rezrov - an Infocom game interpreter
DESCRIPTION
Rezrov is an implementation of a z-machine written in pure perl. In
other words, it's a program that can play Infocom games, such as Zork.
Its chief distinguishing feature from other z-code interpreters is a wide
array of cheat commands. Full documentation, in POD format, can be
found embedded in the file "rezrov".
See http://www.voicenet.com/~mikeedmo/rezrov/ for online documentation,
screenshots, etc.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1998, 1999 Michael Edmonson <edmonson@poboxes.com>. All
rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute
it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
REVISION HISTORY
0.17 Sun Jun 13 16:18:49 EDT 1999
- new cheat commands:
- "lummox": remove restrictions on number and weight of
items that may be carried
- "systolic": lower blood pressure ("Bureaucracy" only)
- optimizations:
- many simple methods inlined via more regexp/eval munging
(see InlinedPrivateMethod.pm)
- tweak opcode/operand loading
- runs between 7-10% faster.
- interface fixes:
- Tk:
- arrow keys now work in Beyond Zork
- Bureaucracy scrolling pause now works correctly
- code is less hideous
- Curses: backspace more reliable
- Termcap: screen attributes reset correctly
- Win32::Console: buffer keypresses
- "-24h" flag, show time games in 24-hour time rather than AM/PM
- "teleport" to character locations in Suspect now works.
- various miscellaneous fixes
0.16 Sun Mar 7 20:50:43 EST 1999
- more optimizations:
- ZFrame.pm gone, call stack now in StoryFile.pm
- a bit more "macro"-style inlining
- StoryFile.pm is now completely static; oh well,
it was never truly OO anyway.
- overall about 20-25% faster. Don't know if I can
speed it up any more. Suggestions very welcome!
- perl 5.005 is now required.
- tentative support for new v8 games; "anchorhead.z8" starts,
but looks like you'll need a gHz to play it :/
- new cheat command: "spiel", decode *all* game text.
Can reveal easter eggs, debug messages, and all-around
interesting things you may have missed; see documentation
- partial support for character graphics in Tk and Curses
interfaces; Beyond Zork now works much much better.
[see screenshots at WWW site above]
- fix a few bugs with interactions between undo/restore and
some cheat commands
- fix Quetzal compatibility bug
0.15 Sun Jan 24 17:41:39 EST 1999
- Optimizations:
- some memory-access and variable casting functions
inlined using regexp/eval hack (blech).
- hand-inline opcode loading
- cache object properties
- overall seems to run between 15-25% faster.
- packages renamed from Rezrov:: to Games::Rezrov (for CPAN)
- new cheat commands:
"travis": attempts to fool the game into thinking the item
you specify is a weapon. Zork I only for now;
slay the troll with your mighty leaflet.
"tail": automatically follow a character in a game as they
move from room to room
0.14 Sun Jan 10 20:35:53 EST 1999
- new cheat verb: "frotz" (only for some games).
Frotz, from the spell in "Enchanter", turns any item
into a light source, obviating the need for fuel/batteries.
See the documentation for full details.
- If you specify an item name for "teleport", it will take you
to the room containing the item
- now passes all "strictz.z5" object 0 torture tests
- the usual little tweaks and fixes
0.13 Sun Jan 3 22:15:46 EST 1999
- fixed color support (Tk, Curses, Win32 console)
- cheat commands:
- new commands: "rooms" and "items"
- "teleport" shows description of new room
- "pilfer" attempts to move pilfered item into inventory
- "omap" object dump more reliable
- more etude.z5 z-machine torture tests passed
- more code reorganization/thrashing
0.12 Tue Dec 1 21:16:26 EST 1998
- added Tk interface (works under both X and win32)
- i/o layer reorganized
- many little glitches fixed
0.11 Sat Oct 24 20:27:08 EDT 1998
- about 10-15% faster:
- cache game objects
- streamline handling of decoded text
- convert to blessed arrays instead of hashes
- A few more critical globals :(
- slightly improved v5 compatibility
- emulation of the "#reco", "#unre" and "#comm"
command-transcript commands
0.10 Sun Oct 18 20:07:19 EDT 1998
- first public release
PREREQUISITES
Rezrov is written in pure perl, no extension compilation is required.
Perl version 5.005 or later is required.
Optionally supported but not required:
Tk (version 800.*)
Curses
Term::Cap
Win32::Console
Term::ReadLine
HOW TO BUILD AND INSTALL
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install
After installation, run rezrov on a z-code file, such as the
provided minizork.z3: "rezrov minizork.z3".
MANUAL INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
If you are using a binary distribution of perl the "generic" instructions
above will most likely fail. The following are instructions on how
to install rezrov by hand.
Rezrov consists of two basic pieces: a set of packages (*.pm files),
and a script called "rezrov". The *.pm files need to be installed
in a subdirectory called "Games/Rezrov" somewhere in Perl's module search
path (@INC). "rezrov" is the main wrapper program that requires these
modules to run; it can go anywhere you like.
For example, on a Windows 95/98/etc machine, using the ActiveState
distribution of perl 5.005 installed in C:\PERL, you would need to:
1. mkdir C:\perl\lib\site\Games
2. mkdir C:\perl\lib\site\Games\Rezrov
3. copy *.pm c:\perl\lib\site\Games\Rezrov
4. perl rezrov minizork.z3