Infolaunch: An Infocom Game Launcher

Copyright  2005 by Donnie Russell



License
-------

The contents of this archive are freeware; they are not in the public domain.
This archive may only be redistributed in an unmodified state. The software
contained in this archive is provided to the end-user "as is", and comes with
no warranty of any kind. In no event shall the copyright owner be liable for
any damage that may result from the use of this software.



System requirements
-------------------

Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 or XP



How to set up and use this program
----------------------------------

1) Extract "Infolaunch.zip" to your hard drive, maintaining the directory
   structure.

2) Download Windows Frotz 2002 from the IF Archive:

http://www.ifarchive.org/if-archive/infocom/interpreters/frotz/WindowsFrotz2002.zip

   Extract "WindowsFrotz2002.zip" to the Frotz subdirectory of Infolaunch. The
   Frotz executable should be named "Frotz.exe". If it is not, rename it.

3) Download Infocom blorb files from the IF Archive:

http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXinfocomXmediaXblorb.html

   Move all of the blorb files (ending in .blb) to the Blorb subdirectory of
   Infolaunch.

4) (Optional) Download Infocom patch files from the IF Archive:

http://www.ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archiveXinfocomXpatches.html

   Extract or move all of the patch files (ending in .pat) to the Patch
   subdirectory of Infolaunch.

5) Copy all of your Infocom game files (usually ending in a .dat, .zip, .z3,
   .z4, .z5, or .z6 extension) to the Game subdirectory of Infolaunch. All
   files in that directory will be scanned, regardless of filename, each time
   the program starts.

6) Execute "Infolaunch.exe". White menu entries represent game versions that
   were found. Grey menu entries represent alternate game versions that
   Infolaunch supports, if the required patch files are also present.

   If some entries that you expected do not appear, the games were not
   recognized. They are either damaged or very rare. One way to test a game is
   to run it in Frotz and use the command "$verify" to check the game's
   checksum (although some early games lack a checksum). If it is damaged, try
   to find a good version of the game from another source. If you think you
   have a rare version, let someone know about it!

7) Double-click the mouse or type Enter when you have selected the game you
   want to play. To change the selection, use the arrow keys and Page Up/Down.
   Click the mouse on the green arrows to scroll the display up/down.



Notes
-----

Infolaunch does not support beta, gamma, or hacked Infocom game files.

Zork Zero demo game files will not properly decrypt to non-demo game files.

Zork I versions 2 and 52 are recognized, but must be decrypted manually from
version 88:

decrypt   zork1_88_to_2.pat    zork1_88.dat   zork1_2.dat
decrypt   zork1_88_to_52.pat   zork1_88.dat   zork1_52.dat

decrypt.exe is compiled from the source code of ZCODE-Patch.

"ZCODE-Patch was originally written by Paul Gilbert
(pfg@yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au), however, his email now bounces, so the
maintainership has been taken over by Rodney Hester (rod3@mindspring.com) and
Nils Barth (nils_barth@post.harvard.edu). These programs are Copyright (c)
1997/98 Paul Gilbert, with modifications Copyright (c) 2000/2001 Rodney Hester
and Nils Barth. No clue about licensing -- it seems to be basically public
domain, but we'd need a statement from Paul to that effect."
