Does anyone here play IF?

[James Kay]

Any links to IF engines and games downloads?

[Las Naranjas]

Here's one.

http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=3087

Play.

Since they're all abandonware and/or freeware, underdogs is a good place to get started.

[James Kay]

Here's one.

http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=3087

Play.

Since they're all abandonware and/or freeware, underdogs is a good place to get started.

Cheers, but as I got a lot of the now-abandonware then-cutting edge games the first time round, I am specifically interested in the hobby/amateur creations. Any stockpiles of those?

[scotch]

http://ifarchive.org/ is a huge collection of newer IF.  It has various interpreters and compilers for IF too, if you want to try making some.
The best games will probably be found in the Inform and TADS sections, they are the two most widely used languages for IF and have the most flexible parsers.

The underdogs does have many of the best modern freeware IF games on it's site though, the IF section there is a good place to look for the best games from the annual IF competitions.

[Nellie]

If you're new to the archive, here's an article explaining its structure:

http://brasslantern.org/players/guides/ifarchive.html

And here's Baf's Guide, which is a nice way to search through the games by genre, rating, awards, etc, and also read some mini-reviews of many of the games:

http://www.wurb.com/if/index

[James Kay]

Cheers guys! I'll defenitely check them out while I should be doing AGS stuff!  

[LordHart]

I just started writing one myself to tell an earlier story of my main character from the Sandman Chronicles.

I'm using Syphler's IF source (which is pretty cool, I must say) to write it in AGS, and I've just finished doing the basic interface graphics and changing the script around a bit.

[Las Naranjas]

The underdogs does have most of the better homemade ones. Perhaps I was unclear.

[Pesty]

http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=2067

Here is one I loved.

You must love it too.

[Hueij]

Another good place to check on IF is Usenet. I used to hang out on rec.arts.int-fiction (about the technical aspects of creating IF) and rec.games.int-fiction (about IF in general).

[GarageGothic]

Hey Pestilence, I'm just downloading Ad Verbum now but won't have time to play it till later. Is it anything like that weird Infocom game "Nord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of It"? I loved all those wacky puns and wordplays.

[Ghormak]

Ad Verbum is brilliant. I obey Pesty by loving it. It's basically filled with word puzzles. Clever word puzzles that you'll end up loving too, not just horrible puns or something like that. I love it.

[Dave Gilbert]

Play "Anchorhead."  It's very dark and atmospheric.  Gorgeously written and a thrilling story.  It has a special place in my heart because it was the first game I ever beta tested! ")

[Goldmund]

Yes, I do love IF, although normally I find them too demanding - that's how visual age spoils us. Therefore I think that Legend's late IFs (like Gateway) were probably the way to go, although the storylines weren't that sophisticated.
I don't really like the majority of modern IFs, because it seems to me that the designers concentrate on "tricks", "things that haven't been done yet" with damage to the story, which, in my opinion, should be in the center of any game.
I believe that you're mistaken, GG, about the superiority of puzzles in IF. The problem is that they're not so much more innovative than the ones in point'n'clicks, but simply demand true reasoning.
Take the infamous "paper sheet under door" puzzle.
Take point'n'click played by a moron: he/she selects all inventory items and "uses" them on the door. Finally, sheet of paper works and the character puts it under the door, later on, a pencil also works and voila, we have the key.
In IF, first, you have to examine the door, maybe even the keyhole. The only hint you have is that there's key on the other side. You have your inventory, but you cannot "use" it (the power of IFs lies in the lack of "use" command, the command that makes everything trivial). You have to think, then type "put paper under door", "insert pencil in keyhole" - you see what I mean? You have to know what you're doing.

And, of course, without graphics there are no limits to the designer's fancy. The medium's obviously more noble, and equally less popular than point'n'clicks.

I would very much like to do an IF one day, especially as HUGO and TADS allow you to use some graphics and music. Which I like.

P.S.
As for recommendations: Gateway 1&2, Fallacy of Dawn (all three with graphics), Shades of Grey.

[Sylpher]

As a shamless plug I might as well mention..

http://www.sylpher.com/if.html

IF is possible in AGS but I would only recommend doing it if you feel like AGS needs an IF game in it. Otherwise an engine made for it is a much better plan.