Description
Interactive Fiction at Your Fingertips
[*Warning* Playing Frotz involves reading, thinking, and typing. If you just want to blow stuff up, this is not the app for you.]
Burned out on all the new-fangled graphics and dazzling eye candy on your shiny new iPhone or iPod Touch?
Nostalgic for a simpler time?
Then take advantage of those crisp high-resolution fonts to relive the glory days of the Great Underground Empire, or play any of hundreds of great works from the Interactive Fiction archive.
Frotz lets you play free works of Interactive Fiction (a.k.a. text adventure games) on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Frotz plays titles written in the Z-Machine format. This format was invented by Infocom and was used to produce classic text adventures from the 80s such as the Zork Trilogy, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Trinity.
In the past decade, text adventures have experienced a renaissance due to the efforts of a diverse Internet community of talented interactive fiction writers and fans. Many of these games are written using the same engine that powered Infocom's titles, thanks to the Inform compiler and authoring system created by Graham Nelson.
What's New in Version 1.3
Frotz now comes with a huge collection of titles, the 255 top-rated works as scored by reviewers on the Internet Interactive Fiction Database at ifdb.tads.org. To avoid being overwhelming, a selection of 25 is available in Frotz's Story List initially. To enable more, you can use the built-in IFDB browser to read descriptions and reviews of other titles. Tapping on a file link will extract the story from Frotz's bundled collection and install it into the Story List.
Note that Frotz 1.3 can no longer install new games directly from the Internet as it against App Store policy to download interpreted content, but I plan to release new versions frequently with updated IFDB snapshots. You CAN still transfer new games (including Infocom titles if you have them) to Frotz over a local network from your computer using the built-in FTP server. You can also transfer saved games, and any previously installed titles will still be available after upgrade.
Other new features include:
- Preferences for story font size!
- Tap command prompt to bring up input helper menu
- Double-tap command prompt for command line history menu
- Tap and hold on game status line to magnify for readability
- Bug fixes in color and FTP transfer support
- Improved OS 3.0 compatibility
Please note that you can only change the font size of the main story font, not the status line. Because many games require a minimum number of columns, using a large font would require scrolling left and right, which turns out to be very cumbersome. Instead, you can now tap anywhere on the status line to magnify it if you have trouble reading it.
Customer Reviews
OMG - This app is incredible
I saw this and immediately downloaded it. I only played it a little, yet I can already tell that it is going to be one of my most used apps. The interface is terrific, and the selection of games is huge. This makes the replay value better than any other game currently on the iPhone. I really like the built in web browser, which makes it possible to get more games. I only have two minor complaints, which is why I only gave this app 4 stars. The first is that there is currently no way to get rid of games once they have been added to the library. Right now, if I add something and don't like it, I am stuck with it. Second, there is no search function, and no way of jumping to a current game. My library is managable right now, yet I can easily see it becoming difficult to navigate once I have added more to it. These complaints are minor though, and as this is just a 1.0, release, I am sure they will be addressed. Overall, an amazing app.
Old school gaming
Yes! An excellent app to relive some of the older games. It's a nice break from all the "bang ban, shoot em up" type of games that have been coming out recently.
Released slightly too early...
I, along with most of the other reviewers, am very happy to have an interpreter like this now available on the iPhone. I am giving it four stars only because I feel it was released a touch too early before all the bugs were worked out.
My complaints mirror those of the others listed here. The inability to delete stories and free up little bits of space on your iPhone seems to be a pretty big oversight (or bug). Also, it is a bit slow, at times. And this can be grueling.
I also wish there were an easier way to bring in other Z-Files other than File Magnet.
Another few weeks of programming tweaks and it would have been perfect. In any case, I look forward to a new version soon. Can't wait to fire up Leather Goddesses of Phobos. And if you don't know what that is, go find out.
- Category: Games
- Updated Sep 19, 2009
- Current Version: 1.3
- 1.3 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested)
- 39.0 MB
- Languages: English
- Seller: Craig Smith
- © 2008 Craig Smith
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch. Requires iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later.
