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Interactive Fiction


Interactive Fiction is software that simulates an environment in which users use text to control characters and influence the environment. These are commonly called "Text Adventures".

It's like playing a novel.

Projects

Frotz (https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/frotz)
(Latest release for Unix: frotz-2.54.tar.gz and DOS: frotz254.zip)
For a long time Frotz has been a definitive engine for playing interactive fiction. It implements the Z-machine, which was invented by Infocom. With Frotz you can play the old Infocom games. Stefan Jokisch created Frotz for DOS in 1995. It was subsequently ported to many different platforms. In 2002, Stefan changed Frotz's distribution license to GPL and handed custody over to me. The Unix port became the reference version. I have since then maintained and improved Frotz, It is composed of two distinct parts: the core and the interface. This allowed many other programmers to port Frotz to many more computers.

Inform6 Standard Library (https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/inform6lib)
(Latest release: inform6lib-6.12.6.zip)
I prefer writing interactive fiction using Inform6. This version of Inform seemed to be taking the backseat to Inform7. I didn't want Inform6 to languish and fade away, so I picked up custody of the Inform6 library in 2012.

Inform6 Unix Package (https://gitlab.com/DavidGriffith/inform6unix)
(Latest release: inform-6.41-r11.tar.gz) (md5sum 8bf64a2b659c99bde123eaa21a6792a8
This contains everything you need to write programs in Inform6 along with tutorials and documentation. This is not the reference version of Inform6, it's just the packaging and stuff to make it quick and easy to install on Unix machines, including macOS. The Standard Library and PunyInform are included.

The IF Archive Gopher Miror (gopher://gopher.661.org/1/if-archive/)
I maintain a mirror of the Interactive Fiction Archive in Gopherspace.

Here are some works of mine that I feel are good enough for public display.

Uninvited
An unauthorized adaptation.
Release 1 / Serial Number 121026 / Inform v6.32

Shadowgate
An unauthorized adaptation.
Release 8 / Serial Number 040716 / Inform v6.21

Robot Finds Kitten
A Zen Simulation
Release 7 / Serial Number 040523 / Inform v6.30

Links

The Interactive Fiction Wiki
An encyclopedia of everything Interactive Fiction.

The Inform 6 Homepage
The Inform 7 Homepage
The ZILF Project Page
ZIL, Inform 6, and Inform 7 are programming languages for writing games which may be played on Z-machine interpreters such as Frotz.

The Infocom Gallery
The Infocom Gallery (mirror)
Scans and photographs of Infocom packages, manuals, feelies, and other things.

Society for the Promotion of Adventure Games
SPAG is an e-zine covering textual interactive fiction and other types of interactive narrative through reviews, interviews, and articles.

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This page was last updated on January 6, 2024