Usually true, but not absolutely universal.
In the case of Gargoyle, when it says “Frotz”, it’s referring to a Z-code interpreter.
Your Gargoyle link is out of date. Use: Releases · garglk/garglk · GitHub
I also support Lectrote: Releases · erkyrath/lectrote · GitHub
Would maintaining this kind of guidance (for the various IF file formats) be an appropriate project for the IFTF?
Well, the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation are already maintaining the IF-archive, so it seems logical. But I guess I was thinking of this more as a call for volunteer(s) to update or rewrite our current resources.
Talking of which, I’ve tried to create an account at ifwiki, but I’m defeated by the anti-bot question: “what is the other magic word?” I’ve tried please, thankyou, abracadabra and xyzzy but this is obviously a cultural reference I don’t get. Can anyone enlighten me? (or, better yet, update ifwiki to use the photographic Captcha system I’ve seen elsewhere?)
Not speaking for the organization, but if IFTF were to take this on, the first thing we’d do would be to post here and on other forums asking for volunteers. :)
We could also put you in contact with Sargent, if he’s not already reading this thread, to get permission to update the brasslantern.org site.
The other magic word is “plugh”.
I will try to make a IFWiki page. It will be incomplete, but (hopefully) simple.
I made a simple and incomplete IFWiki page. If anyone else can help fill in the gaps, that would be great.
My goal is to keep it short, avoid jargon, and minimize the clicks required. Also just to cover the most common cases, instead of covering everything.
This is in contrast to this other page, which I find overwhelming, and is surely more difficult to keep up-to-date.
Well, I’d be happy to help. Heading to Ifwiki now. Thanks, as always, for the enlightenment @zarf!
Edit: Added a little bit to the page @dibianca made, but I’m looking around to find ways of linking to that page – no point in it existing otherwise – but I’m having trouble finding my way around. The main page just seems to be an advert for IFcomp rather than a “Welcome in - what do you want to know about?”
It seems, frankly, a bit of a bloody cheek for me to start editing the main page on the basis of a whole ten minutes experience.
Edit 2: The main page is protected - and a good thing too, looking at the problems they’ve had with vandals and bots. For now, I’ve added a note to the “Talk” page that’s linked to the main (home) page, and I’ll wait and see if anyone gets back to me.
IMO, in 2019, it’s better to recommend Lectrote over Gargoyle. Even the 2019.1 version of Gargoyle for Mac doesn’t do the right thing on retina display screens, and its “preferences” feature launches a text editor to edit garglk.ini.
Lectrote is much easier for newbies to use, and at least historically is kept up to date better than Gargoyle. It has direct download links for Windows, Mac, and Linux. If you’re going for the “simplest option,” it has to be that.
A related approach would be to add a “simple option” section to the top of the http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/Interpreter page, saying “just download Lectrote.”
I tried to add a link to the Fabularium app, but “google.com” appears to be blocked. Is there a way around that?
Now it should work; please try again.
Blocked URLs are at the MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist page. I’ve just removed google.com from them. I think it probably won’t cause any spam (because the contents of that page are very old now), but if it does, we’ll have to add google.com back to that page and use MediaWiki:Spam-whitelist.
Yes, that is the best option for iOS. (Note that the name is misleading. I said above that “Frotz” is a Z-code interpreter, but “iOS Frotz” has evolved into a multi-platform interpreter: Z-code, Glulx, and TADS.)
Do you mean the app “Frotz?” If yes, can anyone please tell me if I can add to the list of games it has? It seems that the list is fixed to a choice (excellent though) of about 10-15 games.
The story list has a “browse IFDB” button. If you select a game file via that browsing, it is downloaded and added to the list.
Also if you download a compatible game file via the Safari iOS browser then open it in Frotz it will add it to the game list. So no need even to use the IFDB interface to add games.
Oops! Indeed! That’s awesome! Thanks @zarf and @vivdunstan!
Just curious, when people play interactive fiction on their phones, do they carry pencil and paper to map the story world? 
Edit: actually, I’ll start a new thread with this question.
I am reading! Though sporadically.
I’d be glad to update the old BL page if someone’s willing to pull together an updated article with links.
As far as I can tell, IFDB links to “tadownload-d.html” for Glulx files. (But not for TADS.) So that BL page could probably be simplified to just Glulx.
IFDB links to “tadownload-c.html” for Z-code and AGT.
I could come up with a brief guide, if you can tell me how to get it to you. (And whether the format matters much.)