IF: Risorgimento Represso release 4 (and source code)

I finally got around to uploading release 4 of Risorgimento Represso to the IF Archive. This version has a number of bugfixes, and is noteworthy for being the final, never-again-to-be-updated release. Oh, it adds a Glulx binary as well, more for the sake of completeness than anything else. The Glulx version does not add any fancy graphics or anything to the game, but was really done to check that my auto-opening and auto-unlocking door features from Risorg would work in Glulx.

I also released the game's source code, which can be found either at my website on MTS (click here) or at the IF Archive here. It's written in Inform, and thus requires the Inform 6.30 compiler and library in order to build successfully. It does include a Makefile though for easy building, so if you're at all interested in Inform or writing your own interactive fiction in general, check it out.

With Risorg1 now firmly out of the way, never to be worked on again, I have been focusing on Risorg2. I've almost completely exhausted the work I've done on the transcript. Let me explain; whenever I have a free moment, but don't necessarily feel like coding the game, I'm working on a high-level transcript of play, detailing room descriptions, play-by-play action and so on. That way, when I feel like coding, I can stay at the coding detail level, and just paste in big chunks of already-written text when it comes to actually spitting stuff out at the user. Not only do the room descriptions slot right in place, but I even have a model for the code--from my transcript, I know how the objects and NPCs should react to a lot of the user input, and can code them accordingly, from the ground up.

I'm also finding that as I write the transcript, I stay more in "player mode"--I anticipate, a lot more, the different things players might try when confronted with specific situations. This should make the beta-test process easier, as some of the more obvious things a beta-tester might try will already have sensible, (and entertaining) responses, rather than generic failure messages.

But anyway, to continue my original train of thought, I've been working on the code to such an extent that I've just about reached the limit of what I had already transcripted, so I guess it's either back to transcript for a little while, or else continue improving and rounding out the code I've already written, or just forge ahead with coding, creating the game experience as I go. I think I'll stick to keeping the transcript and coding tasks largely separate though. It seems to be working pretty well, and I think I'll end with a tighter game as a result.