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| 1 | +.\" Copyright (c) 2019, 2024 Andy Kosela <akosela@andykosela.com> |
| 2 | +.\" All rights reserved. |
| 3 | +.\" |
| 4 | +.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without |
| 5 | +.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions |
| 6 | +.\" are met: |
| 7 | +.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright |
| 8 | +.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. |
| 9 | +.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright |
| 10 | +.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in |
| 11 | +.\" the documentation and/or other materials provided with the |
| 12 | +.\" distribution. |
| 13 | +.\" |
| 14 | +.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' |
| 15 | +.\" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED |
| 16 | +.\" TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A |
| 17 | +.\" PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR |
| 18 | +.\" CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, |
| 19 | +.\" SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT |
| 20 | +.\" LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF |
| 21 | +.\" USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND |
| 22 | +.\" ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, |
| 23 | +.\" OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT |
| 24 | +.\" OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF |
| 25 | +.\" SUCH DAMAGE. |
| 26 | +.\" |
| 27 | +.Dd December 6, 2024 |
| 28 | +.Dt INF 6 |
| 29 | +.Os |
| 30 | +.Sh NAME |
| 31 | +.Nm inf |
| 32 | +.Nd Inform 6 programming language |
| 33 | +.Sh SYNOPSIS |
| 34 | +.Nm |
| 35 | +.Ar game.inf |
| 36 | +.Nm |
| 37 | +.Op Fl 5 |
| 38 | +.Ar game.inf |
| 39 | +.Nm |
| 40 | +.Op Fl r |
| 41 | +.Ar game.scr game.z3 |
| 42 | +.Nm |
| 43 | +.Op Fl w |
| 44 | +.Ar game.key game.z3 |
| 45 | +.Nm |
| 46 | +.Op Fl h |
| 47 | +.Pp |
| 48 | +.Sh DESCRIPTION |
| 49 | +Inform is a design system for interactive fiction, created in 1993. |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +Interactive fiction is a literary form which involves programming a |
| 52 | +computer so that it presents a reader with a text which can be explored. |
| 53 | +Inform aims to make the burden of learning to program such texts as |
| 54 | +light as possible. It is a tool for writers intrigued by computing, and |
| 55 | +computer programmers intrigued by writing. Perhaps these are not so |
| 56 | +very different pursuits, in their rewards and pleasures: |
| 57 | + |
| 58 | + The sheer joy of making things... the fascination of fashioning |
| 59 | + complex puzzle-like objects of interlocking moving parts and |
| 60 | + watching them work in subtle cycles... the delight of working in |
| 61 | + such a tractable medium. The programmer, like the poet, works only |
| 62 | + slightly removed from pure thought-stuff. He builds his castles in |
| 63 | + the air, from air, creating by exertion of the imagination. |
| 64 | + (Frederick P. Brooks, "The Mythical Man-Month", 1972) |
| 65 | + |
| 66 | +Inform 6.15 was the last release which supported creating Z-code version |
| 67 | +3 (ZIP) games which are suitable to be played on 8-bit micros. This |
| 68 | +release specifically supports creating Atari XL/XE disk images. |
| 69 | + |
| 70 | +More resources: |
| 71 | + http://www.inform-fiction.org |
| 72 | + http://www.ifarchive.org |
| 73 | + http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction |
| 74 | +.Sh OPTIONS |
| 75 | +The following command line arguments are supported: |
| 76 | +.Bl -tag -width Fl |
| 77 | +.It Fl 5 |
| 78 | +create Z-code V5 release. |
| 79 | +.It Fl r |
| 80 | +replay game from a transcript file. |
| 81 | +.It Fl w |
| 82 | +replay game from a walkthrough file. |
| 83 | +.It Fl h |
| 84 | +show usage. |
| 85 | +.Sh EXAMPLES |
| 86 | +.nf |
| 87 | +$ inf game.inf |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +which compiles your source file into a Z-code v3 release. It also |
| 90 | +creates Atari XL/XE MD disk image ready to be played. |
| 91 | + |
| 92 | +If you have a transcript file from game, you can use the -r option to |
| 93 | +replay it in game.z3 |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | +$ inf -r game.scr game.z3 |
| 96 | + |
| 97 | +You will receive three files. |
| 98 | +game.scr - new transcript file |
| 99 | +game.key - walkthrough file |
| 100 | +game.qzl - save game from a transcript file |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +You can also construct a simple walkthrough file and then automatically |
| 103 | +replay its sequence of commands in your games. |
| 104 | + |
| 105 | +Example of a game.key |
| 106 | +L |
| 107 | +N |
| 108 | +W |
| 109 | +GET LAMP |
| 110 | +SCORE |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | +A walkthrough file can be very short, meant just to test some sequence |
| 113 | +of commands within your game, or it can be a full solution walkthrough. |
| 114 | + |
| 115 | +$ inf -w game.key game.z3 |
| 116 | + |
| 117 | +Once again you will receive three files. |
| 118 | +game.scr - new transcript file |
| 119 | +game.key - walkthrough file |
| 120 | +game.qzl - save game from a walkthrough file |
| 121 | +.Sh FILES |
| 122 | +.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /usr/local/share" |
| 123 | +.It Pa /usr/local/share/inform615 |
| 124 | +.Sh SEE ALSO |
| 125 | +.Xr frotz 6 |
| 126 | +.Sh AUTHORS |
| 127 | +.An Graham Nelson <graham@gnelson.demon.co.uk> -- Inform programming |
| 128 | +language and compiler |
| 129 | +.An Andy Kosela <akosela@andykosela.com> -- inf tool and packaging |
| 130 | +.Sh THANKS TO |
| 131 | +Will Crowther and Don Woods for creating the original Adventure, Infocom |
| 132 | +for the Z-machine standard and memorable titles like Zork, Graham Nelson |
| 133 | +for designing this beautiful engine for creating worlds in text. |
| 134 | + |
| 135 | +rec.arts.int-fiction and rec.games.int-fiction community of IF authors |
| 136 | +and enthusiasts. |
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