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". For online documentation, screenshots, etc. visit: http://edmonson.paunix.org/rezrov/ Rezrov's old home was http://www.voicenet.com/~mikeedmo/rezrov/. COPYRIGHT Copyright (c) 1998-2004 Michael Edmonson . 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 0.19 Sat Mar 6 15:30:00 EST 2004 - Optional speech synthesis ("-speak") and recognition ("-listen"). This only works under win32 at the moment, using the optional Win32::SAPI4 module. For more details see the full rezrov POD documentation. - termcap interface improvements: all lines on screen should be available now if terminal has "cs" capability - optional typo correction, a-la Evin Robertson's Nitfol interpreter. Enabled by default; toggle with "#typo", or "-typo 0" on the command line. - Term::ReadLine usage cleanups: - Term::ReadLine::Perl seems to erase the line before prompting, while Term::ReadLine::Gnu doesn't. Since the prompt has been printed by the game before readline is invoked, if using Gnu version, attempt to erase it so we don't wind up seeing two prompts. - centralize readline access between termcap/dumb interfaces - test.pl: should always work, no really (even if not running on a tty; CPAN testers, I'm looking in your direction) - improved "help" handling under win32 - manual_install.pl: "-u" switch to uninstall. 0.18 Wed Feb 4 22:31:08 EST 2004 - cleanup/bugfix release - various fixes to pass Amir Karger's "czech" test suite (ver. 0.8) - 2 silly new cheats, which only work in Zork I for now: - "vilify": make an object attackable - "baste"/"nosh": make an object edible - improved test routine (should work with automated testing systems now) - manual_install.pl for Windows and other platforms without "make" - auto-disabled (problematic) title guessing for Beyond Zork and sampler - cleaned up a few annoying warning messages (termcap, tk, win32) - fixed "lingo" cheat crash (ahem) - slightly smarter "help" handling 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 See the manual instructions below if you have trouble. 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 (Windows, etc.) On some platforms (e.g., binary distributions of Perl under Windows), the "generic" instructions above probably won't work. If you're feeling lucky, try running the provided "manual_install.pl". This creates appropriate directories in your Perl installation and copies everything where it needs to go. It works for me under Windows XP, but I haven't tested other platforms (please let me know one way or the other!). EXTREMELY MANUAL INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS 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 9x/NT/XP machine, using the ActiveState distribution of Perl 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