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[skaldicpoet9]

Seriously, if you're having Inform troubles, I'd recommend doing what I did. Get a big pot of Assam tea (black) and work through all the examples as fast as possible.

Done and done :D

[sergiocornaga]

Out of interest, would a game as text-based as Phoenix Wright be acceptable? Or is some degree of text input mandatory?

[Derek]

You know for TIGER Assaults, we're not going to be very strict about what you can and can't enter.  The important thing is that we're game-making.

But try to come up with an idea that can be completed.  Again, the emphasis is on creating finished games... so give yourself some time to playtest.

[RegularX]

You know for TIGER Assaults, we're not going to be very strict about what you can and can't enter.  The important thing is that we're game-making.

But try to come up with an idea that can be completed.  Again, the emphasis is on creating finished games... so give yourself some time to playtest.

So if I were to use a format akin to what I used with Randolph Carter:
http://hypergrafia.com/carter/

That would be cool?  I had a prototype of a similar (albeit different) style running before I jumped into National Novel Writing Month, so it would be interesting to have another thing to obsess about....

[moi]

Out of interest, would a game as text-based as Phoenix Wright be acceptable? Or is some degree of text input mandatory?

I never played phoenix wright so maybe I'm asking the same question here but:
Is a game with multiple choices considered as "interactive fiction" or is it mandatory to have free text input?

[Shoot-em-upper]

Is a game with multiple choices considered as "interactive fiction" or is it mandatory to have free text input?

Pretty much all interactive fiction that I've played had free text input.  But, as Derek said, it's okay to do what you think would make a better game.

[Seth]

I'm making a platformer.

[Chris Whitman]

You are standing on a nondescript brick platform. White, elliptical clouds punctuate the otherwise perfectly blue sky overhead.

There is a block here.

There is a goomba here.

> break brick

I do not understand 'break.'

> smash brick

I do not understand 'smash.'

> take goomba

That would be stealing!

The goomba watches you intently.

> jump

You jump at the brick, breaking it with your fist or possibly head!

[MikeDee]

I'm in, sounds like fun.
I'll write the game in C++ and then release the source code.

[Derek]

You know for TIGER Assaults, we're not going to be very strict about what you can and can't enter.  The important thing is that we're game-making.

But try to come up with an idea that can be completed.  Again, the emphasis is on creating finished games... so give yourself some time to playtest.

So if I were to use a format akin to what I used with Randolph Carter:
http://hypergrafia.com/carter/

That would be cool?  I had a prototype of a similar (albeit different) style running before I jumped into National Novel Writing Month, so it would be interesting to have another thing to obsess about....

Yeah, that'd be totally cool!

[Dust]

Hahaha this'll be great. Never thought about making an IF game before. It should be enjoyable.

[alexandersshen]

I'm looking forward to writing a little bit of IF.  It'll be called "Billy and the Cloneasaurus".

[george]

I wanted to thank whoever it was here who mentioned this over at the Intfiction forums -- otherwise I never would have heard of this comp or started checking out this forum, really. Nice place you guys have here.

[skaldicpoet9]

So if I were to use a format akin to what I used with Randolph Carter:
http://hypergrafia.com/carter/

Love the highlighting concept. Great stuff

[Aik]

So ... anyone else looking at Inform 7, their attempts to create something with it, the wordy errors they seem to be getting, the sheer amount of documentation, and just thinking ?

There is, I think, a very good reason that no one tries to use the English language to program things. Having the compiler try and give me a chirpy explanation about what it was trying to do but didn't manage is definately not helping. Give me specific utterly incomprehensible errors that I can google to get proper explanations of any day.

[papu]

Hi, I'm new to the forums but not to tigsource.  I can't remember how I stumbled upon this thread but this contest sounds like fun.  There is plenty of very good IF games out there...

I'm in, sounds like fun.
I'll write the game in C++ and then release the source code.

This really interests me, except the cpp part.  I'd still love to see this when you are done, maybe help you test it too.

Here is a tutorial on writing IF and learning Lisp too:  http://www.lisperati.com/casting.html

I played this great little IF game written in lisp a while ago, called dunnet.  It was pretty fun.

Inform 7 is probably the best bet though, it's pretty impressive.

[george]

So ... anyone else looking at Inform 7, their attempts to create something with it, the wordy errors they seem to be getting, the sheer amount of documentation, and just thinking ?

There is, I think, a very good reason that no one tries to use the English language to program things. Having the compiler try and give me a chirpy explanation about what it was trying to do but didn't manage is definately not helping. Give me specific utterly incomprehensible errors that I can google to get proper explanations of any day.

You're not alone in your thinking here...you might want to look at one of the other IF languages if I7 isn't doing it for you. I think someone mentioned up the thread Adrift, Hugo, TADS 3, Inform 6...those would be the easiest to get help on but there are probably a dozen others that you could try too. For those more into xhtml and javascript you could try something like what they're doing on the Gim'crackd site.

edit: I should add that if you do want to get language-specific help, a good bet are the IF Usenet groups (which Google groups mirrors), the Intfiction forums, and there's also the IFMud...it gets kind of retro, but the communities are out there.

[Chris Whitman]

Just because the language is English-like doesn't mean it isn't still a programming language.

If you're having trouble, it might help to review the technical documentation on what syntax is considered acceptable. The Inform syntax is described by a fairly flexible BNF grammar which combines phrases into sentences using a fixed set of rules.

[RegularX]

So if I were to use a format akin to what I used with Randolph Carter:
http://hypergrafia.com/carter/

Love the highlighting concept. Great stuff

Thanks!  Unfortunately I think the piece works more as an experiment than a game, which is what I'd like to correct if I move it forward.  Before this rendition of Carter, I had tried a few instances of a normal text parser (still using AJAX) and just ran into a lot of circles getting the logic working and not much actual writing done.  My goal with IF is to reverse that, to make it more about the writing and less about the coding - but without necessarily descending back into the simplistic hypertext games of old.

[Melly]

I hereby suggest that there be a pool for the best IF. The winner will receive the title of "Awesome", to be placed on top of his avatar.

Unless Derek doesn`t want any sense of competition to come from this. If so, disregard my suggestion.