Curses
From IFWiki
| Curses | |
|---|---|
| Game | |
| Main links | |
| Published | 1993 |
| Credits | |
| Author | Graham Nelson |
| Reception | |
| IFDB rating | 4 out of 5 (133 ratings) |
| Gameplay | |
| Interaction style |  Parser |
| Literary genres |  Adventure  Fantasy |
| Locations |  Crazy quilt  Home |
| Language | English |
| Cruelty scale | Cruel |
| IFDB play time | 11 hours 40 minutes |
| Accessibility | Colour: none. Graphics: none. Sound: none. |
| Technical details | |
| Authoring systems | Inform 1, Inform 2, Inform 3, Inform 4, Inform 5 |
| Format | Z-code 5 |
| License | Freeware |
| IFID | ZCODE-7-930428-0000, ZCODE-8-930603-0000, ZCODE-9-931111-914E, ZCODE-10-940120-BD9E, ZCODE-12-940604-6035, ZCODE-14-950522-9E5C, ZCODE-16-951024-4DE6 |
| Browse the games database • Edit this page | |
How it begins
While your family downstairs is preparing for a holiday trip to Paris, you are in your attic searching for that old tourist map that ought to be here somewhere. Let's face it - exploring your ancestral home sounds like a lot more fun than going to France.
Versions
Release 7
Date: 1993
- Release 7 / Serial number 930428 (Compiled by Inform v549)
- IFID: ZCODE-7-930428-0000
IFID links: IFDB - First public release. ("Release 7 is the earliest version to be posted to the interactive-fiction archive.")
- Announced May 9, 1993, alongside original release of Inform.
- Download curses-r7.z3 from the IF Archive.
Release 8
Date: Date unknown
- Release 8 / Serial number 930603 (Compiled by Inform v634)
- IFID: ZCODE-8-930603-0000
IFID links: IFDB - Released alongside Inform 2.
- "Release 8 is the second edition posted to the interactive-fiction archive. (Thirty-nine minor improvements have been made on release 7.)"
- "much enhanced, slightly larger"
- Download curses-r8.z3 from the IF Archive.
Release 9
Date: Date unknown
- Release 9 / Serial number 931111 (Compiled by Inform v784)
- IFID: ZCODE-9-931111-914E
IFID links: IFDB - Released alongside Inform 3.
- "Release 9 is the third public release of "Curses". [...] sixty-one more [minor improvements], together with several new areas, puzzles and alternate solutions, have been added"
- "extended by about 20%"
- Download curses-r9.z3 from the IF Archive.
Release 10
Date: Date unknown
- Release 10 / Serial number 940120 (Compiled by Inform v1171)
- IFID: ZCODE-10-940120-BD9E
IFID links: IFDB - Released alongside Inform 4.
- "Release 10 is the fourth public release of "Curses". [...] forty-four loose ends have been tied"
- Download curses-r10.z3 from the IF Archive.
Release 12
Date: August 1994
- Release 12 for Acorn User / Serial number 940604
Compiled by Inform v1258 - IFID: ZCODE-12-940604-6035
IFID links: IFDB - Released alongside Inform 5.
- "Release 12 is the fifth public release of "Curses", and the first "Advanced story file" [z5] version."
- "Release 12 is a major extension, adding many new regions, puzzles and features to tax beginners and experts alike."
- "This edition comes to you from the August 1994 edition of Acorn User magazine."
- Download curses-r12.z5 from the IF Archive.
Release 14
Date: Date unknown
- Release 14 / Serial number 950522 / Inform v1501 Library 5/10
Library serial number 950505 - IFID: ZCODE-14-950522-9E5C
IFID links: IFDB - "Release 14 is the sixth public release of "Curses"."
- "For this release the entire source code has been "digitally remastered", so to speak: rewritten and tidied up into Inform 5 code which properly uses the Library. There are a few hundred minor improvements, but no new puzzles (though some of the old puzzles have new, alternative solutions)."
- Download curses-r14.z5 from the IF Archive.
Release 16
Date: Date unknown
- Release 16 / Serial number 951024 / Inform v1600 Library 5/12
Library serial number 951024 - IFID: ZCODE-16-951024-4DE6
IFID links: IFDB - The last release. "Release 16 is the eighth public release of "Curses"."
- "Release 16 fixes a few minor bugs and one major one (which made the gothic key invisible). Nothing within it is new."
- Download curses.z5 from the IF Archive.
- Release notes: Download curses_rel16.txt from the IF Archive.
Reconstructions and enhancements
Date: 2021 (uncertain)
The original source code is believed lost. Some efforts have been made to reverse-engineer new source code from the binaries, and some derivative versions have been made from these.
- Decompilation and reconstruction by Allen Garvin, on GitHub (c. 2021). Includes a bug list.
- Possible genesis of this project (30-Apr-2021).
- The compiled version in release-16-recreation/ calls itself Release 17 / Serial number 210531.
- The Status Line interpreter is accompanied by an adapted build of Curses built from this source (source code).
- By Henrik Åsman, building on that work, and fixing bugs; on GitHub.
- The compiled versions call themselves "Release 18".
Links
N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.
General info
- Curses (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
- Curses - at IFDB.
- Curses (portal) - 1993's work at 50 Years of Text Games.
- New Tricks for an Old Z-Machine, Part 2: Hacking Deeper (or, Follies of Graham Nelson’s Youth), a reminiscence from Graham Nelson published by The Digital Antiquarian, 8 Nov 2019; covers the origins of Curses.
Reviews
- Curses - at SPAG.
- Curses (potential archive link) - at IF Ratings.
Spoilers
Date: 1993
Date: Date unknown
Date: Date unknown
Date: Date unknown
Date: August 1994
Date: Date unknown
Date: Date unknown
Date: 2021 (uncertain)