Install dungeon with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage

Commands and aliases

• dungeon

Project history

The GOFAI/dungeon README identifies Dungeon as the original game that served as the basis for the Zork text adventure series. It describes the original late-1970s MIT MDL implementation by Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling, followed by Robert Supnik's 1980 VAX FORTRAN port.

The packaged repository is a preservation-oriented update: most of Supnik's source is described as intact, but the code was adjusted to compile with modern gfortran after relying on nonstandard VAX FORTRAN extensions. The README says the updated code is intended to have no functional differences from Supnik's late-1994 V3.2B.

Adoption history

Adoption for this specific package is niche: it is a small historical game port, not an actively expanding game engine. GitHub metadata shows a compact Fortran repository created in 2015 with modest public attention.

Its package-manager presence matters mainly because it lets users install and run a historically important interactive-fiction artifact with a normal Unix command rather than hunting for old compiler environments.

How it is used

Users build or install the `dungeon` executable and run it from a directory containing the `dindx` and `dtext` data files. The README notes that gfortran and make are sufficient for source builds.

Why package nerds care

Package nerds care because this is a preservation package: a classic text adventure made runnable through current Fortran tooling. It is the sort of tiny formula where the value is cultural continuity more than daily productivity.

Timeline

• Late 1970s: Dungeon is originally implemented in MDL on a DEC PDP-10 at MIT.
• 1980: Robert Supnik ports Dungeon to VAX FORTRAN.
• 1994: Supnik's V3.2B is identified by the packaged README as the functional baseline.
• 2015: The GOFAI/dungeon GitHub repository is created for the gfortran-compatible update.

Related projects

• Zork is the most important related project because the README identifies Dungeon as the basis for the classic Zork text adventure series.
• gfortran is related as the modern compiler target for this preservation port.

Sources

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GOFAI/dungeon/master/README.md documents the original authors, MIT MDL origin, VAX FORTRAN port, gfortran update, and V3.2B baseline.
• https://api.github.com/repos/GOFAI/dungeon documents repository creation, language, and public metadata.