diff --git a/notes/on-beyond-docs.txt b/notes/on-beyond-docs.txt index f50515a..dd79bcc 100644 --- a/notes/on-beyond-docs.txt +++ b/notes/on-beyond-docs.txt @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ A san inc hack 2018-02-21 --------------------------------------- A ProDOS port of Infocom's Z-Machine -interpreter for the 8-bit Apple II. +interpreters for the 8-bit Apple II. ~ @@ -52,7 +52,34 @@ interpreter|suffix |filetype|auxtype Z5 | .Z5 | $F5 | $8005 Z5U | .Z5 | $F5 | $8055 -...TODO explain Z5U +Astute readers will notice that there +are two interpreters available for Z5 +files. Z5 was an evolving format while +Infocom was making games. Years later, +Graham Nelson et. al. would reverse +engineer the format and write a real +specification. Modern authoring tools +targeted this specification, and modern +authors created an order of magnitude +more games with these tools than +Infocom ever published themselves. + +We are left in a peculiar state, where +Infocom's own Z5 interpreters are "non- +standard," despite them inventing the +format in the first place. (To be +precise, the "standard_interpreter" +library variable returns 0, which may +cause some games to complain or even +refuse to run.) + +On Beyond Z-Machine! includes two Z5 +interpreters. The first, labeled "Z5", +is highly compatible with all classic +Infocom games and many modern games. +The second, labeled "Z5U", has better +compatibility with some modern games +that use advanced Z-Machine features. ~