Interactive Fiction

Interactive Fiction

Contents

Introduction

Getting Started

For those interested, Interactive Fiction (IF) or ‘text-based adventure games’ originated in the 1970s. As computers had limited graphical capabilities, writing text to a screen and having the player type instructions that the game could understand was much more practical. Graphical games were just too complicated and resource draining. However, with the advent of faster computers and more memory, IF died out. It could not compete with the latest games. It lives on in cyberspace, in the hearts and minds of programmers cum writers/writers cum programmers throughout the world and on this webpage.

On this webpage you will find instructions on how to download and play IF (something sadly lacking from a lot of IF pages) and a small number of games created by me that you can play. In the grandest sense of the word, this is FREEWARE. You will not be expected to donate, nor will you be charged for anything on this site.

Getting Started

Step 1: Download Filfre ‘97

A self-install file is available from this [link].

Filfre (‘Feel Free’) is an IF interpreter that will let you ‘play’ the games. To install, double-click the downloaded *.msi file and follow the prompts.

Step 2: Select a game from the list below, right-click and save it to your hard drive. You will notice it is packaged as a *.zip archive, and will have to be unzipped. To unzip the game file, right-click the archive and select ‘Extract here...’ from the dropdown menu. Once unzipped, you will see the *.zblorb game file.

Open the file by either right-clicking the *.zblorb file and clicking ‘Open With’, then select ‘FilFre’ from the list or open FilFre, open the ‘File’ dropdown menu, select ‘Open New Story’ and select the *.zblorb file you wish to open.

Step 3: You will be presented with a brief introduction (that sets up your character, location and what the objectives of the game are – typically), the name and author of the game and a description of the room you are in.

Step 4: Type commands where a ‘>’ appears, and hit enter. Remember, the game is not too smart so only understands certain commands (a list of commands can be found below).

Step 5: Enjoy yourself! (Note: Failure to enjoy yourself will result in your hard drive being spontaneously and maliciously wiped by the webmaster – just kidding: P).

Downloads

Ah, the meat. At present, we have only [1] game for you to play, though we hope to expand this in the near future. Right-click to download.

[1] A Simple Game

How to Play

IF games are not too bright, and only recognise certain commands. This guide should prove useful to the beginner.

Moving Between Rooms

go north go northeast go northwest

go south go southeast go southwest

go east go up

go west go down

North, south, east and west are the most common. Your character will ALWAYS face north. Northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest are used left often. If you enter a room from the NORTH, and you want to return to the room you were just in, you should exit that room from the SOUTH. Likewise, if you enter a room from the SOUTHEAST, and you want to return to the room you were just in, you should exit that room from the NORTHWEST. Confused? Probably. That is why none of the games on this site feature anything outside of north, south, east, west, up and down. It’s just easier. The game will tell you if you cannot go a certain way (i.e. if a door or wall is blocking your path or if there is simply no room to be found in that direction). An example:

Library

You are standing in the library.

>go north

You go north.

Sitting Room

You are standing in the sitting room.

>go south

You go south.

Library

You are standing in the library.

Taking Things (Not Kleptomania)

take mantelpiece

pick up clock

take pen and papers.

Self-explanatory, really. If you wish to pick something up, type ‘take’ or ‘pick up’ and then the name of the object (or objects) you wish to take. Somethings, however, cannot be taken. The game will tell you this. An example:

Library

You are standing in the library. You see a mantelpiece (on which a clock sits) and a table (with a pen and the important papers on it).

>take mantelpiece

You can’t take that.

>pick up clock

It appears to be fastened to the mantelpiece.

>take table

It is too heavy.

>take pen and papers

Pen: You slip the pen into your pocket.

Important Papers: Taken.

Opening and Unlocking Doors

unlock library door with red key

open library door

lock sitting room door with blue key

close sitting room door

Some rooms have doors between them. Doors may be either opened or closed, locked or unlocked (though, logically, if a door is locked it is also closed, though a door can be unlocked and closed). To unlock a door, you will need to right key (unless the author is lazy and has a ‘magic key’ that unlocks all doors’ :P). An example:

Library

You are standing in the library.

>go north

The library door is in the way.

>open library door

It appears to be locked.

>unlock library door

What would you like to unlock the library door with?

>blue key

The blue key does not unlock this door.

>unlock library door with red key

The library door is now unlocked.

>open library door

The library door is now open.

>go north

You go north.

Sitting Room

You are standing in the sitting room.

Talking to People

ask the Ms Cottington about room

ask the Ms Cottington about herself

You will sometimes encounter NPCs (Non Playable Characters) in the game. These only have a limited number of responses, though you can ask them about various topics if you need information. If the NPC you are talking to does not know anything about a certain topic, they will not respond. Later games may feature functionality where you can have NPCs handle objects and move to other rooms, though this is not yet built in. An example of asking a character about something:

Sitting Room

You are standing in the sitting room. Ms Cottington is here.

>ask the Ms Cottington about room

Its lovely, isn’t it?

>ask the Ms Cottington about herself

I am the lady of the house, Ellen Cottington.

>ask the Ms Cottington about rats

Ms Cottington does not respond

As you can see, ‘the Ms Cottington’ (the NPC) is programmed to respond, “Its lovely, isn’t it?” when asked about the room and “I am the lady of house, Ellen Cottington.” when asked about herself. However, she is not programmed to respond if asked about rats. If you ask the same question twice, the NPC may or may not respond differently.

Further Information

If you desire any further information, or would like to see what the ‘big boys’ are up to, try this [link].

Links

A few links you may find interesting:

Inform 7 Homepage, about the fantastic tool used to create the IF available on this site.

Brass Lantern, your one-stop shop for IF, beginner guides and much, much more.

Filfre Homepage, for more information on the Z-Machine Interpreter we recommend.