[ibg.git] / chapters / 01.rst

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 Just what is interactive fiction?
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   | *A was an archer, who shot at a frog;*
   | *B was a butcher, who had a great dog.*

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efore we start learning to use the Inform system, it's probably sensible
to consider briefly how IF, which has many narrative elements, differs from
regular storytelling.  Before we do *that*, though, let's look at an example
of a familiar folk tale.

    "There was once a man called Wilhelm Tell, from high in the Swiss Alps
    near the town of Altdorf.  A hunter and a guide, a proud mountaineer,
    he lived by his skills in tracking and archery.  It happened one day
    that Wilhelm visited the town to buy provisions, and he took his son
    Walter with him.

    The region was at the time governed by Hermann Gessler (a vain and
    petty man appointed as vogt by the Austrian emperor), who attempted a
    show of power over his subjects by placing his hat on a pole in the
    town square, for everyone to salute.  Reluctant citizens were
    "encouraged" by a troop of the vogt's soldiers, who made sure that
    their bows were sufficiently respectful.

    Wilhelm knew of the hat, and of the humiliating exercise in obeisance.
    So far he had managed to avoid the town's square, sure that -- given
    his open dislike for the vogt -- his refusal to bend the knee would
    cause trouble.  Today, however, he needed to pass near the pole to
    reach Johansson's tannery.

    If Wilhelm had hoped for a lucky break, we'll never know.  The square
    was filled with market-day crowds; the soldiers were especially keen in
    their salute- enforcing duties, challenging everyone with loud shouts
    and the occasional coarse expletive.  Wilhelm threw a protective arm
    over his son's shoulder and walked determinedly without looking at the
    pole or the guards.

    A soldier called to him; Wilhelm took no notice.  Other guards focused
    their attention on the archer.  "Salute the vogt's hat," he was told.
    A tense silence followed.  Wilhelm tried to keep going, but by now he
    was surrounded.  The men knew of him; one counselled Wilhelm to give a
    cursory nod towards the hat and be done.  Everybody in the vicinity was
    watching, so the disrespect could not be ignored.  There was a long
    pause.  Wilhelm refused.

    Word was sent to Gessler, who rushed to the square with reinforcements.
    The little man was delighted at the chance of making an example of the
    trouble-maker.  He mockingly recounted the many skills of Herr Tell,
    speculating that such mastery maybe accounted for the pride that
    prevented acknowledgement of the Emperor's authority.  The vogt
    understood all that, and would give him a fair chance.  If Wilhelm were
    able to shoot true at an apple from fifty paces, Gessler would be
    inclined to show mercy; however, to make things interesting, the apple
    was to be balanced on Walter's head.

    Everything was set up.  Wilhelm selected and mounted an arrow and
    slowly raised the bow, conscious of the motionless and brave stance
    that Walter was displaying.  He pulled, feeling the tension mount on
    the string and his fingers, through his hands, into his arms.  He'd
    made much more difficult shots in the past, at fleeting deer, at
    soaring birds; but this was the life of his son...  he could not fail,
    would not fail.

    Wilhelm let loose.  The arrow flew straight and true, violently pinning
    the apple to the tree behind the boy.  The crowd exploded in a roar of
    relief and admiration, and Gessler, disappointed, had no option but to
    let them go.

    Years later, Wilhelm led an uprising against the vogt... but that's
    another story."

And now an extract from the same tale, this time in the form of a tiny text
adventure game.  If you're new to interaction with text adventures you'll
find some general instructions in "How to play an IF game" on page 209, and
you can see a complete transcript of the game in the "William Tell" story
on page 219::

     A street in Altdorf
     The narrow street runs north towards the town square.  Local folk are
     pouring into the town through the gate to the south, shouting
     greetings, offering produce for sale, exchanging news, enquiring with
     exaggerated disbelief about the prices of the goods displayed by
     merchants whose stalls make progress even more difficult.

     "Stay close to me, son," you say, "or you'll get lost among all these
     people."

     >GO NORTH

     Further along the street
     People are still pushing and shoving their way from the southern gate
     towards the town square, just a little further north.  You recognise
     the owner of a fruit and vegetable stall.

     Helga pauses from sorting potatoes to give you a cheery wave.

     "Hello, Wilhelm, it's a fine day for trade!  Is this young Walter?
     My, how he's grown.  Here's an apple for him -- tell him to mind that
     scabby part, but the rest's good enough.  How's Frau Tell?  Give her
     my best wishes."

     >INVENTORY
     You are carrying:
       an apple
       a quiver (being worn)
         three arrows
       a bow

     >TALK TO HELGA
     You warmly thank Helga for the apple.

     >GIVE THE APPLE TO WALTER
     "Thank you, Papa."

     >NORTH

     South side of the square
     The narrow street to the south has opened onto the town square, and
     resumes at the far side of this cobbled meeting place.  To continue
     along the street towards your destination -- Johansson's tannery --
     you must walk north across the square, in the middle of which you see
     Gessler's hat set on that loathsome pole.  If you go on, there's no
     way you can avoid passing it.  Imperial soldiers jostle rudely through
     the throng, pushing, kicking and swearing loudly.

     ...

Some of the more obvious differences are highlighted by these questions:

*   Who is the protagonist?

    Our example of narrative prose is written in the third person; it
    refers to the hero as "Wilhelm" and "he" and "him", watching and
    reporting on his activities from afar.  In this sample IF game, you are
    the hero, seeing everything through Wilhelm's eyes.

*   What happens next?

    The regular narrative is intended to be read once, straight through
    from beginning to end.  Unless you didn't pay attention the first time,
    or you're planning to critique the story, there's generally no need to
    go back and read a sentence twice; if you do, you'll find exactly the
    same text.  The author leads the way and sets the pace; you, as the
    reader, just go along for the ride.  In IF, that's usually much less
    true.  The author has created a landscape and populated it with
    characters, but you choose how and when to explore it.  The game
    evolves, at least superficially, under your control; perhaps you
    explore the street first and then the square, perhaps the other way
    round.  There usually are multiple paths to be found and followed --
    and you can be pretty certain that you won't discover them all, at
    least on first acquaintance.

*   How does it all turn out?

    You can tell when you've come to the end of a regular narrative -- you
    read the last sentence, and you know there's no more.  In IF, it's
    clear enough when you reach an end; what's much less apparent is
    whether that's the only conclusion.  In the transcript from the example
    game, you win by shooting the apple from Walter's head.  But what if
    you miss?  What if you hit him by mistake?  Or fire instead at the
    hated vogt?  Or even stand the tale on its head by bowing obsequiously
    to the governor's hat and then going about your business?  All of these
    are possible ways in which the game could come to an end.  The phrase
    "what if" is the key to writing successfully, and should always be in
    the forefront of an IF designer's mind.

*   Where did Helga come from?

    You'll notice that Helga and her stall don't appear in the regular
    narrative; she's a distraction from the tale's momentum.  But in the IF
    game, she fulfils a number of useful functions: mentioning the names
    "Wilhelm", "Walter" and "Frau Tell" (so that you know who the tale's
    about), introducing the all-important apple in a natural manner and,
    above all, providing an opportunity for the "I" in IF -- some
    interactivity.  Without that -- the chance to interact with the tale's
    environment -- the game is little different from a conventional piece
    of fiction.

*   That item looks interesting; can you tell me more about it?

    In the regular narrative, what you see is what you get; if you want to
    know more about alpine life in the fourteenth century, you'll need to
    consult another source.  IF, on the other hand, offers at least the
    possibility of delving deeper, of investigating in greater detail an
    item which has been casually mentioned.  For example, you could have
    explored Helga's stall::

           " ... How's Frau Tell?  Give her my best wishes."

           >EXAMINE THE STALL
           It's really only a small table, with a big heap of potatoes,
           some carrots and turnips, and a few apples.

           >EXAMINE THE CARROTS
           Fine locally grown produce.

    You see those descriptions only if you seek them; nothing you find
    there is unexpected, and if you don't examine the stall, you've not
    missed anything important.  Nevertheless, you've enhanced the illusion
    that you're visiting a real place.  Such details would rapidly grow
    tedious if the stall and its contents were described in full each time
    that you pass them.

*   How do I work this thing?

    Whereas the presence of Helga is an elaboration of the folk tale, the
    shooting of the arrow (it's in the transcript in "William Tell" story
    on page 219, not in the extract above) illustrates the opposite
    principle: simplification.  The tale builds dramatic tension by
    describing each step as Wilhelm prepares to shoot the apple.  That's
    OK; he's been an archer all his life, and knows how to do it.  You, on
    the other hand, probably know little about archery, and shouldn't be
    expected to guess at the process and vocabulary.  Let's hope you know
    that you need to shoot at the apple -- and that's all it takes.  The
    game explains what was involved, but doesn't force you through each
    mundane step.

Of course, all of these are generalisations, not universal truths; you
could find fine works of IF which contradict each observation.  However,
for our purposes as beginners in the craft of IF design, they represent
useful distinctions between IF and conventional fiction.

We'll come back to the "William Tell" tale in a later chapter, but before
then we'll work through an even simpler example.  And before either of
those, we need to download the necessary files which will enable us to
write Inform games.