Parser-based interactive fiction: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 15:17, 5 February 2025

How to Play Interactive Fiction (An entire strategy guide on a single postcard). Written by Andrew Plotkin. Design by Lea Albaugh. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. This postcard shows the typical pattern of commands used in parser-based IF.

Parser-based interactive fiction is a kind of interactive fiction in which the player types instructions (for example, "Take apple" or "Unlock the door with the golden key"), and the game's parser analyzes the instructions to determine what happens next. A parser-based IF game is sometimes called a text adventure.

A parser IF game usually has an underlying world model that allows the player character to move from one location to another, examine scenery, and interact with objects.

Authoring systems for creating parser IF include Inform 7, TADS, Adventuron, and Dialog, among others. More authoring systems for parser games are listed at Authoring systems for parser-based IF.

Links

Frequently Asked Questions About Interactive Fiction at the Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation website.

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 [[File:Play-if-card.png|right|thumb|500px|'''How to Play Interactive Fiction''' (An entire strategy guide on a single postcard). Written by [[Andrew Plotkin]]. Design by [[Lea Albaugh]]. Licensed under a [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/ Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License]. This postcard shows the typical pattern of commands used in parser-based IF.]]
-'''Parser-based interactive fiction''' is a kind of [[interactive fiction]] in which the player types instructions, and the game's [[parser]] analyzes the instructions to determine what happens next. Typically, the player types commands like "Pull lever" or "Unlock the door with the golden key." A parser-based game is sometimes called a [[text adventure]].
+'''Parser-based interactive fiction''' is a kind of [[interactive fiction]] in which the player types instructions (for example, "Take apple" or "Unlock the door with the golden key"), and the game's [[parser]] analyzes the instructions to determine what happens next. A parser-based IF game is sometimes called a [[text adventure]].
-A parser game usually has an underlying world model that allows the player character to move from one location to another, examine scenery, and interact with objects.
+A parser IF game usually has an underlying world model that allows the player character to move from one location to another, examine scenery, and interact with objects.
 Authoring systems for creating parser IF include [[Inform 7]], [[TADS]], [[Adventuron]], and [[Dialog]], among others. More authoring systems for parser games are listed at [[Authoring systems for parser-based IF]].