ZIL: My first silly example game
Jayson Smith
I just wrote a very silly example game in ZIL, using the just released
ZILF 0.3 and its associated library. There are lots of comments, except in
the middle of object definitions, so you should be able to tell what's going
on. I'm sure most of you will be able to tell immediately which game served
as my influence for this one. This is my absolutely first public work you
could reasonably call a game, and I apologize that it's so stupid and silly.
But I just wanted to get something out there. So... here goes!
"Pick Up the DECsystem-20 and Die"
"A Very Simple and Silly ZIL Example Game"
"Written April 18, 2010 by Jayson Smith"
"Requires ZILF 0.3 and its associated library."
"First we specify the Z-code version."
"Here, ZIP means Z3."
<VERSION ZIP>
"Here is the release number."
<CONSTANT RELEASEID 1>
"Now we specify the game banner."
<CONSTANT GAME-BANNER
"Pick Up the DECsystem-20 and Die|
A Simple and Silly ZIL Example Game by Jayson Smith">
"A ZIL Program always starts with a routine named GO."
<ROUTINE GO ()
<CRLF> <CRLF>
<TELL "Through a time warp, you have been transported back to 1984.
Even more amazing than that, you have entered the offices of the
legendary game publishing company Infocom.
What's more, you have just accepted a job as an implementer... Wait a
minute, this must be a parallel universe.
At any rate, you are taken to complete your final test. The company's
DECsystem-20 mainframe is here.
Just don't pick it up, or else you'll die. Yeah, definitely a parallel
universe." CR CR>
"The V-VERSION routine prints the game banner and version information."
<V-VERSION> <CRLF>
"Now we establish the player's initial location."
<SETG HERE ,INFOCOM>
<MOVE ,PLAYER ,HERE>
"Give the player the room's description."
<V-LOOK>
"Here's the main loop, which processes player input and calls
appropriate routines."
"This loop repeats until the game ends."
<REPEAT ()
<COND (<PARSER>
<PERFORM ,PRSA ,PRSO ,PRSI>
<APPLY <GETP ,HERE ,P?ACTION> ,M-END>
<OR <META-VERB?> <CLOCKER>>)>
<SETG HERE <LOC ,WINNER>>>>
"And now, allow me to introduce the world model."
<INSERT-FILE "parser">
"Objects"
"The room where this game takes place."
<ROOM INFOCOM
(IN ROOMS)
(DESC "Infocom Headquarters")
(LDESC "A large room in the headquarters of Infocom.")
(FLAGS LIGHTBIT)>
"Now here's an object we can play with."
<OBJECT DEC20
(DESC "DECsystem-20")
(IN INFOCOM)
(FDESC "The DECsystem-20 mainframe is chugging away as the implementers
work.")
(SYNONYM DECSYSTEM COMPUTER MAINFRAME MACHINE)
(FLAGS TAKEBIT)
(ACTION DEC20-R)>
<ROUTINE DEC20-R ()
"This routine is one big COND. We're checking if the verb is various
things, and
taking appropriate actions."
<COND (<VERB? EXAMINE>
<TELL "Several large machines make up Infocom's mainframe. Within is
stored, among other things,
the source code and story files for all games, design documents,
development tools, and
other things the public will never see. If it were damaged,
Infocom's work would definitely be disrupted.">)
(<VERB? TAKE>
<TELL "You pick the most important-looking of the machines and
start to lift it up.
At that moment, your superhuman powers, which you didn't know
you had until this instant, kick in.
You are able to lift the machine high above your head. However,
the effects are short-lived,
and it falls on your head, squishing you." CR>
"Now we call JIGS-UP, since the player is now a pancake."
<JIGS-UP "Maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all.">)
(<VERB? PUSH>
<TELL "You push on the most important-looking of the machines,
and finally, you get it to fall over with a resounding CRASH!
The implementers all rush in to see what's going on. They find
the fallen machine,
and start to tell you to get out of the building right now!" CR>
<TELL "Just then, a time warp opens up, and you jump through it.
Now you're sitting back in front of your computer... Guess you
just can't have it all." CR CR>
<TELL "Thanks for playing this silly demo game!" CR>
"So the player has won... or at least, reached the happier of
this game's two endings. So we exit outright."
<QUIT>)>>
namekuseijin
anyone can suffer like an Implementor today, huh? :P
On 20 abr, 13:14, "Jayson Smith"
James Jolley
> truly old-school. Even the title is appropriate for nostalgia. Guess
> anyone can suffer like an Implementor today, huh? :P
Just a bit, interesting if a little pointless as a language. What is it
with some here in the IF community living in the past all of the time?
Jim Aikin
> On 2010-04-27 23:18:42 +0100, namekuseijin <nameku...@gmail.com> said:
>
>> truly old-school. Even the title is appropriate for nostalgia. Guess
>> anyone can suffer like an Implementor today, huh? :P
>
> Just a bit, interesting if a little pointless as a language. What is it
> with some here in the IF community living in the past all of the time?
I can't answer for anyone else, but ... James, aren't you the guy who
suggested a Bach piece that I learned on the piano? If playing Bach
isn't living in the past, I don't think I know what is.
Beyond that, there's a whole culture of retro tech out there. There are
people deliberately recreating the hideous sound of the 8-bit SID chip
in the Commodore-64. Hey, it floats their boat!
--JA
Jayson Smith
transcript facility to create a MIDI file of a Bach piece.
Jayson
"Jim Aikin" <midig...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:hr81tk$m0t$1...@speranza.aioe.org...
James Jolley
> On 4/27/2010 4:48 PM, James Jolley wrote:
>> On 2010-04-27 23:18:42 +0100, namekuseijin <nameku...@gmail.com> said:
>>
>>> truly old-school. Even the title is appropriate for nostalgia. Guess
>>> anyone can suffer like an Implementor today, huh? :P
>>
>> Just a bit, interesting if a little pointless as a language. What is it
>> with some here in the IF community living in the past all of the time?
>
> I can't answer for anyone else, but ... James, aren't you the guy who
> suggested a Bach piece that I learned on the piano? If playing Bach
> isn't living in the past, I don't think I know what is.
Yes I am the guy. I'm sure you benefited from the technical aspect of
learning that work anyway, knowing how we both are as musicians.
>
> Beyond that, there's a whole culture of retro tech out there. There are
> people deliberately recreating the hideous sound of the 8-bit SID chip
> in the Commodore-64. Hey, it floats their boat!
I understand that. I've actually used the 8-bit sounds myself when I
deliberately entered and transcried one of the Bach 48 preludes and
fugues into Csound. Never! AGAIN!
All I meant by the comment is that it's interesting as a language and
all, but i'm not sure how many will bother learning something like that
with all these newer ones out there.
Best
-James-
James Jolley
<ihatespamratg...@insightbb.spamsucks.com> said:
> Okay. Now, somebody just needs to write a ZIL program to use the Z-machine's
> transcript facility to create a MIDI file of a Bach piece.
> Jayson
Now that's more like it. Perhaps I should learn the language then. I've
tried classical music with various musician type systems over the
years, Csound, Modalyser - forgive the spelling, and some other
physical moddling one I can't remember it's name right now. Yes, if we
can hook up zills output to some sort of oscilator or midi trigger
that'de be fun to try. Not likely I suppose.
Captain Mikee
> Beyond that, there's a whole culture of retro tech out there. There are
> people deliberately recreating the hideous sound of the 8-bit SID chip
> in the Commodore-64. Hey, it floats their boat!
Hey, quit knocking the SID. That's music on original instruments! ;)
Mikee
Jim Aikin
Yeah, I hate the harpsichord too. Can't understand why anybody would go
near one.
--JA
James Jolley
Agreed, heavy on the rists and no dynamics? Not for me.
Peter Pears
I hear y'all, but the music that's been written *for* the harpsichord
takes its shortcomings into account, and as a result can make for some
very pleasurable listening. Personally I prefer Bach on harpsichord
(unless written for any other instrument, of course). Sure, the
phrasing can get a bit lost without the dynamics, but the ornaments he
wrote (which can seem superfluous on a piano) do make up for it.
Also, there's sounds that you just can't beat for atmosphere.
Arpeggios and lonely melodies in harpsichord are one of them. :)
James Jolley
> On Apr 28, 5:12�pm, James Jolley <jrjol...@me.com> wrote:
>> On 2010-04-28 17:00:06 +0100, Jim Aikin <midigur...@gmail.com> said:
>>
>>> On 4/28/2010 6:45 AM, Captain Mikee wrote:
>>>> On Apr 27, 9:10 pm, Jim Aikin<midigur...@gmail.com> �wrote:
>>
>>>>> Beyond that, there's a whole culture of retro tech out there. There a
> re
>>>>> people deliberately recreating the hideous sound of the 8-bit SID chi
> p
>>>>> in the Commodore-64. Hey, it floats their boat!
>>
>>>> Hey, quit knocking the SID. That's music on original instruments! ;)
>>
>>> Yeah, I hate the harpsichord too. Can't understand why anybody would go
>>> near one.
>>
>>> --JA
>>
>> Agreed, heavy on the rists and no dynamics? Not for me.
>
> I hear y'all, but the music that's been written *for* the harpsichord
> takes its shortcomings into account, and as a result can make for some
> very pleasurable listening. Personally I prefer Bach on harpsichord
> (unless written for any other instrument, of course). Sure, the
> phrasing can get a bit lost without the dynamics, but the ornaments he
> wrote (which can seem superfluous on a piano) do make up for it.
That's a fair point. It tends to go in phases doesn't it, sometimes
it's fassionable to play bach on piano. Depends, personally I don't
mind either instrument - Was joking.
Speaking as someone who enjoys playing Chopin, I did get the chance to
play through the 1st F Minor concerto on an equal temprement instrument
and this was a strange experience for me.
>
> Also, there's sounds that you just can't beat for atmosphere.
> Arpeggios and lonely melodies in harpsichord are one of them. :)
Yes.
James Jolley
>> Meant the second one the Op. 21
Jayson Smith
writing "Pick Up the Harpsichord and Die?" I couldn't do it justice, I don't
know enough about the background of the instrument's history.
Jayson
"James Jolley" <jrjo...@me.com> wrote in message
news:83rpld...@mid.individual.net...
Peter Pears
> it's fassionable to play bach on piano.
Yes, it can be a strange experience. Sometimes you get people trying
to play Bach like they would play Chopin - try to graft romantism onto
the classicism. Sure, it's different, but I've found it loses some of
that crisp-clear quality of Bach's. And yes, it goes around in phases.
That's how art works, I guess. :)
>Speaking as someone who enjoys playing Chopin, I did get the chance to
>play through the 1st F Minor concerto on an equal temprement instrument
>and this was a strange experience for me.
I'm probably showing my ignorance now, but I don't quite follow. I
assume you meant you had the chance to play the concerto in a piano,
and found the equal temperament to be a strange experience. How come?
Is it usually played some other way, or do you often use unequal
temperaments?
James Jolley
> I meant that I had the chance to perform the work on an unequal
> temperament instrument. It was a strange experience from the
> interpretation angle, I found myself pedaling entirely different,
> probably the pitching of the instrument but it was odd to say the least.
Peter Pears
> > temperament instrument. It was a strange experience from the
> > interpretation angle, I found myself pedaling entirely different,
> > probably the pitching of the instrument but it was odd to say the least.
Ah, I see. That must have been interesting. Changed some parts of the
piece entirely, I would expect. And thanks for enlightening me.
James Jolley
> On 2010-04-28 23:11:33 +0100, Peter Pears <peter...@hotmail.com> said:
>
>>> sometimes
>>> it's fassionable to play bach on piano.
>>
>> Yes, it can be a strange experience. Sometimes you get people trying
>> to play Bach like they would play Chopin - try to graft romantism onto
>> the classicism. Sure, it's different, but I've found it loses some of
>> that crisp-clear quality of Bach's. And yes, it goes around in phases.
>> That's how art works, I guess. :)
Yes, I genuinely don't agree with the philosophy of those players, you
can't go altering the meter in that kind of way. Bach's harmonic
development was naturally worked for the harpsichord and this needs to
be respected. I've known some players to cheat with the sustain also
and this ruines the fluidity.
James Jolley
Yes, the 2nd movement especially. I found myself having to listen a lot
more to the orchestral cues to assist, just because I began to notice
how much impact they had. Many people don't respect the Chopin
orchestral works for piano, but once you've actually tried something
like that, new life's brought into them. Simplicity of orchestration
notwithstanding.
Captain Mikee
Now you're really in trouble. My father and his two brothers are all
harpsichord builders!
namekuseijin
> On 4/27/2010 4:48 PM, James Jolley wrote:
>> On 2010-04-27 23:18:42 +0100, namekuseijin <nameku...@gmail.com> said:
>>
>>> truly old-school. Even the title is appropriate for nostalgia. Guess
>>> anyone can suffer like an Implementor today, huh? :P
>>
>> Just a bit, interesting if a little pointless as a language. What is it
>> with some here in the IF community living in the past all of the time?
>
> I can't answer for anyone else, but ... James, aren't you the guy who
> suggested a Bach piece that I learned on the piano? If playing Bach
> isn't living in the past, I don't think I know what is.
Living in a glorious past instead of a mediocre present is a good option
to me. :)
> Beyond that, there's a whole culture of retro tech out there. There are
> people deliberately recreating the hideous sound of the 8-bit SID chip
> in the Commodore-64. Hey, it floats their boat!
Don't bash the SID or the harpsichord! :)
well, here's some music to lighten your day. cheers!
http://208.53.138.111/soundtracks/super-mario-64-soundtrack/jkzwqdeyej/09-dire-dire-docks.mp3
--
a game sig: http://tinyurl.com/d3rxz9
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Jim Aikin
>
> Don't bash the SID or the harpsichord! :)
... must ... insult ... Wanda ... Landowska ... now ...
Captain Mikee
My uncle used to use Wanda Landowska's name to insult other people...
Captain Mikee
> well, here's some music to lighten your day. cheers!http://208.53.138.111/soundtracks/super-mario-64-soundtrack/jkzwqdeye...
I was thinking of something more like this:
http://www.8bitpeoples.com/files/8bp101-02-minusbaby-a_large_part_of_your_mind_sliced.mp3
namekuseijin
> On Apr 29, 3:15 pm, namekuseijin <namekusei...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > well, here's some music to lighten your day. cheers!http://208.53.138.111/soundtracks/super-mario-64-soundtrack/jkzwqdeye...
>
sure, despite the 64 they're separated from each other by a good
decade or more... :)