TADS 3

TADS 3 is the current version of TADS, also created by Michael J. Roberts. TADS 2 is still in use by authors, but it is no longer being developed. Version 3 of TADS (The Adventure Development System) 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.

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

Links

Official or Collaborative Links

• TADS 3 Home Page
• TADS 3 Discussion List - i.e., a mailing list
• 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.

Other

• A Comparison of TADS 3 and Inform 7 by Eric Eve.