Interactive Fiction Tools
The following is a disorganized list of various interactive fiction tools. These tools very from the most pure definitions of "interactive fiction" to possibly low-entry game making tools. This is mostly a vibe check. Additionally, there may be a section listing my gripes with said tool.
I guess it's better to say this list is more me trying to sus out what hodgepodge of features I'd want in my own swing at a IF tool.
Inform7
Inform is one of many OG interactive fiction engines. The Inform programming language is a literate programming language taylored to writing story driven IF games.
Gripes with Inform7
However, it's very *very* hard to compile from source, isn't very fun to use, and for some reason the editor makes my (extremely powerful) computer spin its fan.I'd consider this very "programmer energy". There is an editor that seems pretty fancy as well as a very extensive tutorial. The tutorial is semi-interactive if you use the authoring tools.
Also, the source code is a wild sprawl of literate C.
Bitsy
Bitsy is a small tile-based game making tool. You can create games using 8x8 sprites, a bespoke scripting language, and a room editor. It also has the ability for you to compose music and sound effects. It's quite nice.
Gripes with Bitsy
8x8 sprites are way to limiting for me. Especially with how hard it is to compose larger compound sprites. Additionally, it's just too much editor for me to work with.
I want something that feels more like a canvas.
Flickgame
Flickgame is a microsized point-and-click game creation tool. It presents itself as a canvas, some simple circle brushes, a fixed set of palettes, and a fixed set of images. Each color lets you like to a specific frame.
Gripes with Flickgame
Not many actually, quite like this one. I guess I wish it had more colors? Forking it into something slightly bigger (increased resolution by a bit, add more scenes) has been on the back of my mind. I also want to change the color palette. It has a prefect number of colors, but I don't like the colors to much.
Flisky
Flisky is a sorta blending of Flickgame and Bitsy. It features rooms, entitys, and dialog like Bitsy, but does away with the 8x8 tile limit. Instead, your drawings are objects which you can place into scene. These scenes can then be arranged and connected together. It's color palette can be customized.
Gripes with Flisky
I really don't like the default color palette. The flood tool is extremely danagerous to use as Flisky has no undo feature. The randomize palette button doesn't really generate anything that I find asethetically pleasing.
Ren'Py
Ren'Py is possibly the most popular visual novel engine in the world. It's implemented over top of python featuring it's own scripting language. However, you can dip into python whenever you need something more powerful.
Gripes with Ren'Py
Imma be real. I've never used Ren'Py. The most I've done was generate an empty project then tested how packaging it works. It is shocklying heavy weight due to having to ship the whole python interpreter. Further more I don't like Python and it's scripting language looks like a bastardized version of python. Finally, we just don't like the default style it guides you towards.
There are a lot of Ren'Py games that just make we wish the creator wrote a book instead. Lots of these games fall into shot-reverse-shot designs that I just loathe.
Twine
Twine is an tool for creating hypertext interactive stores. It features multiple story formats and it's own dedicated editor.
Gripes with Twine
The editor would be nice to use, if they didn't remove the tiling feature for a horrible stacking feature.
That is like peak "treating the symptomes and not the problem". Like, just why????? This is worse. You have made the editing experience worse!!!!!!!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Trying to do complex games in Twine eventually turns Twine into a "web framework but worse". Harlowe makes me wish it was just lisp.
And we don't even like Lisp. But, Harlowe being a proper lisp would at least make it more consistent.
Stuff I need to write about
This is a dumping ground for IF tools I don't have an opinion on or haven't cobbled together a short summary for.