122 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
122 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
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SOFTWARE PIRATES Inc. 10-17-84
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ZORKTOOLS 1.0
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ZORKTOOLS is a collection of utility programs which provide
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capabilities not normally available for INFOCOM games. These programs were
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designed to run under any version of DOS (with one exception). ZORKTOOLS
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requires two drives and a minimum of 128K bytes of FREE memory to run all the
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utilities. ZORKTOOLS can handle any display type.
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1. ICP - Infocom Copy Program
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ICP allows you to copy any INFOCOM game disk from drive A to drive B. The
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result is "standard" copy of the game which IS NOT diskcopy-able. This
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program requires a minimum of 11K bytes to run. (This program does not work
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properly under the latest 1.8X versions of DOS.)
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If when running ICP you get the error "unknown format encountered" you will
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have to run IFP (Infocom Format Program) before ICP will work successfully.
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2. IFP - Infocom Format Program
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IFP is program which formats a disk to 40 tracks at 8 sectors of 512 bytes.
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Some Target disk you use may not be formatted by DOS. ICP & IUP require that
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the Target disk be formatted to 40 x 8 x 512. This program allows you to do
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that without having to leave ZORKTOOLS. This programs requires a minimum of 7K
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bytes to run.
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WARNING!! - This program should not be used in place of DOS' FORMAT program.
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IFP does NOT write a Boot Sector, FAT tables, or a Directory to the Target
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disk. This program was designed, solely, as a preparation aid for ICP & IUP.
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3. IGL - Infocom Game Loader
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IGL will load any INFOCOM game ("stardard" or "unprotected") from disk. Once
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in memory, the game will be modified to allow it to run under DOS. When the
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modification are complete, the game will be started. Once the game has booted
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up it should work just as it does standalone (without DOS). To return to
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ZORKTOOLS simply exit the game as always (use "quit" command). This program
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requires a minimum of 128K bytes of FREE memory to run.
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4. IPP - Infocom Protection Program
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IPP will modify the FAT tables of an INFOCOM game disk so that the sectors
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which are used by the game will be protected from DOS. (This means that you
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will not be able to "erase" the game or "copy" another program on top of it.
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WARNING!! - This protection scheme does not prevent "diskcopy" or "format"
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from working.) Once the game has been protected from DOS you can store files
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on portions of the disk not being used by the game. (Most game disk leave
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about 40K bytes FREE.) If you use the CATDISK Catalog Program, you can now put
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.LBL files on your disk so they can be cataloged. This program requires 8K
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bytes of FREE memory to run.
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5. IUP - Infocom Unprotection Program
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IUP allows you to copy a "standard" INFOCOM game disk from drive A to drive B.
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Every INFOCOM game disk has tracks 1 - 3 formatted to 4 sectors of 1024 bytes
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instead of the normal 8 sectors of 512 bytes. Diskcopy does not have the
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ability to copy an INFOCOM game disk because of the way tracks 1 - 3 have been
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formatted. When IUP writes track 1 - 3 to the Target disk in drive B it does
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so at 8 sectors of 512 bytes. IUP also modifies the boot sector of the Target
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disk so that the disk will boot up properly. The result is an "unprotected"
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working copy of an INFOCOM game which IS diskcopy-able. This program requires
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11K bytes of FREE memory to run.
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If when running IUP you get the error "unknown format encountered" you will
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have to run IFP (Infocom Format Program) before IUP will work successfully.
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6. IVD - Infocom Vocabulary Decoder
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IVD is a program which locates, reads, decodes, and displays the vocabulary of
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any INFOCOM game disk. This program will produce a numbered listing of all the
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words that any game will allow the player to type in (plus a few you can't).
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This routine will compensate for a 40 column display. You will undoubtedly
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notice that some words in the vocabulary will start with a space or have a
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space imbedded in them. This is not an error in IVD. The decoding technique
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used by INFOCOM leaves 6 "special" character codes which have no display-able
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character defined for them. Some of the words contain some the "special"
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characters. Too see where the "special" character are you must invoke
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ZORKTOOLS with the /S (Special character) option. Since INFOCOM did not define
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display-able character for the "special" character, the ascii values of 0 - 5
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have been chosen. With the /S option the digits 0 - 5 will be displayed for
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the respective "special" character instead of a space. In the vocabulary every
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word has a 3 byte suffix which, I believe, tells the game the attributes of
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the word (like adjective, verb, noun, etc.). To list the 3 data byte suffix
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you must invoke ZORKTOOLS with the /D (Data bytes) option. This program
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requires a minimum of 128K bytes of FREE memory to run.
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A LITTLE HISTORY:
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I have been, from the birth of PC to date, a brave and daring
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adventure in realm of the Great Underground Empire, a space traveler who
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captures a giant alien space craft, a detective attempting to locate a
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murderer, a human computer backup who repaires an underground worldwide
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control complex, and a experienced sorcerer who battles evil wizards to save
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the world. Through all these truly enjoyable escapades I could not help the
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feeling that something was missing. I couldn't get over the fact that a game
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like these require you to have a pencil and a piece of paper (for maps, secret
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words, notes). Think about it. A game made for a computer, that forces the
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player to use something else to accomplish what could and should be done on
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the computer ! That's crazy ! I started thinking about this problem and ways
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to get around it. For a long time I couldn't think of a relatively easy way
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to accomplish this. Then multi-tasking programs hit the scene. I found that
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the multi-tasking programs allow the user to operate several DOS programs
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simultaneously. The catch is that all of these programs must run under DOS in
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order to work. I then had the task of making INFOCOM game run under DOS.
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That is how IGL came about. With a multi-tasking program, it is now possible
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to play an INFOCOM game and have an editor online simultaneously. That means
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(depending on the multi-tasking program) that the player can usually use one
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key as a toggle and switch back and forth from the game to editor. The player
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now has a convienent place to store any game related data (maps, save image
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descriptions, secret words, etc.) all, and this is the key, WITHOUT having
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their hands leave the keyboard. I have tried this and it works great!
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Happy Zorking,
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Softbeard the Pirate
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their hands leave the keyboard. I have tried this and it works great!
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Happy Zorking,
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Softbeard t |