Pinback's IF Projects

(Updated 8/21/97)

This page is to let you keep up with any projects I'm currently involved in with regard to interactive fiction, and might include other stuff just for fun.

And now, our special feature...

An Interview With Interactive Fiction Designer Ben Parrish
Q: Hello! Readers of your webpage, Pinback's Web Central, were excited to hear about your upcoming project, "Evil Slimy Space Aliens From Space". Why don't you tell us how it's going?

A: Well, Q, so far, Space Aliens is just coming along great. It's going smoother than I could have ever anticipated, and each day I become more and more excited about it. It's a story which I believe has the power to touch the hearts and souls of every reader with its uplifting, yet cautionary moral statements. And besides that, I believe I've created some puzzles which may in fact rival some of the more famous puzzles in the history of the interactive fiction business. In short, I believe it will live up to everything that's been said about it, and more. I just hope people enjoy playing it as much as I'm enjoying creating it. Thank you.

Q: You haven't started it, have you?

A: Well...no.

Q: Why not?

A: Because it's too hard.

Q: Well what are you going to do about the competition?

A: I'll get something ready for it. I mean, hell, F209 only took me about a week, and I've already received several complimentary, reassuring emails telling me how much people enjoyed it.

Q: But it was stupid, and there wasn't anything to do in it.

A: Stop bothering me! Get away from me! SECURITY!?!!?!!

Q: You see no security here. HAHAHAHA!! GET IT?!!?!

A: If it weren't for you, I'd have had the game done already.

Q: Say, are we the same "Q" and "A" from the now-infamous Pong FAQ?

A: No, I'm fairly certain that we're far less entertaining than they.

Q: Were.
I think that pretty much sums it up, don't you?

Download Apt. F209 - Latest version, 8/7/97
(Note: Z-code files like f209.z5 must be downloaded in binary format. Many web browsers make this difficult. If you get an error immediately when you try to start an Inform game, you probably downloaded it in ASCII format. If your web browser refuses to cooperate, you can just FTP the file manually from ftp.access.digex.net/pub/access/pinback, and remember to type "binary" before getting the file.)

As is the case with any Inform game (or any Infocom game, for that matter), in order to play, you will need some sort of Z-code interpreter. Z-code is the compiled version of Inform games, but it requires an interpreter to make it run. The current standard seems to be Frotz, which comes in various flavors on various platforms, and supports all formats of Z-code.

Once you're done exploring F209, you may have an appetite for some real quality work. The reigning champion of new-generation IF is an exceptional (and very difficult) piece titled "So Far", written by Andrew Plotkin, master of the mind-melting puzzle. But the prose is so effective and polished, you hardly notice how frustrated you're getting.

Just to see what can be accomplished with IF, I'd suggest you try So Far for yourself.

Pinback's Web Central
This page and the contents therein (except where otherwise attributed) are copyright (c) 1997, 1998, by Ben Parrish.
That was in case any of you devious types were thinking of stealing all my cool stuff. So there.
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