Fantasias and loaded dice
Worked Examples
These fantasias were originally intended as light-hearted “worked examples” to go into an appendix at the back of the Inform documentation, demonstrating the whole system in the round. But in the end we felt they were too large, and that it would be much tidier to publish them here instead.
(Each of these example links leads to a mini-website for the project in question, created using Inform’s own publishing feature, so that’s another demonstration of a sort.)
Bronze, by Emily Short (2006) (14,000 words).
A puzzle-oriented adaptation of Beauty and the Beast with an expansive geography for the inveterate explorer. Features a detailed adaptive hint system to assist players who get lost, as well as a number of features to make navigating a large space more pleasant.
 
Glass, by Emily Short (2006) (10,000 words).
A conversation-oriented adaptation of Cinderella, taking place in one room. Features non-player characters who seek to bring about certain conversational resolutions, a variety of additional verbs, and a narrative with multiple endings.
 
Damnatio Memoriae, by Emily Short (2006) (15,000 words).
14 AD. Agrippa Postumus, grandson of the recently-deceased Augustus, tries to avoid death at the hands of the next emperor, Tiberius. At his disposal: a couple of old manuscripts, a lamp, and a recalcitrant slave. And a powerful knowledge of the occult affinities of things.
 
When in Rome, episode 1 of 5: Accounting for Taste, by Emily Short (2006).
Manhattan, May, 1954. The last few years, you've settled into a routine. You work at the bank, you go home, you occasionally have dinner with your mother. It is all acceptably ordinary... One day a strange creature crosses your path, and disrupts the schedule entirely. When in Rome is designed as a lunchtime game: there are five episodes, each of which may be played to a conclusion within about fifteen minutes.
 
When in Rome, episode 2 of 5: Far from Home, by Emily Short (2006).
No one can know the truth. Even your mother thinks you've set yourself up as a Private Investigator. The rest of the secret had better stay between you, your secretary Esther, and your autographed photo of Joe DiMaggio.
 
The Reliques of Tolti-Aph, by Graham Nelson (2005) (33,000 words).
This started from a feeling that the Inform documentation examples showed off many IF-like situations involving the modelling of landscape, people and items, but not much that resembled traditional computer programming. To force it to involve some interesting coding, ROTA was devised as a role-playing game, involving lots of randomness, book-keeping and even the dynamic creation of a map during play.