Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
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From: kjfair@midway.uchicago.edu (Kenneth Fair)
Subject: Re: I can't learn Inform
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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 02:56:37 GMT
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In article <316A645B.2A6D@tid.es>, PAZ SALGADO <japaz@tid.es> wrote:

>Hello!
>
>        I have just started to read this newsgroup yesterday and a very
>large lot of questions and answers talk about Inform (I expect to write
>it in correct way). I suppouse that Inform is a very popular, and useful
>object-oriented language to develope I-Fs.
>
>        How or Where can I obtain more information about Inform?
>
>        Over which platform does Inform run? Any? PC? Unix? or what?

I suggest looking at the IF Authoring FAQ [Parte Corporeal] for lots
of answers on how to write IF.  (*What* to write is covered in the
[Parte Spiritual].)  If it has expired on your news server, I think
you can find a copy on the Interactive Fiction archive, ftp.gmd.de.

Here's a quick summary about Inform.  Inform is a freeware (under the
GNU Public License, if I'm not mistaken) object-oriented programming
language for creating Interactive Fiction.  There are others, TADS
being its main rival.  There are several Inform compilers, of which
I know ones exist for Unix, DOS, and Macintosh.  These compilers
take Inform source and produce Z-Machine code, the same code produced
by Infocom.  This code can then be played using a Z-code interpreter,
of which many free versions exist for lots of platforms.  The Z-code
produced by Inform is therefore effortlessly portable to any machine
for which a Z-interpreter has been written.

The best part about Inform (and TADS as well) is that much of the 
work of writing interactive fiction has already been done for you.
The compiler comes with libraries that contain a parser, a whole set
of predefined actions, and knowledge about much of the universe.
You basically only need to define the exceptions to the general rules.
You can create an amazingly complex world with only a few hundred lines
of code.

I would suggest, if you haven't already, that you get a copy of a
a Z-interpreter for your machine (JZIP for DOS and MaxZIP for Macintosh
are both well regarded).  Then get a couple of story files and play
them (they have filenames that end with ".z3" or ".z5" or ".z8").  If
you have time, I'd suggest the large but masterful "Curses", written
by Graham Nelson, the author of Inform.  This will (hopefully) be fun,
but it will also give you some experience with the format of Inform
games and how the system works.  Post questions about the games
themselves to rec.games.int-fiction.

Then, once you've played around with it for a while, get the Inform
compiler for your machine.  Make sure you get the documentation:
o The Inform Designer's Manual - tutorial and language specification
                                 for Inform.
o The Inform Technical Manual - additional technical Inform details
o The Specification of the Z-Machine - the "assembly" language
o The Craft of Adventure - Tips on writing _good_ interactive fiction

Of these, you definitely need the Designer's Manual right away to
learn the language.  Go through the manual step by step and try out
the example code as you go along.  Be sure to start simple, with just
one room and a couple of simple objects.  Get a bunch of other source
code and steal ideas from that.

If you have any more questions about Inform or how to use it, post
them here in rec.arts.int-fiction with a subject line that starts
with "[Inform]" so people can filter your question properly.

Good luck, and happy Infocomming!
Ken

--
KEN FAIR - U. Chicago Law  | Power Mac! | Net since '90 | Net.cop
kjfair@midway.uchicago.edu | CABAL(tm) Member | I'm w/in McQ - R U?
        Technology is a way of organizing the universe so that man
        doesn't have to experience it.  --Max Frisch
