Inform is a design system for interactive fiction (IF) based on natural language. It’s a radical reinvention of the way interactive fiction is designed, guided by contemporary work in semantics and by the practical experience of some of the world’s best-known writers of IF. The first principle of Inform 7 is that IF is a literary pursuit; IF works are more like short novels than games.
Inform is an object-oriented language. The story files are compiled into a special form of bytecode (Z-code) which can then be run by Z-code interpreters that exist for a whole raft of operating systems.
The system has been used by many leading writers of IF for more than 20 years, for projects ranging from historical reconstructions, through games, to art pieces, which have won many awards and competitions. It’s been used to help people learn to read, learn foreign languages, master the art of programming, learn about history, introduce many game design concepts, and media theory to students at many levels, from elementary school through college and adult education.
Features include:
- Complete system for the authoring of Interactive Fiction.
- Source reads like English sentences (natural language), making it accessible to non-programmers.
- Highly domain-specific, rules-based programming language.
- Declarative rule-based style of programming.
- Infer types and properties of objects from the way they are used.
- Direct support for relations which track associations between objects.
- IDE features include:
- Built-in editor with syntax highlighting.
- Built-in Z-code interpreter.
- View documentation within the IDE.
- One-click compilation.
- Automatically record play-testing commands.
- Facilities for publishing the game tailored to the unique needs of online release.
- Cross-platform support – runs under Linux, OS X and Windows operating systems.
Website: ganelson.github.io/inform-website
Support: Documentation, Forums
Developer: Graham Nelson with help from Emily Short and many other contributors. Gnome front-end written by Philip Chimento
License: Freely redistributable or Artistic License 2.0. Gnome Inform is licensed under GNU General Public License v3.0
Return to Write Interactive Fiction
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