Text translators for infocom games and the like

[TheLostOne]

So I got a bug up my ass to play some good ole text adventures. A bunch available for download as abandonware. The problem is they require a text translator like WinFrotz to run them.

I can't find a copy on the net and the link at abandonia is broken. Any suggestions?

 

[eth]

You re kidding right? The first hit on google about that winfrotz thingie you say has a download link and also mentions its "Free"... And why you need that thing anyway you could allways run it in dosbox

 

[TheLostOne]

I googled winfrontz last night and every link that had a download was broken.

Edit: and the downloads on abandonia state that it's required to play them, if I can use DosBox I will, just don't know why they'd say you need a text translator.

 

[Atrachasis]

I googled winfrontz last night and every link that had a download was broken.

Edit: and the downloads on abandonia state that it's required to play them, if I can use DosBox I will, just don't know why they'd say you need a text translator.

If the adventure itself is in Z-code format (IIRC, extension .z?), then indeed you will need an interpreter like WinFrotz. Try the links on this page:
A Beginner's Guide to playing IF

There are other formats (such as TADS) requiring other interpreters, and of course some may come as compiled executables (.exe), which you would indeed be able to run in DOSBox.

 

[TheLostOne]

Sweet. First working link I've seen.

Thanks a ton.

 

[mirrorshades]

There is an app called Gargoyle, that runs interpreters for most of the major languages that text adventures are written in:

http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/

That should be all you need to get into it. TADS and Inform are probably the two biggest sources of modern IF, so you could just download the TADS interpreter and WinFrotz and that would work for you as well.

No need to use DOSBox, Windows-friendly interfaces that let you change font sizes, color schemes, browse to save/load, etc... are much nicer.