A fine bit of homebrew - an IFDB Poll
by JonathanCR
RSS FeedMost games here are written with Inform, TADS, or other custom IF-writing languages. Some, however, are written in more standard and less specialised languages, such as C++, Java, or even BASIC. These "homebrew parsers" usually lack the flexibility and polish of the ones provided by the dedicated IF-creation languages, and often it is unclear why anyone would try to write like this when the dedicated IF tools offer top-quality parsers, object handling, and other IF-specific features without the headache of programming your own. But perhaps sometimes IF creation tools don't provide the flexibility that comes from creating your own software from the ground up in a more versatile programming language. Are there any games that have been programmed in this way which have features that would have been much harder to implement with a standard IF creation tool? Can a homebrew parser stand up to Inform or even teach it a thing or two? Or is re-inventing the wheel always more trouble than it's worth?
| Aunts and Butlers, by Robin Johnson 3 votes "Well worth..." [+]"Well worth playing." --David Welbourn... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Isxek... (No comment) [+](No comment) --Merk...  Vote for this game | |
| In the Woods, by Anna Anthropy 1 vote "Well written, playable and short." [+]"Well written, playable and short." ( - Full review) --C.E.J. Pacian... Vote for this game | |
| The Adventurers' Museum, by Lee Chapel 1 vote "An old-school..." [+]"An old-school cave crawl, but a good one." --David Welbourn... Vote for this game | |
| T-Zero, by Dennis Cunningham 1 vote "Large, well executed one-of-a-kind" [+]"Large, well executed one-of-a-kind: Chock full of word play, intricate puzzles, cultural references high and low, this really stands out in terms of size and scope. A precursor to games such as Graham Nelson's Curses and Jigsaw and Jon Ingold's The Muldoon Legacy, although it's probably impossible to solve without a walkthrough for a player used to modern i-f conventions." --Petter Sjölund... Vote for this game | |