gnusto 
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| reference: | Roadmap Error messages Code overview Debugger (prototype only) Playthroughs |
Gnusto 0.7 Release Notes
How do I install it?Where can I get games to play in it?
What's new in the latest version?
What are the known issues?
How compatible is it?
What are the previous versions?
How do I uninstall it?
How do I install Gnusto 0.7?
Note: Gnusto 0.7 only works in Firefox 0.9 or later.
If you have an earlier version of Gnusto installed, please uninstall it before installing Gnusto 0.7 (see Uninstallation Instructions below). As Gnusto 0.7 is the first official release to work under FireFox 0.9, this should only be an issue if you installed a recent test-build.
- To install Gnusto click here: Gnusto-0.7.xpi
Note: Recent versions of Firefox require you to add sites to a whitelist before you can install extensions from them. If you do not wish to add mozdev.org to your whitelist, a quick workaround is to right-click on the link to the extension, choose "Save Link As..." and save it to your local machine. Then point the browser at the file and it will install ("file://c:/downloads/gnusto-0.7.xpi", for example, if you saved to "C:\downloads\").
If you wish to add mozdev.org to your installation whitelist, do the following:
- Select Tools->Options from the Firefox menu bar
- Choose "Web Features" from the pane on the left
- Put a tick in the box next to "Allow web sites to install software"
- Click the "Allowed Sites" button to the right of this tickbox
- Type mozdev.org into the "Address of web site" box and click the "Allow" button
- Click OK on the "Allowed Sites" window and then again in the "Options" window
- You should now be configured to install software from mozdev.org
Where can I get games to play in Gnusto 0.7?
All of Infocom's text adventure games are in the z-machine format and nearly all of their non-graphical games are playable in Gnusto. Also, an increasingly large base of independently written games has come out of the yearly Interactive Fiction Competition. Many of them are excellent. Others are not-- reading reviews is a good idea.
Once Gnusto is installed and the browser restarted, you should be able to just click on the links to the games and they'll load in Gnusto. Alternately, of course, you can save the z-code files to disk and open them from within Gnusto (Tools->Gnusto). In order to get you started, here are links to a few games worth playing:
- The original Zork games were released for free by Activision to promote their newer Zork games. You can find them here.
- Metamorphoses: Very atmospheric game with clever puzzles and a good story. Review here.
- Jigsaw: Complex game that touches on many periods of history. Some very challenging puzzles. Review here.
- Photopia: Highly involving and well written, though more a genuine work of 'interactive fiction' than a 'game'-- very few puzzles and those are very simple. Review here.
- Spider And Web: Compelling spy story told almost entirely in flashbacks. Review here.
What's New in Gnusto 0.7?
Gnusto 0.7 features major improvements over 0.6. It should be usable to play and complete virtually all Version 3, 4, 5, 7, or 8 Z-Code games (see Known Issues for exceptions). Here are the highlights:
- Support for Z-code Versions 3 and 4 (bug
3619)
(this means that all non-graphical Infocom games are now supported in some form) - Support for reading and writing savegames in the Quetzal format (bug
3475)
(games can now be saved and restored, and the saved games can be shared with other compliant interpreters) - Auto-invocation of Gnusto when clicking links to z-code files in FireFox (bug
3504) (Try this link after you've installed to see an example) - Over 100 new features and bugfixes
What are the Known Issues with Gnusto 0.7?
Gnusto is a work in progress and some 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'll do our best to resolve the issue in a timely fashion.
- Gnusto 0.7 requires FireFox 0.9 or later. It doesn't work on older versions of Firefox/Firebird/Phoenix, nor will it work in Mozilla suite. We'd like to support a wider range of gecko-based browsers, but our shift to a component-based architecture makes recent Firefox builds the platform of choice. If and when Moz-Suite reaches feature-parity with Firefox in its support of components in extensions, we'll see what we can do about supporting it again.
- Beyond Zork locks up before getting into actual gameplay and also has serious layout issues. Full support for Beyond Zork is slated for Gnusto 1.0.
- In Phlegm and a few other games, disambiguation questions ("To whom do you wish to say "hello"?") don't correctly handle responses. Restating the command without ambiguity ("say "hello" to speaker") works fine.
- In Trinity, setting the sundial to different symbols ("set sundial to sixth symbol" or "set sundial to omega") is difficult due to an unresolved bug. A workaround is to say "turn sundial right" or "turn sundial left" repeatedly until it points to the desired symbol.
- The "registration form" screen in Bureaucracy has slight layout issues and the cursor is not visible. This can be frustrating because the game forces you fill in all the fields in a random order. (Yes, that's a feature of the game itself.) If you start typing, you'll see where you are and the form can be filled out successfully.
How Compatible is Gnusto 0.7?
Gnusto will play nearly all text adventures and works of interactive fiction compiled in the z-code format. This includes all of Infocom's text-only adventure games as well as a large and growing body of independently created works, many of which are available through Baf's Guide.
Gnusto does not yet support z-code version 6. This was a graphical version of the z-machine format designed by Infocom near the very end of its text-adventure-creation years. Support for z6 will require a great deal of work for a scant handful of games, so this feature has been pushed to Gnusto 1.1 on the roadmap.
Z-Code versions 1 and 2 are unsupported. This oughtn't be an issue as it is, in fact, absurdly difficult to locate z1 and z2 files. Also, all z1/z2 games have been rereleased compiled as z3s or z5s in vastly wider distributions. But if you do happen to have one of these older versions, patches to upgrade them to newer versions are available at the if-archive. Feel free to download the conversion utility and any patches you need.
Finally, some of the "abuse" z-machine games like Space Invaders and Nethack cause Gnusto to lock up. This probably has something to do with timed-reads, so the issue should be resolved in Gnusto 1.0.
What are the previous versions of Gnusto?
- Gnusto 0.6.0 (01 Sept 2003): Support for z-code v7-8, command history, installation to profile, uninstaller, many bugfixes.
- Gnusto 0.5.0 (26 July 2003): Ability to load unmangled z-code, Firebird support, support for all v5 opcodes, dynamic resizing.
- 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.
How do I uninstall Gnusto?
Versions of Gnusto more than one year old should be uninstalled according to their respective release notes. Recent versions of Gnusto should be uninstalled as follows:
- Select Tools->Extensions in the FireFox menu bar
- Select Gnusto from the list of extensions
- Click the Uninstall button located at the bottom of the Extension Manager
- Answer "Yes" to the confirmation prompt
- Close all browser windows and restart the browser
Last Updated: 5 October 2004