Andrew Plotkin / is on Nostr

An interactive fiction guy. He/him.

Last Notes

2024-09-30 14:42:15

I have released version 1.5.0 of Lectrote, my multi-format interactive fiction interpreter.
https://github.com/erkyrath/lectrote/releases
The neat new feature is auto-transcripting: Lectrote saves a transcript for *every* game you play. (Hit the “Transcript Browser” menu option.) This should be a big help for debugging, beta-testing, and reviewing.
(The old way of saving transcripts with a TRANSCRIPT command is unaffected. This is separate.)
See https://intfiction.org/t/lectrote-1-5-0-now-with-automatic-transcripting/71346 for more info.
#InteractiveFiction

2024-09-18 20:53:35

Thoughts on _The Crimson Diamond_.
I enjoyed it overall but this is a “deliberately non-modern parser” adventure game and I get a bit down in the weeds about that.
https://blog.zarfhome.com/2024/09/the-crimson-diamond
#GameReviews #InteractiveFiction

2024-08-30 14:49:42

I pulled out my old box of Infocom transcript printouts. Here’s Zork 2, which I believe is the oldest game file in the box.
I don’t know which release this is, but it’s definitely earlier than zork2-r15-s820308. The spacing (no blank lines before prompts) means that it’s Z-machine v2, I *think*.
#Infocom #Zork #InteractiveFiction
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/051/525/513/955/387/original/9f3fedd3551cfaf7.jpeg

2024-08-30 04:33:26

Notes on _Pick Your Own Path on The Oregon Trail_ (2020), a gamebook I picked up at Powell’s. Credited (on the publisher page) to Jesse Wiley.
Why is this interesting? Because it’s not the usual “turn to page 34” style of CYOA book. It’s a pipe-and-tab layout like _Meanwhile_! I’ve never seen one of these other than _Meanwhile_ itself.
https://blog.zarfhome.com/2024/08/tabbed-out-on-the-oregon-trail
#books #gamebooks

2024-08-26 21:18:10

People keep going on about how Google search is terrible now. But in fact I make typos sometimes in my web searches, and when I do, DDG mocks me harshly with “no results”. Google finds the page I was searching for.
I’m just saying, this “guess what the user wanted” stuff is not just for Kids These Days.

2024-08-03 16:43:19

“Is it weird to care about the birthrate?” (nyt, no link, sorry)
No, it’s creepy. *Creepy* is the word you’re looking for.
“We need to worry about the birthrate” is early roadwork for birth control bans. That’s all it is. Conservatives are gearing up to finish off abortion and start in on birth control. Also divorce.

2024-06-25 16:45:37

My conference is wrapped up, which means that I have to turn my attention to the serious job-hunting.
I'm a software dev -- generalist, but I've spent a lot of time working on scripting languages, VMs, UIs for VMs, that sort of thing. The past few years I've been in games (Unity/Unreal) but after two big studio layoffs/shutdowns in fourteen months that's not looking rosy. So it's back to general tech for me.
Looking for remote, as that's how I'm most productive.
#GetFediHired

2024-06-25 14:37:12

I have now caught up on Doctor Who, and I am delighted with the new season. Not everything works, but overall, a great season.
I was pretty burned-out on RTD as showrunner in 2009, but a fifteen-year break has been good for him.
It goes without saying that the cast is just miles and miles of fun.

2024-06-24 23:28:00

The current version of Firefox is 127.0.1.
Brain gears are clashing *hard*.

2024-06-20 13:50:08

“From Infocom to 80 Days: An oral history of text games and interactive fiction”
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/06/from-infocom-to-80-days-an-oral-history-of-text-games-and-interactive-fiction/
New article surveys the history of IF, including quotes from many of us from the modern and contemporary eras. Thanks to Anna Washenko for undertaking this project!
(I am getting on the plane for NarraScope in just a couple of hours…)
#InteractiveFiction

2024-06-03 16:18:15

Aw yeah June 25th
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN1TQm942_U
#Myst #Riven
Never mind the books, it's the *music* that sends me there.

2024-04-02 15:41:11

I guess the takeaway from the xz backdoor situation is:
If you’re an open-source project maintainer, and somebody starts getting on your case for not doing enough free work for them, you reply “big Jia Tan energy there” and then block them forever.

2024-03-22 15:21:55

- reply

@npub1psd…9sr7 As a mid-50s computer person, I had to make a conscious adjustment several years ago to say “Microsoft is okay now actually.” Or, you know, only averagely bad for a tech company.
My 1990s-era self would be horrified.

2023-06-20 23:21:56

@npub1svs…p66u The app doesn’t seem to retain the “Check Spelling While Typing” preference. I can turn it off (in the Edit menu) while composing a message, but the next time I open a compose window, it’s on again.
Ideally the preference would keep its setting across all windows and between sessions.
(MacOS Ventura 13.4)
Thanks. Loving the app in general…