Since there’s a great sticky post about sources for documentation on Inform 7, I thought that something similar for Inform 6 would be useful.
The standard introductory text is The Inform Designer’s Manual, fourth edition (colloquially known as “DM4”), which describes the language as it was circa the year 2000 (Inform 6.21 with Standard Library 6/9):
- online version: https://inform-fiction.org/manual/html/index.html
- PDF format: https://inform-fiction.org/manual/DM4.pdf
- offline HTML version (ZIP archive): https://ifarchive.org/if-archive/infocom/compilers/inform6/manuals/designers_manual_4.zip
- Windows help file format: https://ifarchive.org/if-archive/infocom/compilers/inform6/manuals/designers_manual_4.chm
- printed book: https://www.amazon.com/Inform-Designers-Manual-Graham-Nelson/dp/0971311900
There is also a (partial) list of known DM4 errata (i.e. errors in the published document):
The current Inform 6 release notes briefly describe the changes to the language since publication of DM4:
The Inform 6 Reference Addendum clarifies (or supersedes) DM4 documentation based on changes and discoveries since DM4’s publication:
Roger Firth’s Inform 6 Frequently Asked Questions is a FAQ that is theoretically geared for beginners to I6 and/or programming, but it also contains many valuable clarifications, comparison charts and code examples concerning various subtleties of the language and features of the Standard Library that are treated lightly or elided in DM4:
- online version: http://www.firthworks.com/roger/informfaq/
- PDF version: http://www.firthworks.com/roger/informfaq/informfaq.zip
Roger Firth and Sonja Kesserich together wrote The Inform Beginner’s Guide (possibly slightly outdated), which is designed as a gentler introduction to Inform 6, suitable for non-programmers:
- PDF version: http://inform-fiction.org/manual/IBG.pdf
- errata: http://www.firthworks.com/roger/IBG.html
Roger Firth also produced some handy and concise reference documents (also possibly slightly outdated) covering the range of I6 functionality:
- for the language: http://www.firthworks.com/roger/downloads/informqr.zip
- for the Standard Library: http://www.firthworks.com/roger/downloads/inflibqr.zip
Roger Firth also published a series of focused tutorials/overviews centered on various functional themes. All are online:
- InFancy – using Inform objects: http://www.firthworks.com/roger/infancy/index.html
- InfLight – Inform debugging: http://www.firthworks.com/roger/inflight/index.html
- InfAct – about Inform NPCs: http://www.firthworks.com/roger/infact/index.html
Jeff Nyman created some introductory material in a series called “The Well-Versed Informer”:
- https://zurlocker.typepad.com/files/nyman---well-versed-informer.pdf
- https://zurlocker.typepad.com/files/nyman---foundations.pdf
- https://zurlocker.typepad.com/files/nyman---inform7-locale.pdf
Andrew Plotkin has published some helpful tips, tricks and advice for avoiding common beginner errors:
Marnie Parker has also published some helpful tips, tricks and advice:
Adam Cadre set up a website with Glulx-specific coding advice concerning use of its multimedia capabilities, supplemented by downloadable sample programs:
The intrepid may want to check out The Inform Technical Manual, a more fundamental technical description of I6 provided by Graham Nelson:
- online: https://inform-fiction.org/source/tm/index.html
- text file version: https://inform-fiction.org/source/tm/TechMan.txt
The intrepid may also be interested in The Z-Machine Standards Document, the reverse-engineered documentation of the Z-machine:
- online: https://inform-fiction.org/zmachine/standards/z1point1/index.html
- PDF (ZIP archive): http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/infocom/interpreters/specification/z-spec10-pdf.zip
Those compiling to Andrew Plotkin’s Glulx virtual machine may be interested in the comparable standards document for Glulx: