht, Bernhard Fuchs, Joe Hachem, John Kennedy, Kirk Klobe, Marnix Klooster, John Mackin, Paul O'Brian, Magnus Olsson, Barry Prescott, L. Ross Raszewski, Ambat Sasi Nair, Alan Sherrod, Linards Ticmanis and Paolo Vece. Last but not least, thanks to the porters: David Kinder (Amiga), Rich Lawrence (Windows 95/NT), Andrew Holdsworth (RiscOS), Christos Dimitrakakis (HP-UX), Christopher J. Madsen (OS/2), Galen Hazelwood (Unix curses library), Ian Dean (Windows CE), Dave Griffith (current Unix maintainer). Executables are available from ftp.gmd.de and from http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/3222/frotz.html which is the Frotz home page maintained by Chris Madsen.