ZAPF, a new Z-machine assembler

vaporware

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Jul 2, 2009, 10:46:57 AM7/2/09

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Introducing ZAPF: the Z-machine Assembler Program of the Future.

ZAPF is a new assembler with old roots. It supports a modern syntax
similar to Inform's, but by default it provides a fully retro
experience, using the same opcode names and syntax described in
Infocom's famous ZIP manual. You'll feel just like an Implementor in
the dark--I mean *exciting* days before ZILCH was invented.

Unlike other Z-machine assemblers, ZAPF gives you plenty of assistance
without forcing your program into a strict mold. It's an ideal tool
for low level work, whether you're coding by hand or writing a
compiler: you control what goes into RAM and ROM, and where.

Want to conserve space in the save file by putting read-only arrays in
ROM? Interleave data with code? Make a file that contains no valid
instructions and will choke any interpreter? Rock on! Now you can do
it without giving up such features as named variables and constants,
include files, and automatic dictionary sorting.

I've just uploaded version 0.1 of ZAPF to the IF Archive. In the
meantime, check out the manual and some sample code:

http://hansprestige.com/zapf/zapf_manual.html
http://hansprestige.com/zapf/beer.zap

vw

S. John Ross

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Jul 2, 2009, 11:00:59 AM7/2/09

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I don't understand it, but it radiates cool.

markm

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Jul 2, 2009, 1:03:52 PM7/2/09

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On Jul 2, 10:46 am, vaporware <jmcg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Introducing ZAPF: the Z-machine Assembler Program of the Future.

Obvious: if folks create a user group for this, they'll have
to call themselves ZAPF Dingbats.

Regards,
markm

Otto Grimwald

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Jul 2, 2009, 1:07:49 PM7/2/09

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vaporware wrote:
> Introducing ZAPF: the Z-machine Assembler Program of the Future.

funny :)

is it free software?

With sources I could make a package for it.

Jesse McGrew

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Jul 2, 2009, 6:02:44 PM7/2/09

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On Jul 2, 10:07 am, Otto Grimwald

I do eventually plan to release it under the GPL, but there's more to
be done first.

Oh, I almost forgot... what good is a program like this without a
playable game to try? Specifically, *that* game? I give you:
http://hansprestige.com/zapf/cloak.zip

No comments in this one, though. Reading bare code builds character
and is a great way to show your friends how hardcore you are.

vw

Katzy

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Jul 2, 2009, 6:57:47 PM7/2/09

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Hello.

Jesse McGrew wrote in message ...

On Jul 2, 10:07 am, Otto Grimwald
<contact_is_on_webs...@anamnese.fr.st> wrote:
> vaporware wrote:

<snip>

> Oh, I almost forgot... what good is a program like this without a
playable game to try? Specifically, *that* game? I give you:
http://hansprestige.com/zapf/cloak.zip

It's cloak-zap.zip and zapf-0_1.zip is there too...;)

Bye, Katzy.

Jesse McGrew

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Jul 2, 2009, 7:16:11 PM7/2/09

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Whoops, you're right. The correct link is: http://hansprestige.com/zapf/cloak-zap.zip

zapf-0.1.zip has made it to the unprocessed directory at the IF
Archive: http://www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/unprocessed/zapf-0.1.zip
(though you can also download it from my site, you sneaky devil)

vw

Isxek

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Jul 3, 2009, 4:35:00 AM7/3/09

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On Jul 3, 6:02 am, Jesse McGrew <jmcg...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Oh, I almost forgot... what good is a program like this without a
> playable game to try? Specifically, *that* game? I give you:http://hansprestige.com/zapf/cloak.zip
>
> No comments in this one, though. Reading bare code builds character
> and is a great way to show your friends how hardcore you are.

I just took a look at the sample game code.

Pfft. *That* was hardcore? =)

Jesse McGrew

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Jul 3, 2009, 5:08:18 PM7/3/09

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Well, if you want a real challenge, you could hack the parser to
support "then", or "and", or disambiguation, or noun inference...

vw

Isxek

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Jul 3, 2009, 9:48:40 PM7/3/09

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Nah, I'm just kidding. I can't even grok the source codes to those so-
called "z-machine abuse" games.

farm...@gmail.com

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Jun 11, 2015, 10:38:31 AM6/11/15

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Late in the game and looking for some support with the ZAPF assembler. I am using it to generate unit tests for a z machine interpreter I am working on and I have some problem with version 5 story files which does not seem to assemble correctly. Is there any chance to get access to the sources, I would happily help fixing any problem I can find. Cheers!

vaporware

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Sep 21, 2015, 1:54:47 AM9/21/15

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On Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 7:38:31 AM UTC-7, farm...@gmail.com wrote:
> Late in the game and looking for some support with the ZAPF assembler. I am using it to generate unit tests for a z machine interpreter I am working on and I have some problem with version 5 story files which does not seem to assemble correctly. Is there any chance to get access to the sources, I would happily help fixing any problem I can find. Cheers!

Source code for ZAPF (and ZILF) is available at https://bitbucket.org/jmcgrew/zilf. I've done a lot more work on the tools since posting this thread, so the problem you encountered may already be fixed in the latest release.

vw

Happy MAC XL

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Jun 6, 2017, 10:28:52 PM6/6/17

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This might be what i'm after...

For an IF i'm planning I have a number of quite complex non-player characters, when I say complex what I mean is that the player will be able to have fairly long conversations with them.

I'm thinking of having separate *.zil Object files for the characters; will this cause any problems when it comes to compiling to *.z5 (or whatever the output format is) ?

Thanks

Adam