andrew@hammer.UUCP (02/24/87)
Several Infocom games, including "Hitchhiker's Guide", are available
for CP/M-80 machines, but Infocom doesn't tell you this.
Many of us have stared longingly at Infocom's matrix of games vs
machines and despaired at all the blank boxes in the CP/M-80 line.
Many of those blanks correspond to filled boxes in the "Kaypro II"
line, meaning that those games are available for the Kaypro II
computer. The Kaypro II is a Z80 based machine running CP/M-80. I
wrote to Infocom asking whether I could run Kaypro II games on my CP/M
system, but they ignored me. So I took a chance and bought the Kaypro
II version of "Hitchhiker's Guide."
Good news -- the Kaypro II package differs from a standard CP/M-80
package only in that the software (the .COM and .DAT files) are
distributed on a Kaypro 5.25" floppy, and the .COM file is
preconfigured for the Kaypro II environment; no configuration files are
supplied. Neither the floppy disk nor the software are copy protected,
and an old configuration file from, e.g., the CP/M distribution of
"Zork I" will still work on the .COM file. The only problem, then, is
transferring files from the Kaypro II disk to an eight inch disk, but
readers of these newsgroups should have little trouble finding
resources to accomplish this. [Don't ask me for help, I relied heavily
on the kindness of friends.]
This information comes at an opportune time. Infocom is discontinuing
many of their lines of machine support, including the Kaypro II, and is
blowing away these games for about $17, a much lower price than the
standard $40. This sale ends on March 31, after which the software may
not be available at all.
I speculate that Infocom stopped distributing their games in CP/M-80
format because they wanted to stop supporting the eight inch disk and
the larger packaging that such disks necessitate.
Warning: I haven't verified that the Kaypro II software works on a
CP/M-80 system that doesn't use a Z80 processor. I have no reason to
suspect it, but wouldn't be surprised if a Z80 is required.
-=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew) [UUCP]
(tekecs!andrew.tektronix@csnet-relay) [ARPA]brengle@hpclisp.HP.COM (Tim Brengle) (03/10/87)
What wonderful news! Especially since I have a Z80 CP/M machine which can
handle 5.25" disks. I recently acquired the correct controller card and
software which allows my machine to read Kaypro II (and other) disks.
Now for the bad news: after gathering my pennies and soliciting requests from
friends with similar machines, I called Infocom's 800 number. I was planning
to order about $300 worth of Kaypro II stuff and was surprised to hear that
they are completely out of stock. For ALL CP/M stuff.
On the off chance that the 800 number operators didn't know about the "funeral
sale", I called the technical assistance number. They told me that if the
operators didn't have them on their computer, they weren't available.
Still, I haven't given up. I managed to get an order form from a friend (who
has LOTS of Infocom stuff for his MSDOS machine, **SIGH**), and mailed off an
order today. When I get some sort of response (either games or a note telling
me that they aren't available) I will post the news.
'Til then, keep on hoping!
Tim Brengle
UUCP: ...!hplabs!hpcllld!brengle
ARPA: brengle%hpcllld@hplabs.hp.com
P.S. Andrew, here's to all the hours wasted ...er... spent playing ADVENT
on Seaver's DecSystem-10!cculver@wheaton.UUCP (Calvin Culver) (03/17/87)
In article <1140001@hpclisp.HP.COM> brengle@hpclisp.HP.COM (Tim Brengle) writes: >I called Infocom's 800 number. I was planning >to order about $300 worth of Kaypro II stuff and was surprised to hear that >they are completely out of stock. For ALL CP/M stuff. >... >Still, I haven't given up. I managed to get an order form from a friend (who >has LOTS of Infocom stuff for his MSDOS machine, **SIGH**) > Tim Brengle Now I'm concerned. I called Infocom about 4 weeks back to check on availability for Kaypro stuff and was told they still had stock on everything. I mailed off a check the next day, but have heard or seen nothing from them yet. But now for some (I hope) good news. If I'm correct in my assumptions, you should be able to run much of the MS-DOS stuff under CP/M. Here's how: The .COM file for an Infocom game is a generic file; the only thing that changes from Zork I to Hitchhiker to Suspended is the .DAT file. Any .COM file will run any .DAT file simply by changing the name of the .DAT file to correspond to the .COM file. Thus, for example, simply by changing the name of HITCHHIK.DAT to ZORK1.DAT, placing it on a disk with ZORK1.COM, and typing ZORK1, you should be playing Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Neat, huh? I have verified that this does work with the CP/M versions (I have 11 of the 17 Infocom games for CP/M and I've run them all with ZORK1.COM using this method). Alternatively, you could open up, say, ZORK1.COM with DDT and find where it says ZORK1.DAT, then change that to HITCHHIK.DAT and it should then run as is with HITCHHIK.DAT. Thus, I assume that the same is true for MS-DOS versions and, what's even better, you should be able to transfer a .DAT file from an MS-DOS version and run it with any CP/M .COM file. As I haven't got access to any MS-DOS Infocom games I haven't been able to verify this, but I can't see any reason why it shouldn't work. Could you do me a favor? Give this a try for me and see if I'm right. I'm anxious to know. --calvin culver-- ...ihnp4!invest!wheaton!cculver Cculver@wheaton.UUCP
fsbrn@BRL.ARPA (Ferd Brundick, VLD/LTTB) (03/17/87)
Haah,
I can't comment on Infocom's stock since I've never ordered directly
from them, but I'd like to pick a few nits with Calvin Culver's
response to Tim Brengle.
Yeah, when I was starting out with the Zork trilogy on my CP/M machine
I discovered that all ZORK?.COM files were the same, and by patching
one with DDT you could change the data file reference from ZORK1.DAT
to ZORK2.DAT. This is very easy to do because the name is near the
beginning (don't delete the blanks between ZORK1 and DAT).
When my wife bought an IBM clone I bought some Infocom games for it.
Since the games run faster on her hard disk system than my floppy
system, I considered porting the .DAT files. As a test I patched
HITCHHIK.COM to use LEATHER.DAT and it worked.
Ok, so I've confirmed Calvin's claims. The gotcha is that in the newest
games the .COM files are customized -- they aren't as generic as they
used to be. For example, HitchHiker warns you to put on your peril
sensitive sunglasses before showing your score. One game even added a
new command (not the "oops" command; several games have that). While
you may be able to run one games data with another .COM files, some
things (perhaps critical ones) may not work.
I agree that CP/M .DAT files should work under MS-DOS. If I ever stop
playing Hollywood Hijinks long enough to wire a new cable I'll try to
transfer some .DAT files and see what happens.
dsw, fferd
Fred S. Brundick
USABRL, APG, MD.
<fsbrn@brl.arpa>
"That would take all the mystery out of life."