[z-machine] The Z-machine and Informs 6 and 7

[Jason Penney]

Quoting Graham Nelson <graham at gnelson.demon.co.uk>:

> (b) It is time, in my view, to make Blorb more or less compulsory.
> Blorb has long hovered on the margins of the Z-spec, as a
> good idea but one that never seemed urgent because there
> weren't really any blorbs to be executed, and anyway, all the
> interpreter writers had disappeared off into the misty woods.

I don't know if it is of interest, but the section on Blorb requirement was
removed from the 1.1 proposal after draft 7.  It does seem to cover what you're
looking for.

------------------

Blorb
-----
Blorb is the standard resource format for the Z-machine. Games should be
distributed as

    a) a single story file;
    b) a story file with accompanying Blorb file;
 or c) a stand-alone executable Blorb file.
 
To minimise user confusion, Standard 1.1 interpreters should be able to run
Z-code executables contained in either a plain story file, or embedded in a
stand-alone Blorb 1.1 file. If the interpreter supports sound or graphics, it
should be able to obtain those resources from either a stand-alone or
separate Blorb 1.1 file (although the Standard does not preclude other
formats).

Embedded interpreters, or interpreters running on small platforms, may accept
either Z-code or resources in some custom format, but these should come with
some form of conversion utility. In the minimum case of a text-only
interpreter, this might take the form of a Blorb to story file converter.

----------------

BTW, if it's of interest to anyone, all the public drafts are archived still:
http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/ZSpec11-draft2.txt
http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/ZSpec11-draft3.txt
http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/ZSpec11-draft4.txt
http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/ZSpec11-draft5.txt
http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/ZSpec11-draft6.txt
http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/ZSpec11-draft7.txt
http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/ZSpec11-draft9.txt
http://www.jczorkmid.net/~jpenney/ZSpec11-latest.txt (currently draft9)

Jay



-- 
Jason C Penney (jpenney at jczorkmid.net)
<http://www.jczorkmid.net/>