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Winchester's Nightmare is available in hardback: a 386 laptop computer, with power adapter, running the interactive text. Ten numbered hardbacks have been manufactured, and some are still available. You can purchase one for $300. That price includes domestic (US) shipping. Email me at nickm.com if you wish to purchase a hardback. My email address is my first name followed by my last initial.
"Softback" Step 1 of 2: Download the Story File
Download winchest.z8, the story file. Right-click (or ctrl-click with a one-button Mac mouse) and choose the appropriate option to save the linked file.
"Softback" Step 2 of 2: Install and Run an Interpreter
Just as you need a Flash player to play Flash files and a Web browser to browse Web pages, you need an interpreter (specifically, a "Z-Machine" interpreter) to run Winchester's Nightmare. More recent versions of these interpreters are available by now, as are new and better interpreters, but here are the links I've offered for about a decade...
| Windows | Windows Frotz 2002 |
| Debian GNU/Linux | sudo apt-get install frotz |
| Red Hat Linux | Frotz |
| Mac OS X | Zoom |
| Mac System 9 | Nitfol or MaxZip |
| RISC OS | Zip2000 or Frotz |
| Palm | Frobnitz |
| PocketPC | Pocket Frotz |
| DOS | DOS Frotz |
After you have installed an interpreter, simply drag winchest.z8 onto it, or run the interpreter and open winchest.z8 in it.
Editions & Instructions
The softback edition avaiable here contains the complete text of the hardback edition.
A description of Winchester's Nightmare is also here online, along with an instruction sheet that has information both for text-adventure veterans and those new to the interface.
Winchester's Nightmare description.
Winchester's Nightmare instruction sheet.
Release Notes
Release 5 of 31 Jan 2002 contains two significant changes: an option to allow abbreviated commands ("abbr") and an adaptive hint system accessed by typing "hint". Details are on the instruction sheet.
I made release 3 available as an executable for Windows (zip, exe) and Mac System 9. The current release is not available in this format. Creating stand-alone executables out of z-code is an elaborate and crufty process, and the result limits the player to using a single bound-in interpreter. Nevertheless, I'll keep these obsolete files in place.
Interact with Winchester’s Nightmare on the Web
As mentioned above, a Web edition of Winchester’s Nightmare is available, too.