Linux Interpreters
From IFWiki
Much of the information currently available in the standard places for interpreters on Linux is, unfortunately, extremely outdated, and many of the packages available either do not run at all under modern Linux distributions or will not run without MAJOR configuration effort. The following are recommendations for intepreters which installed easily and performed well on a modern Linux platform (Ubuntu 7.10) without the need for any special struggling or fighting. Most major platforms are covered.
Native Linux Interpreters
- Frotz - console-only text-mode Z-code interpreter. Can handle .z* files; cannot typically handle zblorbs. Available directly from the package repository in Ubuntu 7.10: sudo apt-get install frotz
- FrobTADS - console-only text-mode TADS interpreter.
- Zag 1.06 - Java-based .ulx and .blorb interpreter. DOES NOT handle many .zblorb files.
- Scare - plays ADRIFT games. The included glkscare utility works out-of-the-box, with graphics handling, under Ubuntu 7.10.
- Gargoyle - interactive fiction player that supports all major IF formats. Works in Windows and Linux. The Linux version does NOT support most zblorb files. The windows version does, and runs fine under WINE.
- Fizmo - Z-Machine Interpreter - "Fimzo interprets Z-machine opcodes."
- QTads - Multimedia TADS interpreter. It supports all multimedia functionality of HTML TADS.
- Hugor - Multimedia Hugo interpreter.
Interpreters which run under WINE
- WinFrotz - works flawlessly under WINE; handles Z-code files (including some, but not all Zblorbs) that many native interpreters can't. The setup.exe works as intended without coddling on WINE in Ubuntu 7.10.
- WinGlulxe - works perfectly under WINE; setup.exe works as intended without coddling on WINE in Ubuntu 7.10.
- Hugo - works under WINE; setup.exe works as intended without coddling on WINE in Ubuntu 7.10.
- HTML TADS - another that works perfectly under WINE; setup.exe works as intended without coddling on WINE in Ubuntu 7.10.
- Level 9 4.1 for Windows - again, works perfectly under WINE in Ubuntu 7.10.
- Gargoyle - interactive fiction player that supports all major IF formats. Works in Windows and Linux. The Linux version does NOT support most zblorb files. The windows version does, and runs fine under WINE.
Emulators
- dosemu - works well for many MS-DOS only games; verified to work for the Spellcasting series by Steve Meretzky. Available directly from the package repository in Ubuntu 7.10: sudo apt-get install dosemu. BE CAREFUL of directory names, however: some special characters such as colons in parent folders will cause an instant crash in dosemu.