Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction,rec.arts.int-fiction (More info?)
In 1982 I got my first computer--a Commodore VIC-20. One of the early games
that I played was "The Count" by Scott Adams. It seemed like a radical idea
at the time, using words to describe what was going on rather than graphics.
Although the two-word parser is too primitive by today's standards, to
someone who is 9 years old this was an unbelievable experience.
I was a terrible programmer back then, I sadly tried to attempt to write my
own adventures, but my parser consisted of trying to determine every
possible command in a particular room (example: INPUT C$:IF C$="GET AXE"
THEN PRINT"IT'S NOT HERE".... IF C$="GET WOOD" AND W=0 THEN W=1
RINT"WOOD
TAKEN", etc). The VIC-20 manual didn't get too deep in the details of
programming. Plus, with only 3.5K of RAM, my adventure games were only 7-8
rooms at best because of the many IF statements.
My problem was solved when I got "Write Your Own Adventure Programs"
published by Usborne Books (http://tinyurl.com/aohrz). This was a quantum
leap for me for improving my programming ability. I had no idea that I
could use arrays, string parsing (mid$, left$, right$). I wrote many text
adventures, none were published, but I had fun, mulling over my code for
hours before making my game perfect.
Years later, fast-forward to 2005 and feeling nostalgic about old computer
games, I search Google and I find several websites dedicated to Interactive
Fiction. I like the idea that there is a universal programming language
(zcode) that is independent of platform. My primary computer gaming
platform today is the Gameboy Advance and I was pleasantly surprised to find
a zcode interpreter for it (GBAFrotz). Now I can re-play my favorite Scott
Adams classics while I commute to and from work. There seems to be a
problem with the save game option, but it works for the Infocom games.
Oh, I'm also reading the zcode programmer's manual. I'll be getting into
writing IF again. Perhaps in a few months I'll be contributing to the IF
archive.
In 1982 I got my first computer--a Commodore VIC-20. One of the early games
that I played was "The Count" by Scott Adams. It seemed like a radical idea
at the time, using words to describe what was going on rather than graphics.
Although the two-word parser is too primitive by today's standards, to
someone who is 9 years old this was an unbelievable experience.
I was a terrible programmer back then, I sadly tried to attempt to write my
own adventures, but my parser consisted of trying to determine every
possible command in a particular room (example: INPUT C$:IF C$="GET AXE"
THEN PRINT"IT'S NOT HERE".... IF C$="GET WOOD" AND W=0 THEN W=1
RINT"WOODTAKEN", etc). The VIC-20 manual didn't get too deep in the details of
programming. Plus, with only 3.5K of RAM, my adventure games were only 7-8
rooms at best because of the many IF statements.
My problem was solved when I got "Write Your Own Adventure Programs"
published by Usborne Books (http://tinyurl.com/aohrz). This was a quantum
leap for me for improving my programming ability. I had no idea that I
could use arrays, string parsing (mid$, left$, right$). I wrote many text
adventures, none were published, but I had fun, mulling over my code for
hours before making my game perfect.
Years later, fast-forward to 2005 and feeling nostalgic about old computer
games, I search Google and I find several websites dedicated to Interactive
Fiction. I like the idea that there is a universal programming language
(zcode) that is independent of platform. My primary computer gaming
platform today is the Gameboy Advance and I was pleasantly surprised to find
a zcode interpreter for it (GBAFrotz). Now I can re-play my favorite Scott
Adams classics while I commute to and from work. There seems to be a
problem with the save game option, but it works for the Infocom games.
Oh, I'm also reading the zcode programmer's manual. I'll be getting into
writing IF again. Perhaps in a few months I'll be contributing to the IF
archive.
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