1XFROTZ(6)                        Games Manual                        XFROTZ(6)
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NAME

6       xfrotz  - interpreter for Infocom and other Z-Machine games (X11 inter‐
7       face)
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SYNOPSIS

11       xfrotz [options] file
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DESCRIPTION

15       The xfrotz program is an Xlib-based interpreter for Z-machine code, the
16       byte  code  used  by  Infocom games and, more recently, Inform.  xfrotz
17       supports versions 1 through 8 of the  format.   It  uses  the  standard
18       Quetzal format for its saved games.
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20       Xfrotz  supports  Version  6  graphical  games.   It currently supports
21       color, graphics (in the .mg1 format only) by way of Blorb  archives  or
22       by parsing Infocom's original files.  Sound is supported through OSS.
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OPTIONS

27       In  each of the following options which enables some feature, replacing
28       - with + explicitly disables that feature, overriding any X  resources.
29       Also,  each  option  has a corresponding X resource, which is listed in
30       parentheses after the option name.
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32       -aa    (class WatchAttribute, name watchAttrAssign) Enables watching of
33              attribute assignment.
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35       -at    (class  WatchAttribute,  name watchAttrTest) Enables watching of
36              attribute testing.
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38       -bg color
39              (class Background, name background) Sets the default  background
40              color.   In  addition to the standard X color specification for‐
41              mats, xfrotz supports the format z:num, which refers to a  z-ma‐
42              chine color from 2 to 9.
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44       -c number
45              (class  ContextLines, name contextLines) Specifies the number of
46              context lines used.   When  scrolling  large  amounts  of  text,
47              xfrotz  pauses  after  each  screenful with a ``[MORE]'' prompt;
48              this option specifies how many lines of a previous screen xfrotz
49              will keep at the top of the next screen.
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51       -fg color
52              (class  Foreground, name foreground) Sets the default foreground
53              color.  See -bg above.
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55       -fn[-z|[f][b][i]] font name
56              (class Font, name font[Z|[F][B][I]]) Sets the fonts to  be  used
57              for  various  styles.   For  example,  -fn-fbi sets the font for
58              fixed, bold, italic text, and -fn-z sets the z-machine ``picture
59              font,'' which is used in Beyond Zork and Journey.
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61       -i     (class  IgnoreErrors,  name ignoreErrors) Ignore runtime errors.
62              This can be useful when running xfrotz with  buggy  story  files
63              which cause fatal errors.
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65       -lm number
66              (class Margin, name leftMargin) Sets the left margin.
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68       -ol    (class  WatchObject,  name watchObjLocating) Enables watching of
69              testing the location of objects.
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71       -om    (class WatchObject, name WatchObjMovement) Enables  watching  of
72              object movement.
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74       -p     (class  Piracy, name piracy) Enable branching on the @piracy op‐
75              code.  This opcode is seldom used.
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77       -rm number
78              (class Margin, name rightMargin) Sets the right margin.
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80       -rs number
81              (class RandomSeed, name randomSeed) Set the random seed.  By de‐
82              fault,  the  random number generator is initialized based on the
83              system clock; this allows you to make the random number  genera‐
84              tor predictable, for use in recorded scripts or debugging.
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86       -sc number
87              (class  ScriptColumns,  name  scriptColumns)  Set the transcript
88              width (default 80).  Set to 0 to disable line splitting in tran‐
89              scripts.
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91       -t     (class  Tandy,  name tandy) Set the z-machine's Tandy bit, which
92              affects the behavior of certain  Infocom  games.   For  example,
93              Zork  I  pretends  not to have sequels, and Witness has its lan‐
94              guage censored.
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96       -u number
97              (class UndoSlots, name undoSlots) Set the number of  undo  slots
98              available.   The  default  number is 25.  Note that many Infocom
99              games do not support an ``undo'' command, and most Inform  games
100              do not allow more than one ``undo'' at a time.  Because of this,
101              you may need to use the undo hotkey instead (see below).
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103       -x     (class ExpandAbbrevs, name expandAbbrevs) With this  option  en‐
104              abled,  xfrotz  expands ``x'' to ``examine,'' ``o'' to ``oops,''
105              and ``g'' to ``again.''  This is convenient when running certain
106              Infocom games which do not implement these abbreviations.
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108       -xrm resources
109              This allows setting resources on the command line.
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111       -zs level
112              (class  ZStrict, name zStrict) Set the reporting level of ``Vile
113              Zero Error From Hell'' bugs.  The  possible  levels  are:  0  to
114              print  no  error messages, 1 to print just one error message and
115              ignore subsequent errors (the default), 2  to  print  all  error
116              messages,  or  3 to exit with a fatal error.  Symbolic values of
117              never, once, always, and fatal, respectively, are also accepted.
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RESOURCES

120       xfrotz's resource class is ``XFrotz'', and its  resource  name  is  the
121       base  name by which it was invoked, usually ``xfrotz''.  In addition to
122       the X resources listed above, there is one more set  of  resources:  by
123       setting  colornum (class name Colornum) to the name of a color, you can
124       change the meaning of the z-machine colors.  Note that here  the  z:num
125       syntax is not accepted.
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ENVIRONMENT

128       xfrotz  supports  the  INFOCOM_PATH  environment  variable.   This is a
129       colon-separated list of pathnames in which xfrotz will search  for  the
130       given  story file.  Note that xfrotz will expect the story.mg1 file and
131       the sounds directory to be in the same directory as it finds the  story
132       file.
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HOTKEYS

135       xfrotz supports several ``hotkeys,'' which interrupt the currently run‐
136       ning game to set options or perform certain actions.
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138       Mod1+D Sets debugging options by prompting the user.  These options are
139              equivalent  to  specifying -aa, -at, -ol, and -om on the command
140              line.
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142       Mod1+H Lists available hotkeys.
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144       Mod1+N Starts a new game.  Equivalent to the restart command  supported
145              by most games.
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147       Mod1+P Starts or stops playback from a recorded script.
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149       Mod1+R Starts or stops recording player input into a file.
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151       Mod1+S Sets the random number generator seed.
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153       Mod1+U Undoes one turn.
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155       Mod1+X Exits the currently running game.
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FURTHER INFORMATION

160       The Frotz homepage is at https://661.org/proj/if/frotz/.
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162       The bleeding edge of Frotz development may be followed there.
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164       The  Interactive  Fiction Archive is a good place to find games to play
165       with Frotz.  Various ports and builds for Frotz may also be found here.
166       Here is its URL:
167       http://www.ifarchive.org/
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169       Most  distributions  of  Linux  and  BSD include Frotz in their package
170       repositories.
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172       It is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or (at
173       your option) any later version.
174       https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html
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176       This  software  is offered as-is with no warranty or liability.  If you
177       find a bug or would like Frotz to do something it doesn't currently do,
178       please visit the above Gitlab website and report your concerns.
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CAVEATS

183       This manpage is not intended to tell users HOW to play interactive fic‐
184       tion.  Refer to the file HOW_TO_PLAY included in the Unix  Frotz  docu‐
185       mentation or visit one of the following sites:
186       http://www.microheaven.com/ifguide/
187       http://www.brasslantern.org/beginners/
188       http://www.musicwords.net/if/how_to_play.htm
189       http://ifarchive.org/
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BUGS

194       If  run  on  an  8-bit display, xfrotz will most likely leak the entire
195       color palette, especially if displaying graphics.
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197       The window size is fixed at 800x600, with  pictures  scaled  to  match;
198       this  scaling is hard coded.  Also, xfrotz depends on backing store in‐
199       stead of saving the screen's state.
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201       If different fonts have different heights, the display might look a bit
202       strange,  and  things  might not line up as they should.  This is espe‐
203       cially apparent in menus.
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205       In order to change the fonts used, you would usually have to specify at
206       least 4 fonts (for normal, bold, italic, and bold italic).  This is ex‐
207       tremely cumbersome.
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AUTHORS

212       frotz was written by Stefan Jokisch in 1995-7.  xfrotz is an Xlib  port
213       written  by  Daniel  Schepler,  based in part on the Unix port by Galen
214       Hazelwood and on WinFrotz by Rich Lawrence.
215       The Unix port is currently maintained by David Griffith <dave@661.org>
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SEE ALSO

219       frotz(6) sfrotz(6) nitfol(6) rezrov(6) jzip(6) xzip(6) inform(1)
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224X11 Frotz v2.54                   2021-06-21                         XFROTZ(6)
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