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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : New Z-MIM release - play Infocom adventures on PicoMite

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thwill

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Joined: 16/09/2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 4407
Posted: 10:27pm 30 Apr 2025
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Link to original Z-MIM thread

Hey folks,

I have updated Z-MIM so it should run on all PicoMite's (even RP2040 VGA), CMM2, MMB4L and MMB4W.

https://github.com/thwill1000/mmbasic-zmim

Version 3.5.0 - 1-May-2025:
- Added support for new platforms:
  - MMBasic for Linux.
  - MMBasic for Windows.
  - PicoMiteVGA and PicoMiteHDMI including USB versions.
  - PicoCalc (third party PicoMite variant).
  - Note that due to RAM limitations a "virtual memory" implementation is
    used when running on PicoMite RP2040 platforms making them slower.
- Added command history to the prompt.
  - This is accessed via the Up & Down cursor keys.
  - Under the hood the console support has been replaced with the more
    advanced version that I developed for the "Scott Adams Adventure
    Interpreter" (SAAINT).
- Added *MORE [ON | OFF] meta-command to enable/disable paged output.
- Added *RECORD [ON | OFF] and *REPLAY [ON | OFF] meta-commands for recording
  and replaying scripts.
  - Script files recorded by previous versions are now invalid.
- Added *SCREENSHOT meta-command for generating .bmp screen-shots.
  - Not currently supported when running from the MMBasic for Linux console.
- Added *SPIN [ON | OFF] meta-command to enable/disable display of spinning
  cursor when Z-MIM is "thinking". The spinning cursor is enabled by default
  on PicoMite platforms.
- Removed Colour Maximite 1 support; it was much too slow on the CMM1 to be
  playable and in any case that platform is now long superseded by the CMM2
  and PicoMite.


Happy adventuring,

Tom
MMBasic for Linux, Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures
 
Gadgetguy
Senior Member

Joined: 26/04/2025
Location: France
Posts: 104
Posted: 10:24am 01 May 2025
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Thank you Tom, this is amazing! My Picocalc will be more happy now (after it arrives)
 
thwill

Guru

Joined: 16/09/2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 4407
Posted: 07:41pm 05 Jun 2025
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ZMIM v3.6.0 released.

   https://github.com/thwill1000/mmbasic-zmim/releases/tag/v3.6.0

ChangeLog:

Version 3.6.0 - 1-Jun-2025:
- Added status line.
  - Having the status line "scroll" off the top of the display and then
    redrawing it (instead of having the text scroll beneath it) is a
    deliberate choice for performance reasons rather than a bug.
- Added *FONT [SMALL | MEDIUM] meta-command.
  - KNOWN BUG: using *FONT SMALL on the Colour Maximite 2 causes the prompt
    to "glitch" in a way I have been unable to reproduce in a small example.
- Added '--shell' command-line option which if used will cause Z-MIM to
  RUN the program specified in the "/.mmbasic-shell" file when it exits.
- Changed code to use SELECT CASE rather than IF .. THEN .. ELSEIF ..
  constructs.
  - This should slightly improve performance.
- Changed transpiled versions of Z-MIM to remove comments and unnecessary
  whitespace.
  - This should slightly improve performance.
- Changed code to no longer use _ as a variable name as this was incompatible
  with the new PicoMite line-continuation feature.
- Removed '--platform' command-line flag.
  - This was specifically for MMB4L and as of MMB4L v0.8 is no longer
    required due to enhancements to the RUN command.
- Fixed *status meta-command to display time instead of score for
  "time games" such as "Deadline".
- Fixed bug where cursor colour was always white rather than using the
  display foreground colour.
- Fixed debug help text for displays <= 40 characters wide.
- Fixed formatting of stored values when using interactive debugger.

Edited 2025-06-06 05:45 by thwill
MMBasic for Linux, Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures
 
thwill

Guru

Joined: 16/09/2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 4407
Posted: 08:27pm 02 Nov 2026
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Z-MIM v3.6.3 released:

   https://github.com/thwill1000/mmbasic-zmim/releases/tag/v3.6.3

ChangeLog:

Version 3.6.3 - 2-Nov-2026:
- Added *FONT LARGE.
- Added --version command-line option.
- Fixed crash on PicoMite when no audio configured (untested).
- Miscellaneous fixes by Peter Mather:
  - Fixed bug in random number generation that caused lowest and highest
    values of range to be returned half as often.
  - Fixed bug in filename used by *SCREENSHOT meta-command when run from
    filesystem root directory.

Version 3.6.2 - 8-Jul-2025:
- Fixed crash when status line too long.

Version 3.6.1 - 16-Jun-2025:
- Fixed "progress spinner" so that it is now enabled by default for WebMite.

MMBasic for Linux, Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures
 
Volhout

Guru

Joined: 05/03/2018
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 6223
Posted: 07:51am 03 Nov 2026
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Hi Tom,

For the bin/zmim_rp2040.bas you need OPTION SYMBOLS OFF to run it on V7.00.00. Otherwise you run out of memory. Seems you squeezed every byte of RAM out of the poor little 2040.

The loader (zmim.bas) does not recognize it is an rp2040 to start bin/zmim_rp2040.bas, but in stead starts the generic bin/zmim.bas

But the game (tried minizork) runs.

Volhout
Edited 2026-11-03 18:04 by Volhout
PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS
 
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