.. epigraph::
- | *If they asked me, I could write a book;*
- | *About the way you TALK, and LISTEN; And LOOK.*
+ | |CENTER| *If they asked me, I could write a book;*
+ | |CENTER| *About the way you TALK, and LISTEN; And LOOK.*
-- with apologies to Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.
.. image:: /images/picT.png
:align: left
-.. raw:: latex
-
- \dropcap{t}
-
-ext adventures, otherwise known collectively as interactive fiction (IF),
-were highly popular computer games during the 1980s. As technology evolved
-they faded from the market, unable to compete with increasingly
-sophisticated graphical games; however, IF was far from dead. The Internet
-grew, and Usenet discussion forums offered a focal point for fans of the
-genre. By developing IF programming tools and systems, organising contests
-and writing tutorials and reviews, these enthusiasts have led a revival
-responsible for many notable works, including some whose quality arguably
-surpasses that of the best commercial titles of the 1980s.
+|T|\ext adventures, otherwise known collectively as interactive fiction
+(IF), were highly popular computer games during the 1980s. As
+technology evolved they faded from the market, unable to compete with
+increasingly sophisticated graphical games; however, IF was far from
+dead. The Internet grew, and Usenet discussion forums offered a focal
+point for fans of the genre. By developing IF programming tools and
+systems, organising contests and writing tutorials and reviews, these
+enthusiasts have led a revival responsible for many notable works,
+including some whose quality arguably surpasses that of the best
+commercial titles of the 1980s.
+
+.. Generated by autoindex
+.. index::
+ single: TADS
Nowadays, IF is a hobby; almost everything that you need to begin writing
your own text adventures is available, for free, on the Internet. While
as meaning "display on the player's screen the arbitrary character or
characters which are represented here by the placeholder *string*".
-Examples might include::
+Examples might include:
+
+.. include:: /config/typethis.rst
+
+::
print "Hello world!";
print "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on
the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish
from the earth.";
-We place the "TYPE" symbol alongside game fragments which you can type in
-as a part of our working examples. This differentiates them from other
-code snippets whose only purpose is to illustrate some particular feature.
-
-.. todo::
-
- The "TYPE" symbol doesn't really work here. Think of a better way to
- indicate typed-in fragments.
+.. include:: /config/typeinfo.rst
Useful Internet resources
=========================
* http://mirror.ifarchive.org/
+ .. Generated by autoindex
+ .. index::
+ single: IF Archive
+
The IF Archive (or actually a high-speed mirror copy of it), from which
you can download almost anything that's free and in the public domain.
For a clickable map of Inform-related parts of the Archive, see
* :newsgroup:`rec.arts.int-fiction`
+ .. Generated by autoindex
+ .. index::
+ single: RAIF
+
The Usenet newsgroup for authors of IF, commonly known by the
abbreviation RAIF. Here you'll find discussion on IF technology,
criticism and game design issues, and fast, friendly and knowledgeable
* :newsgroup:`rec.games.int-fiction`
+ .. Generated by autoindex
+ .. index::
+ single: RGIF
+
The complementary newsgroup for IF *players*, often known as RGIF.
.. todo::
independently and later in enjoyable collaboration -- of using, and
eventually of presenting, the Inform text adventure development system.
-| *Roger Firth*
-| *Wallingford, England*
+| |FILL| *Roger Firth*
+| |FILL| *Wallingford, England*
-| *Sonja Kesserich*
-| *Madrid, Spain*
+| |FILL| *Sonja Kesserich*
+| |FILL| *Madrid, Spain*
-| *August 2004*
+| |FILL| *August 2004*
.. rubric:: Footnotes