A gamified self-discovering documentation system that transforms traditional network documentation into an immersive mystery adventure.
Network Chronicles revolutionizes technical documentation by transforming it from a passive reading experience into an interactive adventure. By embedding critical infrastructure knowledge within an engaging narrative framework, it addresses the fundamental challenge of IT documentation: making it compelling enough that people actually want to engage with it.
Players assume the role of a new system administrator tasked with maintaining a network after the mysterious disappearance of their predecessor, known only as "The Architect." Through exploration, puzzle-solving, and documentation, players uncover both the network's secrets and the truth behind The Architect's vanishing.
Run on Linux or OSX. Written for bash and zsh. Requires jq; node.js is optional but provides advanced features.
Can be installed system-wide (as root) or isolated to a user (without additional privileges).
Ozmoo is a Z-code interpreter for the Commodore 64, 128, Plus/4, the MEGA65 and the Commander X16. You can use this page to build the interpreter and bundle it with a game. You can upload any story file you like, or you can pick one of the story files which are always available in the dropdown list under "Build game". Ozmoo can build games with sound for the MEGA65, but Ozmoo Online lacks the interface for this. We have prepared an archive for download, containing MEGA65 builds of the two games that Infocom released with sound: The Lurking Horror and Sherlock. We also have an archive containing Trinity for C64 (requires REU or dual 1541 drives or a 1581 drive, REU recommended!)
In 2010 I launched a Kickstarter for a full-scale modern text adventure, to be called Hadean Lands. I said “It might take six months; it might take more.”
In October of 2014 (I know), I launched the game on the iOS App Store and started sending out gift codes to my backers. There’s a whole story there, mind you, but let’s not get into it. Two years later I released a Mac/Win/Linux port on Steam and Itch.IO.
In early 2023, Mike Russo bruited the idea of IF Source Code Amnesty Day – a day to release the source for your game, be it good, bad, or janky.
The Hadean Lands source code was part of a high-level Kickstarter reward. About thirty generous backers received it – as a printed volume, not a digital file. And that was a one-time offer. I didn’t want to dilute the value of the reward by make the source more widely available. Nor (I selfishly thought) did I want to spoil players’ experiences by making the source easy to read.
But hey, it’s been almost a decade! Hadean Lands has been sitting out there all this time, earning a tiny (but steady) trickle of money. Lots of people have played it. Spoilers aren’t going to hurt its sales now. Surely more fans are interested in reading it than playing it. And the backers have had their period of exclusivity.
(Truth told, I was already considering the idea of a source code release. I was going to time it for the game’s tenth anniversary. But Source Code Amnesty Day was a way better idea.)
Suspended is a 1983 interactive fiction game written by Mike Berlyn and published by Infocom.
This repository is a directory of source code for the Infocom game "Suspended", including a variety of files both used and discarded in the production of the game. It is written in ZIL (Zork Implementation Language), a refactoring of MDL (Muddle), itself a dialect of LISP created by MIT students and staff.
The source code was contributed anonymously and represents a snapshot of the Infocom development system at time of shutdown - there is no remaining way to compare it against any official version as of this writing, and so it should be considered canonical, but not necessarily the exact source code arrangement for production.
Inform is a programming language used for interactive fiction and other creative purposes. Most users engage with Inform as an app on their devices: there are apps for MacOS, Windows, Linux and Android, but in the centre of each is the same core compiler and software. This website is part of the Github repository for that core, which is written as a "literate program", meaning that it is compiled both to a "woven", human-readable version as well as a "tangled", computer-executable version. You are now reading the woven version.
Infocom games, text adventures, and interactive fiction.
Cypher is an interactive text adventure updated for the twenty-first century. In addition to a Zork-style "type what you want me to do" interface, the game includes detailed full color graphics, sound, and background soundtrack that add to ambience. If you buy the full version you get feelies - stuff in the box that adds to the game and gives you additional clues about what's going on and what you can do.
The text adventure version of the movie The Dark Crystal is now playable online.
Twine is a tool for building interactive, nonlinear stories that are implemented as web pages. It uses a combination of a graphical editor (which lets you create discrete passages and hook them together (it also generates flowchart-like graphs of passages to help you keep track of the structure)) and an HTML compiler on the back end. Includes a simple scripting language to add state and conditionality to the story. If you can write a couple of pages, you can build interactive fiction that you can play in a web browser with this tool. Uses Tiddlywiki-like markup syntax.
A framework written in python for writing a MUD or interactivefiction. Can run as a console app or with a simple GUI that uses tkInter. Even has a webapp. Has a re-implementation of LPC-MUD's soul.c parser. Seems to be very complete insofar as IF is concerned, maybe the soul module will give me some hints for writing a parser.
Github repo: https://github.com/irmen/Tale
A system for writing interactive fiction that models the discourse and dialogue as well as the world in such a way that it can drift slowly over time (i.e., as players interact with it). Allows for different narrative systems (flashbacks, intercutting, out of order). Requires some knowledge of narrative theory, IF, and python to really use. Useful to people researching computational intelligence and development systems. Seems like it's for use on top of other text-based systems instead of implementing a full one.
Jason Scott of textfiles.com is at it again - this time he's making a documentary about interactive fiction - text-based adventures, in other words, like Zork.
Just what it says on the tin. Implements Z-code with cheat commands so you can play Infocom games on whatever system you have Perl installed on. Supports multiple front-end interfaces.
A blog about classic games and science fiction, with a fair amount of interactive fiction stuff thrown in.