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Gnusto 0.5.0 Release Notes

The purpose of this document is to provide testers and end-users with the information they need to install and use the latest version of Gnusto. It also provides a quick summary of new features, bugfixes, and known issues. We'll do our best to update this document based on any feedback we may receive, so please report any errors or omissions to gnusto@mozdev.org. Please report any bugs you may find in bugzilla. Checking for duplicates before submitting a bug report is appreciated.

What's New in Gnusto 0.5.0?

Gnusto 0.5.0 features many bugfixes and enhancements over 0.4.0 and should be usable to play most Version-5 Z-Code games correctly. Here are the highlights:

• Gnusto is now capable of loading native, unmangled Version 5 Z-code. Mozilla versions prior to 1.4Alpha will load the games very slowly, however.
• Gnusto now works under Firebird. It even has a spiffy button you can add to the toolbar (View->Toolbars->Customize).
• The screen handler has been heavily rewritten. This allows the following:
  • Dynamic resizing of the game screen.
  • User text-entry into the main game screen (instead of the text-entry bar as in previous versions).
  • General coolness.
• Gnusto now supports all V5 opcodes. We haven't yet found (or constructed) test cases for a few of the more obscure opcodes, so they may be buggy. Please report in-game difficulties to us so we can find good test cases.
• Gnusto is now speedier.
• The installer has been improved (and includes proper skin registration).
• Handling for text-paging ([More]) has been greatly improved.
• Custom Alphabet Tables and Custom Unicode Translation Tables are now supported. Thus, many non-English games now look correct.
• The Error Window is friendlier and supports copy & paste.
• 52 bugfixes and enhancements that were documented in Bugzilla (and many others that weren't but should have been but weren't).

Because 0.5 is such a big leap forward from previous versions, we'd appreciate as much help testing and troubleshooting as we can get. We're planning on a 0.5.1 bugfix release for late August 2003 so people will have a stable and usable product available while we're making the more time consuming changes to build 0.6. Joining up with the listserv would be helpful if you're planning on testing heavily. For more dynamic interaction, participate or lurk at the LJ Gnusto Community.

Known Issues

Gnusto is a work in progress and many known issues remain. If Gnusto is giving you trouble, it's a good idea to consult this list. If the issue is not on the list, please check bugzilla. If it's not in bugzilla, please file a bug and we really will see what we can do to help.

• Z-code files of versions other than 5 are not yet supported. Most non-commercial games are Version 5, but many of the early Infocom games were not. Nearly all of these games were, however, re-released as Version 5 games at some point (the Solid Gold re-releases, for example).
• Mozilla builds prior to 1.4Alpha load z-code files very slowly. This is probably also true of pre-0.6 Phoenix/FB releases.
• Now that Gnusto supports proper z-code, it no longer supports the mangled z-code format.
• Copies of Mozilla / Firebird using older profiles may have installation issues. The problem will manifest itself in one of two ways: the Gnusto screen will be some color other than white, with no text coloring or formatting or (in Firebird only) the gnusto icon will be invisible (but labeled) in the Customize Toolbar palette. The former issue can be resolved by running the installer a second time. Both issues can be resolved by building a new profile (run Moz/FB with -p at the command line, create a new profile, optionally import bookmarks from old profile, reinstall extensions, etc).
• Colossal Cave and Balances expose a bug in Gnusto that causes some dictionary words to be displayed incorrectly (usually as random text from elsewhere in the game).
• In some games, boxes in the upper window may obscure text from the lower window in unintended ways.
• The status bar may appear incorrectly in some older Infocom games (Leather Goddesses of Phobos: Solid Gold Edition, for example).

Compatibility Info

Currently Gnusto only supports Version-5 Z-code files. Support for Versions 1-4 and 7-8 are slated for release in Gnusto 0.6.0. Some games may have small cosmetic or usability problems, but most are fully playable. Known Exceptions are Colossal Cave and Balances which have flaws serious enough to impact gameplay. Some of the "abuse" z-machine games like Space Invaders and Nethack cause Gnusto to lock up.

Version History

• Gnusto 0.4.0 (18 April 2003): Improved screen-handler, color-handling, boxes. Support for more opcodes, BAF's Guide interface.
• Gnusto 0.3.0 (23 March 2003): Added support for Mozilla 1.3, improved error handling.
• Gnusto 0.2.0 (04 March 2003): Allowed the loading of arbitrary (mangled) z-code files.
• Gnusto 0.1.0 (04 February 2003): Hardcoded to run an embedded, mangled copy of "Troll's Eye View".
• Blorple 0.0.2 (23 December 2002): Proof of concept demo.
• Blorple 0.0.1: Proof of concept demo.

Installation Notes

Click on the install link on the installation page, then restart the browser once the installation is complete. "Interactive Fiction" will now show up in the Tool menu and will invoke Gnusto when selected. If the installation appears to have problems (improper colors, unformatted text) run the installer again (and see Known Issues for details).

If you're feeling brave (or are just impatient to get the latest bugfix), you can always pull the latest source from CVS. Due to the fact that the installer registers the skin and so forth, just pulling the source from CVS and copying over the proper directories won't work. If you haven't installed the latest milestone, install that first. Then delete the existing gnusto directory under Mozilla\chrome (or MozillaFirebird\chrome) and replace it with a copy of the gnusto subdirectory from gnusto\src. Restart the browser and you're hopefully good to go. It's worth noting, however, that pulling the latest source from CVS can easily land you with a non-working copy of Gnusto. Try at your own risk.

Uninstalling

Sorry, but once again there is no automated way to uninstall Gnusto. We're aware that manual uninstallation is a pain. Unfortunately, while the Moz API publishes uninstall functions, they're just stubs-- they don't work. So, it's difficult and hackish to cobble together an uninstall. That's why the majority of extensions don't offer automated uninstalls. We may give up and do it anyway for the next release (we had a preliminary uninstaller for 0.5.0 that worked before we added Firebird support), but in the mean time we're going to lobby for the Moz team to implement the uninstall API. Please vote for the corresponding bug in bugzilla. In the mean-time, there is a manual workaround. Proceed at your own risk, though-- a new profile is the safest bet. Close Mozilla or FB completely. Delete any line with the word "gnusto" in it from chrome\installed-chrome.txt. Now delete the following files (Moz will rebuild them when it restarts):

• chrome/chrome.rdf
• chrome/overlayinfo/browser/content/overlays.rdf
• chrome/overlayinfo/browser/skin/stylesheets.rdf
• chrome/overlayinfo/communicator/content/overlays.rdf
• chrome/overlayinfo/global/skin/stylesheets.rdf
• and the chrome/gnusto directory

Restart the browser and Gnusto should be gone.

Last Updated: 20 July 2003