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Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 7:30 am
by auraes
There are some typos in your reference guide for The Quill: System Messages.
24: I can't[]My hands are full.
29: I'm already w[era]ring it.

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:50 am
by auraes
The Quill Editor accepts the following entries:

Code: Select all

Verb Noun combination: (each word must be in the dictionary)
word word
word _
_    _
_    word (the word is skipped!)
But I don't understand the point of the latter since the word is ignored. It's a pity because it would have been very useful.

I'm finishing a Z-code interpreter (inform6) for The Quill... There are still a few details to work out, and intensive tests to be done. Land of the giants, by Dorothy Millard, seems to be working fine.

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2020 12:26 pm
by Strident
auraes wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:50 am
The Quill Editor accepts the following entries:

Code: Select all

Verb Noun combination: (each word must be in the dictionary)
_    word (the word is skipped!)
But I don't understand the point of the latter since the word is ignored. It's a pity because it would have been very useful.
It's not really that useful in the Quill because there is no distinction or categorisation of verbs and nouns. A vocab word is just a word and can be placed in either position; so word _ is the same as _ word.

In the PAW, where nouns and verbs aren't interchangeable, it does serve a useful purpose.

In the Quill you use that sort of entry either as comments in the status table or as a way of more easily ensuring that the entries appear in a specific order.
I'm finishing a Z-code interpreter (inform6) for The Quill... There are still a few details to work out, and intensive tests to be done. Land of the giants, by Dorothy Millard, seems to be working fine.
What advantages over the existing unQuill to Z-code route would that give? Presumably, as the unQuill route actually produces quite an odd z-code file (which doesn't really work on 8-bit machines) your interpreter might give better results?

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:25 pm
by auraes
Strident wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 12:26 pm
A vocab word is just a word and can be placed in either position; so word _ is the same as _ word.
I would have preferred to say that _ word is equivalent to _ _, but it amounts to the same thing.
Strident wrote:
Sun Oct 04, 2020 12:26 pm
What advantages over the existing unQuill to Z-code route would that give? Presumably, as the unQuill route actually produces quite an odd z-code file (which doesn't really work on 8-bit machines) your interpreter might give better results?
I didn't quite understand what unQuill is trying to do in z-code.
The difference is that it's possible to easily fill the database, and make a game directly in inform 6. Take a look at the source code of the z-code adaptation of Land of the Giants on my GitLab.
By decompiling existing games with unQuill, and scripting to convert them to Inform 6, they could be played with Z-code interpreters.

Edit: https://micro-ifictions.com/parchment/? ... lotg.z5.js

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:36 am
by auraes
The action 'print flagno' for the BBC is missing in the list of your reference guide for The Quil & AdventurWriter - List of CondActs.

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 3:28 pm
by auraes
Here's a torch that seems to work:

Code: Select all

  NULL
   'light' 'torch'
   carried_ torch_off
   eq_ 0 255
   swap_ torch_off torch_on
   desc_

   NULL
   'light' 'torch'
   carried_ torch_off
   swap_ torch_off torch_on
   ok_

   NULL
   'unlight' 'torch'
   carried_ torch_on
   eq_ 0 255
   swap_ torch_on torch_off
   desc_

   NULL
   'unlight' 'torch'
   carried_ torch_on
   swap_ torch_on torch_off
   ok_

   NULL
   'get' 'torch'
   present_ torch_on
   get_ torch_on
   ok_

   NULL
   'get' 'torch'
   get_ torch_off
   ok_

   NULL
   'drop' 'torch'
   present_ torch_on
   drop_ torch_on
   ok_

   NULL
   'drop' 'torch'
   drop_ torch_off
   ok_

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 4:27 pm
by auraes
I'm trying to load UDG fonts into the Quill (ZX Spectrum), but I don't know how to do it.
The UDG's
This table, which is 168 bytes long, contains the User Defined Graphics The UDG's cannot be changed with the Editor but the address at which they start is given when The Quill is loaded. The UDG's can be changed by using BASIC to set up the required values at the correct address and then saving them to tape. The file of UDG's can subsequently be loaded into the database using the Load Database command .
I found this on the web, but the emulator refuses the LOAD ""CODE 64000"" line, and displays LOAD ""?CODE 64000.
10 CLEAR 63999
20 LOAD ""CODE 64000
30 POKE 23607,249
40 PRINT "Hello World"

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:36 pm
by Strident
If you're emulating a 48K Spectrum then you can't just type CODE, you need to enter it as a keyword... so CAPS SHIFT then SYMBOL SHIFT (to get into extended mode... which accesses the green keywords) and then press I

(You may wish to bring up an onscreen Spectrum keyboard if that's an option in your emulator; rather than have to work out what keys CAPS SHIFT and SYMBOL SHIFT are mapped to on your PC keyboard)

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 7:35 am
by auraes
Thank you, the example works. My French keyboard is mapped differently, and it's just a nightmare to find the right combination of keys.
I guess I have to load the characters at the address 27356 proposed by the Quill, but I only get a blob of pixels on the screen. I'll try to find a solution...

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:19 am
by Strident
IIRC, you use the load database command in the Quill editor to load in the UDGs. You just need to make sure you've saved them correctly at the address the Quill program tells you on startup.

So much easier in the PAW... which combined all the various Quill extensions and facilities into one package. Even as a Spectrum user back in the day, I would find it quite difficult to go back and produce a Quilled adventure now if I wanted to do things like compress the database, add a custom font etc... It's amazing how you forget things that were once routine.

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2020 9:08 am
by auraes
Strident wrote:
Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:19 am
you've saved them correctly
Not sure I understand how to do this, but I will try.
Strident wrote:
Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:19 am
So much easier in the PAW.
Yes, and InPaws is a marvel. I had no problem putting French characters in PAWs. I display them with Gimp, and convert them to InPaws format with a few lines of C language.
But The Quill seems to be present on more computers.

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:12 pm
by auraes
The Quill Reference Guide Version 1.0
I think there's a mistake in the example : LIGHT LAMP DROP 1 GET 1 MESSAGE SWAP 1 0 OK
The action "MESSAGE" is not needed : LIGHT LAMP DROP 1 GET 1 SWAP 1 0 OK

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:16 pm
by Strident
auraes wrote:
Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:12 pm
The Quill Reference Guide Version 1.0
I think there's a mistake in the example : LIGHT LAMP DROP 1 GET 1 MESSAGE SWAP 1 0 OK
The action "MESSAGE" is not needed : LIGHT LAMP DROP 1 GET 1 SWAP 1 0 OK
Yeah, that shouldn't be there. I'll change it the next time I add enough to do a new version.

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:24 pm
by auraes
Strident wrote:
Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:16 pm
Yeah, that shouldn't be there. I'll change it the next time I add enough to do a new version.
You can also correct "auras for corrections" by "auraes for corrections ", but you can put my real name or nothing at all.

Re: Gilsoft PAW/Quill

Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 6:28 pm
by auraes
Are you interested in French articles about The Quill from old magazines?