2016-10-12 18:50:56

So I got the admin rights issue fixed, and now I'd like to wet my feet in programming. It seems ambitious, but I'd like to make a life sim, similar to the mainstream game virtual families, but with some unique features of my own. I've chosen inform 7, because of the natural language feature, but I don't know how to get started. I don't see anything in the manuals about creating a game of this design. Are there any inform 7 users out there that can help? Particularly in the choosing your character part of the game, as well as stats to keep up with whether you're married or single, how many children you have and what their ages are, and things like that. Thanks.

Role-play? Simulation? Strategy? Throw it at me! I'm all ears for the games!

2016-10-12 19:12:11

@LadyJuliette: the reason you don't see anything in the manual about this type of game, is because noone has attempted to create this type of game with inform 7 before, as it's more of an interactive fiction interpreter for games like Zork etc. Granted, it might be possible but I don't know how to help from here either.

2016-10-12 22:57:18

Hello.
I don't think this is doable in I7, but then again I've never tried to implement this sort of thing.
...Or maybe my ideas aren't ambitious enough big_smile.

“Can we be casual in the work of God — casual when the house is on fire, and people are in danger of being burned?” — Duncan Campbell
“There are four things that we ought to do with the Word of God – admit it as the Word of God, commit it to our hearts and minds, submit to it, and transmit it to the world.” — William Wilberforce

2016-10-12 23:32:46

Thanks. That's kind of what I was afraid of. Well, a disappointment, seriously. Have a nice day.

Role-play? Simulation? Strategy? Throw it at me! I'm all ears for the games!

2016-10-13 05:23:57 (edited by stewie 2016-10-13 05:24:49)

It would be doable in Inform 7, but probably vastly more complicated than it would e in other languages. I recommend trying something like Python. Inform 7 can't easily handle arrays on objects/etc, the closest you can get to linking things together is via relationships. You can make many to many relationships, but it'd probably end up horribly labyrinthine and confusing.

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.

2016-11-21 10:52:58

@LadyJuliette, I haven't got much on at this time, and I'm always looking to test myself.

If you fancy, send me an email with your ideas (very well fleshed out), and we can see about creating such a thing using Python if you like?

Python's the only language I know, so I can't be flexible on that point (unless you wanted HTML I guess, I could do that).

With it working this way, if you did fancy learning the mightiest of Pythons, then you could learn by example as we developed your game.

HTH.

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I have code on GitHub

2016-11-23 05:53:36

I wonder if a life sim could be done in TADS 3.
It's another language for making IF, but it has a fully-developed world model and advanced NPC features, such as a hybrid ask/tell conversation system.

“Can we be casual in the work of God — casual when the house is on fire, and people are in danger of being burned?” — Duncan Campbell
“There are four things that we ought to do with the Word of God – admit it as the Word of God, commit it to our hearts and minds, submit to it, and transmit it to the world.” — William Wilberforce