Frotz is a 16-bit MS-DOS interpreter for interactive fiction games. The code is maintained by David Griffith. The current version is 2.54 and can be found at the If-Archive.

To get Frotz to work on a BBS, you'll need Doorway. The current version is 2.32. Doorway will redirect the output from Frotz to the terminal, allowing games to be played easily. Doorway is still sold by PC Micro.

NOTE:
Synchronet's CIOXTRN is a free/open source alternative to Doorway.

Name                       Frotz
Internal Code              Frotz
Start-up Directory         ../xtrn/frotz
Command Line               DOORWAY COM1F /S:%f /V:D /P:frotz.exe -b0 -h23 game.z8 
Clean-up Command Line
Execution Cost             None
Access Requirements
Execution Requirements
Multiple Concurrent Users  No
I/O Method                 FOSSIL
Native (32-bit) Executable No
Use Shell to Execute       No
Modify User Data           No
Execute on Event           No
Pause After Execution      No
BBS Drop File Type         GAP    DOOR.SYS
Place Drop File In         Node Directory
Time Options               Set as needed for your BBS

Doorway must be in the Frotz folder. Frotz will only run .z5 and .z8 interactive fiction games on the BBS. On the command line, you're setting up Doorway to redirect to COM1F and then pass three values. /S tells Doorway where to look for .SYS file. /V passes the Video Mode. This mode must be Direct. /P is the program it's going to run. When you run Frotz you are passing -b0 so the background is black, the text will be white. -h23 sets the screen height to 23. This prevents draw errors on the 24 row screen. The last value is the game you're going to run.

NOTE:
You can also add -x on the command line for old Infocom games so the abbreviations work for x/g/z. Examine/Again/Wait

DOORWAY can still be registered at pcmicro.com. You can use it for 30 days to try it out, but the program will only run for 10 minutes.

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