Zarfhome

LOLGRUE T-shirts

Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We now have LOLGRUE t-shirts! (Eagerly awaited ever since the LOLGRUES first appeared.) "Hungry grue iz HUUNNGRY" is the slogan. The background shows the cutest grue we could find, illustrated in the oscuroscuro technique which is traditional in grue folk art. Courtesy of Cafepress.

(If these are popular enough, I'll pony up for a real Cafepress page and add more LOLGRUE slogans.)

Mini-Review: The Lost Crown

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Review of The Lost Crown, the latest ghost adventure from Jonathan Boakes.

Draco Concordans

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

I've finally gotten out a major update of Draco Concordans. Well, not major -- about twenty entries updated, out of over 900. But I added a couple of good bits.

Most of the new material was discovered or figured out by commenters. Thanks to my father, Esa Peuha, Rydra Wong, and the late Avram Davidson (whose Adventures in Unhistory is fifteen treasure troves of recherché wealth).

Game Genre and Game Interaction

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

New essay on Game Genre and Game Interaction. I presented this as a talk at UVA on the 22nd.

LOLGRUES

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

It's the great new craze that's sweeping the Internet, and who am I to disagree? LOLGRUES!

(Don't miss my epic rendering of all of Zork 1 in LOLGRUE.)

Design Sketch for an MMO Adventure Game

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

My last Uru post brought up the idea of a completely fan-run game for the Uru community. Here is my design sketch for how to build it.

(Link is to my essay as posted on the Gameshelf Blog. It's also in my regular collection of Uru essays on this web site. But the Gameshelf is prettier and allows comments and stuff.)

Praser 12

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

New puzzle: Praser 12. This is not IF; it's not interactive at all, just a web page containing a puzzle. Read the document, you can solve the puzzle.

("Praser" is a label I've applied to a series of puzzles I've been creating since I was a kid. There's no connecting story or theme. Praser 5 is the only other one that's online; the rest weren't that great. 12 benefits from my experience playing the MIT Mystery Hunt, so expect that sort of thing if you're familiar with it.)

Zarf's iPhone Note Recorder

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The iPhone SDK was announced last week, and I followed through on my self-promise and bought an iPhone. Behold my first iPhone application: Zarf's iPhone Note Recorder.

To be sure, I didn't make this with the SDK. (Apple won't start approving third-party apps until June.) It's a web toy. It's not even a web application; it's just a Javascript widget. You type in some text, and the widget turns it into a link. Bookmark the link, sync it to your iPhone (or iPod Touch), and you have your text on your mobile. Since the iPhone lacks a synchable note tool, I find this very handy. (I used it to transfer my book list.) At least it'll be handy until June, when fifteen third-party note apps will be released at once.

The Fame Spreads

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Gamasutra offered to reprint my Uru: Beyond Cancellation essay as an opinion piece. Go me!

Ongoing Uru Review: Better Instancing

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Because I can't leave the dead alone, I have written up my ideas for a Better Instancing System for Uru Live. No, it will never be adopted. But if you're designing a new MMO adventure game, it might be a good starting point.

Mini-Review: Next Life / Reprobates

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Next adventure review: Next Life. Annoying almost beyond words. But I found some words anyway.

Ongoing Uru Review: Beyond Cancellation

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A week ago we were told, after weeks of silence, that Myst Online: Uru Live was being cancelled. Again. I have now finished writing my thoughts beyond cancellation.

The Gameshelf Blog

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

By the way, if you watch this page but want more Zarfy goodness, check out the new Gameshelf Blog. Regular commentary -- well, irregular commentary -- on games and gaming of all sorts, by Jmac (a Volity co-conspirator), myself, and others. The Uru essay above is crossposted there, but scroll down; there's more you haven't seen.

Lara Collection 003.001: Restored Memoir

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A short story, simultaneously Myst and Edward Whittemore fanfic: Restored Memoir (Lara Collection 003.001). If you recognize traces of other stories, that wouldn't be a coincidence.

Books I Bought in 2007

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

My list of books I bought in 2007 (plus a few more) and what I thought of each one.

Mini-Review: Ghost in the Sheet / S.C.A.R.E.

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Been a while since I wrote a game review, so here's Ghost in the Sheet.

Two Uru Things

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

A couple of random Uru projects:

More On Writing Games: Rules for a collaborative narrative journally two-player role-playing sort of game, intended for the Myst universe.
Uru Age Route Map: A subway-style line map of the Ages of Uru, as of the end of the first "season".

Ranked Pairs Vote Resolver

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0000

I whipped off a Python implementation of the Condorcet Ranked-Pairs election system. I used this algorithm a couple of years ago for the Ice Game Design Contest; but the implementation I used then was based on some really old Python libraries, and getting it running was painful. This is a simple Python script. Perhaps you will find it useful.

Mini-Review: Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Short review: Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle.

Boodler: a programmable soundscape tool

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0000

And now, progress on Boodler!

Boodler version 1.6.0 is now up. This is functionally similar to the old 1.5.3 release; it's not the all-dancing all-new system. That's in progress. But I have made serious improvements in the distribution:

Boodler is now built and installed with a standard Python distutils script. This alone should make life easier for everybody.
Boodler now builds every output module that it can build, instead of just one. You can select an output driver when you run it.
New Ogg Vorbis and Shoutcast output drivers, contributed by Aaron Griffith.
An output driver which writes straight to stdout. You can pipe this into ices or an equivalent audio streaming client.
On the Mac, if you have more than one sound device, you can select any of them for output.

Draco Concordans

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0000

So I haven't been writing game reviews; I haven't been making much progress on Boodler; I haven't been writing IF. What, my loyal fans wonder, have I been working on?

Draco Concordans: a concordance for John M. Ford's The Dragon Waiting.

This is a big chunk of work. I started in back in February, and I've been pounding on it steadily since then. My aim has been to cover all the allusions, in-jokes, historical references, indirections, and implications in Ford's novel. I also index the appearances of all the characters and historical figures. All cross-referenced and cross-linked for your edification.

I am under no illusion that I found everything. (In general, I don't know history from a hole in the ground -- although I did a lot of digging in this particular field.) Contributions are welcome. See the web site for my contact info. I will be updating it as information arrives.

StonerView

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Alexander v. Below has contributed a version of StonerView as a MacOSX screensaver. There was one of those already, but now it's a universal binary, and the source code is available as a modern-style Mac XCode project.

Ongoing Uru Review: Episode 6: "A New Light"

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000

And a review of the second Uru episode, "A New Light". (Which is Episode 6, to reduce future confusion.)

Ongoing Uru Review: Episode 5: "Scars"

Thu, 31 May 2007 00:00:00 +0000

My review of Uru's first monthly story episode, "Scars".

Hymn to a Mad Scientist

Sun, 06 May 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Hymn to a Mad Scientist, as would be performed by Gene Wilder if he'd ever heard of it or me. I wrote this almost a year ago, in honor of the Narbonic web-comic by Shaenon Garrity. Why post it now? Because Shaenon Garrity included it in the comments to today's Narbonic rerun strip. Thanks!

Plum Lake

Fri, 04 May 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Over the past month or so, I have perpetrated a series of posts on the Uru web forums: Plum Lake. Plum Lake is an Age which I have imagined. I am trying a variety of ways to convey in, in the overall medium of a web forum. Consider:

Linking - (descriptive prose)
Reconnoiter - (transitional work)
Hilltop and Pit - (interactive scenario)

I also have a discussion of how the third (the interactive one) played out.

Mini-Review: Safecracker 2

Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Mini-review: Safecracker 2 (more visibly titled Safecracker, but I already reviewed a game with that title).

A Terror in Flesh

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Because it is International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day, I shall repost A Terror in Flesh. In case you missed it the first time. A short story. (See here for more of IP-STPD.)

Boodler Mailing List

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000

I have set up a boodler-general mailing list. (Hosted at Sourceforge.) Remember Boodler? That's my nifty soundscape project. Boodler is over five years old, and it's time to wake it back up. If you're interested, subscribe and see what's going on.

Mini-Review: Echo: Secrets of the Lost Cavern

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Mini-review: Echo: Secrets of the Lost Cavern.

Interactive Fiction

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

About me, for once... Delightful Wallpaper has won the 2006 XYZZY awards for Best Writing, Best Puzzles, Best Individual Puzzle, and Best PC.

Review: Myst Online: Uru Live

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

And finally, my complete review of Uru Live. This is the one written for newcomers to Uru. If you've been following my occasional essays, you may also be interested in Role-Playing in the Cavern, which I posted a couple of weeks ago. (Yes, I have ongoing projects not related to Uru. Give me some time.)

Uru Live: Change Notices

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

More Uru hackery (yes, I'm wrapped up in it but good). I will be maintaining change notices for the game. That is, I'll be tracking new things and areas as they appear in the game. And more interestingly, I have RSS feeds for these changes, in three varieties: spoiler, no-spoiler (just tells you that something's new), and location-only (tells you something's new and in what Age). You can subscribe to these feeds with any RSS client, or add them as Livejournal friends, or whatever amuses you.

Uru Live: Ongoing Review

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

I have updated my Uru Live Ongoing Review page with some essays I have written about the game's current and (possible) future development. These were originally posted on the Uru Live web forums.

Books I Bought in 2006

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

My list of books I bought in 2006 (plus a few more) and what I thought of each one.

Uru Live: A Newcomer's Guide and Answer Sheet

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

I have revised my old Uru Newcomer's Guide and Answer Sheet. The Uru Live relaunch is coming closer... we hope... and they've started inviting players in for a new "Preview" testing phase. (See the Uru forums.) This edition of the game is even more of a "throw the player in and watch him sink" than the original -- no instruction manual at all -- so I have written up answers to common newbie questions.

Reviews: IF Competition 2006

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000

About time I put up my reviews of the 2006 IFComp entries. At least, the 17 of them that I played. (But excluding the one that I wrote.)

Delightful Wallpaper

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000

A new IF game! Delightful Wallpaper has taken sixth place (and also Miss Congeniality) in the Twelfth Annual Interactive Fiction Competition. I entered it under the pseudonym "Edgar O. Weyrd", so perhaps you played it weeks ago but didn't guess it was me. Or perhaps you did guess.

Rule-Based Programming

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000

I put up a page linking to my ideas on rule-based programming (for IF design). Most of these ideas exist as long posts on rec.arts.int-fiction. I haven't tried to collect them or turn them into a coherent presentation -- I'm just collecting links for future use. Also, some links to related research papers and textbooks.

Mini-Review: Keepsake

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Quick adventure review for the fall season: Keepsake. Some good puzzles, some serious UI problems.

Snake Cake

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

I did not see Snakes on a Plane. I did, however, make a Snake Cake. I don't do a web page every time I bake a cake, but this does count as a cultural phenomenon.

Glk: An Interface Standard for Interactive Fiction

Sun, 13 Aug 2006 00:00:00 +0000

After much procrastination: Glk spec 0.7.0 and Glulx spec 3.0.0. These updates bring full Unicode support to Glk/Glulx. This will eventually make Inform 7 much cooler.

Zarf's SVG Tarot

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Yet another Tarot project: Zarf's SVG Tarot. This is a preview (only Major Arcana yet) of a Tarot deck I'm doing for Volity Zarcana. No, the game doesn't exist yet. But when it does, this will be the default Tarot deck.

Volity Werewolf

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Volity Werewolf is on-line and playable. You need to download the Gamut client application, which is why this is a link to the whole Volity web site. I am pretty psyched about this. Volity works. People can play games.

Mini-Review: Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy)

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Short review of Fahrenheit (a.k.a Indigo Prophecy). I know, everyone else played it months ago.

A Handy Kit

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000

I've finished my first Inform 7 sample: A Handy Kit. It's not a game; it's a reimplementation of the toolcase from Spider And Web. (And therefore contains spoilers for the early part of that game.) I wanted to discover how comfortable Inform 7 is for complicated gadgets. Answer: pretty comfortable; I was able to do everything I wanted to do. I didn't have to compromise or uglify my code to work around weaknesses in the language. However, there are still compiler bugs which I did have to work around.

Volity Developer's Blog

Fri, 05 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Back to writing about me... we've felt for a while that Volity should have a developer blog. Now Andy Turner has finished adding some blog software to the web site. Behold the Volity Developer's Blog. It has a double handful of posts already -- I've been writing them for a couple of months, actually, so I just had to post and backdate. (Sorry about the enormous tooltips; we'll fix them soon.)

Inform 7: Public Beta

Tue, 02 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000

This page is usually reserved for Stuff Zarf Did. But I'm going to make an exception for Inform 7. Graham Nelson, after three-ish years of work, has released a completely new and brilliant text adventure development system. You've probably never used anything like it. If you have used something like it, you thought it was a cute toy and would never turn into a useable, useful system. Well, here is my first I7 test game:

"Testcase" by Andrew Plotkin
The Kitchen is a room. The wand is in the Kitchen.
Instead of waving the wand, say "Fizzy sparks."
Before waving the wand, if the wand is not held, instead say "You're not holding that."

That's the source code. Compile it and it runs. Now, consider this: the natural-style code is just one of the advances of Inform 7. There's also a kick-ass IDE (Mac and Windows currently, Linux coming), and a semantic, rule-based world model which I cannot feasibly explain in this margin. Mostly because I haven't wrapped my own head around it yet.

Mini-Review: Tomb Raider: Legend

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Mini-review of the new Tomb Raider game. Mostly I'm discussing the way it uses a physics engine to construct puzzles.

Volity: Developer Beta

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000

I haven't been posting about this, but there has been steady progress on Volity, and we are now ready to call the game-development framework a beta release. By which I mean, there are libraries, documentation and sample code. You can write a game, and people will be able to play it. (The game-playing part of the system has been in beta for a couple of months now.)

Zarf Does Stuff

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000

This represents a year's worth of work on my part and more than a year's worth from the other Volity conspirators. I can confidently say that it is a good system. If you have a multi-player, turn-based game -- card games, board games, anything like that -- and you want to put it on the Internet for people to play, check Volity out. Fast prototyping, playtesting, online promotion for a retail product, or because you want to play your favorite game.

Computer Games Magazine Interview

Sat, 04 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0000

The April issue of Computer Games magazine has an article on interactive fiction. As preparation for that article, the writer interviewed me (and also Emily Short) via email. We both wrote long interview replies, which were mostly cut from the article. For posterity: the complete interviews.

Blorb: An IF Resource Collection Format Standard

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000

This will not be of huge general interest, but I have updated the Blorb spec to version 2.0. Blorb is a format for packaging resources (graphics and sound) for an IF game. The new spec adopts Ogg (for compressed sound files), adds a "frontispiece" chunk, and has some other sweet jaggery-pokery.

Books I Bought in 2005

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Slightly late (and sorry about the web server being down over the weekend): my list of all the books I read in 2005 and what I thought of them. It's not perfect, because I also read a large handful of library books, and I probably bought some books that I didn't get around to reading. But it's most of the stack.