Re: Portability (was Inform Competition ?!!)


24 May 1995 18:26:20 +0100

In article <neilg.801276427@sfu.ca>,
neilg@malibu.sfu.ca (Neil K. Guy) wrote:

> kjb1003@phx.cam.ac.uk (K.J. Bracey) writes:
>
> > [...] It is a shame that by using TADS many
> >authors are excluding part of their potential audience. [...]
>
> Hm. Perhaps. But for me portability isn't my main interest. I write
> in TADS because I happen to like it, it does what I want and because I
> can create a gigantic game with ease. I'm not doing it to make money
> or reach vast audiences, so it doesn't bother me at all that a few
> people out there (who don't have a Mac, a PC or a UNIX box) won't be
> able to use my game. Whenever it's done... My point being simply that
> different people have different priorities.

I would tend to agree with you on this. Personally I think Inform is a lovely
language to use. Tads is (in theory) almost as portable as Inform and I would
never hold it against anyone who chose to write games using it. I would just
be upset that I couldn't play the game.
>
> > [...] (I am thinking in particular of
> >Acorns, which by the very existence of Curses must surely account for more
> >than a mere 10f the platforms used for creating IF).
>
> Doubtful, to be honest. Outside of the UK nobody has ever heard of
> Acorns. Aside from botanists.

OK <Acorn PR mode on>
Acorns exist in a variety of niche markets around the world. Most commonly
Acorn are found in education (especially in the UK although also in Australia
and New Zealand). The Acorn is treated as a professional DTP system in
Germany and also is quite popular in Holland and Scandanavian countries.

Acorns can also be found in education in Canada and are slowly appearing in
the USA due to a powerful score-writing package which impresses profesional
musicians.

Also, a large percentage of Acorn owners have access to a copy of Inform
since it has been distributed on the cover of the most popular Acorn magazine
in the UK.

<PR mode off>

Just because a computer isn't popular doesn't mean it should be ignored.
People that program in Inform are therefore doing a service to all the systems
you suggest _and_ to people with Psions, Acorns, and other computers able to
run the games.

Ben

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