What is a .Z7 file?
The .Z7 file extension refers to a Z-machine Z-code Version 7 File. This type of file is a game file specifically designed to be used with the Z-machine game engine. The Z-machine was a popular system for playing text-based adventure games during the late 1970s and 1980s. A .Z7 file contains the source code needed to run a particular game. Additionally, it may include graphics that are displayed as part of the game's text-based interface.
To play a game stored in a .Z7 file, you need a program known as a Z-machine interpreter. These interpreters read the Z-code in the file and present the game to the user. Some examples of Z-machine interpreters that can open .Z7 files include Zoom (available for multiple platforms), Windows Frotz (for Windows), Spatterlight (for Mac), and Twisty (for Android devices). There are also web-based interpreters like Parchment that can run these games directly in a web browser.
The Z7 file is part of a series of Z-code file extensions, each denoted by a different version number, such as .Z1, .Z2, .Z3, and so on, up to .Z8. These numbers indicate the version of the Z-machine for which the game was originally designed. The programming language used in these files is known as the Zork Implementation Language, named after "Zork," which was the first game developed by Infocom using this technology.
It's important to note that among the various Z-code files, the .Z4, .Z6, and .Z7 extensions are relatively rare compared to others like .Z3 or .Z5. This rarity means that fewer games exist that require these specific versions of the Z-machine interpreter.
Verification
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