I'm an aspiring text game designer, interested mainly in interactive fiction, and I've been using Python with a lot of success. Unfortunately, Python is not very distributable. It can't be run in a browser, and the downloaded file requires an interpreter. I'm looking to move into something more distributable.
The problem is this: I really love the elegance of Python, and I'm looking for another system that comes close. JavaScript/HTML isn't nearly as elegant. (What's the JS equivalent of print()
? There isn't one. You have to use <script>
and .innerHTML
etc.). I looked at Inform 7 also, but the language is so horrible when it comes to doing real code (i.e., "less than or equal to"). I've also tried Twine, but I rejected it for the same reason as Inform 7 … plus I really prefer working with the text as a text, without the aid of a IDE.
So is there a simple way of writing cross-platform IF, without sacrificing the power and elegance you can get from Python?
The requirements for the ideal system would be as follows:
- Not requiring an IDE
- Syntax usable for actual programming tasks
- Moderately low-level (I prefer to invent my own game systems)
- Playable on all platforms, especially browsers
- Simple handling of input and output