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FrotzReadMe.txt
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1997-08-27
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FROTZ V2.22 - an interpreter for all Infocom games. Complies with standard
0.2 of Graham Nelson's specification. Written by Stefan Jokisch in 1995-97
This program once started as a re-make of Mark Howell's Zip, but
it has grown into an utterly new interpreter.
Frotz is freeware: It may be used and distributed freely provided
no commercial profit is involved. (c) 1995-1997 Stefan Jokisch.
Please report bugs to: s.jokisch@avu.de
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, Bernhard Fuchs, Joe Hachem, John Kennedy,
Kirk Klobe, Marnix Klooster, John Mackin, Ambat Sasi Nair,
Alan Sherrod and Linards Ticmanis.
Last but not least, thanks to the porters:
Amiga................................David Kinder
OS/2........................Christopher J. Madsen
Unix (curses library).............Galen Hazelwood
Windows 95..........................Rich Lawrence
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.
Features:
- support for V1 to V8 games
- various text and graphic modes including 640x400 resolution
- real-time input ('Border Zone')
- built-in graphic font ('Beyond Zork', 'Journey')
- mouse support ('Beyond Zork' and all V6 games)
- function key support including number pad keys ('Beyond Zork')
- command line editing and history
- word completion (similar to "tcsh" under Unix)
- small save files
- switches for colour setting
- switch for setting the Tandy bit
- sound effects via Soundblaster ('The Lurking Horror' and 'Sherlock')
- cheat functions
- multiple UNDO (via hot key, even for old V1 to V4 games)
- input line recording and playback (via hot key)
- support for European characters ('Zork I German')
- underlined, reverse and boldface text
- fast performance without virtual memory
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 some cases,
however, you will find that the result is different because many
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 below.
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.
Syntax: frotz [options] story-file
-d # select display mode
Display modes: 0 mono, 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, some
story files do not work very well in certain display modes. More
information can be found at the end of this document.
-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 the switches -F and -B don't work;
and even -f and -b accept only certain colours.
-i ignore 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, you can
try -S 9999 or similar 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
Frotz tries to allocate as much conventional memory as possible
for multiple UNDO. If this strategy causes some kind of problem,
use this switch to set a tighter limit. In particular, you might
want to turn off the UNDO feature altogether by typing -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 has
been explained in the previous 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.
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!
Second, there is also 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.
Q: Is there a way to exit Frotz in emergency situations?
A: If you run Frotz under DOS, try ctrl-break. If you run Frotz under
Windows, better use the exit button.
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 mode, 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. Futhermore, 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, do not remove the
disk during save and restore.
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.
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 number"
- "Illegal object number" [2]
- "Jump to illegal address"
- "No such property"
- "Out of memory"
- "Print at illegal address"
- "Stack overflow" [3]
- "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] This condition is only checked on every call instruction.
Table of display modes:
+---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+
| # name | format | available fonts | text styles | colour | Europ. |
+=========+=========+==================+================+========+========+
| 0 MONO | 80x25 | fix 1x1 | bold underline | | * |
+---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+
| 1 TEXT | 80x25 | fix 1x1 | bold [1] | * | * |
+---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+
| 2 CGA | 640x200 | fix graphic 8x8 | underline [2] | | [3] |
+---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+
| 3 MCGA | 320x200 | fix prop 5x8 | underline | * | [3] |
+---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+
| 4 EGA | 640x200 | fix graphic 8x8 | underline [2] | * | * |
+---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+
| 5 AMIGA | 640x400 | fix graphic 16x8 | underline [2] | * | * |
+---------+---------+------------------+----------------+--------+--------+
[1] Underlined text is shown in emphasis colour (-e switch).
[2] Boldface text is available using the -T switch.
[3] European characters are replaced with suitable substitutes.
Back to the Frotz Home Page.
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Last Updated: February 19, 1997 by Chris Madsen using txt2html