2-19-85 Sunnyvale, CA 94086 ZorkTools 1.6 ZorkTools is a collection of utility programs which provide capabilities not normally available for INFOCOM games. These capabilities greatly enhance game play. System Requirements: IBM PC, XT, Jr, AT, and some other PC Compatables. Color, Monochrome, or Both Displays. PC-DOS 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 or Compatable. Minimum Memory (depending on menu option selected): ICP 22k free space above DOS IGC 35k free space above DOS IGL 65-128k free space above DOS depending on extensions loaded. IIC 65-128k free space above DOS depending on extensions loaded. (standard to converted) 37k free space above DOS depending on extensions loaded. (converted > standard) IPP 22k free space above DOS IUP 22k free space above DOS IVD 65k - 128k free space above DOS depending on extension loaded. Drives (depending on menu option selected): ICP floppy drive A and drive B IGC floppy drive A and any other drive supported by DOS IGL floppy drive A (standard game) Any drive supported by DOS (converted game) IIC floppy drive A and any other drive supported by DOS IPP floppy drive A IUP floppy drive A and drive B IVD floppy drive A (standard game) Any drive supported by DOS (converted game) 1. ICP - Infocom Copy Program ICP allows you to copy any INFOCOM game disk from drive A to drive B. ICP no longer requires the target disk to be formatted before the copy is made. ICP will use all available memory for the copy. A copy generaly takes about 26 seconds on a system with 160k free memory. The copy results in a Standard copy of the game which IS NOT diskcopy-able. Unlike the one-time backup facility provided by INFOCOM in there games, ICP can make multiple backup copies of any INFOCOM game disk. 2. IGC - Infocom Game Converter IGC is a program designed to convert a Standard INFOCOM game to a Converted INFOCOM game. The Converted INFOCOM game is stored in the form of a DOS file. This DOS file can then be stored on ANY type of drive including Ram-drive & Hard-disk. To execute a Converted INFOCOM game simply selected IGL from ZorkTools Menu. 3. IGL - Infocom Game Loader IGL will load any INFOCOM game (Standard, Unprotected, or Converted) from disk. Once in memory, the game will be modified to allow it to run under DOS. When the modifications are complete, the game will be started. Once the game has booted up it should work just as it does standalone (without DOS). To return to ZorkTools simply exit the game as always (use "quit" command) or press Ctrl-Break. A new feature has been added to IGL. This feature is called ZORKEDIT. The editting capabilities provide by INFOCOM for their games leaves a lot to be desired. ZORKEDIT makes DOS' editting capabilities available to any INFOCOM game. Normally, DOS' editting capabilities are pretty limited, but if you use PC-DOS with DOSEDIT you will have DOSEDIT's extended editting capabilities. These capabilities will be available to you while you play the game. (I highly suggest that you use DOSEDIT, if possible. With it you can INSERT, DELETE, LEFT, RIGHT, HOME, END, BACKSPACING, COMMAND STACKING, .... and more thats just not available while playing any of the INFOCOM games. Try it... you'll like it !!!!!) 4. IIC - Infocom Image Converter IIC allows you to convert any INFOCOM game images produces by a Standard game to a form (DOS file) usable by a Converted game. IIC also supports the reverse operation, converting a Converted game image back to a Standard image. 5. IPP - Infocom Protection Program IPP will modify the FAT tables of an INFOCOM game disk so that the sectors which are used by the game will be protected from DOS. (This means that you will not be able to "erase" the game or "copy" another program on top of it. WARNING!! - This protection scheme does not prevent "diskcopy" or "format" from working.) Once the game has been protected from DOS you can store files on portions of the disk not being used by the game. (Most game disk leave about 40K bytes FREE.) If you use the CATDISK Catalog Program, you can now put .LBL files on your disk so they can be cataloged. (Note: once IPP has been run on an INFOCOM game disk IGC will not be able to convert this protected disk.) 6. IUP - Infocom Unprotection Program IUP allows you to copy a "standard" INFOCOM game disk from drive A to drive B. Every INFOCOM game disk has tracks 1 - 3 formatted to 4 sectors of 1024 bytes instead of the normal 8 sectors of 512 bytes. Diskcopy does not have the ability to copy an INFOCOM game disk because of the way tracks 1 - 3 have been formatted. When IUP writes track 1 - 3 to the Target disk in drive B it does so at 8 sectors of 512 bytes. IUP also modifies the boot sector of the Target disk so that the disk will boot up properly. The result is an Unprotected working copy of an INFOCOM game which IS diskcopy-able. 7. IVD - Infocom Vocabulary Decoder IVD is a program which locates, reads, decodes, and displays the vocabulary of any INFOCOM game disk. This program will produce a numbered listing of all the words that any game will allow the player to type in (plus a few you can't). This routine will compensate for a 40 column display. You will undoubtedly notice that some words in the vocabulary will start with a space or have a space imbedded in them. This is not an error in IVD. The decoding technique used by INFOCOM leaves 6 "special" character codes which have no display-able character defined for them. Some of the words contain some the "special" characters. Too see where the "special" character are you must invoke ZorkTools with the /S (Special character) option. Since INFOCOM did not define display-able character for the "special" character, the ascii values of 0 - 5 have been chosen. With the /S option the digits 0 - 5 will be displayed for the respective "special" character instead of a space. In the vocabulary every word has a 3 byte suffix which, I believe, tells the game the attributes of the word (like adjective, verb, noun, etc.). To list the 3 data byte suffix you must invoke ZorkTools with the /D (Data bytes) option. (i.e. "ZT16 /s" or "ZT16 /d" or "ZT16 /d/s"). Development History: V1.0 10-16-84 Initial release V1.1 10-17-84 Added ZORKEDIT feature. V1.2 10-22-84 1.) Fixed bug in V1.1 IPP (wasn't modifying the FAT tables correctly for Interpreter sectors). 2.) Fixed bug in previous releases of IFP (wasn't able to format a disk that didn't have a FAT table). V1.3 10-24-84 Fixed bug in previous releases of IVD (wasn't displaying the correct data bytes when using the /d option). V1.4 10-25-84 Added Ctrl-Break trapping in all routines. Ctrl-Break will get you back Main Menu from anywhere. When at the Main Menu, Ctrl-Break return you to DOS. V1.5 12-11-84 1.) Added IGC program. 2.) Modified IGL to execute Converted games. 3.) Modified IVD to execute Converted games. 4.) Added IIC program. 5.) Added free memory check to make sure there is enough free memory to run the desired option. V1.6 2-19-85 1.) Changed ICG and IUP to automaticaly do a format of the target drive while copying. This eliminates the need for the IFP (Infocom Format Program). 2.) Added the ability to display current games or save images while using ZT16. 3.) Fixed bug causing a DMA Across 64k boundary error on some systems. 4.) Modified ZT to use all available memory. 5.) Modified ZT to handle latest level of INFOCOM interpreter. (This allows recovery from the restart command in the new games). 6.) Modified ZT to recover from all errors. This program is for free distribution as is as long as there is no consideration above the cost of a diskette (max $3.00), and the program and documentation are distributed together unchanged. Any risk in using ZT is limited to the user. The author implies no warranty as to the usability or legality of ZT. The user accepts ALL responsibility for using this program. SPI maintains the right to modify without notice any and all software in this package. NOTE: Unauthorized duplication of INFOCOM software is illegal. A LITTLE HISTORY I have been, from the birth of PC to date, a brave and daring adventure in realm of the Great Underground Empire, a space traveler who captures a giant alien space craft, a detective attempting to locate a murderer, a human computer backup who repaires an underground worldwide control complex, and a experienced sorcerer who battles evil wizards to save the world. Through all these truly enjoyable escapades I could not help the feeling that something was missing. I couldn't get over the fact that a game like these require you to have a pencil and a piece of paper (for maps, secret words, notes). Think about it. A game made for a computer, that forces the player to use something else to accomplish what could and should be done on the computer! That's crazy! I started thinking about this problem and ways to get around it. For a long time I couldn't think of a relatively easy way to accomplish this. Then multi-tasking programs hit the scene. I found that the multi-tasking programs allow the user to operate several DOS programs simultaneously. The catch is that all of these programs must run under DOS in order to work. I then had the task of making INFOCOM game run under DOS. That is how IGL came about. With a multi-tasking program, it is now possible to play an INFOCOM game and have an editor online simultaneously. That means (depending on the multi-tasking program) that the player can usually use one key as a toggle and switch back and forth from the game to editor. The player now has a convienent place to store any game related data (maps, save image descriptions, secret words, etc.) all, and this is the key, WITHOUT having their hands leave the keyboard. I have tried this and it works great! Happy Zorking, Softbeard the Pirate