andrew@garfield.UUCP (Andrew Draskoy) (06/30/83)
About two USENIX tapes ago, a version of ZORK (dungeon)appeared
(binaries only) which had been severely hacked to make it run in
4bsd demand load format. The author of this version used different
data files from those that came with 4bsd. The effect of all this
is a VERY fast version of ZORK. There are two problems:
1) I get a core dump whenever I try to PUT anything, and
2) I always get dumped in the N-S passage from the round room
It doesn't seem to randomly deposit me anywhere else.
A while ago I tried, unsuccessfully, to get in touch with the author,
Daniel Strick. Has anybody else out there running 4bsd tried to get
this (or any other, for that matter) version of zork running in VAX
native mode? If so, did you have the bugs I found? Did you fix them?
Any enlightening info. will be greatly appreciated.
Andrew Draskoy
{allegra, utcsrgv, inhp4}!garfield!andrewdan@idis.UUCP (07/04/83)
Several bugs in the VAX native version of ZORK on the USENIX tape have been fixed. The major problems were the vax native random number generator in the DECUS ZORK distribution (it wasn't very) and the improper use of the "movtuc" instruction in the early versions of the VAX printf() code. I am willing to give a new ZORK binary to one person who 1) sends me a mag tape in a stamped and self addressed return envelope, and 2) is willing to redistribute the binary to everyone else who wants a copy (and provides a mag tape in a stamped return envelope). Perhaps I should provide a ZORK binary for the next USENIX tape. Dan Strick [mcnc|decvax]!idis!dan University of Pittsburgh 833 LIS building 135 N. Bellefield Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15260 P.S. The ZORK source is available from DECUS.