dMagnetic

dMagnetic
Interpreter
Links	Home page Download Play online
Developer	Thomas Dettbarn
Format	Magnetic Scrolls
Interaction style
Systems	Browser, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, CP/M, Other
System details	Anything with a C compiler; can be installed on Debian/Ubuntu using sudo apt-get install dmagnetic; works on Mac but only via Homebrew and Android but only via Termux.
Latest version	0.37 / 17 May 2023
Status	Stable
Uses interpreter
Multimedia support	Colour text effects: yes. Graphics: ANSI, ASCII, sixel, UTF-8. Sound: No.
License	BSD 2-Clause.
Notes	First released 14 April 2019.
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Synopsis

Since its first release in early 2019, dMagnetic is a Magnetic Scrolls interpreter for modern devices. Its main goal is being as portable as possible, and can be found in various operating systems as a pre-compiled package. Instead of relying on graphical libraries such as GTK, QT or SDL, it is designed to run the games in a terminal window.

Input Formats

Being an interpreter, dMagnetic needs the original game binaries to play them. Since release 0.32, it is capable of reading them in one of the following formats:

• .mag/.gfx files (from the Magnetic Scrolls Memorial)
• MS DOS directories
• C64 Disk images (D64)
• Magnetic Windows Resource Files
• Amstrad CPC disk images (DSK)
• Spectrum128/Spectrum+3
• Acorn Archimedes
• AtariXL/Atari800 ATR image files
• Apple II NIB/2MG/WOZ files

Graphical Modes

Magnetic Scrolls was known for its beautiful graphics. dMagnetic is capable of displaying them, on its own, in the terminal window.

• none - does not render the graphics
• monochrome - Renders images as ASCII Art
• low ansi - Renders images in 16-Color ANSI Art
• high ansi - Truecolor graphics
• sixel - High Resolution graphics
• utf - Uses UTF-8 characters to render the pictures

Installation

• Debian/Ubuntu: % apt-get install dmagnetic
• OpenBSD: % pkg_add dmagnetic

For example, to play Jinxter on Debian:

• apt-get install dmagnetic
• Download JINXTER.MAG AND JINXTER.GFX from the Magnetic Scrolls Memorial
• dMagnetic -mag JINXTER.MAG -gfx JINXTER.GFX

Screenshots

dMagnetic 0.23, running "The Guild of Thieves" in sixel mode.

dMagnetic 0.23, running "The Guild of Thieves" in low ansi mode.

Links

• https://www.dettus.net/dMagnetic - Project homepage
• https://repology.org/project/dmagnetic/versions - Packages for various operating systems
• https://msmemorial.if-legends.org/ - The Magnetic Scrolls Memorial
• https://manpages.debian.org/testing/dmagnetic/dMagnetic.1.en.html - Manpage for dMagnetic (from Debian)
• https://magneticscrolls.net - Play classic text adventures online (Uses dMagnetic as backend)