Re: Inform Installation Question


Thu, 10 Aug 1995 13:04:09 -0400

"Andrew C. Plotkin" <erkyrath+@CMU.EDU> writes:
> I hereby call upon the forces of the Net to invent an architecture by
> which a machine-independent game and machine-indepedent graphics (and
> sound, animation, music, etc) can be packaged into a single flat file.
> Inform is my personal prejudice, but if TADS, HUGO, or some other
> system pulled it off, I'd still be happy.

Ok, I got bored last night, and turned into the Forces of the Net.

See the file "PICKLE", currently in /incoming/if-archive on gmd.de.

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

PICKLE specification version 1 (DRAFT)
("Platform-Independent Composite Kumquat Lickable Format")

Written by Andrew Plotkin, 8/9/95

PICKLE is a way to encapsulate many resources of different types into
a single
file, which can easily be transferred between systems. The
archetypical use is
an enhanced text adventure, containing a program (in a
platform-independent
format such as Z-code) and a set of graphics and sound resources (in
platform-
independent formats such as GIF and AIFF.)

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

It's very simple (most of the file describes the semantics, rather
than the syntax, and it's only 10K.) I don't expect anyone to run out
and stick PICKLE support into their interpreters, but I think it'll be
valuable if (for example) ZIP ever supports V6. From what I
understand, it could be useful for HUGO as well.

--Z

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."