Calculation based math/statistics related games in Inform 7 (?)

Amer Khan

unread,

May 21, 2013, 11:30:18 AM5/21/13

to

Hi Guys,

Sorry if I sound stupid, but I am totally new to IF, but really fascinated by it. . I have a question: is it possible to make a game that includes calculations, say, puzzles that involve calculations? I am thinking of making math/statistics related games using Inform 7 but not like the 'abstract' kind of questions that you see in the textbooks. More like a math/statistics related problem that is embedded in a story (using all the IF structures like rooms etc), and which can be solved by inputting text and numbers.

Thanks

Amer

Leonardo

unread,

May 21, 2013, 11:55:31 AM5/21/13

to

Il giorno martedì 21 maggio 2013 17:30:18 UTC+2, Amer Khan ha scritto:
>
> Sorry if I sound stupid, but I am totally new to IF, but really fascinated by it. . I have a question: is it possible to make a game that includes calculations, say, puzzles that involve calculations? I am thinking of making math/statistics related games using Inform 7 but not like the 'abstract' kind of questions that you see in the textbooks. More like a math/statistics related problem that is embedded in a story (using all the IF structures like rooms etc), and which can be solved by inputting text and numbers.
>

Well, here you can find a simple game where a pirate has to hit a boat with cannon balls http://milleuna.3owl.com/_Fuoco_alle_polveri!/

The game makes a heavy use of the math capabilities of Inform7.
In practice, the player must input some parameters about the gun and the powder charges (all set through the usual IF commands), then the system computes the trajectory of cannon balls through the ordinary physics formulae.

This example is written in italian, but if you are interested in a translation I can write it (however there are similar examples in the documentation).

Amer Khan

unread,

May 21, 2013, 12:31:05 PM5/21/13

to

Thanks, Leonardo. Your game seems to be really interesting as I tried to figure it out by using Google translate. I have something similar in mind. I just wanted to know if Inform 7 has the capability;I am glad to know that it has! I will get back to you for more tips once I gain some understanding of the software by reading Aaron Reed's book.

Best wishes

Amer

Andrew Plotkin

unread,

May 21, 2013, 1:35:15 PM5/21/13

to

Here, Amer Khan <amersal...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Sorry if I sound stupid, but I am totally new to IF, but really
> fascinated by it. . I have a question: is it possible to make a game
> that includes calculations, say, puzzles that involve calculations?

The current version of Inform 7 permits Glulx floating-point math, but
there's no tidy interface; you have to write I6 assembly to access it.

The next release of Inform 7 will offer that functionality in a nicer
way.

--Z

--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*

Amer Khan

unread,

May 21, 2013, 10:05:11 PM5/21/13

to

Thanks Andrew for the info. I am not a programmer therefore perhaps not a good idea for me to get entangled in Inform 6 assembly!! I hope the next Inform 7 release is coming soon.

dk101

unread,

May 23, 2013, 4:22:09 AM5/23/13

to

a more general question would be... is inform7 Turing complete in it self? i6 almost certainly is, being a general programming language. "lists and lists" proves this nicely :-)

if i7 is Turing complete then you can write anything you want in it.

Andrew Plotkin

unread,

May 23, 2013, 10:20:04 AM5/23/13

to

Here, dk101 <min...@gmail.com> wrote:

> a more general question would be... is inform7 Turing complete in it
> self?

Sure. It has variables, if statements, and loops. That's easily
sufficient for Turing-completeness.

(This doesn't tell you anything practical about what a language is
*good* for.)