Writing interactive fiction with Inform7
Interactive fiction has a special place in my heart. When I was younger, my friends and I would pass the time telling stories that were a mix of Choose Your Own Adventures and RPGs. It was something I’d enjoy by myself too, I remember having multiple fingers stuck in sections of those Give Yourself Goosebumps books (which you knew were special because of the holographic cover) and flipping back and forth from part to part, revisiting forks in the decision making so I could try and find all the cool and gruesome endings.
So, I was quite happy discover Inform7, a special kind of software that allows you to make your own digital Choose Your Own Adventures – without needing how to code.
Playing interactive fiction on your computer is quite a different experience from reading it or telling it. In a book, where I can feel the weight and the heft of it – I feel like somehow, in an abstract way, there’s a limited amount of possibilities. However, when you’re faced with a blinking cursor on a screen, you begin to wonder about infinities. It seems to be overwhelming, all the commands you should try and all the possible places you could go.
Whether to Walk north, east, south, west. Or whether you’ve forgotten to examine the ground to find a key to the locked door. For some, the trial and error is all part of the fun. The guess work seems worth it when you discover something new or get surprised by an unexpected outcome. For many others though, it’s probably pretty vexing and anxiety inducing to be faced with a blank, unforgiving cursor that “doesn’t recognise your command” (hint, if you are new to the genre – this is a pretty handy guide for common gameplay commands).
Screenshot from Inform7
Regardless of how you feel about the game genre, Inform7 is a fantastic tool for people who are interested in creating interactive fiction. Inform7’s engine allows you to write a game as if you’re writing a story. So unlike other programming languages, Inform7’s code is similar to natural English.
You can also create self-contained executables with Inform7 that you can upload onto the internet and played on a range of computers and operating systems. So people can play your games without needing to install Inform7 or even play them from straight within a browser.
I’d definitely recommend checking out The Warbler’s Nest as an example of what you can do with Inform7 – I finished it in less than an hour. It’s quite haunting, spooky, and atmospheric. A classic of the genre is the Zork series. And if you want a contemporary, non-traditional twist on the text adventure game – you can also play the critically acclaimed Depression Quest.
The documentation that comes with Inform7 it is a bit difficult to understand, but I’ve had some positive experiences with the Inform7 Handbook and the Beginner’s Guide to Interactive Fiction with Inform 7.
For me, a text adventure is a slower way of playing games, and makes me think back of my times in primary school where I’d make up complicated, long interactive fictions in my head. My friends have grown up, many have jobs and families, and they probably don’t have the time or inclination for telling stories, or flipping back and forth through their childhood holographic Goosebumps books.
But it’s good to see that some things remain the same, and if you ever want to ENTER that door or try not to get eaten by a Grue – text adventures are still alive today if you know where to look. And now, they’re easier than ever to make.
Posted in Blog, Games, Technology
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