The Z-Machine is a VM commonly used for Text-adventure and Interactive-Fiction games. It is a De Facto standard based on reverse-engineered formats originally created by *Infocom* to port their library of games. It has since become a De-Facto standard in Interactive-Fiction engines.
The Z-machine, short for Zork-Machine, was created by Infocom in 1979 to aid in porting the original Zork Text-adventure game.
It gave Infocom a tremendous advantage, allowing them to effectively port their entire catalog of games to a new platform by simply porting the Z-Machine itself, and as a result became well-known among fans of the genre, and an icon of the genre.
After the end of the Text-adventure era (largely due to improved graphics capabilities on domestic hardware) fans of the Text-adventures and what-would-become Interactive fiction reverse-engineered the engine and its formats (including Z-Code, and Quetzal save file format) and used them to create their own games, and provide Interpretors for more modern platforms (such as Windows, and Mobile platforms).
Effectively making the Z-Machine and Z-Code into a De Facto standard, which continues to be popular to this day.
Popular Tools which create Z-Code Programs / Games:
