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Show HN: Resurrecting Infocom's Unix Z-Machine with Cosmopolitan

(christopherdrum.github.io)
157 points ChristopherDrum | 6 comments | 14 Apr 25 03:51 UTC | HN request time: 0.976s | source | bottom

I recently brought Infocom's original UNIX z-machine source code back to life on modern systems. The modified source code, instructions on usage, a build of the z-machine, and examples of embedded game executables are available.

There is also a detailed write-up about the state of the original source code, the porting process, and the invaluable role Justine Tunney's Cosmpolitan project played in bringing the Zork trilogy (and more) to Windows/Mac/Linux/bsd for arm/x86 machines over the course of a lazy Sunday.

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joshu ◴[14 Apr 25 04:57 UTC] No.43678188[source]▶
i think ucsd p-system vm predates z-machine by a couple of years (re OP's origin of vm use comment)
replies(2): >>43678260 #>>43682390 #
1. ChristopherDrum ◴[14 Apr 25 05:10 UTC] No.43678260[source]▶
Interesting to know, thanks. My intention with that comment was in pondering about vms distributed commercially in the home market, which I don't think I made clear enough in the post. :/
replies(3): >>43679731 #>>43679816 #>>43682377 #
2. ssrc ◴[14 Apr 25 10:11 UTC] No.43679731[source]▶
What's remarkable about Infocom's z-machine is the level of sophistication and polish vs the intended application, maybe unsurprising coming from MIT graduates with access to a PDP-10 as a development platform. Otherwise the use of virtual machines was, maybe not common, but not unusual.

* TinyBasic (1975) was specified (and sometimes implemented) as a VM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_BASIC

* Apple Pascal (1979) was a UCSD Pascal system. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pascal

* The COSMAC VIP computer/console's (1977) games were programmed in CHIP-8, a VM. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIP-8

* Scott Adams' text adventures (1978+) used an application-specific VM. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_International

* Wozniak's SWEET16 contained in Apple II Integer Basic (1977) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWEET16

* If you count Forth as a VM, it was pretty common. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_(programming_language)

replies(1): >>43682102 #
3. flonkyflonk ◴[14 Apr 25 10:29 UTC] No.43679816[source]▶
Blank and Berez were definitely thinking about p-machines when they designed the Z machine, and there is a hat tip in the 1980 Creative Computing article describing its inner workings.

[1]: https://mud.co.uk/richard/htflpism.htm

replies(1): >>43682400 #
4. ForOldHack ◴[14 Apr 25 15:04 UTC] No.43682102[source]▶
You must have done little research to remember those. I knew all but two. (COmSAC and Sweet16).

I wonder if the wikipedia articles are lucky enough to be good...

5. ghaff ◴[14 Apr 25 15:28 UTC] No.43682377[source]▶
There were a bunch of minicomputer and the Unix operating systems that would arguable have been better than Microsoft’s entries. But it just wasn’t in the DNA of those companies to sell a consumer-priced operating systems.
6. ghaff ◴[14 Apr 25 15:30 UTC] No.43682400[source]▶
And the founders were AFAIK mostly looking at games as a testbed for bigger and better things—a mindset that unfortunately led to the Cornerstone database.