Posted By
fredrikr
on 2020-12-18
19:05:58
|  A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
We've written a Z-code interpreter (a program to play text adventures using Infocom's text adventure format) called Ozmoo. We wrote it for the C64 and released it in december 2018.
Now Ozmoo Release 5 is out, and the biggest news is it has support for C128 and Plus/4 (+ C16 with 64 KB RAM)
Use it in your web browser: http://microheaven.com/ozmooonline (there's a link there to the project home page too, if you want to download it)
We got some much appreciated help on this forum. Thanks all who contributed!
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Posted By
Luca
on 2020-12-18
19:44:59
 | Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
Omg that's fantastic, you can build up your own Z-Code (with some Infocom classics currently unreleased on Plus/4, freely available), adding a MultiBotticell pic while loading, in few seconds! Congrats, indeed! 
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Posted By
George
on 2020-12-19
05:04:33
 | Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
Thats indeed fantastic!
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Posted By
Luca
on 2020-12-19
06:00:12
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
I spent some time to test it today: this is a sort of dream that comes true!
The online version itself includes a dozen of famous Infocom classics as Z-code, which weren't previously converted on Plus/4, to be converted literally in few seconds! You can also change some parameters, or you can add a bitmap picture before loading the main code. This would mean that anybody not only can pack up his own jewel version of the same adventure, but – I repeat: literally in few seconds! – one can pick up his Z-code adventure from hundreds of them stored in the Z-code archives (e.g.: if-archive, see here, just to say the largely known around), and easily pack up his version, perfectly working, to be run on his C64, C128 or Plus/4!
I'm astonished, literally! I tested it to port on Plus/4 the famous Infocom romance Plundered Hearts, just to have a quick test. All my congrats goes to Fredrik for this incredible exercise of great code's project 
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Posted By
aNdy/Cosine
on 2020-12-19
13:00:48
 | Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
Thanks for this! I'm a *HUGE* fan of Infocom stuff.
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Posted By
fredrikr
on 2020-12-20
18:07:02
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
Another great idea is to get some games released during 2020, which were made with PunyInform. Follow the links under "Games using PunyInform" at https (add :// here) github.com/johanberntsson/PunyInform#games-using-punyinform - the game file you need for each game ends with .z3, and is called a story file, a Z-machine file or a Z-code file.
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Posted By
filker
on 2020-12-22
15:45:20
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
Thanks. I tried it with the Failsafe adventure. And used my kernal hack with PET charset for a cool look: twitter.com/projectcbm/status/1341483787817988099
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Posted By
fredrikr
on 2020-12-24
06:21:43
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
I thought using Ozmoo to play PunyInform games was such a great idea that I added all the PunyInform games we know of to the Ozmoo Online page (after asking the authors of course).
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Posted By
marcos64
on 2021-02-21
06:30:29
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
I've build a D64 of Deadline for Plus/4 with Ozmoo 5.4 but it doesn't works with Jiffydos. I've tried with uIEC3 and a real 1541. Is this normal?
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Posted By
siz
on 2021-02-21
15:52:28
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
I haven't checked the code but a typical source of incompatibility between stock and JiffyDOS KERNALs are the interrupt handling. Programs that copy the subroutine calls from the original KERNAL interrupt handler will fail because the tape checking (which also calls some timer handling routines) routine is not there.
At least this is the case with Domino (and it has been fixed in Domino Deluxe) and also with Leaper.
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Posted By
marcos64
on 2021-02-24
04:00:42
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
It works with CBM FileBrowser 16 V1.6 AutoJiffy: CBM FileBrowser 16
Not a perfect solution, but at least I don't have to wait a long time to load it.
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-25
06:31:52
 | Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
Thank you ever so much for this marcos64, this is amazing work.
Luca, how do I make a Koala Paint image or a Multi-Botticelli image so I can attach it to a game? i have just found a tool called bmp2koala but I can't seem to get a BMP 16 colour 320x200 image to load into the converter. Any help here would be really appreciated. I need to make cool load screens like your Plundered Heart one  .
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Posted By
Luca
on 2021-02-25
07:53:15
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
JimmyCoupe: though being made in a hurry, the Plundered Hearts' intro bitmap has needed serious retouching after the conversion of the cover printed on the original game's box. Nowadays, there are truly unlimited ways to convert and then retouch a bitmap, from the PC tools like the converted inclued into plus4mu's package, to the C64 and Plus/4 real deals, since the ancients but fairly working Crown Graphic Converter or Cartridge Graphic Converter V1.6 or Graphix Converter, for plain bitmaps MFLIs IHFLIs logos PETSCIIs whatever. You can start from a PNG/BMP/whatever and pass thru Koala stuff in order to take advantage of some smart converters with changeable dithering order, or directly point to the MultiBotticelli format, you can retouch your results with Multipaint et similia.
The more you try, the best you achieve. keeping in mind that: nothing beats your own graphic work 
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Posted By
JimmyCoupe
on 2021-02-25
08:03:40
| Re: A new Z-code emulator for Plus/4
Thanks for taking the time to explain Luca, that is very helpful. I will look forward to giving it another try later .
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