TADS 3

TADS 3
Authoring system
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Links	Home page Download
Developer	Michael J. Roberts
Format	TADS 3
Interaction style	Parser
Systems	Windows, macOS, Linux
System details
Latest version	3.1.3 / 7 Mar 2016
Status	Stable
Uses interpreter
Multimedia support	Color, Graphics, Sound
License
Notes
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TADS 3 is the current version of TADS (The Adventure Development System) authoring system created by Michael J. Roberts. It supersedes TADS 2, which is no longer in development (although it's still used by some authors).

XYZZY Awards 2011 TADS 3.1: Best Technological Development

TADS 3.1 introduces language-level networking support, online play, and dynamic compilation. It won Best Technological Development at the 2011 XYZZY Awards.

History

TADS 3 comprises an object-oriented programming language, the TADS compiler, a virtual machine called T3 for playing compiled games, and adv3, a rich library for developing IF and building a game world.

Version 3 of TADS pushes the boundaries of IF development and world design in a number of areas, including full sense-passing, areas which are composed of a number of sub-rooms, and NPC interaction with the world. The first beta release was on September 12, 2004. The first general release, TADS 3 version 3.0.12, was released on September 15, 2006.

The release of version 3.0.15 coincided with the release of a greatly enhanced version of the Workbench IDE for Windows. The 3.0.16 release (April 2008) includes a number of library enhancements and significantly expanded documentation.

Eric Eve's Adv3lite is an alternate library for TADS 3 designed to reduce library complexity while maintaining adv3's expressiveness and richness.

Links

Official or Collaborative Links

• TADS 3 Home Page
• Discussion Forum
• TADS 3 - LiveJournal community.
• On-line documentation - Complete documentation, including:
  • Eric Eve's Getting Started in TADS 3
  • Eric Eve's Learning TADS 3
  • Eric Eve's TADS 3 Tour Guide
  • TADS 3 System Manual
  • TADS 3 Technical Manual
  • TADS 3 Library Reference Manual
  • Introduction to HTML TADS
• TADS 3 Library Translation Resources - starting point for people who plan to translate the TADS 3 library to other languages.
• TADS3 manuals on the if-archive.
• Technical articles from tads.org, including Eric Eve's Getting Started guide. (Many of these articles are now included in the on-line documentation.)

Documentation, Tips, and Examples by Individuals

• Tips on Using TADS 3, collected by Jim Aikin.
• TADS 3: All in One Place by Greg Boettcher.
• TADS 3 Pages by Søren J. Løvborg.
• TADS 3 Library Proto-Documentation by Edward L. Stauff.
• adv3 periplus (unofficial reorganization of documentation)

Other

• A Comparison of TADS 3 and Inform 7 by Eric Eve.
• XYZZY Review for "Best Technological Development (re: TADS 3.1) by Iain Merrick.