Inform 7
Where did the idea for InkleWriter come from? A genre of computer-games, called Interactive Fiction. One game led the way for Interactive Fiction in 1977. A game called Zork.
Zork had no graphics. Instead, the player read descriptions of people, places and things. Zork had no avatars and no sprites. But the player could still control a character: he typed commands like "get," "open" and "use." And he used these commands on things in the environment.
Zork pushed the imagination to its limits. The game's creators used imagination to make a world that people could play in. The players used imagination to move around in this world. Both parties did this, using only words.
Today, you can make a game like Zork with a tool called Inform 7. Inform 7 lets you write your game-story, test it and save it. When you save it, it turns into a computer-game you can play in your web-browser.
With Inform 7, the writer makes the worlds, writes the descriptions and creates the commands. She does this by writing in plain-English. Then, Inform 7 interprets her writing. Then, it turns her writing into objects and attributes. If a problem happens, Inform 7 gives feedback.
Inform 7 comes with rules and conventions; you learn about these when you read its manual.
Kids will like Inform 7 for the same reasons they like InkleWriter. But Inform 7 will give them more of a challenge. With InkleWriter, the writer gives the reader a fixed set of options. This way, he forces the reader through the story. With Inform 7, he gives the reader a set of actions. But he tells the reader nothing about how to use the actions. Or what objects to use the actions on. Or in what order. This way, Inform 7 brings game-design theory into the writing process.
Give it a try.
Requirements
- Computer
- Windows, Apple, Linux