IMO this poll still doesn’t seem structured right.
Starting here: https://www.ifwiki.org/Z-code_interpreters
We spent quite a bit of time thinking about how to structure this table. Note that Bocfel doesn’t appear on the list, even though IFWiki knows that Bocfel is an interpreter that exists. https://www.ifwiki.org/Bocfel
The reason Bocfel doesn’t show up there is due to the “Recommended interpreter” checkbox on the infobox editor. https://www.ifwiki.org/Special:FormEdit/Software/Bocfel
Recommended interpreter: Is this interpreter user-friendly enough to recommend to new players? If you answer “Yes,” then this interpreter (if stable) will be added to our recommendations, for example, Windows interpreters. If the user must compile the interpreter from source code, answer “No.” If the interpreter must be launched from the command prompt (other than on Linux), answer “No."
- No answer/unknown
- Yes
- No
Bocfel is listed as “Recommended Interpreter: No,” because Bocfel users must download and compile the interpreter from source. If you want to use Bocfel, the best way to use it is to use an interpreter that uses it, including Gargoyle, Spatterlight, or Emglken, which is also not a Recommended Interpreter, but you can use it as part of Lectrote or Parchment, both of which are Recommended Interpreters.
We decided to sort the table by Updated date. We considered having polls for “best” interpreter, but how on earth could a voter practically compare between, say, Frotz for iOS and Fabularium for Android? What does it even mean to say that Frotz for iOS is “better” than Fabularium? Is that voter saying that iOS is a better platform for IF than Android?
What does make sense is a platform-specific format-specific poll. What’s the best Z-code interpreter for Windows? What’s the best TADS interpreter for macOS? What’s the best ADRIFT interpreter for iOS? etc.
But, to answer your question about Z-Code interpreters specifically, for all the platforms I ever use:
- Web: Parchment (ElseIFPlayer in distant second place)
- Windows: Gargoyle if you’re willing to futz with the settings file; Windows Frotz if you just want something that works
- macOS: Spatterlight (Lectrote in second place)
- Linux: Gargoyle (Lectrote in second place)
- iOS: Frotz for iOS is basically your only option. Luckily, it’s pretty good
- Android: Android interpreters are in a pretty sad state right now. The only plausible interpreter that you can get from the Google Play Store is Fabularium, but it hasn’t been updated since 2018. You can download a fork of Fabularium on F-Droid, but that hasn’t been updated since 2019. So, uh, maybe you can get by with one of those Fabulariums, but in some cases your best bet is to play in Parchment on the web.
So, given all that, what answer could I give to your poll? Is my favorite Parchment, Gargoyle, Spatterlight (not listed!!), “Frotz” (WinFrotz or iOS Frotz?), or Fabularium? Or should I just check all of the above? (Except Bocfel, of course, which probably shouldn’t even be on the list…?)