Yes/no: TIMEOUt in ZIL

Just a quick question: is ZIL/ZILF compulsorily turn-based (one turn every [enter] keystroke) or is there a way to define a timeout trigger in seconds (like, if you don’t press any key or input a new command in 5 seconds, the player turn is superseeded and the game starts the game loop again?. If not, is there any way to fake it (can ZILF read the computer real time? If not, can interrupts be handled from within ZILF?

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It’s possible, and was used in Border Zone. This tends to be unpopular among players though.

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This is used in v5+. I can retrieve the code soon if you’d like, but I don’t know how complicated it is.

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Tks+++++ for the insights. Might be unpopular but certain games benefit from real time, storywise.

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The opcode READ in ZIL have the optional arguments TIME and ROUTINE (arg 3 and 4) in version 4+. The description in the Z-Machine Standards (The Z-Machine Standards Document) on read is applicable on how to use them.

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Wow, exactly what i was L4. I’m overwhelmed by the zillions of tons of millions of sources about ZIL and had neglected the z-machine spec, thinking the other stuff was more than enough. Tks+++++++

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