Advent of Code on the Z-Machine
12 days ago
- #Z-machine
- #text adventures
- #Inform 6
- The Z-machine, developed by Infocom in 1979, is an early example of a fantasy console, designed to run text adventures across multiple platforms.
- The Z-machine uses a virtual machine approach, compiling games into bytecode that can be executed on any platform with a Z-machine interpreter.
- Modern alternatives to the Z-machine include the Glulx virtual machine, but the Z-machine remains in use for certain text adventures.
- Programming for the Z-machine can be done using languages like ZIL (a low-level Lisp-like language) or Inform 6, which compiles to Z-machine bytecode.
- Inform 6 is a language that allows for procedural and object-oriented programming, with features like inheritance and object containment.
- The Z-machine's limitations, such as 16-bit integers, can pose challenges for modern programming tasks, requiring workarounds like long integer math implementations.
- The article explores using Inform 6 to solve Advent of Code problems, highlighting both the language's capabilities and its quirks.
- The separation between the Inform 6 language and its standard library allows for flexibility in choosing frameworks for text adventure development.
- PunyInform is mentioned as a compatible library for the Z-machine version 3, offering creative constraints for game development.