Monthly Archives: August 2010

Twisty

Posted on August 31, 2010 by midiguru

I wish I was a real programmer. There’s a project I’d like to tackle, but it would take me years and drive me bonkers. I can handle basic programming concepts well enough to write interactive fiction, but my games use … Continue reading →

Posted in Interactive Fiction, technology, writing | Tagged | 14 Comments

Mouse Club

Posted on August 30, 2010 by midiguru

My mother had a mouse living in her garage, so she went out and bought a trap. Granted, mice can carry various diseases. Also, it got into a bag of seed for the bird-feeder and made a mess. And what if … Continue reading →

Posted in random musings | Leave a comment

Danger Signals

Posted on August 29, 2010 by midiguru

The parallels between Germany in the 1920s and early 1930s and the United States today are inexact, certainly, but they’re cause for concern. After World War I, Germany was a shambles. Unemployment was high, national morale low, the government ineffective. … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, society & culture | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Turning Readers into Players

Posted on August 29, 2010 by midiguru

We’d all like to see a lot more people playing and enjoying interactive fiction. The question is, how do we move in that direction? Okay, maybe “all” is an overstatement. I’m sure there are a few people who enjoy being … Continue reading →

Posted in Interactive Fiction, technology, writing | Tagged | 7 Comments

Boys Behaving Badly

Posted on August 28, 2010 by midiguru

So I’m stopped at a stop light, along with several other vehicles, and in the rear-view mirror I see a guy walking forward down the line of cars behind me. (Well, actually they were mostly pickup trucks, a fact that … Continue reading →

Posted in random musings, society & culture | 6 Comments

It’s Not About You

Posted on August 27, 2010 by midiguru

I’ve been contemplating the fact that I enjoy writing interactive fiction more than I enjoy playing it. Designing my own model world, and then working through the challenges of implementing it, is fun. All too often, the games I play … Continue reading →

Posted in Interactive Fiction | 6 Comments

A Quick I6 Tip: Local Routine Arrays

Posted on August 26, 2010 by midiguru

I know, I know — most IF authors could care less about Inform 6. But this is kind of cool, so I thought I’d share it with anyone who actually does still use I6. You can create local arrays of … Continue reading →

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A Little Knowledge

Posted on August 25, 2010 by midiguru

This is about the perils of migrating from one programming language to another. Probably all programmers who are more experienced than I at using multiple languages (which would be most programmers, I’m sure) have run into this type of problem, … Continue reading →

Posted in Interactive Fiction | Tagged | 1 Comment

Ka-Boom!

Posted on August 25, 2010 by midiguru

Writing a nonlinear interactive story is a lot of work. Making it realistic is even more work. I’ve started working on a story (using Inform 6) whose plot splits neatly into two parts. The first part is basically puzzle-free — … Continue reading →

Posted in Interactive Fiction | Tagged | 1 Comment

Getting Back to Basics

Posted on August 23, 2010 by midiguru

If I keep harping on this, it’s because I’m happy. I want to share the excitement. Inform 6 is just ever so much nicer to use than Inform 7! I can’t even begin to tell you. If you just wandered … Continue reading →

Posted in Interactive Fiction | Tagged , | 5 Comments