#top expert

[golmac]

Spring Scenes ’25

Hello, fellow authors! I’ve been neck deep in my own work for this year’s Spring Thing festival, which has left me little time for anything

let's make IF returns <3

[golmac]

I'm calling my lyric storytelling widget for Inform 7 complete for now. It's a simple template that authors can use to add text without coding. Five possible endings. Might be a good toy for beginners (like me) to play with and experiment on.

Or anyone looking for ideas about making a choice game in Inform7

let’s write IF #17: lyric storytelling widget release 1

We made it! Download the Let’s Make IF Lyric Storytelling Widget here.

[golmac]

It's back! Mostly a discussion of similarities between one-to-one relations and a kind of thing.

Let’s Make IF S3E3: More on Relations, Scenes

What is Marbles, D, and the Sinister Spotlight made of? update. It’s been so long since my last post! That’s because I have been trying to g

[golmac]

A NEW PINNED POST 🐈‍⬛

I'm Drew Cook (aka kamineko or biting cat)! I make content about narrative games. Some bullet points:

making stuff ✨

talking about making stuff ✨

IF is for everyone, games are for everyone 💫

In terms of raw numbers, I think I might be best known for some of my game criticism, but I love making games more than anything. Click on for some links and stuff!

I'm the author of Repeat the Ending, an Inform 7 (parser) game that has gotten some nice reviews. It is a "critical edition" of a 1990s IF, so it includes footnotes, essays, and other memorabilia. You can learn more about it (and read some reviews) here:

Repeat the Ending

Explore an all-new "critical edition" of a 1996 Inform 5 game about mental illness, magic, and the second law of thermodynamics. When D, a

I write game criticism and Inform 7 tutorials here:

top expert

a biting cat website

I write about 1980s parser games here, focusing on a publisher called "Infocom:"

Gold Machine : Games as text, text as games

Gold Machine : Literary readings of interactive texts.

I sometimes podcast about older games (link, but it's on other platforms, too).

Gold Microphone: Stories and Games • A podcast on Spotify for Podcasters

Drew Cook (and sometimes cohost Callie Smith) discusses narrative games past and present with a humanities and craft writing emphasis.

You don't need a special invitation to send me an ask. Feel free to ask me anything, anytime! If you are new to IF, that's cool, everybody was new once. I still feel new, tbh.

Let's make IF 💫

[golmac]

today, on let's make if...

let’s make IF #15: disabling unwanted commands

Since only four commands are meant to do anything, how much time do we want to spend on commands like *PUT LIGHT IN YELLOW*?

We're getting close to the end of coverage for Portrait with Wolf, believe it or not! It's a fairly short to-do list:

handling responses for parser errors

handling responses for standard rules verbs

limiting the parser to keep focus on the main four commands

I may write something about playtesting next week, since I've gotten lots of questions about it (both for testers and authors).

[golmac]

This week on let's make IF...

Let’s WRITE IF #4: More Variations

Methods for varying text.

[golmac]

today, on let's write IF #1....

initial thoughts on my own creative process

let’s WRITE if #1: craft and the creative process

How do I make stuff?