Downloading Freeware Interactive Fiction Games

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Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

I've heard that, when a person puts a copyrighted Interactive Fiction
game on the Internet for free download, the person often removes code
from the program. Is this true?

 

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briansipler@yahoo.com wrote:
> I've heard that, when a person puts a copyrighted Interactive Fiction
> game on the Internet for free download, the person often removes code
> from the program. Is this true?

I've heard that there are some versions of Infocom games on the webs
which have a bit of the bytecode changed to remove the 'registration
check' questions that normally required looking something up in the
manual, but other than that I'd say no.

BTW, those aren't freeware games just because someone puts them up for
free download. ;-)

Michael

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Here, briansipler@yahoo.com <briansipler@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I've heard that, when a person puts a copyrighted Interactive Fiction
> game on the Internet for free download, the person often removes code
> from the program. Is this true?

No.

--Z

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
I'm still thinking about what to put in this space.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Michael, I downloaded Infocom's A Mind Forever Voyaging for free from
the Internet, and you're supposed to go to the Moon Colony in the
Epilogue, but the game ends before you get to the Moon Colony. Do you
think there's code missing from the version I downloaded?

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

briansipler@yahoo.com wrote:
> Michael, I downloaded Infocom's A Mind Forever Voyaging for free from
> the Internet, and you're supposed to go to the Moon Colony in the
> Epilogue, but the game ends before you get to the Moon Colony. Do you
> think there's code missing from the version I downloaded?

I haven't gotten to AMFV yet, so I'm not sure about whether you actually
go to a Moon Colony in it.

Try the $VERIFY command; it'll compare a hash of the game file to a
checksum in the header, which should tell you with reasonable certainty
whether or not the game file is intact (unless whoever provided it
deliberately messed with the verify command).

If $verify tells you that the file is good, you can also look up the
Release # and Serial # with the VERSION command. You can then verify
that this is an actual release of the game by checking the Infocom
version list at http://www.speakeasy.org/~russotto/zplet/ivl.html .
For AMFV, you should see one of the following if your version is legit:
Release: 77 Serial: 850814
Release: 79 Serial: 851122

Michael