.. 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
+.. only:: html
-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.
+ .. image:: /images/picT.png
+ :align: left
+
+|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
Because this is only an introduction to Inform, many features are treated
rather superficially, or ignored altogether. The definitive text is Graham
-Nelson's Inform *Designer's Manual* (Fourth Edition, July 2001), commonly
-known as the DM4; you cannot hope to use Inform successfully without having
-this splendid book by your side. Our guide should be seen merely as a
-supplement to the DM4, offering step-by-step descriptions of those aspects
-of Inform which are most important on first acquaintance. In any matter
-where we seem at odds with what Graham has written, you should assume that
-he is right and that we are, well, confused.
+Nelson's |DM4| (Fourth Edition, July 2001), commonly known as the DM4; you
+cannot hope to use Inform successfully without having this splendid book by
+your side. Our guide should be seen merely as a supplement to the DM4,
+offering step-by-step descriptions of those aspects of Inform which are
+most important on first acquaintance. In any matter where we seem at odds
+with what Graham has written, you should assume that he is right and that
+we are, well, confused.
As a tutorial, this guide is intended to be printed out and then read
sequentially; it isn't meant for online usage or designed as a reference
Most of the guide's text appears in this typeface, except where we're using
words which are part of the Inform system (like ``print``, ``Include``,
``VerbLib``) or are extracted from one of our games (like ``bird``,
-``nest``, ``top_of_tree``). Terms in **bold type** are included in the
-glossary -- Appendix G on page 273. We switch to italic type for a
-placeholder: for example you should read the Inform statement:
+``nest``, ``top_of_tree``).
+
+.. only:: html
+
+ Terms that are included in the :doc:`Glossary <appendices/g>` appear as
+ links to that glossary entry.
+
+.. only:: latex
-.. parsed-literal::
+ Terms that are included in the :doc:`Glossary <appendices/g>` appear in
+ blue italic. In the PDF version, these are links to the glossary entry.
- print "*string*";
+We switch to italic type for a placeholder: for example you should read the
+Inform statement:
+
+ :samp:`print "{string}";`
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://www.inform-fiction.org/
The Inform home page, maintained by Graham Nelson and a small team of
- helpers. Most important, this is where you can find the *Inform
- Designer's Manual* in PDF format.
+ helpers. Most important, this is where you can find the |DM4| in PDF
+ format.
* 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
A more general list of FAQs about IF authorship, covering both Inform
and the other main systems.
-* news:rec.arts.int-fiction
+* :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,
assistance with your own "how do I..." questions (but please, look in
the manual first).
-* news:rec.games.int-fiction
+* :newsgroup:`rec.games.int-fiction`
+
+ .. Generated by autoindex
+ .. index::
+ single: RGIF
The complementary newsgroup for IF *players*, often known as RGIF.
Alphabet", digitised from a collection of public domain woodcuts, circa
1834, by Steven J. Lundeen of emerald city fontwerks.
-.. todo::
-
- Reference to the drop-caps should only apply to those places they're
- used (just the PDF?).
-
All credit to the generosity of http://briefcase.yahoo.com/ for making
international file-sharing such a breeze.
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
.. [#play]
If you feel confused about IF in general or about this distinction
- between writing and playing in particular, try glancing ahead at "Just
- what is interactive fiction?" on page 13 and at "How to play an IF game"
- on page 209; also, you may find the Ifaq at
- http://www.plover.net/~textfire/raiffaq/ifaq/ helpful.
+ between writing and playing in particular, try glancing ahead at
+ :doc:`chapters/01` and at :doc:`appendices/a`; also, you may find the
+ Ifaq at http://www.plover.net/~textfire/raiffaq/ifaq/ helpful.
projects / ibg.git / blobdiff