All,
My apologies if this is an “inappropriate” request - I don’t think it is, but I leave that to the moderators to determine.
The basic nature of my request is whether the original Infocom-authored DOS interpreters for the five Solid Gold releases (HHGG, LGOP, Planetfall, Wishbringer, and Zork I) are available.
Yes, I’m very much aware of Frotz and the many similar and derivative interpreters (and the quasi-ability to hack one interpreter to work for another ZIP), but for this specific application, using the original DOS-based interpreters for each game is strongly preferred.
The real challenge is finding the things. The one for HHGG came with LTOI I, which was nice - but from everything I’ve read in my research, none of the others were ever released as part of a collection outside of one Virgin Mastertronic CD, which is long since out of print and effectively impossible to obtain.
I own all of the (original 35, at least) games many times over - gray box, a few folios, LTOI I and II, Masterpieces, and the genre-specific CDs - for DOS, C64 and Amiga. I’ve obviously got all of the datafiles (in fact, I did some work correcting some bugs in the ifarchive patch software, in case my pedigree is doubted - it’s right there in the source code . This, to the best of my knowledge, isn’t a “piracy” request as much as it is a “where in the world did these things go?” request (having a full collection of every original interpreter as released for every platform might seem silly to some, particularly with the glut of very good third-party interpreters, but historical preservation is important!).
I’m more than happy to be pointed in any direction that would lead to the SG DOS interpreters. =) If you prefer, feel free to use the ifarchive patch tool and make me “de-patch” from an existing (non-SG) Infocom DOS interpreter for legality purposes. Ideally, I’d like all the files that were included (minus the DAT/ZIP, of course, which I do consider intellectually “iffy” and already have anyway), including the batch file, EXE, and any other supplemental files as shipped directly from Infocom.
If you actually have the Virgin Mastertronic release (was it UK/Europe only, for those of us trapped in the States? , I am particularly interested in hearing from you if you are so inclined. =)
Thanks very much for any assistance that may be offered, and my sincerest apologies if this request is ‘out of line’ (though again, for preservation purposes, I certainly hope not!).
Warmest regards in text gaming forever,
Rodney