X-Git-Url: https://jxself.org/git/?p=ibg.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=about.rst;h=ae816b9e731f76c6ae2b40182efc26fb9f97ced1;hp=84c443718842cac287cda73f83b0c56503b386ac;hb=abd9bb494e05d4ddebd8363875ba4bd63f993171;hpb=32e6323676b92eb33f4d8300e790003303be3cc1 diff --git a/about.rst b/about.rst index 84c4437..ae816b9 100644 --- a/about.rst +++ b/about.rst @@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ About this guide ================== -.. highlight:: inform +.. highlight:: inform6 .. epigraph:: @@ -11,7 +11,16 @@ -- with apologies to Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. -Text adventures, otherwise known collectively as interactive fiction (IF), +.. 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 they faded from the market, unable to compete with increasingly sophisticated graphical games; however, IF was far from dead. The Internet @@ -83,13 +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*". @@ -150,7 +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, @@ -158,7 +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. @@ -196,11 +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. @@ -221,7 +234,6 @@ eventually of presenting, the Inform text adventure development system. .. [#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.