Figure in the cloak:

Correct.  It's speaks on it's on!  However, as I made mention in the
E-mail, go to Nextup and purchase the AT&T's Natural Voices; it will
coast about $40.00 and you can use that specific speech engine to work
with the WinFrotzTTS!  That is what I am using for my version!  It
sounds really good as well!  

Beto 

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Brandon Cole
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 1:44 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: audyssey: A Talking WinFrotz Interpreter for the blind!

The interpreter will read the text without all that mucking about with
the 
jaws cursor.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "FigureInTheCloak" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 3:41 AM
Subject: Re: audyssey: A Talking WinFrotz Interpreter for the blind!


> Uh, and the difference between that and Jaws reading text games woudl 
> be...?
> Sorry, confused.  Or will Jaws for some reason not read them?
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "matt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 3:14 AM
> Subject: Re: audyssey: A Talking WinFrotz Interpreter for the blind!
>
>
>> It is a program called win frotz. It is just the program that reads
text
>> games.
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "FigureInTheCloak" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[email protected]>
>> Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 2:08 AM
>> Subject: Re: audyssey: A Talking WinFrotz Interpreter for the blind!
>>
>>
>>> Um, what's a Frotz?
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "feliberto Escobar III" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>> To: <[email protected]>
>>> Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 6:59 PM
>>> Subject: audyssey: A Talking WinFrotz Interpreter for the blind!
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hello Everyone:
>>>>
>>>> My name is Beto (Bay toe) Escobar III, and I am, most likely, the 
>>>> newest
>>>> entry into this list serve.  Here's the deal, I've befriended a
>>>> programmer, which works for a very large computer company, and he,
>>>> through my pleading, decided to update one of the Windows Frotz
>>>> Interpreters to work specifically for the blind.  He included the
MS
>>>> speech engine in it so blind gamers, such as us, can now play all
of
>>>> those wonderful Infocom games on our Windows based PC!  Hurray!
>>>>
>>>> Now, I know, just as you do, the Microsoft SAPI 5 speech Engine
speech
>>>> quality is disgusting, but the company NextUP sells fantastic SAPI
5
>>>> speech Engines which work wonderfully with this updated WinFrotzTTS
>>>> Interpreter for the blind gamer!  I can say this because I am using
it
>>>> right now to play all of these games!
>>>>
>>>> Now, believe it or not, but W. Scott Dillman, found the original
Zork
>>>> game which was written at MIT by some of the charters members of
the
>>>> Infocom Corporation, and included it in the game zip file.  It
is-the
>>>> original Zork-and it is hard!  I've yet to win even though I've
made it
>>>> through Zork I, II, and III!  Look, just go and download the 
>>>> interpreter
>>>> first, then download all of the public domain text adventures,
**and**
>>>> if you still have, or can purchase any of the Infocom games, they
will
>>>> work wonderfully as well.
>>>>
>>>> I was fortunate to purchase all major releases of the Infocom games

>>>> e.g.
>>>> Lost Treasures of Infocom I, II, and Masterpieces of Infocom only a
>>>> couple of years ago, and they were all new!  If I found them, you
can
>>>> too.  Just read below, where the programmer, W. Scott Dillman,
wrote 
>>>> out
>>>> this little memo!  Have fun playing!
>>>>
>>>> You New Friend,
>>>> Beto Escobar III, LMSW
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> WinFrotzTTS2002 Interpreter
>>>> By W. Scott Dillman
>>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Welcome to the most updated version of the popular WinFrotz 
>>>> Interpreter.
>>>> This is an updated version of David Kinders great Inform
interpreter
>>>> 'WinFrotz 2002'.  The main goal of WinFrotzTTS2002 Interpreter was
to
>>>> design an interface that was easy to use for the visually impaired 
>>>> gamer
>>>> and to allow game play without the use of a screen reader by
leveraging
>>>> Microsoft's SAPI 5 speech Engine API. The application is freely
>>>> available on my website for download along with a module of over
300
>>>> games from the Interactive Fiction Archive. This last version took
a 
>>>> lot
>>>> of hard work and testing, and still needs some improvement in
areas.
>>>> WinFrotzTTS was developed in my spare time and is a bit lean on
good
>>>> documentation.  I advise anyone interested to stop by the forum
links
>>>> listed below and contribute to the enhancements request list and 
>>>> general
>>>> conversation. The site will also run polls now and again to see
which
>>>> new features are most needed. I encourage everyone interested to
stop 
>>>> by
>>>> and make their voices heard.  I have also briefly tested
text-to-speech
>>>> additions to 'Scare' which is another interpreter that runs Adrift
text
>>>> adventures which there seems to be a fair number of games, and a
>>>> modification to the Level9 interpreter mostly just for nostalgia
sake.
>>>> Please direct all questions about this updated version of the
>>>> WinFrotzTTS2002 to me at
>>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>
>>>> Here are the important links:
>>>>
>>>> Main website:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.binaryrevelations.com/iftts
>>>>
>>>> Main download page:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.binaryrevelations.com/iftts/modules.php?name=Downloads
>>>>
>>>> Deep link to the updated WinFrotzTTS2002 Interpreter download:
>>>>
>>>>
http://www.binaryrevelations.com/iftts/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=v
>>>> iewdownload&cid=2
>>>>
>>>> Deep link to the IF Archive game module download:
>>>>
>>>>
http://www.binaryrevelations.com/iftts/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=v
>>>> iewdownload&cid=5
>>>>
>>>> Link to the forums for discussion:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.binaryrevelations.com/iftts/modules.php?name=Forums
>>>>
>>>> Below is a list of features and a brief introduction to how the
>>>> application works.
>>>>
>>>> Game loading:
>>>>
>>>> When the app is started it will search a directory for games, the
>>>> default is the directory where WinFrotzTTS is installed. You will
>>>> probably never have
>>>> to change this so when the app starts just hit return when it asks
you
>>>> to pick a directory to scan. After the app has scanned the
directories
>>>> looking for
>>>> games it will present you with a list by telling you how many games
it
>>>> has found. At this point you can use the up and down arrow keys to
move
>>>> through
>>>> the list of games and it will read the titles aloud. You can also
hit
>>>> the first letter of a title and it will skip to that letter in the 
>>>> list,
>>>> the list
>>>> is sorted alphabetically, so you would hit the letter z and it
would
>>>> skip ahead in the list to Zork 1 most likely. The arrow keys work
well
>>>> for the short
>>>> list of Infocom games, but I have 326 games installed and it is
easier
>>>> to jump ahead to a letter if I know the game I want to play.
>>>>
>>>> After finding the game you want just hit return and it will load
up.
>>>>
>>>> You can hit 'escape' to dismiss this dialog. If you click cancel
the
>>>> standard file dialog is presented. Games loaded using the standard
>>>> dialog are not guaranteed
>>>> to work with the extra text to speech functionality, so be warned.
It
>>>> will also ask you to type the title of the game so it can be added
to
>>>> the supported
>>>> list of games. If this is a game you plan to play often it is a
good
>>>> idea to put the game in a folder under the main WinFrotzTTS
application
>>>> so it is found
>>>> on every startup.
>>>>
>>>> Game saving:
>>>>
>>>> When you type save the app will tell you to type some text. This
text 
>>>> is
>>>> used to create a file name in the same directory that the current
game
>>>> is running
>>>> from. Text entered in the dialog is spoken aloud as well as deleted
>>>> characters. It also handles file overwriting. You can always hit
>>>> 'escape' to dismiss
>>>> the dialog.
>>>>
>>>> Game restoring:
>>>>
>>>> When you type 'restore' the same kind of dialog for game loading
comes
>>>> up. The app tells you it is going to search a certain directory for
>>>> saved games.
>>>> You simply hit return and the app scans the directory for saved
games.
>>>> It then presents you with a list of save game titles and the name
of 
>>>> the
>>>> game that
>>>> they were saved from, and you can use the up and down arrow keys
again
>>>> to find the saved game you want and hit enter to load it.
>>>>
>>>> You can also delete a game by highlighting a game and hitting the 
>>>> delete
>>>> key. The app will then confirm your deletion by asking you to hit
'Y' 
>>>> or
>>>> 'N'.
>>>>
>>>> The app will tell you whether it was successful or not.
>>>>
>>>> Command line speech:
>>>>
>>>> Most speech in the game can be interrupted. For example when the
app is
>>>> telling you which directory it wants to scan you can just hit
return
>>>> instead of
>>>> sitting through the whole speech. When the game list comes up you
can
>>>> browse from game to game with the arrow keys, as soon as you move
to 
>>>> the
>>>> next game
>>>> in the list, the previous game title read aloud is cut off. This is
all
>>>> done to save time and cut out a lot of repetitious reading.
>>>>
>>>> This also works on the command line in the game.. For instance when
you
>>>> continue to move into the same room in the game and the app reads
the
>>>> description
>>>> over and over again. Simply hitting the space bar will clear the 
>>>> speech.
>>>> You can also use the up and down arrow keys on the command line of
the
>>>> game to
>>>> scroll through commands you have already entered and it will read
them
>>>> aloud. Don't worry about extra spaces before and after words, the
game
>>>> just ignores
>>>> them so use spaces to verify what you have typed even if it is just
one
>>>> word. When backspace is used the deleted character is read aloud.
>>>>
>>>> Read again:
>>>>
>>>> Sometimes you want to hear a room description read again and not
waste 
>>>> a
>>>> turn to hear it. This can be done by hitting CTRL R which will read
the
>>>> last bit
>>>> of text saved since the last command typed.
>>>>
>>>> Word list spelling:
>>>>
>>>> Many times, games use words that are not easy to spell or are not 
>>>> really
>>>> words at all. Some thing like Frobozz. You would not know how many
'z's
>>>> are in
>>>> the word. To help with this you can hit CTRL Z after a room 
>>>> description,
>>>> and a word list will be presented to you. Using the up and down
arrow
>>>> keys you
>>>> can move from word to word or use a character to skip to a word in
the
>>>> alphabetic list and the word will be spoken aloud. If you hit
'space
>>>> bar' the word
>>>> is spelled out loud. If you hit 'enter' while on a word, the dialog
is
>>>> closed and the word is added to the command line so you don't have
to
>>>> type it. If
>>>> you know you are going to use the word a lot, you can hit 'insert'
and
>>>> the word will be added to a scratch list that I will describe
later. 
>>>> You
>>>> can always
>>>> hit escape to dismiss the dialog.
>>>>
>>>> Scratch list:
>>>>
>>>> Sometimes you want to save typing or keep track of certain word. By
>>>> using the 'insert' key in the word list, words can be added to the
>>>> scratch list. hit
>>>> CTRL X to bring up the list. This list can be navigated just like
the
>>>> word list. Arrow keys move between entries ( spoken aloud ),
characters
>>>> move to words
>>>> alphabetically, 'enter' adds the word to the command line, and
'space
>>>> bar' spells the entry. The only difference is that 'delete' removes
the
>>>> entry from
>>>> the list. The nice thing about the scratch list is that it is saved
>>>> between WinFrotzTTS uses, so the next time you play it is still
there.
>>>>
>>>> Input processing:
>>>>
>>>> Text entered on the interpreter command line is processed and words
are
>>>> read aloud after a space is entered. Since the interpreter ignores
>>>> spaces, before
>>>> and after words it can be used to verify input or stop speech. This
can
>>>> be useful if you are in and out of the same room over and over
again 
>>>> and
>>>> don't
>>>> want to sit through the same boring description; just hitting space

>>>> will
>>>> clear the speech buffer. Hitting the 'delete' key will read the
last
>>>> deleted character
>>>> out loud. Using the up and down arrow keys will cycle though the 
>>>> command
>>>> history and read aloud the commands. Hitting enter on the command
line
>>>> will read
>>>> the whole entry aloud before the interpreter's response.
>>>>
>>>> Options:
>>>>
>>>> I have added an setting in the options dialog to disable speech is
>>>> application dialogs for people with screen readers. As well as
fixed 
>>>> the
>>>> voice selection
>>>> dropdown.
>>>>
>>>> Voices:
>>>>
>>>> Speech voices can be chosen by hitting CTRL+Y. This is the standard
>>>> speech list dialog used throughout WinFrotzTTS. You can use insert
to
>>>> hear a voice and
>>>> then hit enter to select it.
>>>>
>>>> Code update:
>>>>
>>>> I have updated the code base to David Kinder's 'Windows Frotz 2002
>>>> 1.05'.
>>>>
>>>> Games support:
>>>>
>>>> In order to be able to have the interpreter recognize games despite
>>>> their filenames, and since serial numbers don't seem to be a
constant. 
>>>> I
>>>> devised a fingerprinting
>>>> system that identifies games. These numbers are read in from a
simple
>>>> XML file at interpreter startup and associates a file fingerprint
with 
>>>> a
>>>> game title.
>>>> This makes it easier to add new games to the supported list and
remove
>>>> games that don't work and not have to make a new release. I will
>>>> probably be making
>>>> the tool for creating entries for this file available for people
who
>>>> want to add games to the list. At this time I have 328 games in the
>>>> supported list.
>>>>
>>>> A caching system keeps this from bogging down application loading.
You
>>>> will see a performance slowdown when the first time the application
is
>>>> loaded and games are
>>>> parsed.
>>>> POST SCRIPT:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have done some things to modify the updated WinFrotzTTS2002
>>>> Interpreter, WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF W. SCOTT DILLMAN.  This is 
>>>> replaceing
>>>> the Microsoft Speech Engine.  The AT&T's Natural Voices is also a
SAPI 
>>>> 5
>>>> compliant speech engine.  However, make note, there are some
>>>> stipulations your PC **must have** in order to use this fantastic 
>>>> speech
>>>> engine.  Contact the makers of the AT&T's Natural Voices at
>>>> http://www.nextup.com <http://www.nextup.com/>  for further
assistance.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The E-mail with the link to the interpreter written by David Kinder
is
>>>> below:::
>>>>
>>>> The original version, without Scott's changes, is just called
Windows
>>>> Frotz 2002". You can get it here:
>>>>
>>>>
http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/infocom/interpreters/frotz/Window
>>>> sFrotz2002.zip
>>>>
>>>> David Kinder
>>>>
>>>> Hello Beto,
>>>> first I'd like to apologize for delay in respoding to your email,
next
>>>> time I'll respond in 24 hours on business days.
>>>> Because there is many text adventures from Infocom/Activision on
our
>>>> site, probably the best option is to use our fulltext search:
>>>> http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/search.php?s=infocom
>>>> http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/search.php?s=activision
>>>> Here are some deep links, however this list is not complete:
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/role_playing_games/ga
>>>> mes_n_r/quarterstaff_tomb_of_setmoth.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_g_h/h
>>>> itchhiker_s_guide_to_the_galaxy_the.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_d/dea
>>>> dline.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_p_r/p
>>>> lundered_hearts.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_b/bey
>>>> ond_zork_the_coconut_of_quendor.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_b/bal
>>>> lyhoo.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_k_l/l
>>>> eather_goddess_of_phobos_solid_gold_.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_k_l/l
>>>> urking_horror_the.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_p_r/p
>>>> lanetfall_solid_gold_.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_sa_so
>>>> /seastalker.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_m_o/n
>>>> ord_and_bert_couldn_t_make_head_or_tail_of_it.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_g_h/h
>>>> ollywood_hijinx.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_sp_sw
>>>> /spellbreaker.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_sp_sw
>>>> /starcross.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_t_z/z
>>>> ork_zero.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_t_z/z
>>>> ork_quest_1_assault_on_egreth_castle.html
>>>>
http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/adventure/games_t_z/t
>>>> ombs_and_treasure.html
>>>> etc. For more games, please use our fulltext search as mentioned
above.
>>>> Is it only one game for that price, or are there
>>>> more than one game in the Gold Seriesrice?
>>>> We charge $4 or $6 fee for access to download section of our site.
For
>>>> $4 you'll able to download games without limitations for one day
(24
>>>> hours), for
>>>> $6 you'll be able to use our download service for 30 days. This
period
>>>> doesn't apply to playing the games, just for downloading.
>>>> Would you encounter any probems, please don't hesitate to contact
me.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Ondrej Muncinsky
>>>> http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/
>>>> Block quote start
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From:
>>>> Beto Escobar III
>>>> To:
>>>> Ondrej Muncinsky
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2004 8:28 PM
>>>> Subject: Would You Please...
>>>>
>>>> Hello Ondrej--
>>>> Hello, this is Beto (Bay toe)   Escobar III, LMSW, and I am the guy
who
>>>> E-mailed you a question regarding the Solid Gold Series of the
>>>> Infocom/Activision
>>>> games.  Let me try to give you a brief synopsis of why I am asking 
>>>> these
>>>> types of questions.  The deal is that I am totally blind, and use a
>>>> program on
>>>> my Gateway PC entitled JAWS.  JAWS is a screen reader, and reads
out 
>>>> the
>>>> text to me on my PC monitor.  The thing is, however, that it is
only a
>>>> text reader,
>>>> and as a result, the games I play are solely text.  As a result,
the
>>>> games I really enjoy playing are all of the old Infocom text 
>>>> Adventures.
>>>> This is
>>>> not too bad because I really enjoyed playing all of these games
when I
>>>> purchased them in the mid to late 80's when I **did** have my
sight!
>>>> Well, what
>>>> I want to ask of you Ondrej  is if you would not mind sending me 
>>>> another
>>>> E-mail with all of the Infocom/Activision games you have on your
>>>> website?  Please?
>>>> I am specifically asking for the deep links to the exact pages
where
>>>> the links are at to download.
>>>> One more thing, the only reason I am doing this now is that a new 
>>>> friend
>>>> of mine, W. Scott Dillmanm, who is a programmer, by profession, at
IBM
>>>> has updated
>>>> an Interpreter to play on Window N.T., 2000, and XP environments!
You
>>>> see Ondrej, when I played these games in the 80's I had my sight,
and
>>>> the most beautiful
>>>> IBM PC with an 8088 processor! Do you remember those days!  Well,
now
>>>> that I am blind, I was unable to get any type of Interpreter to
work
>>>> with a screen
>>>> reader like JAWS.  My friend, however, took it upon himself to do
>>>> something for a community of people which would bring them some joy
at
>>>> this date and
>>>> time in their lives.  I make this statement because I am blind, and
I
>>>> have enjoyed being in the beta team helping Scott fix, and refix,
and
>>>> re-refix ,
>>>> the WinFrotzTTS2002 Interpreter!
>>>> I will ask the question one more time, but would you please put 
>>>> together
>>>> an E-mail with "deep links" to all of the Infocom and Activision
games
>>>> you have
>>>> on your website.  Especially all of the Gold Series of games...
Please
>>>> send the E-mail to both me and Scott...  I will put both E-mail
>>>> addresses below...
>>>> Beto Escobar III:
>>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>> W. Scott Dillman:
>>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>> Thank you my new friend,
>>>> Beto Escobar III
>>>> Block quote end
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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