I just downloaded I 7 about a week a go and I am very interested in learning how to work the program. I’m looking for a really good tutorial explaining in detail how things work. I’ve messed around with the program and know some of the basics thanks to the manual but let’s face it, it’s not always the easiest thing to understand. It would be very helpful and much appreciated if you could link me things you’ve used to help learn it.
Conveniently, there is a list of I7 documentation, including manuals and tutorials, at the top of this very forum.
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Out of interest, did you check out ADRIFT or Quest? You may find them both easier than Inform.
No I didn’t. I plan to after though. If possible could you tell me how extensive the programs ar because I intend to include a lot of different things.
Well I can only speak for ADRIFT, which is progressing all the time. It might be easier to know the sorts of things you are planning on implementing, but I would be surprised if you weren’t able do everything you have planned. But the main differences with the above two applications is that they are visual, so you don’t need to remember the syntax for doing everything, making them more intuitive.
I wish someone would do a solid comparison among all of the currently supported IF systems. There are many, many factors to take into account.
For some people, a visual programming interface is highly desirable. I don’t care for it, because it means lots of mouse usage, and my mouse hand gets sore if I do that. (But then, I’m over 60. YMMV.)
The question of how the games will or can be delivered to the player is also important, and there are real differences here amongst the various systems. What happens when the author starts wanting to do non-standard things? What tools are available for debugging? How easy will it be to recruit experienced beta-testers – in other words, how large (and insular, or not) is the user community? I’m not saying ADRIFT or Quest is better or worse than any other system with respect to these questions; I’m just saying, it would be nice for newcomers to have a clear picture.
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I totally agree with you, hence my Cloak of Darkness post. I think a reasonably in-depth comparison of the different languages using a consistent small adventure would be very beneficial.
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I use a mixture of stuff. I have a heap of links/downloads and others I commonly refer to.
Heres some links I have:
Bass Lanterns - How to Write a Text Adventure with Inform 7
Inform Site
Inform 7 Handbook
Inform 7 Unofficial Documentation Index
IF Wiki
Emily Short’s Site (look under drop down menu, writing IF, her articles)
I7 Things Creator
XYZZY Article - 10 Great Steps to Game Design
There’s a few of them that are more of the “basic/beginners” nature, the rest of the links tend to be more specific towards writing styles, viewpoints, parser etc.
Also I tend to be a derp, in the way its easier for me to find/remember more complicated methods than it is to find/remember simple, basic things 
so something like having a word document open to write down simple commands (i.e.)
Basic Commands Cheatsheet
[Name of room] is a room. - Creates a room.
[Name of region] is a region. - Creates a “region” (could be a city or house or “floor”, to keep your rooms together i.e. House is a region).
[Name of room] is in [name of region] - Puts it in said region.
You can tend for find more complex commands in “bullet point” format, but the more basic commands in the manuals tend to be written in more story-like format, making it hard to find (to me anyway 
)
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