Dan Cogliano

EZ Make Oven Have you ever wanted to build your own reflow oven from a toaster oven but were afraid of dealing with the high voltages or the amount of time needed to build it? Now you can with the EZ Make Oven! T...

Nice. I created my own DIY reflow oven that I documented here -> learn.adafruit.com/ez-make-oven

Return to playing Zork, made possible on the @adafruit Fruit Jam by @cogliano .bsky.social using #CircuitPython

Fruit Jam, Zork and the Z Machine in CircuitPython #Gaming #AdafruitLearningSystem @adafruit.com
blog.adafruit.com/2025/10/30/f...

Fruit Jam, Zork and the Z Machine In the 80's before ChatGPT, gamers had another way to have conversations with their computers: Zork and Z Machine games.

My Learn Guide about #Zork and my CPZ Machine running on the #FruitJam has just been released at the @adafruit.com site.

learn.adafruit.com/zork-and-the...

Seeing the @adafruit.com #FruitJam Mac emulator, I am reminded of that time I won 2nd place at the MacPaint Olympics in college. The prize was an Apple mug, which I still have. From the June 4, 1984 issue of InfoWorld. books.google.com.fj/books?id=vi4...

We put a man on the moon 50 years ago, but we can’t design a foolproof power strip.

Diversion for the week: from some spare and repurposed parts, 3d printing, #Arduino programming and a bit of @adafruit.com magic, I made this remote controlled wagging raccoon tail in a lunch box.

Lots of progress on my @circuitpython.org game for the @adafruit.com Fruit Jam. Premise is you mine for minerals on different moons. Have a title screen, mechanics working, multiple page game working and a few animations. Next up is to fix bugs, add additional levels and animations.

One of my early @circuitpython.org projects and still one of my favs. The EZ Make Oven is a reflow oven for soldering surface mount components to PCBs built from @adafruit.com parts with no high voltage wiring. I've been using it for over 5 years. Learn guide here: learn.adafruit.com/ez-make-oven

Fun fact: The first #shareware program I wrote was a blackjack game for the #Amiga. It was distributed using Fred Fish disks in computer clubs and BBS’s and people would send me money in the mail for the deluxe version and I would mail the game to them. Pre-Internet times seem like a lifetime ago.

I am this years old. #Amiga Fred Fish disks.

WIP: This week for my @circuitpython.org game running on the @adafruit.com #FruitJam, I worked on some physics, created a ship graphic, added text to the display and updated the screen graphics. I think it is coming along nicely.

WIP: New project. Starting simple, I'm working on the mechanics/physics of a re-imagined #retro game from the past. @circuitpython.org @adafruit.com #FruitJam

Fun fact: text stored in a story file for a #ZMachine game (i.e. #Zork) is encoded as 5 bits, so 3 characters could be stored in 2 bytes(16 bits). Every byte counted back in the day. Didn't know there was a history using 5 bits for text. Thanks @anneb.bsky.social !
blog.adafruit.com/2025/09/30/s...

My college years saw big changes in computer technology. As a freshman we used punch cards for computer assignments. Later years we switched to terminals and in my senior year the Apple Macintosh 128K arrived on campus.

Using CircuitPython For Running a Z Machine? Yes! For several years I have been thinking about how cool it would be to have a CircuitPython-based Z Machine for running Zork and similar adventure games. Unfortunately, no one had written one that I kno...

I wrote a brief history of the making of the CPZ Machine. #Zork #ZMachine @circuitpython.org @adafruit.com #fruitjam.

danthegeek.com/2025/09/29/c...

I have fixed all the known bugs to date and I have all the initial features I want so I have released the first production (i.e. non-beta) version of the CPZ Machine. #Zork #ZMachine @circuitpython.org @adafruit.com #FruitJam

github.com/ZContent/CPZ...

FYI if you are looking for a maze algorithm, I wrote a learn guide about one here:

learn.adafruit.com/epaper-maze-...

GitHub - ZContent/CPZ_Machine: A native Z Machine for the Adafruit Fruit Jam running Circuit Python for playing Zork and similar games A native Z Machine for the Adafruit Fruit Jam running Circuit Python for playing Zork and similar games - ZContent/CPZ_Machine

Fruit Jam now runs #Zork with the CPZ Machine emulator.
github.com/ZContent/CPZ...

Airbnb

Working for a value added reseller at the time, we sold a few of these for use with AutoCAD. We affectionately called it "the pizza box". A few years later, Sun came out with the SPARC classic, which we affectionally called it "the personal pizza box".

Finally I have a video captured screen shot of my CPZ Machine playing #Zork. The font can be changed in the program. The included fonts allow screen sizes from 64x22 (this screen shot) to 106x40 characters.

Use this link for the latest version (the version in the post is already outdated):
github.com/ZContent/CPZ...

My next t-shirt. #Zork

Releases · ZContent/CPZ_Machine A native Z Machine for the Adafruit Fruit Jam running Circuit Python for playing Zork and similar games - ZContent/CPZ_Machine

Lots of updates and fixes recently for the CPZ Machine, the #ZMachine emulator for #CircuitPython and the
@adafruit.com #FruitJam. Latest version is 1.0.5. If you have had trouble running it, download the latest version here:
github.com/ZContent/CPZ...

A blinking cursor adds a retro look to my #Zork #ZMachine running on #CircuitPython and the @adafruit.com #FruitJam

New version is now out to fix a bug, recommended. github.com/ZContent/CPZ...

Version 1.0.1 of my CPZ Machine project was just released to fix a bug where the program would no longer listen to you after entering a blank line (how rude!).Recommended update. @circuitpython.org @adafruit.com #FruitJam #Zork #ZMachine
(edit: link now shows all versions)
github.com/ZContent/CPZ...

Did you know that the CPZ Machine has 5 retro color themes to choose from for your #ZMachine #Zork adventures? This one is called “Amiga”. @adafruit.com @circuitpython.org

Yes, version 3 games should work. I was not sure of the copyright issues so I only included one game. You can copy more games to the "stories" folder and then select the game when the program starts up.