I think it’s too late for the Inform 6 compiler and its libraries, but it would be interesting, for translation, to be able to customize in the source code of the game, the messages sent, during the game, by the interpreter.
Some examples of messages with Frotz unix:
[More]
[Hit any key to exit.]
Enter a file name.
Default is "":
Cannot open file
Overwrite existing file?
Do you want MORE prompts? (y/n) >
If the interpreter could take these messages from the source code of the game, it would be nice!
I thought I’d look into this and you’d probably need an entirely new interpreter for that.
The “[More]” prompt is handled entirely by the interpreter insofar as it doesn’t appear in the I6 or 7 code that makes up the standard library but does appear in Windows Frotz’ source code. It’s the interpreter that counts the lines and pauses.
That’s also why you can localize Frotz and get a “[Weiter]” prompt.
Indeed, this comes down to the design of the Z-machine itself. All of those messages are handled by the virtual machine, and the executable (the Z-code file) has no say in them.