===========================================================================
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|  READ THIS FILE ALL THE WAY THROUGH BEFORE ATTEMPTING TO INSTALL FROTZ  |
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===========================================================================

Frotz was originally written specifically for MS/PC DOS.  When it was
ported to Unix, it was done mainly with Linux in mind.  Since then,
Frotz has been written with an aim to compile and run smoothly on as
many platforms as possible.

The source is rather generic C code and runs well on pretty much all
current Unixen.  These are the only three things needed to compile and
run Frotz:
  * Some variant of Unix with an ANSI C compiler (gcc works fine)
  * A POSIX-compliant version of make (GNU make will do)
  * A reasonably good SYSV derived curses library (ncurses is best)

For Unicode support by way of UTF-8, libncursesw is required.  Unicode
support can be disabled in the Makefile by commenting out this line:
  USE_UTF8 ?= yes

For sound support, a few more things are necessary:
  * libao         (1.1.0 or higher)
  * libmodplug    (0.8.8.4 or higher)
  * libsamplerate (0.1.8 or higher)
  * libsndfile    (1.0.25 or higher)
  * libvorbis     (1.3.2 or higher)
Earlier versions of these libraries might work, but are untested.

If you don't want to build Frotz with audio support, simply do "make
nosound" or comment out the "SOUND" line from the Makefile.

For NetBSD, you must install the libao-sun plugin for libao.

Linux uses ncurses, so you're safe there.  The version of curses that
comes with NetBSD 1.6.x and later is good too.  Earlier versions lacked
certain features needed by Frotz.  I don't know about the other *BSD
curses.  Of the current BSDs, only NetBSD still uses the old BSD curses 
library.  All the others, including macOS, now use ncurses.

A constant problem with macOS is the built-in ncurses.  Even on the
latest releases of macOS; ncurses is very old and seems to identify
itself incorrectly.  For this reason, it is highly recommended that
ncurses from Homebrew be installed before compiling Frotz.  See
"Apple-specific installation issues" below.

For older systems, especially ones not Linux or [Net|Free|Open]BSD...
You can download ncurses from https://www.gnu.org/software/ncurses/ or
ftp://ftp.gnu/org/gnu/ncurses/ and compile it yourself.  If you must use
the vendor-supplied curses library, see the platform-specific info
below.  If your system provides a means to install ncurses, that's
usually the best approach.

Frotz's Makefile now requires the use of GNU Make.


=======================
Installing a package ||
=======================

You have many choices available to you if you don't want to install
Frotz by compiling it yourself.  All of the commonly-encountered
distributions of Linux include Frotz in their packaging systems.  The
BSDs do so including FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD.

For Macintosh, I recommend using Brew.  With a single script, this
packaging system can be installed into a macOS system whereupon it can
be used to install Frotz.  See https://brew.sh/ for more information.

Frotz can also be installed as a container using Docker.  See
https://github.com/newtmitch/frotz-docker and
https://hub.docker.com/r/newtmitch/frotz


=============
Dumb Frotz ||
=============

Frotz can be compiled without curses, leaving you with a dumb-mode 
interface with no dependencies whatsoever besides a functioning C 
library.  This interface is provided for having fun on extremely old 
computers and for those who find it useful for web-based front-ends, 
bots, and whatever else you can think up.  Read the DUMB file for more 
information.

Unless the machine on which you're trying to build Dumb Frotz is missing 
some vital functions, no editing of the Makefile should be necessary.  
Check to see if that OS provides memmove(), strdup(), strndup(), or 
strrchr() functions.  If not, there are some options in the Makefile 
that cause Frotz to use its own versions of these functions.


============
SDL Frotz ||
============

SDL Frotz (aka sfrotz) started off as a port of Frotz 2.32.  After 
languishing for several years, it is now incorporated into the Unix 
Frotz codebase as a one of the available interfaces.  With SDL Frotz, 
full support for V6 games is provided.

Prerequisite packages for sfrotz (Debian nomenclature):
  * libsdl2-dev		(2.0.9 or higher)
  * libsdl2-mixer-dev	(2.0.4 or higher)
  * libfreetype6-dev	(2.6.x or higher)
  * libpng-dev		(1.6.x or higher)
  * libjpeg-dev		(1.5.x or higher)
  * zlib1g-dev		(1.2.x or higher)
Earlier versions of these libraries might work, but are untested.


============
X11 Frotz ||
============

X11 Frotz (aka xfrotz) was created by Daniel Schepler from around 1998 to
2000 based in Frotz 2.32.  Like SDK Frotz, it languished for several years.
It does have rudimentary audio support for playback of Infocom's original
.snd audio file format and no Blorb support.  It also supports rune
characters in Beyond Zork through .pcf fonts.  This interface is not yet
ready.  On startup, the screen has a tendency to be black.  Saves and
restores also don't work -- doing so causes a segfault.


================
Prerequisites ||
================

Prerequisite packages for xfrotz:
  * libx11		(1.6.7 or higher)
  * libxt		(1.1.5 or higher)  

Prerequisite packages for sfrotz (macOS Homebrew nomenclature):
  * pkg-config		(0.29 or higher)
  * sdl2		(2.0.9 or higher)
  * sdl2_mixer		(2.0.4 or higher)
  * freetype		(2.6.x or higher)
  * libpng		(1.6.x or higher)
  * jpeg		(1.5.x or higher)
  * zlib		(1.2.x or higher)

Prerequisite packages for sfrotz (NetBSD nomenclature):
  * SDL2		(2.0.9 or higher)
  * SDL2_mixer		(2.0.4 or higher)
  * freetype		(2.6.x or higher)
  * png			(1.6.x or higher)
  * jpeg		(1.5.x or higher)
  * zlib		(1.2.x or higher)

Prerequisite packages for sfrotz (OpenBSD nomenclature):
  * sdl2		(2.0.9 or higher)
  * sdl2-mixer		(2.0.4 or higher)
  * freetype		(2.6.x or higher)
  * png			(1.6.x or higher)
  * jpeg		(1.5.x or higher)
  * zlib		(1.2.x or higher)

Earlier versions of these libraries might work, but are untested.


=======================
Editing the Makefile ||
=======================

You should take a look at the Makefile.  Read the comments.  It's pretty 
self-explanatory.  This is where you define your compiler, where Frotz 
will be installed, what libraries you're using, if you want sound 
support, and so on.

If this is too much for you, try using your operating systems's 
packaging scheme (or Homebrew https://brew.sh/ for macOS) to install
Frotz for you.  If the latest version of Frotz isn't there, ask the
package maintainer to update it.


=================================
Compiling and installing Frotz ||
=================================

After checking over and editing the Makefile, type "make" and Frotz will 
be compiled.  If this doesn't work, chances are you have an older flavor 
of Unix.  Check the second section of the Makefile.  That's where you'll 
find options for older flavors of Unix.  Are you using plain old curses 
or ncurses.  On modern systems, the regular curses library is actually 
ncurses except for NetBSD.  For older systems, this isn't always true.
Figure out where the necessary header files and libraries live and edit
the Makefile accordingly.

Once the compile is complete, make sure you have the correct permissions 
to write where you want Frotz installed, then type "make install".  To 
uninstall Frotz, type "make uninstall".

If you don't have permission to install Frotz, you can just put the
resulting executable somewhere like $HOME/bin and add that directory to
your $PATH.

For compiling, installing, and uninstalling Frotz using the dumb or SDL 
interfaces, type "make dumb" or "make sdl".  You will get an executable 
file named "dfrotz" for Dumb Frotz and "sfrotz" for SDL Frotz. To 
install these, type "make install_dumb" or "make install_sdl".  To 
uninstall these, type "make uninstall_dumb" or "make uninstall_sdl".  
Substituting "dfrotz" for "dumb" and "sfrotz" for "sdl" will also work.

For compiling, installing, and uninstalling dumb frotz, use "make dumb",
"make install_dumb", and "make uninstall_dumb".  The process is exactly 
the same as above except you won't be depending on any external 
libraries; not even curses.

To build dfrotz, frotz, and sfrotz; you can type "make all" and then
"make install_all" to install them all.


=====================================
Apple-specific installation issues ||
=====================================

To start with, you need to make sure development tools are installed.
Apple provides the "Xcode" package from the Mac App Store.

As of 2022, the version of ncurses that Apple puts in macOS predates
6.0, which was released in 2015.  Among other things, this version lacks
support for italic text.  If you want Frotz to be able to produce italic
text, you should install the latest version of ncurses, preferably
through Homebrew (https://brew.sh/).

Start with installing its support scripts by typing this command in a
terminal window:

    /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

This will download and install Homebrew's support software.

Then install ncurses like this:

    brew install ncurses

Now Frotz should compile just fine with this command:

    make nosound

This tells the build process to not bother with sound support.

For sound support, some additional libraries are needed: libao,
libmodplug, libsamplerate, libsndfile, and libvorbis.  Install these
like this:

    brew install libao libmodplug libsamplerate libsndfile libvorbis

Now Frotz should compile just fine with this command:

    make

If you want graphics support through SDL, you'll need some more
libraries, which may or may not already be present on your Mac.  To
install them from Homebrew, do this:

    brew install sdl2 sdl2-mixer freetype libpng jpeg zlib

Now Frotz you should get SDL Frotz using the command:

    make sdl

If you insist on using Apple's own install of ncurses, you can
pass CURSES_CONFIG and ITALIC arguments like this.

    make CURSES_CONFIG=ncurses5.4-config ITALIC= nosound

This is because the built-in ncurses doesn't support italic
text, even though its reported version suggests it does.


========================================
Installing and playing games on Frotz ||
========================================

If you've unfamiliar with Infocom-style text adventures, you should
probably stop here and read the file HOW_TO_PLAY.  Then come back and
continue.

Now that you have Frotz installed, you'll probably want to play some of
those ultra-nifty text adventures on it.  These games come in files
which are compiled programs that run on the Z-machine, which
interpreters like Frotz emulate.  The best-stocked archive of freeware
games for use on Z-machine interpreters is the Interactive Fiction
Archive at http://www.ifarchive.org.  There are several mirrors of the
archive all over the world listed there.

Here are direct URLs to the zcode directories:

http://ifarchive.org/indexes/if-archive/games/zcode/
ftp://ftp.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode


Here is the scheme I use for organizing my Zcode games:

/usr/local/share/zcode			This contains games written after the
					demise of Infocom.  Most are freeware.

/home/dave/.zcode			I sometimes put games here too.

/usr/local/share/zcode/infocom		This is where I keep my collection of
					genuine Infocom games.

/usr/local/share/zcode/infocom/sound	Soundfiles from "Lurking Horror"
					and "Sherlock" go here.

/usr/local/share/zcode/infocom/graphics	Graphics files from Zork 0,
					Arthur, Shogun, and Journey go here.

I add this command to my .profile file:
export ZCODE_PATH="/usr/local/share/zcode: \
	/usr/local/share/zcode/infocom:$HOME/.zcode

Now, when I want to play Zork I, I will type "frotz zork1.dat" at the
command prompt.  Then I will then be told I am standing in an open field
west of a white house which has a boarded front door.

You can also just give a path to the game file.

When you save your game, all save files are put in the current directory
unless you specify a full path.  Please name your saves intelligently.

If a game uses sound or graphics, they will be packaged into a Blorb
file.  This file may or may not also contain a zcode game file.  Blorb
files containing the game file are supposed to follow the name pattern
of "game.zblorb" or "game.zbl".  For a Blorb file that does not contain
a game file at all, the usual pattern is "game.blorb" or "game.blb". If
you tell Frotz to load a .zblorb file, it will look for and load a zcode
file within and then load whatever other resources it needs from that
Blorb file.  If the Blorb file is separate from the zcode file, then
Frotz takes a few extra steps to load.  Suppose we have "game.z5". Frotz
will look in the same directory as the zcode file for "game.blb" or
"game.blorb".  If such a file is found, great.  If not, Frotz will
continue on without.  For graphical games, not loading graphics can
cause the game to be unplayable.

You'll probably want to make use of Frotz's new config file functionality.
The options in the config file mirror the command line options and free
you from having to remember to add something like "-Z0" to get rid of
complaints about buggy zcode or if you want to always play with white text
on black at a Linux console (instead of white on blue).  Sample config
files are included here as "frotz.conf-big" (which lists all possible
options) and "frotz.conf-small" (a shortened one listing the more
commonly-used options).  The Makefile defines where Frotz will look for
the frotz.conf file.  By default, this is /usr/local/etc and can be
changed at compile time if you like.  This file will be read if Frotz
notices you don't have a config file of your own in "$HOME/.frotzrc".


===========================
Platform-specific issues ||
===========================

Unicode character support:
Currently, only libncursesw is known to fully provide Unicode support by
way of UTF-8 character encoding.  At the moment, it's not clear if BSD
curses does the job all the way.

Linux:  No apparent problems.

[Net|Open|Free]BSD:  If you have NetBSD 1.6.x or later, you can use the
supplied BSD curses.  Otherwise you must have ncurses.

Digital UNIX:  No apparent problems.  Sound is probably not available.

Tru64 Unix:  Rebadged Digital Unix.  Sound is probably not available.

Irix:  The vendor-supplied curses library is broken as well as all
versions of ncurses supplied on SGI's freeware CDs and in SGI's freeware
archive.  You MUST compile and install at least ncurses 5.0 from source.
Versions of ncurses older than 5.0 are also broken on Irix.

macOS 10 and later: Install the "Xcode" package from the Mac App Store.
The supplied version of ncurses predates 6.0, so italics will not be
supported.  See "Apple-specific installation issues" above.

Solaris:  Some versions of curses on Solaris have trouble with color
support.  At least the one in Solaris 2.6 works okay.  If compiled with
the -02 option on an UltraSPARC using gcc 2.8.1, you may get lots of weird
segfaults. The problem seems UltraSPARC related and it's not clear if this
problem crosses flavor boundaries (ie, if UltraLinux or NetBSD on
UltraSparc have this problem too).  Because version 2.8.x of gcc had lots
of strange problems, gcc might be to blame.  I don't have sufficient
access to test this theory, so if you're able to enlighten me on this,
please do so.

SunOS:  Uncomment the "MEMMOVE_DEF..." line in the Makefile before 
compiling.  Since I don't have access to a SunOS machine, Frotz on SunOS 
is untested.

Other flavors of Unix:  Getting Unix Frotz to compile and run seems to
focus mostly on making sure make(1) can find the proper curses library.
It's probably a good idea to install ncurses anyway.

Now go on and have fun!
