Craft

Craft articles listed here attempt to answer an author's "how do I do X" questions, like "How do I craft better NPCs?" or "How can I craft better puzzles?" Articles are grouped into categories based roughly on the XYZZY Awards, plus an extra category for promotion, eg: "How can I promote my game?"

For articles about classifications, terminologies, and "what is X" questions, see Theory.

For examples on coding specific game features, see Category:Tutorials.

Game - Making-Of Articles - NPCs - PCs - Promotion - Puzzles - Setting - Story - Use of Medium - Writing

Game

This section can be about design, the game as a whole, or a general catch-all for articles that cover several topics.

• Lessons Learned the Hard Way by Jim Aikin for XYZZYnews #18. Write a walkthrough. Beta-test. Be systematic. And comment, comment, comment.
• Design Patterns by David Cornelson. Tries to define patterns in IF game design.
• IF Cliches by Nate Cull
• 10 Steps to Great Game Design by C.E. Forman for XYZZYnews #1.
• The Hazards of Invisibility, or, Making Your NPCs Respond The Way You Want Them To by C.E. Forman for XYZZYnews #6. A caution against rushing the design phase.
• The Craft of the Adventure. by Graham Nelson. 2nd ed. The IF Archive, 1995. A good starter with some general points about what makes good IF.
• How to Write a Great Game by Dan Shiovitz. Focuses on construction, interaction, and concept.
• General Game-Design/Authoring Notes by Dan Shiovitz. Short assorted notes jotted down.
• Idea to Implementation by Emily Short. Discusses general workthrough strategies on how to get one's game from vague idea to final product.
• Make IF Fast! by J. Robinson Wheeler. Covers the creation of games starting from a mock transcript of play.
• Ideas For Games
• Discussions about game design on the rec.arts.int-fiction news group.

Making-Of Articles

Articles describing the creation of specific games. These may cover any aspect of planning, designing, or crafting the games in question. (Articles listed by author's surname order.)

• Mean Streets by Bad Dog Studios. Primarily focused on lessons learned.
• Writing Cabal by Stephen Bond. Addresses concept development and planning.
• SPAG interview on Primrose Path by Nolan Bonvouloir.
• Comments on Fort Aegea by Francesco Bova. Discusses initial intent, puzzles, coding, and meeting deadlines.
• PHAQ on Photopia by Adam Cadre. Addresses artistic inspirations.
• On Shrapnel by Adam Cadre.
• The Land of the Cyclops by Francesco Cordella. Discusses the possibilities of adapting puzzle material out of classic literature.
• Deadline Enchanter by Alan DeNiro.
• Doggerland Design Notes by Alan DeNiro. Focuses on the themes of the piece and on designing hypertext for very personal pieces.
• SPAG interview on Sting of the Wasp by Jason Devlin.
• Mere Anarchy by Bruno Dias. Discusses design for hypertext, the need to build new tools, and scoping changes over the course of the project.
• Digital Humanities article on All Hope Abandon by Eric Eve. Addresses Biblical inspirations and thematic content.
• RAIF post on Nightfall by Eric Eve. Discusses design concepts and characterization.
• SPAG interview on Elysium Enigma by Eric Eve. Discusses design and TADS 3 coding.
• Missive by Joey Fu. Discusses writing, handling of gender, and other thematic elements.
• Raik postmortem by Harry Giles. Goes into detail about the decision to do dual language work.
• SPAG interview on Lord Bellwater's Secret by Sam Gordon. Discusses puzzle design and the game's ending.
• Down, the Serpent and the Sun by Chandler Groover.
• Toby's Nose by Chandler Groover.
• SPAG interview on All Things Devours by half sick of shadows.
• All Things Devours Wrap-up on rec.games.int-fiction by half sick of shadows.
• Tea Ceremony postmortem by Naomi Hinchen.
• Oppositely Opal by Buster Hudson.
• SPAG interview on An Act of Murder by Christopher Huang. Discusses puzzle design and mystery structure.
• Eidolon by A.D. Jansen.
• SPAG interview on Lost Pig by Admiral Jota. Discusses polish, conversation design.
• Splashdown Post Mortem by Paul J. Furio. A retrospective on the creation of this IFComp title from a first-time IF author.
• SPAG interview on Blue Chairs by Chris Klimas. Discusses freedom in games.
• SPAG #55: Editorial by Jimmy Maher discusses the making of The King of Shreds and Patches.
• Focalization in Multi-Agent Interactive Simulations by Chris Martens. Theoretical and technical background for the multiple-viewpoint hypertext piece Origins.
• Fifteen Minutes postmortem by Ade McT. Discusses puzzle decisions, implementation, and story elements the author wished had been clearer.
• Jigsaw and I by Graham Nelson. Discusses research and design process, and the creation of the protagonist.
• Transparent by Hanon Ondricek. Discusses goals for the design and how they succeeded or failed.
• Following Me by Tia Orisney. Talks about concept development and responds to feedback received in reviews.
• Blog entries on Gun Mute by C.E.J. Pacian.
• A Long Drink by Owen Parks.
• Degeneracy postmortem by Leonard Richardson.
• Grim Fandango Puzzle Documentation - Design specs for Grim Fandango, made available by Tim Schafer in November 2008.
• Ugly Oafs postmortem by Andrew Schultz.
• Hunger Daemon postmortem by Sean M. Shore.
• Aspel Postmortem part 1 and Aspel Postmortem part 2 by Emily Short. Focuses on designing for multiplayer experiences and implementation in Seltani.
• Making of Bronze by Emily Short. Addresses puzzle design.
• Making of Counterfeit Monkey: Puzzles and Toys by Emily Short.
• Making of Counterfeit Monkey: Story by Emily Short.
• Making of Damnatio Memoriae by Emily Short.
• SPAG interview on Floatpoint by Emily Short.
• Making of Glass by Emily Short. Addresses conversation system design.
• Making of Metamorphoses by Emily Short.
• Parlez-Vous Nalian? by Lucian Smith. Discusses the design of the game's famous puzzle.
• Six Gray Rats Crawl Up The PIllow by Caleb Wilson.

NPCs

• NPC Characterization by Emily Short. Extensive discussion. The NPC as object, agent, and interlocutor.
• Two algorithms for creating true character interaction in computer games by Guy Hasson.
• Creating Autonomous Non-Player Characters in Interactive Fiction by Stephen Granade.
• Discussions about NPCs, conversation systems and AI on the rec.arts.int-fiction newsgroup.

PCs

(Articles about types of PCs are on the Theory page listed under Taxonomy.)

Puzzles

• IF Roundtable: The Art of the Puzzle from XYZZYnews #14. Adam Cadre, Lucian Smith, Andrew Plotkin, and Neil deMause discuss puzzles.
• Making Better Puzzles by Stephen Granade.
• Making Fragile Shells by Stephen Granade.
• Designing the puzzles of Escapade! by Juhana Leinonen, March 2010, about his game Escapade!
• Parlez-Vous Nalian? by Lucian Smith from XYZZYnews #16. Lucian discusses the language puzzle from The Edifice.
• Discussions about puzzles on the rec.arts.int-fiction newsgroup.
• Designing the Puzzle by Bob Bates.

Setting

• Laying Out Geography in IF by Emily Short. Covers playability principles, layout, pacing, and the 'edge of the world'.
• Developing a Setting for Fantastical IF by Emily Short. Covers finding your ideas, constructing your map, and presentation.
• Discussions about descriptions & settings on the rec.arts.int-fiction newsgroup.

Story

• Plot, Scene by Scene by Emily Short. Discussion of different scene types, broken down by styles of interaction.
• That Darn Conundrum by Andrew Stern. Discusses the trade-off in game design between freedom, agency, and story. Not specifically about IF, but applicable to it.

Use of Medium

• Desiderata for a Physical Simulation Library by Emily Short.
• What XYZZY Does by Eileen Mullin from XYZZYnews #3. (See also: Xyzzy.)

Writing

• Description Medicine by Michael Berlyn for XYZZYnews #17. Liven up those rooms.
• Descriptions Constructed by Stephen Granade. Descriptions that do more than just describe.
• Exercises in Generated Prose by Emily Short. Overview of some ways Inform 7 can be used to generate tailored room descriptions and other prose.
• Mapping the Tale: Scene Description in IF by J. Robinson Wheeler. Covers the writing of scene descriptions for locations.
• Writing in the IF Gems review quotes collection (also available from the IF Archive).
• Discussions about creative writing on the rec.arts.int-fiction newsgroup.