i - Introducing this Tutorial


i.1 - Text Adventure Games

When we talk about 'Adventure Games' in the context of the Alan Adventure Language we are talking about text adventure games or 'interactive fiction.' In text adventure games, descriptions of places and events are displayed on the player's computer screen. The player types commands to instruct the computer what should happen next. The computer then responds with a new description.

A well written text adventure game can be a lot of fun to play. It can be even more fun to create a text adventure game. A text adventure game can be written using almost any computer programming language. However, using a general purpose programming language (such as Pascal or C) to write an adventure game is a major undertaking. Fortunately there are people who think that writing adventure game programming languages is even more fun than writing adventure games.

i.2 - The Alan Adventure Language

There is a range of good adventure game programming languages available. Some are easy to use but have limited power while others are very flexible and powerful but difficult to learn. The subject of this tutorial is the Alan Adventure Language. Alan is powerful but easier to use than other modern text adventure programming languages. It is therefore an excellent choice for someone who wants to write good text adventure games but is daunted by the complexity of other languages.

i.3 - Purpose of this Tutorial

The Alan programming language comes with a complete manual which contains all you need to know to use Alan. This tutorial is a supplement to that manual and is intended as an introduction to Alan for people who are new to the language. It takes the reader step-by-step through the creation of a small adventure game. Copies of the Alan programming code referred to in each lesson are included with the tutorial.

The reader of the tutorial should study the example code for each lesson and compile it after reading each lesson. I recommend that the reader also write their own example game as they work through the tutorial using the principles covered in each lesson.

This tutorial is only an introduction to the features of Alan. Once the reader has completed the tutorial, the reader should refer to the Alan Language Manual for comprehensive information about the language.

i.4 - Using this Tutorial

To use this tutorial the reader should have already obtained the Alan programming language and its manual. If you don't have Alan, see 'Appendix 1 - Sources' for information on obtaining the Alan Adventure Language.

Copy the example files for this tutorial into the directory (or 'folder') where you have put the Alan programming language files.

This tutorial is intended to be used with the version of Alan that was current at the time of writing.- version 2.7. Some of the information may not be accurate or some of the example files may not work correctly with other versions of Alan.


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