X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?p=ibg.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=about.rst;h=aa6f5c93e5f24adfe6d2f7da6d6fba4b411a0d17;hp=222e34379baab49a81ddfb110ea6f67d35693b06;hb=95b5702817b987123d71d432f81eeb0c7101b59c;hpb=4fdc1023c4a964cafafa137b12ac5943f0241746 diff --git a/about.rst b/about.rst index 222e343..aa6f5c9 100644 --- a/about.rst +++ b/about.rst @@ -6,13 +6,19 @@ .. 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 + + .. 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 @@ -52,13 +58,13 @@ Scope and approach 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 @@ -86,13 +92,22 @@ Presentation and style 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 ` appear as + links to that glossary entry. -.. parsed-literal:: +.. only:: latex - print "*string*"; + Terms that are included in the :doc:`Glossary ` appear in + blue italic. In the PDF version, these are links to the glossary entry. + +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*". @@ -126,8 +141,8 @@ locations: * 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/ @@ -153,7 +168,7 @@ locations: 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` The Usenet newsgroup for authors of IF, commonly known by the abbreviation RAIF. Here you'll find discussion on IF technology, @@ -161,7 +176,7 @@ locations: 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` The complementary newsgroup for IF *players*, often known as RGIF. @@ -199,11 +214,6 @@ The drop capitals, and their associated poem, are from "A Picture 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. @@ -212,19 +222,18 @@ for devising it all, thereby giving us the opportunity -- first 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.