Interactive Fiction Interpreters and Emulators

[Draco1962]

Does anyone have any experience using WinFrotz, the Infocom Text Adventure emulator or know of a better emulator? I loved playing these and wasted many an hour when I had my first 8-bit system and want to add them in for play through GameEx.

[simbamame]

Does anyone have any experience using WinFrotz, the Infocom Text Adventure emulator or know of a better emulator? I loved playing these and wasted many an hour when I had my first 8-bit system and want to add them in for play through GameEx.

Blimey i remember playing these on a Dragon32 when at Collage in the early 80s Would love to be able to play these again,specially Zork and HHGTTG ( about 1984 ) i think, any info you wish to share greatly appreciated. as i remember dumping a girl so i could go and play adventure games mind i was only 16 so what ya expect.

[Krakerman]

I've messed with it back in the day when I was running 98 and XP and also on my MacPro which had better software for playing those types of text adventures. Here's a link for you Draco an alternative to WinFrotz that you might find useful.

There was even a interpreter/program called Advent for playing all those Scott Adams adventures as well.

[Draco1962]

Thanks for the shares! Filfire, while it looks like it is a little more "feature rich" may not fit what I am looking for so far as a cab/htpc friendly program is concerned with the addition of the option pads. I will definitely take a closer look at the options both provide

I am looking within whatever program to have a simple interface, be able to launch to full screen, adjust the font, background and text color selection for distance reading on the big screen, and require minimal mouse use. WinFrotz, so far, looks very promising.

[Krakerman]

Not a prob! I haven't messed with WinFrotz in years, but now you just got me interested in setting it back up. We'll look into it this weekend and see how it looks on my system. Just when I thought I was almost done with my setup

[Draco1962]

LMAO! Glad to shake things up for ya, bud! I had a chance to boot it up outside of GameEx briefly and give it a quick go. I have to say that for a program that has little support, it doesn't seem too shabby. Kinda hard to get a good feel as there really isn't much in the way of a "user community" around it or the whole Infocom adventures in general - mostly loose collections of websites, half of which no longer exist.

[destrolennox]

Draco,

I would be interested in what sites you did find that still exist. If you have a moment to post some.

-Brendan

[Draco1962]

To be honest, I just googled them using Infocom and Text Adventure as my keywords and then clicked on links of some of the sites listed in various links pages.

[Krakerman]

Well I just messed with it a bit and got it working good. I used a bigger font size like 26 and bold so you can see it better at 1920x1080 screen. Getting ready to set it up within GameEx and should run without a hitch. Just need one of those nifty logo of yours for WinFrotz! or Infocom Logo I'll let ya know if I run into any issues at all.

UPDATE: Working perfectly inside GameEx!!

[Draco1962]

Sharing is caring, Krake! I'll show you mine (Infocom logo file) if you show me yours (setup details)!

Also, will probably try to compile a db for the most common retail games so that we get the neat info pops in the themes.

[Krakerman]

Very nice! Thanks Draco.

Well it's very simple:

WorkingPath="path to WinFrotz"

RomPath="path to your .dat files"

ROMFilter=*.dat

Command=WinFrotz.exe "[ROMPath]\[RomFile]"

Within WinFrotz you can change the font sizes itself so they are much larger and can read it on bigger screen. As well as the colors

Hope that help!

[Draco1962]

Sure does help - me and a few others that are interested!

Yeah I love that about WinFrotz GUI so our older eyes can enjoy the game. Better for big screen or cab or desktop.

EDIT - Can you confirm your settings for the ROM filter, etc.? I am not sure why but I encounter a "Cannot open Story" via GameEx, however can open outside just fine.

[Krakerman]

Yes my rom filter is .dat and works perfectly. What filter are you using (.dat or .z5)?

Also if your interested I found a Level 9 Interpreter that works with Win 7 x64 similar to WinFrotz but for running Level 9 adventures.The .net version crashes on my system so try the win32 version.

[mesk]

Wow text adventures huh? sort of like the book of videogames. just a little before my time

Though I was on abandonware yesterday,and found some real old computer games i used to play in school.I wonder if GameEX gets along with dosbox...

[Krakerman]

hahaha dosbox does works with GameEx.

I remember playing my first text adventure (Scott Adams "Adventureland") over at my friends house on his vic-20. This was way back in '79.

[Draco1962]

Yes my rom filter is .dat and works perfectly. What filter are you using (.dat or .z5)?

Also if your interested I found a Level 9 Interpreter that works with Win 7 x64 similar to WinFrotz but for running Level 9 adventures.The .net version crashes on my system so try the win32 version.

Will have to give Level 9 a looksie. Regardless of which format (.dat or z3, 4, 5, etc.) I get the same error. If you wouldn't mind exporting your emulator config for it that would be awesome!

[Krakerman]

Refresh my memory on how to export. Was just gonna cut and paste from my GameEx config is this how you do it or is there a more easier way to do it. Not sure if it will show you anything different than what I already posted before as my ROM filter is *.dat and all my story files are stored in a separate rom folder which I named "Adventures" instead of "Roms". The command line was WinFrotz.exe "[ROMPath]\[RomFile]" and Show Desktop was set to "Yes". Does your story files work outside GameEx? I haven't tried running any .z? files as all my story files are in .dat format. Maybe need to post your config and see what is different

UPDATE: I just tested .z5 files and it works as well Draco!

[Krakerman]

Here is a link of for those who are interested in the Magnetic Scrolls Adventures at all

Now see what ya did Draco now I'm gonna need more images/logos for the Scott Adams (Adventure International), Magnetic Scrolls, Mysterious Adventures, and Level 9 hahahaha (A very nice addition to GameEx thou)

I also found at the IF-Archive ... Scott Adams and the Mysterious Adventures converted to z5 format so they run using WinFrotz which is way better than the ScottFree interpreter.

[Krakerman]

Here are some images I found

[Draco1962]

Well, sorry for starting something! Text Adventures (or Interactive Fiction as it is officially referred to or preferred by the writers) hold a very important place in early PC entertainment. They were the "first person shooter for 2nd person thinkers!" Kind of the interactive adventure books of the computer age.

Creating snaps will probably not happen here, might have to pull something from box art, etc. As for new logo files.. maybe but not today! LOL!

Here is my ini from my setup (you can launch Setup Wizard, select Custom, then select Emulator Selection. Next you will highlight on the left colum the emulator you want to export a config, then click on the Export Emulator icon in the middle column - piece of paper with right arrow).

[Emulator] STARTPAGENAME=[PC] Infocom TITLETEXT=Infocom StartPageLogo=_PC__Infocom WorkingPath=C:\Emulators\Windows Frotz RomPath=E:\Roms\Infocom\Games Command=Frotz.exe "[ROMPATH]\[ROM]" SnapPath= TitlePath= BoxPath= CartPath= ManualPath= DATABASE=[PC] Windows Frotz ReplaceDash=False ReplaceUnder=False Capitals=False RemoveBrackets=False ShowDesktop=True Debug=False configFile=[Mapping Off] Exit (ESC) CustomBackground=_PC__Infocom_bak.png DontShowInfo=False SelectionMusicFolder= Enabled=True ROMFilter=*.dat;*.z1;*.z2;*.z3;*.z4;*.z5;*.z6;*.blb RomsInFolders=True ControlPanelPath= InstructionsPath= PCGame=False PlayInScreenSaver=False ShowMostPlayed=True WaitBeforeKeys= GamesIn7Zips=True LaunchBefore= LaunchAfter= ExcludedFiles= PlayMusic= PlaySelectionMusic= UseDbName=True MergeSets= RandomMostPlayed=False CDCheck=False CDCheckFile= CustomArtName1= CustomArtPath1= CustomArtName2= CustomArtPath2= CustomArtName3= CustomArtPath3= CustomArtName4= CustomArtPath4= CustomArtName5= CustomArtPath5= GameExtenderCustomArtPath= GameExtenderConstants= MAPFile= imagenotfound=

[Krakerman]

@Draco Your command line is wrong you have Frotz.exe "[ROMPATH]\[ROM]" and if you are using WinFrotz it should be WinFrotz.exe "[ROMPath]\[RomFile]"

Make sure your playing WinFrotz 5.3 Hope that helps you

Yes thanks for telling me how to export! And yes I agree text adventures were very important part of computer history as I for one was playing them and writing my own back in the 70's. Thanks for helping create logo for the Infocom I appreciate and glad you mentioned WinFrotz as I almost forgot about that program as I have been busy with so many other emulators and have been having fun playing these old skool adventures once again!

[Draco1962]

d'Oh! Well that seemed to work for a few. Will need to check my paths again but I think I am on my way. Thanks!

[Krakerman]

Glad to actually help you for once ! Let me know how the others work for ya.

UPDATE: I just got Infocom, Scott Adams, Level 9 and Mysterious Adventures all running and added to my GameEx system. Running perfectly!

[Draco1962]

I appreciate the assist! I am working on a db for the Infocom titles and will probably add the Scott Adams titles to it.

[Krakerman]

btw just tried out the Magnetic Scrolls interpreter and it works great as well with GameEx