Re: how do I unpack zblorb files??
Andrew Plotkin
>
> Once upon a time IF was fairly platform independant, thanks to Infocom,
> but it seems like each IFComp there are more tools I need to play.
I believe I proposed Blorb as a resource packing format in 1998. :)
There's been a reasonable amount of time for tools to be updated.
(In particular, if you're trying to use Frotz, you should grab the
nfrotz source code from the Archive -- that can handle it.)
> Where can I find a linux tool to get to the zcode in a blorb, please??
See http://inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/blorb/index.html .
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
Ben Cressey
wrote:
> Once upon a time IF was fairly platform independant, thanks to Infocom,
> but it seems like each IFComp there are more tools I need to play.
>
Simon Baldwin's Gblorb utility can extract files from a blorb archive:
http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXprogrammingXblorb.html
If you are just trying to play it, Gargoyle will handle almost all of
the games:
http://code.google.com/p/garglk/
Tiddy Ogg
Thanks for that. I've had the same trouble. Is Gargoyle blind
friendly? Anyone know?
Dannii
wrote:
> Andrew Plotkin <erkyr...@eblong.com> writes:
> > Here, Andreas Davour <ante...@updatelike.uu.hellse> wrote:
>
> >> Once upon a time IF was fairly platform independant, thanks to Infocom,
> >> but it seems like each IFComp there are more tools I need to play.
>
> > I believe I proposed Blorb as a resource packing format in 1998. :)
> > There's been a reasonable amount of time for tools to be updated.
>
> > (In particular, if you're trying to use Frotz, you should grab the
> > nfrotz source code from the Archive -- that can handle it.)
>
> at nfrotz, though.
>
> I still think, like I did back in 1998, that blorb is
> unnecessary. IF never could compete with video games with glitzy
> graphics and sound, and it makes no sense to introduce it. If you want
> to bundle more data with you binary/z-code I think an archive file in a
> commonly supported format works fine for distributing, say, maps and
> suchlike. I also recognize that the IF community is moving farther and
> farther off from my preferred solutions.
>
> Why on earth use glulx for example? Trim the fat, I'd say. Most
> competition entries should fit in a z3 file.
>
> Like I said, I'm not in tune with the community. End of gripe session.
>
> >> Where can I find a linux tool to get to the zcode in a blorb, please??
>
> > Seehttp://inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/blorb/index.html.
>
>
> /andreas
> --
> A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
> Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
> A: Top-posting.
> Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?
How about, for starters, regular expressions? There's no way something
like Aaron Reed's Smarter Parser extension could fit in z3.
Adam Thornton
Andreas Davour <ant...@updateLIKE.uu.HELLse> wrote:
>Well, if you feel your game needs regular expressions, use glulx. I
>still wonder how many games could have been fitted in a z3.
Inform hasn't been able to create z3 games with its standard library
since, um, the release of Inform 6? It no longer has the capacity to
build z3 games, certainly.
If you use Inform 7 and *its* standard mechanisms there's very little
room for your story in a z5.
Asking authors to step down to a crippled mini-library and use an
ancient version of the compiler seems a little extreme.
Adam
Conrad
>
> >> Once upon a time IF was fairly platform independant, thanks to Infocom,
> >> but it seems like each IFComp there are more tools I need to play.
>
> > I believe I proposed Blorb as a resource packing format in 1998. :)
> > There's been a reasonable amount of time for tools to be updated.
>
> > (In particular, if you're trying to use Frotz, you should grab the
> > nfrotz source code from the Archive -- that can handle it.)
>
> at nfrotz, though.
>
> I still think, like I did back in 1998, that blorb is
> unnecessary. IF never could compete with video games with glitzy
> graphics and sound, and it makes no sense to introduce it. If you want
> to bundle more data with you binary/z-code I think an archive file in a
> commonly supported format works fine for distributing, say, maps and
> suchlike. I also recognize that the IF community is moving farther and
> farther off from my preferred solutions.
>
> Why on earth use glulx for example? Trim the fat, I'd say. Most
> competition entries should fit in a z3 file.
I generally prefer simple solutions, and I like my text-based games to
be text-based. But surely such stylistic decisions should be made by
the game authors, and (as much as possible) not by the people making
the platforms?
Conrad.
Ben Cressey
> Thanks for that. I've had the same trouble. Is Gargoyle blind
> friendly? Anyone know?
No, it isn't. All text is rendered directly to a bitmap, so there's
nothing for a screen reader to hook into.
On Nov 15, 4:14 am, Andreas Davour <ante...@updateLIKE.uu.HELLse>
wrote:
> Thanks for the pointers. It looks like gargoyle have some unmet
> dependencies, but I'll see if nfrotz will work out.
The dependencies are documented here:
http://code.google.com/p/garglk/wiki/Developers#Ubuntu
Tiddy Ogg
<erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>Here, Andreas Davour <ant...@updatelike.uu.hellse> wrote:
>>
>> Once upon a time IF was fairly platform independant, thanks to Infocom,
>> but it seems like each IFComp there are more tools I need to play.
>
>I believe I proposed Blorb as a resource packing format in 1998. :)
>There's been a reasonable amount of time for tools to be updated.
>
>(In particular, if you're trying to use Frotz, you should grab the
>nfrotz source code from the Archive -- that can handle it.)
>
>> Where can I find a linux tool to get to the zcode in a blorb, please??
>
>See http://inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/blorb/index.html .
Well, that didn't help me... maybe I missed it. so, can you point me
to something that will produce the Z8 file so I can play it with
Winfrotz, please?
As mentioned elsewhere, Gargoyle is of no use.
Paolo Lucchesi
>
> Well, that didn't help me... maybe I missed it. so, can you point me
> to something that will produce the Z8 file so I can play it with
> Winfrotz, please?
> As mentioned elsewhere, Gargoyle is of no use.
When needed, I use a command line utility called blorbalize, by L. Ross
Raszewski
<http://www.trenchcoatsoft.com/projects.html>
There are windows and Mac binaries, and it should compile easily on Linux.
Anyway, latest Windows Frotz handle the blorb format, and should be
blind friendly (it interface to SAM, as far as I can see, and probably
to other speech engines).
I believe WinFrotz hasn't been updated in the last decade, and can have
other problems, apart from blorb format.
I also checked Windows Glulxe. It should be blind friendly, too.
bye
--
Paolo Lucchesi - p...@NOSPAMpaololucchesi.it
Ben Cressey
> Anyway, latest Windows Frotz handle the blorb format, and should be
> blind friendly (it interface to SAM, as far as I can see, and probably
> to other speech engines).
> I believe WinFrotz hasn't been updated in the last decade, and can have
> other problems, apart from blorb format.
Windows Frotz is actively maintained by David Kinder and was last
updated in November 2009.
You can get it here:
http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXinfocomXinterpretersXfrotz.html
Paolo Lucchesi
>> I believe WinFrotz hasn't been updated in the last decade, and can have
>> other problems, apart from blorb format.
>
> Windows Frotz is actively maintained by David Kinder and was last
> updated in November 2009.
Yes, but WinFrotz isn't Windows Frotz. It was different port by Rich
Lawrence, and the "standard" Windows z-code 'terp before David Kinder
made his port.
From the link you posted I notice that R53 (I suppose the most recent)
is dated 30-May-1999.
Ben Cressey
> Yes, but WinFrotz isn't Windows Frotz. It was different port by Rich
> Lawrence, and the "standard" Windows z-code 'terp before David Kinder
> made his port.
> From the link you posted I notice that R53 (I suppose the most recent)
> is dated 30-May-1999.
I stand corrected. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Otto Grimwald
http://spellbreaker.org/~chrender/fizmo/
and I think nitfol, found in
http://www.inform-fiction.org/zmachine/unix.html can do that too.
Paolo Lucchesi
>
> Thanks for the pointers. It looks like gargoyle have some unmet
> dependencies, but I'll see if nfrotz will work out.
There are packages for older Gargoyle version. Which distro are you using?
Tiddy Ogg
Sorry, but can't make any sense of Windows Frotz. My screen reader
(Jaws) won't read anything except the location name and the prompt >
symbol. No text.
>
>bye
Paolo Lucchesi
> Sorry, but can't make any sense of Windows Frotz. My screen reader
> (Jaws) won't read anything except the location name and the prompt>
> symbol. No text.
That's bad. Try to point it out to David Kinder. He's a nice guy and
probably will try to fix.