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               game.bat c:\sbbs\node%# 
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         PCBoard    PCBOARD.SYS
Place Drop File In         Node Directory
Time Options               Set as needed for your BBS

C:\sbbs\xtrn\frotz
DOORWAY COM1F /S:%1 /G:ON /H /V:D /D /B:MSZ /FC /P:frotz.exe -b0 -u0 game.z8

NOTE:
In this example, the batch file needs to be named game.bat.

Doorway must be in the Frotz folder. Frotz will only run .z5 and .z8 interactive fiction games on the BBS.

In the batch file, you're setting up Doorway to redirect to COM1F. /S: tells Doorway where to look for .SYS file. %1 is the Node that you are passing from the command line to the batch file. /G:ON Turns on graphics. /H Halts Shells To DOS. /V:D passes the Video Mode. This mode must be Direct. /D Disables disk writes. There is no saving. /B:MSZ Handles the last line of text at the bottom or the screen properly. /FC Force carrier for Null Modems. /P is the program that you are going to run.

When you run Frotz you are passing -b0 so the background is black, the text will be white. -u0 will turn off undo, giving you more memory. You do not have to do this will all games. 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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