Author: emshortif

Inform 5U92

…is now out. To people who were not waiting for bugs to be fixed, this may seem like a pretty low-key build: a huge amount of work went into it, but much of that work had to do with improving internal code in preparation for an eventual release of the Inform source, rather than with producing new features. Assorted things are now more cleanly implemented and a better foundation for future improvements, but that doesn’t make for glamor in the change log.

However, of possible note to readers here: the latest build does (as I mentioned in an earlier post) allow for scenes to be given properties, which means that it is now possible to make rules about what is allowed to happen during a type of scene — as in

Instead of going somewhere during a restrictive scene: …

We do not yet have the ability to write generic rules about when types of scene begin and end, which I would also like; but this may improve matters somewhat for heavy users of Inform scenes.

In other news, it is now possible to define new directions freely — something that we felt was an omission from the outset, so I am glad that is checked off the list.

IntroComp and Hooks

In a post explaining the purpose of IntroComp, Stephen Granade wrote

I think IntroComp has benefit beyond people turning specific intros into games. Neil deMause started the competition because so many games’ openings were terrible, and he wanted people to think more about how they hook players.

In practice, it feels as though IntroComp is used this way less than I’d like. Many of the entries turn out to be alpha-tests of one kind or another: the author is showing us an unfinished system that doesn’t have its narrative in any kind of shape, because he wants to know whether the mechanics work or whether the setting strikes people as interesting.

It would be useful if IntroComp were more of a referendum on Writing a Good Hook, because we need some more of that. IF hooks have to accomplish two separate things:

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Some impressions on Introcomp

I tried the IntroComp 08 games and was turned off by most of them on the first playing (and wrote up notes about why). Later I felt guilty about that and gave several a second try. So the comments for some of these are divided into first impressions and second impressions. Sometimes the second impressions are warmer.

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Scaffolding and Scene-based Design

One of the things I find useful in developing a very plot-oriented piece of IF is to leverage the scenes mechanism as much as possible, designing as follows. I’m not sure this really qualifies as advice so much as some personal experience that may or may not suit others’ writing styles — people tend to approach IF design in different ways. Still, FWIW:

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