Text Based Adventure Games

[Blorx]

Ok, so I've been trying to think of something to do recently, and I have some pretty good writing skills (some of which are now going to good use), it's just that BOOKS are really hard to write and I don't have the right motivation.
I also have ZERO skills in animation and game programming, and I have to do graphics pixel by pixel and a 50x50 image can take upwards of 3 hours for me.
I know a million of them exist but, I'm currently looking for a good text-based adventure game engine for Mac, and if i can't find one, I have both Crossover and COG to try and get one for Windows to run on here.

Anyhow, if I start making these text-adventure games, in the style of Zork or the likes, will you guys give them a playthrough? I mean, I promise to make things as clear as I possibly can and still keep it challenging, and it's not like the puzzles are going to be boring. There are just going to be NO graphics, NO sound and NO visible action.

[BunnyWithStick]

TADS is pretty much the best you can get in the way of text adventures. Easy to program, too.

I had a quick look through and you CAN find a compiler and player for OSX. Even with TADS 3. (FrobTADS to be specific)

Not sure if TADS 2 has one, but it should.

[Blorx]

Alright, thanks man, I'll look into that.
^^

EDIT:
FrobTADS has add-ons for TADS 2 and 3.

[Ozymandias]

NO graphics, NO sound and NO visible action.

FOX ONLY

FINAL DESTINATION!!!

[BunnyWithStick]

Oh, TADS 2 as well? I must've not been thinking straight when I saw that on the FrobTADS page.

But really, there's just that something about the intricate things you can make in text adventures. No need for super-complex code just to have a space ship you can enter, fly around and talk to various people onboard of.

[Blorx]

yep
^^

[Kestril]

NO graphics, NO sound and NO visible action.

NO ITEMS

FOX ONLY

FINAL DESTINATION!!!

Fixed.

[Blorx]

Okay...is there a binary release of this?
My terminal isn't liking the commands it's telling me to use...

[Healey007]

silvercreator is a good one for mac
the script language is really easy to learn, espescially if all your gonna do is write text and keep track of variables

[Blorx]

Actually, i found a free one called Inform that looks promising and easy to learn.
I've used SilverCreator in the past and wasn't impressed, to be honest.

[BunnyWithStick]

SilverCreator is not designed for use with text adventures. Not only will things end up looking pretty hacked together, but you'll have to write a lot of stuff in order to achieve true text-adventureness, such as things happening with the passage of time, characters wandering around and doing stuff on their own and all the various object classes that would normally already exist in the standard importable TADS files.

[Blorx]

Well, for now I'm using Inform. I had a lot of trouble with TADS and unless I can find a binary copy, then I don't think I'm going to end up using it.

[BunnyWithStick]

I used to use a binary OS9 compiler/player for TADS 2, but that was OS9. I can't even use that now that I have a MacBook.

[Blorx]

So I FINALLY messed around in Inform 7. It's seeming really easy to pick up and use. The only thing is that the built-in ruleset and remembering the way that rules you define have to be defined are really going to annoy me for a while, but it's the best I could get as a set binary. I didn't get much done. Only a single room tonight and it's only half-way done. Another room is defined but not filled. I'm working on an idea of my own first. I may make a "SUPER DUPER TEXT ADVANTRe" later though, so look out for me posting about it. ;D

[BunnyWithStick]

It must be a very complex room, then.