5 ms·

Ink: the scripting language behind 80 Days and Sorcery

110 points by Impossible 11y ago

xiaq 11y ago
You don't see actual scripting languages on HN every day.
gyardley 11y ago
As an aside, the Sorcery games referred to here are very faithful adaptions of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! adventure gamebooks, the pinnacle of the Fighting Fantasy series and total catnip for the eight-year-old version of me. Buying and playing them has been a huge nostalgia trip.
- andrepd 11y ago
  Absolutely! I don't know if it's nostalgia or not, but I always found those to be extremely immersive experiences.
- teh_klev 11y ago
  You both might enjoy this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b071h083 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b071h083
alexatkeplar 11y ago
This could be amazing for a product/app troubleshooting guide, maybe hosted inside Slack/Olark/Gitter...
pavel_lishin 11y ago
If you haven't played 80 Days, it's probably one of the most fun games I've played on my phone. I think I've seen maybe 20% of the total possible content after dozens of playthroughs.
- listic 11y ago
  It's also now on Steam (for Mac and Windows): http://store.steampowered.com/app/381780/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/381780/
- PaulRobinson 11y ago
  I spent pretty much the whole of my Christmas break a after it came out playing it over and over. The art, the writing, the game play, all great. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens with this.
- StavrosK 11y ago
  Wow, $5 and no demo? For someone who doesn't really play games, I can't justify that for buying a game blind.
  - nulldata 11y ago
    Five dollars? I mean that's a Bacon Burger Clubhouse from Mc Donalds. I don't see that as a very risky purpose
    - tluyben2 11y ago
      Why always compare to Mc Donalds? I wouldn't even eat that if it were free.
    - g8gggu89 11y ago
      Ooooh, tell us what it's like to be so rich!
  - pavel_lishin 11y ago
    I don't know what your financial situation is like, but $5 is a pretty low entry point, given all of the positive reviews (not even including mine). It's also low enough that it may not make sense to release a demo - it might be more work than it would bring in. I've stopped worrying about spending $5 here and there, given that last year I wouldn't think twice about casually ordering a beer at a bar - especially when it comes to paying for software.
    - StavrosK 11y ago
      The average salary in my country is $30/day, but it's not so much about that as about the fact that it's very unlikely that I'll like a game, so at $5 per game the expected ROI is negative. I'd like something that can raise the certainty before I purchase (e.g. a demo, or at least an extended trial period). Too bad Google only allows you to try an app for 15 minutes or so now.
failrate 11y ago
So, who has the time and wherewithal to write up a comparison between Ink and Inform7? I anxiously await your blog post :)
- zyxley 11y ago
  Well, the biggest difference is that Inform is by default built in a way that describes a world, while Ink is built in a way that describes the flow of a narrative. It's like the difference between Inform and Twine.
- sago 11y ago
  Not very comparable, except that they both produce some form of text interface. Ink is most similar to ChoiceScript [0], which powers Choice of Games's Games. Twine [1] has the same structure but is a visual editor, not a scripting language. Undum [2] produces the same kind of system, but is Javascript rather than its own syntax. Dendry [3] powered Varytale's games, but the open source version seems abandoned. For completeness, though a webapp not a language, StoryNexus [4] is a hosted platform with a database-like interface (fill in a bunch of forms), it powers Failbetter's Games. Inform7 is very impressive as a natural language syntax. But the kinds of 'parser' based games it is best suited for have always been rather niche, because they require a certain familiarity with the form. [0]: https://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your-own-games/choicescript-intro/ https://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your-own-games/choicescri... [1]: https://twinery.org/2/#welcome https://twinery.org/2/#welcome [2]: http://undum.com/ http://undum.com/ [3]: http://dendry.org/ http://dendry.org/ [4]: http://storynexus.com/s http://storynexus.com/s
- joethephish 11y ago
  Hey, Joe here from inkle! Sago's reply is really good, but broadly for those two specific languages: Ink is designed to be one component in a larger game engine - the runtime has a simple core loop of choice -> text generation -> choice. How you implement the UI is up to you (right now we have a C# runtime designed for usage in Unity). By comparison, Inform7 is designed for building standalone parser-based text adventures in the vein of Zork and its more modern successors.

110 points by Impossible 11y ago

xiaq 11y ago

You don't see actual scripting languages on HN every day.

As an aside, the Sorcery games referred to here are very faithful adaptions of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! adventure gamebooks, the pinnacle of the Fighting Fantasy series and total catnip for the eight-year-old version of me. Buying and playing them has been a huge nostalgia trip.

andrepd 11y ago
Absolutely! I don't know if it's nostalgia or not, but I always found those to be extremely immersive experiences.
teh_klev 11y ago
You both might enjoy this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b071h083 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b071h083

alexatkeplar 11y ago

This could be amazing for a product/app troubleshooting guide, maybe hosted inside Slack/Olark/Gitter...

pavel_lishin 11y ago

If you haven't played 80 Days, it's probably one of the most fun games I've played on my phone. I think I've seen maybe 20% of the total possible content after dozens of playthroughs.

listic 11y ago
It's also now on Steam (for Mac and Windows): http://store.steampowered.com/app/381780/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/381780/
PaulRobinson 11y ago
I spent pretty much the whole of my Christmas break a after it came out playing it over and over. The art, the writing, the game play, all great. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens with this.
StavrosK 11y ago
Wow, $5 and no demo? For someone who doesn't really play games, I can't justify that for buying a game blind.
- nulldata 11y ago
  Five dollars? I mean that's a Bacon Burger Clubhouse from Mc Donalds. I don't see that as a very risky purpose
  - tluyben2 11y ago
    Why always compare to Mc Donalds? I wouldn't even eat that if it were free.
  - g8gggu89 11y ago
    Ooooh, tell us what it's like to be so rich!
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  I don't know what your financial situation is like, but $5 is a pretty low entry point, given all of the positive reviews (not even including mine). It's also low enough that it may not make sense to release a demo - it might be more work than it would bring in. I've stopped worrying about spending $5 here and there, given that last year I wouldn't think twice about casually ordering a beer at a bar - especially when it comes to paying for software.
  - StavrosK 11y ago
    The average salary in my country is $30/day, but it's not so much about that as about the fact that it's very unlikely that I'll like a game, so at $5 per game the expected ROI is negative. I'd like something that can raise the certainty before I purchase (e.g. a demo, or at least an extended trial period). Too bad Google only allows you to try an app for 15 minutes or so now.

failrate 11y ago

So, who has the time and wherewithal to write up a comparison between Ink and Inform7? I anxiously await your blog post :)

zyxley 11y ago
Well, the biggest difference is that Inform is by default built in a way that describes a world, while Ink is built in a way that describes the flow of a narrative. It's like the difference between Inform and Twine.
sago 11y ago
Not very comparable, except that they both produce some form of text interface. Ink is most similar to ChoiceScript [0], which powers Choice of Games's Games. Twine [1] has the same structure but is a visual editor, not a scripting language. Undum [2] produces the same kind of system, but is Javascript rather than its own syntax. Dendry [3] powered Varytale's games, but the open source version seems abandoned. For completeness, though a webapp not a language, StoryNexus [4] is a hosted platform with a database-like interface (fill in a bunch of forms), it powers Failbetter's Games. Inform7 is very impressive as a natural language syntax. But the kinds of 'parser' based games it is best suited for have always been rather niche, because they require a certain familiarity with the form. [0]: https://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your-own-games/choicescript-intro/ https://www.choiceofgames.com/make-your-own-games/choicescri... [1]: https://twinery.org/2/#welcome https://twinery.org/2/#welcome [2]: http://undum.com/ http://undum.com/ [3]: http://dendry.org/ http://dendry.org/ [4]: http://storynexus.com/s http://storynexus.com/s
joethephish 11y ago
Hey, Joe here from inkle! Sago's reply is really good, but broadly for those two specific languages: Ink is designed to be one component in a larger game engine - the runtime has a simple core loop of choice -> text generation -> choice. How you implement the UI is up to you (right now we have a C# runtime designed for usage in Unity). By comparison, Inform7 is designed for building standalone parser-based text adventures in the vein of Zork and its more modern successors.