Interactive Fiction (IF) in Ubuntu

<<TableOfContents>>

== Packages for Ubuntu ==

 * Gargoyle: an IF player where text is treated as art. Gargoyle is in Ubuntu universe.
 * Inform7: though not in Ubuntu, it runs on Maverick ([[http://inform7.com/download/|packaged for Ubuntu]]). Currently doesn't run on Natty.

== (Semi-) Related Projects on Launchpad ==

 * [[https://launchpad.net/myriad-worlds|Myriad-Worlds]]: a Python IF experiment, based on Paul !McGuire's [[http://pyparsing.wikispaces.com/|PyParsing]] adventure engine example.
 * [[https://launchpad.net/pyf|PyF]]: A Launchpad mirror/import for the code maintained on [[http://code.google.com/p/pyf/|Google project hosting]].
 * [[https://launchpad.net/isotope|Isotope]]/[[https://launchpad.net/isomyr|Isomyr]]: projects that support basic text adventuring with isometric views.

== Programming for Interactive Fiction ==

=== Python ===

Brian Wisti has put together a set of tutorials for Python beginners, using Interactive Fiction as the learning context:

 1. [[http://coolnamehere.com/geekery/python/ifiction/index.html|Interactive Fiction with Python]]
 1. [[http://coolnamehere.com/geekery/python/ifiction/single-round.html|Handling a Single Round]]
 1. [[http://coolnamehere.com/geekery/python/ifiction/multiple-scenes.html|Tying the Scenes Together]]
 1. [[http://coolnamehere.com/geekery/python/ifiction/multiple-turns.html|Handling Multiple Turns]]

Paul !McGuire made an example adventure game using [[http://pyparsing.wikispaces.com/|PyParsing]]. It is now included in the examples which you can download from SF (link is on the project page). You can download Paul's !PyCon 2006 presentation ("An Interactive Adventure Game Engine Built Using Pyparsing") [[http://lab.sif.mruni.eu/doc/python-pyparsing/pycon06-AdventureEngineUsingPyparsing-notes.pdf.gz|here]].


[[http://py-universe.sourceforge.net/|Python Universe Builder]] (PUB) is an Interactive Fiction module for
Python. It provides a programming environment similar to that of Inform or TADS but runs under any Python
interpreter.

[[http://code.google.com/p/pyf/|PyF]] is another Python IF implementation that uses XML to create stories. It is a cross-platform interactive fiction development library for Python. It aims to make writing interactive fiction easy and efficient without a need to learn a specialized IF language. PyF uses XML to model the game world but allows the actual game logic to be written in pure Python. This separation of logic and actual game content aims to improve the workflow of writers and programmers alike.

== IF Resources ==

 * [[http://ifdb.tads.org/|Interactive Fiction Database]]
 * [[http://www.ifwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page|Interactive Fiction Wiki]]
 * [[http://www.sparkynet.com/spag/|Society for the Promotion of Adventure Games]]
 * [[http://www.ifarchive.org/|The Interactive Fiction Archive]]
 * [[http://onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/11/24/interactive_fiction.html?page=last&x-showcontent=text&x-order=date&x-maxdepth=0|O'Reilly ONLamp article, "Choosing a Language for Interactive Fiction"]]