Infocom Z-code Interpreters rediscovered and posted to Github

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Lakados

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https://blog.zarfhome.com/2023/11/infocom-interpreters

https://github.com/erkyrath/infocom-zcode-terps

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023...ools-for-zork-and-other-games-have-been-found

Infocom's legendary porting tools source code has been rediscovered and somewhat questionably posted to Github, Activision is the owner of the Infocom IP so it is now Microsoft's and so is Github, but the guy who posted the code doesn't have permission to, and is still in talks with Microsoft to get it out there, they just jumped the gun a little.
 
Wow, I had to do a DEEP search of the infocom memory banks to remember who they were.

...and then Work came rushing back.

Why is there so much hullabaloo over some ancient text games? I mean, I was there at the time. I played them. I can't say I have any desire to do so again.
 
I played sooo much Crescent Hawks revenge. Probably the only infocom game I had substantial time in.
 
1_rick said:
Not only do a lot of people like those games, but they still make games that run on that engine to this day.
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We should do a GoFundMe to raise $27 to bring them up to 2002 gaming standards.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Why is there so much hullabaloo over some ancient text games? I mean, I was there at the time. I played them. I can't say I have any desire to do so again.
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Well historical aspects aside, their concept of building a virtual machine for a back end then developing all their titles to run in that virtual machine instead of building each game for each different architecture was somewhat revolutionary in the 1970s.
 
Tech ahead of its time is always cool, even if it seems like a nothing-burger now.

As a little me who liked programming, I always wondered how they did it.
 
Lakados said:
Well historical aspects aside, their concept of building a virtual machine for a back end then developing all their titles to run in that virtual machine instead of building each game for each different architecture was somewhat revolutionary in the 1970s.
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Agreed. That was a really cool concept. One that LucasArts later borrowed for their SCUMM system.

As cool as it was for the time though, I'm just puzzled at the modern interest in it. Like I can admire the idea, but I don't need the source code or even a copy of the game for that.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Agreed. That was a really cool concept. One that LucasArts later borrowed for their SCUMM system.

As cool as it was for the time though, I'm just puzzled at the modern interest in it. Like I can admire the idea, but I don't need the source code or even a copy of the game for that.
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The modern interest stems from the mass availability of the games and their source but not the virtual machine, there’s emulators for it of course but now with the source it’s quite possible to port them natively to modern hardware.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
As cool as it was for the time though, I'm just puzzled at the modern interest in it. Like I can admire the idea, but I don't need the source code or even a copy of the game for that.
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I imagine many are faking it and will not really play all those games or mod them or anything.
 
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