I enjoyed writing the tools. I also find Inform 7 really frustrating — I don’t get on well with languages that try to look like natural language, AppleScript being another example. I find them hard to learn and remember. I’ve resorted to asking LLMs to give me toy examples just so that I can see what the syntax is for programming language structures, so I can then write the actual code. I’d much rather be writing in a language with very little grammar and syntax. I even considered ZIL, but went with Inform to leverage all the built-in behavior and available libraries, because I want to actually finish writing games.
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Yeah my experience was similar. I have great respect for Inform but as a developer I find it very strange. I used to use TADS 25+ years ago, and when I renewed my interest in IF after a very long absence I decided I’d rather have tools made with a widely used language, so, Javascript.
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I will say, I7 is the most popular language at the moment, but there are a lot of well-established alternatives that don’t have the natural-language syntax. If you like low-level C and assembly, try Inform 6 (totally different from I7); if you like high-level languages with extensive libraries like Java or C#, try TADS; if you like declarative programming like Prolog, try Dialog.
Dialog has become my favorite because I find it very smooth and elegant, but there’s something for everyone in this community. Not to mention the whole panoply of tools for choice-based IF! (And other options like Adventuron, ScottKit, ADRIFT…)
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Any recommendation for a C++ coder interested in adding a parser interface to interact with some existing objects?
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Interestingly enough, none of the current parser systems are really designed for that. Several of them can technically do it, but more in a “proof of concept” way than an “actually feasible” way, because of the preponderance of domain-specific virtual machines.
So the usual way to do this (insofar as it’s actually done, which isn’t very often) is to write code for one of these VMs, then run an interpreter in a subprocess and communicate with it through stdin and stdout.
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I suspect this might be something to take elsewhere, but in what sense do you use the term ‘objects’? What sort of interaction? I have got a system in progress in Unreal Engine, largely coded in c++, where entities (rooms, items, animates) are represented by actors. In my current project, that is just for programming convenience, but in another project I explored, I envisaged that actions in the text adventure would directly influence the actors in the 3d space. e.g. you take an object and put it on a table; in the 3D world the physical object is now on the table, etc. A very custom solution though, hardly off-the-shelf (and certainly not complete).
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I think I’m using object in the typical object-oriented sense… but specifically, some years ago I wrote a terminal game inspired by the Chao raising mini game from the Sonic Adventure games. I have a class for the Chao themselves, classes to represent a chao’s breed, metamorphosis, and their numerical stats, and some of the items the player can give them. I originally wrote a interface that uses cout and cin to print information and numbered menus and take typed numerical choices, but that was rather clunky, and when I tried making an ncurses interface for it, I more or less ended up corrupting my main function beyond repair, so I have functional backend code with no frontend. Since joining this forum, I’ve more than once thought it would be nice if I could take the existing code as is or with minimal modification and create an IF world in which the player could interact with their chao and having a parser interface provided by the engine instead of having to resort to menus or writing my own parser that will almost certainly be more primitive than any pre-existing system, but I think I might be dealing with a square peg round hole situation.
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Hello. I am new here. You can call me Bean and refer to me as “her”. I’m an aspiring many-a-things, but—among those—an Interactive Fiction fan & writer. I love all things art, and this medium has recently caught my eye. I am—thus—a novice who is always willing to learn more, which I hope to do with you lovely people. Be seein’ you later.
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(taps status message)
eating beans
Y’know what? You’re sticking to the bit, and that’s pretty neat, lol.
Also image description for screen readers: She has what looks like a store’s stock image of a packet of beans for a profile picture. 10/10 commitment.
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Hello everyone, I’m Eggbertx. I’ve been doing general programming since around 2010 and remember playing Zork around the same time, though my first experience with text adventure games was with Thy Dungeonman around 2006-7. I recently decided to get more into interactive fiction after I got the dumb idea to try to start a demake of Half Life 2.
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Yup! I7 is actually a natural language transpiler, which spits out I6 code. I like it in theory, but just can’t. quite. love. it. I do love I6, though. It’s a procedural language. Ignore the numbering scheme. I7 isn’t at all the updated version of the I6 compiler.
Me too! TRS-80, model I, level 1. 64 columns, only uppercase. Those were simpler times.
That was my very first text adventure experience. So bad it was good.
Welcome.
-Jim
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Hey everyone, I’m a software engineer by day and a writer by night. I think my first IF game was a zombie survival game I played on an Android phone maybe 12-15 years ago. I got absolutely addicted after that. It took me a few years to discover Choice of Games which also had some zombie adventures (that’s my favorite genre, though I’ve played many others).
I have yet to finish writing a story of my own, I run into major writer’s block along the way lol. I have a few in progress though!
The main thing I’ve been working on is Storyfall, it’s a new interactive fiction publishing platform. I’m hoping to announce it in the next few weeks! Just got some bugs left to figure out.
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Hello, I am Nadina. I am a Romanian teacher of English. I have been interested in IF for about five years and have introduced the topic in my classes in various contexts sometimes with outstanding results. I love discovering new things and I have a passion for foreign languages (except one). I own an old dog who ignores me except when he whines for food.
I love my job and I dedicate much of my time to improving my teaching skills.
It’s nice to meet you all!
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Hello! I’m Elli, I’ve been a long time player of IF choice games and am finally trying my hand at writing it! I’m hoping to reach out to the community here for advice and maybe beta testers too. I’m really excited to be part of the community here and looking forward to getting to know you all better!
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Oh my God this is long… I tried reading a few of these then noticed that these are in 2006 and go into I think all the way to 2025 0.0
Anywho I’ve finally found a place I can post that isn’t totally random and out of place (thanks IF system!)
I’d prefer not to share my real name, but I just go by VV online pretty much. I’m in the Boston area and I’m mostly posting here a) because I’m new and trying to get settles b) I just want to try posting and everywhere else people seem to know each other and it’d feel weird to just randomly drop in and c) because I’m confused and sort of hoping for help even though likely no one will see this.
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I’m not long here but my observation is that people here are generally super nice, very clever, and immensely helpful, so give it a shot.
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You are seen! What kind of help are you looking for? Finding IF to play, writing IF… we can certainly point you in the right direction.
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Is there some kind of mass notification for new posts or something? Sorry- I was looking around and I’m, wondering, first of all because the contests are so long do people expect longer stories here? And second, from what I’ve seen it looks like stories aren’t written on here but are shared and discussed? (or certain topics)
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Check out our About page for historical information.
This forum is for the IF community - generally text adventures, but the definitions and parameters have expanded over the years.
In general this forum is for creators and fans of IF. We tend not to post collaborative content stories though a few have been tried. We do have a Authoring > Story Research and Design forum and we discuss competitions and game jams. you might meet a collaborator here Authoring > Looking for Collaborators.
If you’re looking for completed stories, please check out:
Also competitions sites tend to have the newest submissions:
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You can see all the latest topics and posts by clicking “latest” or “new” at the top of the page. You can set up notifications in your preferences if you want alerts. And in the top right under your avatar circle, it will notify you of replies or people tagging you, etc.
I think historically players have have wanted longer games, but that’s starting to change and short games are getting much more attention these days. There’s no right or wrong length.
I’ve seen a few people keep dev logs here, but since everyone uses different platforms for creating, there isn’t a way to write them here. You’ll find this a really helpful community for tech questions, bouncing ideas off people, etc. There are many IF writers here but not everyone writes. Everyone is a fan of IF-- really the only thing we all have in common is that we all play IF and like to talk about it. Welcome!
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