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Quetzal File Format
{{Infobox file format , name = Quetzal , logo = , icon = , iconcaption = , screenshot = , caption = , _noextcode = on , extension = {{mono, .sav, {{mono, .glksave , _nomimecode = on , mime = {{mono, application/x-glksave , type code = , uniform type = , conforms to = , magic = {{mono, IFZS , developer = Martin Frost , released = , latest release version = 1.4 , latest release date = {{Start date and age, 1997, 11, 13 , genre = Z-machine save game , container for = Z-machine state , contained by = , extended from = Interchange File Format , extended to = , standard inform-fiction.org, open = Yes , url = Quetzal is a st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Z-machine
The Z-machine is a virtual machine that was developed by Joel Berez and Marc Blank in 1979 and used by Infocom for its text adventure games. Infocom compiled game code to files containing Z-machine instructions (called story files or Z-code files) and could therefore port its text adventures to a new platform simply by writing a Z-machine implementation for that platform. With the large number of incompatible home computer systems in use at the time, this was an important advantage over using native code or developing a compiler for each system. History The "Z" of Z-machine stands for Zork, Infocom's first adventure game. Z-code files usually have names ending in .z1, .z2, .z3, .z4, .z5, .z6, .z7, or .z8, where the number is the version number of the Z-machine on which the file is intended to be run, as given by the first byte of the story file. This is a modern convention, however. Infocom itself used extensions of .dat (Data) and .zip (ZIP = Z-machine Interpreter Program), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interchange File Format
Interchange File Format (IFF), is a generic container file format originally introduced by Electronic Arts in 1985 (in cooperation with Commodore) in order to facilitate transfer of data between software produced by different companies. IFF files do not have any standard extension. On many systems that generate IFF files, file extensions are not important (the OS stores file format metadata separately from the file name). An .iff extension is commonly used for ILBM format files, which use the IFF container format. Resource Interchange File Format is a format developed by Microsoft and IBM in 1991 that is based on IFF, except the byte order has been changed to little-endian to match the x86 processor architecture. Apple's AIFF is a big-endian audio file format developed from IFF. The TIFF image file format is unrelated. Structure An IFF file is built up from chunks. Each chunk begins with what the specification calls a "Type ID" (what the Macintosh called an OSType, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Frost (Programmer)
Jonas Martin Frost III (born January 1, 1942) is an American politician, who was the Democratic representative to the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas's 24th congressional district from 1979 to 2005. Personal life Frost was born to a Jewish family in Glendale, California, the son of Doris (nee Marwil) and Jack Frost.San Antonio Express-News: "Doris Marwil Frost Obituary (August 3, 1918 - May 22, 2005)" May 24, 2005 He has one sister, Carol Frost Wagner. His grandfather, Joe Frost, was co-founder of Frost Brothers Department Store. In 1949, his family moved to |
Graham Nelson
Graham A. Nelson (born 1968) is a British mathematician, poet, and the creator of the Inform design system for creating interactive fiction (IF) games. He has authored several IF games, including ''Curses'' (1993) and '' Jigsaw'' (1995). Education In 1994, Nelson received a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Oxford under the supervision of Simon Donaldson. Writing Nelson co-edited ''Oxford Poetry'' and in 1997 received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors for his poetry. he was managing editor of Legenda, the imprint of the Modern Humanities Research Association ( MHRA). Interactive fiction Nelson is the creator of the Inform design system for creating interactive fiction (IF) games. He has also authored several IF games, including ''Curses'' (1993) and '' Jigsaw'' (1995), using the experience of writing ''Curses'' in particular to expand the range of verbs that Inform is capable of understanding. Personal life Nelson is married to IF writer Emily Short ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interactive Fiction
'' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the form of interactive narratives or interactive narrations. These works can also be understood as a form of video game, either in the form of an adventure game or role-playing game. In common usage, the term refers to text adventures, a type of adventure game where the entire interface can be "text-only", however, graphical text adventures still fall under the text adventure category if the main way to interact with the game is by typing text. Some users of the term distinguish between interactive fiction, known as "Puzzle-free", that focuses on narrative, and "text adventures" that focus on puzzles. Due to their text-only nature, they sidestepped the problem of writing for widely divergent graphics architectures. This feature meant that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glulx
Glulx is a 32-bit portable virtual machine intended for writing and playing interactive fiction. It was designed by Andrew Plotkin to relieve some of the restrictions in the venerable Z-machine format. For example, the Z-machine provides native support for 16-bit integers, while Glulx natively supports 32-bit integers. Versions and popularity The Inform compiler, starting with version 6.30, can produce either Z-machine or Glulx story files. A Spanish interactive fiction development system called Superglús also uses Glulx. Despite being a better-adapted virtual machine for modern computing hardware and being just as accessible to developers, Glulx continues to lag behind the Z-machine in popularity, largely due to the comparative rarity of interpreters. The most popular interpreter for Glulx is Andrew Plotkin's Glulxe. Glulxe uses the Glk API for input and output. File and email extensions The MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The word is a portmanteau of ''back'' and ''acronym''. An acronym is a word derived from the initial letters of the words of a phrase, such as ''radar'' from "''ra''dio ''d''etection ''a''nd ''r''anging". By contrast, a backronym is "an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin." Many fictional espionage organizations are backronyms, such as SPECTRE (''sp''ecial ''e''xecutive for ''c''ounterintelligence, ''t''errorism, ''r''evenge and ''e''xtortion) from the James Bond franchise. For example, the Amber Alert missing-child program was named after Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old girl who was abduct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
