Miscellanous information, including backup copies of databases of various IF services
Note: For information about Infocom and their games see directory
[infocom/info](../infocom/info/), for Magnetic Scrolls see directory
[magnetic-scrolls/info](../magnetic-scrolls/info/), for beginners' guides see
directory [starters](../starters/).
# AlkemstoneClues.zip
Every clue from the Apple II game Alkemstone (1981). The clues supposedly give
the location (in the real world) of a hidden treasure. These images were
extracted by Andy Boros, cross-referenced to internal data, so we know every
clue is included.
# Colossal-Cave.TidBITS
Colossal Cave Revisited, by Mel Park
an article from TidBITS #229, 06jun94, about a
re-release of the game on CD and the original
cave the game is based on.
# Colossal-Cave.origin
A note from Bernie Cosell on the origin of the
original ADVENT game.
# Craft.Of.Adventure.tex
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
Graham's original TeX version.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.tex]
# Craft.Of.Adventure.A4.ps
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
PostScript version for A4 paper.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.A4.ps]
# Craft.Of.Adventure.T1.A4.pdf
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
A4 PDF version using Type 1 fonts,
converted by Nikos Chantziaras.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.T1.A4.pdf]
# Craft.Of.Adventure.T1.letter.pdf
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
Letter PDF version using Type 1 fonts,
converted by Nikos Chantziaras.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.T1.letter.pdf]
# Craft.Of.Adventure.hlp
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
Windows 3.1 Help format.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.hlp]
# Craft.Of.Adventure.letter.ps
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
PostScript version for US letter size paper.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.letter.ps]
# Craft.Of.Adventure.pdf
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.pdf]
# Craft.Of.Adventure.pkg
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
Newton book format, converted by Eric Brown.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.pkg]
# Craft.Of.Adventure.txt
The Craft of Adventure, Second Edition,
Five Articles on the Design of Adventure
Games, by Graham Nelson.
Plain text version.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/Craft.Of.Adventure.txt]
# Sherlock.zip
tuid: ug3qu521hze8bsvz
ifwiki: Sherlock (by Mitchell)
Manual for Sherlock (the game released by
Melbourne House, not the Infocom game of the
same name), in HTML format with JPEG images.
Scanned in by Jeremy A. Smith.
# ZCatalog.chm
The Z-Files, a Z-Code Catalog.
Michael Baum's catalog of Z-Code games and
programs, converted to a Windows HTML Help File
by Paul de Valmency.
[file is linked to games/zcode/ZCatalog.chm]
# ZCatalog990722.zip
A catalog of all Z-Code games and programs,
in HTML format. Written by Michael Baum,
based on previous catalogs by Brendon Wyber,
Neil Brown and Gunther Schmidl.
Last updated 22 July 1999
[file is linked to games/zcode/ZCatalog990722.zip]
# ZCatalog990722.txt
Detailed description of ZCatalog990722.zip
[file is linked to games/zcode/ZCatalog990722.txt]
# adv-tree.txt
The Adventure family tree, detailing all the
known versions of Adventure, as constructed by
Russell Dalenberg.
# advent.html
A WWW page describing all the versions of
Adventure found here at the IF Archive, written
by David Kinder.
# adventure-game-list
Information about adventure games and the
companies that made them, collected by
Hans Persson.
This is a text version of the author's
Adventureland web site, at
<https://adventure.if-legends.org/>.
List created 06feb1999.
# adventure-game-systems
A list of adventure authoring systems, both
commercial, free, and for in-house development,
by Hans Persson. Last update: 10may94.
# archive-stats
A directory containing download statistics
for the IF Archive, starting from when the
archive was housed at GMD.
# author-list.txt
A list of authors if IF games, together with email
addresses (where known and permitted),
revision 1.0 (01mar98), by John Francis.
# authoring-systems.FAQ
Information about development systems for
Interactive Fiction, by Nathan Torkington.
Last update: 23nov94.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/authoring-systems.FAQ]
# authorship-guide.base
Whizzard's Guide to Text Adventure Authorship
base document version 2.0 by Gerry Kevin Wilson.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/authorship-guide.base]
# authorship-guide.sup1
Whizzard's Guide to Text Adventure Authorship
supplement #1 (25may95) to version 2.0
by Gerry Kevin Wilson.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/authorship-guide.sup1]
# authorship-guide.sup2
Whizzard's Guide to Text Adventure Authorship
supplement #2 (25jun95) to version 2.0
by Gerry Kevin Wilson.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/authorship-guide.sup2]
# classic-game-programmers.list
The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers,
by James Hague; last updated 15 May 2001.
# dumb_reviews.txt
The first of a two part collection of game
reviews, written by Quentin D. Thompson.
# dumb_reviews2.txt
The second of a two part collection of game
reviews, written by Quentin D. Thompson.
# feedback-guide.txt
Jacob's Guide to Giving Constructive Feedback
on IF, by Jacob Solomon Weinstein.
[file is linked to
rec.arts.int-fiction/feedback-guide.txt]
# guidadv1.txt
Adventurist's Guide Through Textual Adventures,
Part I (for novices), by Vladimir Krstulja.
# hound-manual.zip
tuid: 4kwb0undy5clcsad
Manual for The Hound Of Shadow, by
Eldritch Games, scanned into HTML format
by Frederic Bassaler.
# ifanswers.zip
Archive of ifanswers.com, a Q&A site for
Interactive Fiction which was live from March
2015 to October 2015, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
with attribution required.
# if-bibliography.txt
Interactive Fiction Bibliography (4/97),
compiled by Stephen Granade.
# if-page.zip
Paul Gilbert's IF web page.
# inform-gamelist.txt
A Non-Interactive List of Inform Games,
by Neil James Brown.
Based on a previous list by Brendon Wyber.
Release 5 / 971015
[file is linked to games/zcode/inform-gamelist.txt]
# mud-info
The beginning of a compilation of information
concerning multi-user adventure games,
by Hans Persson. Last update: 17apr94.
# playgame.FAQ
Playing the Interactive Fiction Archive Games
version 1.74 (March 2002), by Stephen Griffiths.
[file is linked to games/playgame.FAQ]
# playgame.FAQ_spanish
Playing the Interactive Fiction Archive Games,
translated into Spanish.
Version 1.72 (August 2001).
# rec.arts.int-fiction.FAQ
The Frequently Asked Questions of the newsgroup
rec.arts.int-fiction, plain text version,
maintained by Stephen Griffiths.
[file is linked to rec.arts.int-fiction/FAQ]
# rec.arts.int-fiction.FAQ.htm
The Frequently Asked Questions of the newsgroup
rec.arts.int-fiction, HTML version,
maintained by Stephen Griffiths.
[file is linked to rec.arts.int-fiction/FAQ.htm]
# rec.games.int-fiction.FAQ
The Frequently Asked Questions of newsgroup
rec.games.int-fiction, by Stephen van Egmond
Last update: 31jan97.
[file is linked to rec.games.int-fiction/FAQ]
# sinclair-ql.txt
An article on Infocom and Inform text adventures
on the Sinclair QL, written by Tim Swenson, from
the magazine QL Today.
# tads-gamelist1.txt
The Complete, Unofficial List of TADS Games
v3.00 (jan93), by Alan Mead.
[file is linked to games/tads/tads-gamelist1.txt]
# tads-gamelist2.txt
The (Other) TADS Game List, version 1.2 (20aug96),
by Gerry Kevin Wilson and Paul David Doherty.
[file is linked to games/tads/tads-gamelist2.txt]
# timeline.pdf
A Brief History of Interactive Fiction, a
graphical timeline covering through 2000, by
Misty and Stephen Granade.
# tolkien-games.list
A list of computer games related to the works of
J.R.R. Tolkien, by Fredrik Ekman (ver 1.8, nov95).
This list is no longer maintained; it has been
replaced by a set of web pages you can find at
<https://adventure.if-legends.org/>
# twinery-wiki-pages.zip
An archive of the now defunct wiki that was available
at <https://twinery.org/>, taken on April 22, 2021.
# whichsys.zip
The "Which Authoring System Is Better" FAQ,
revision 0.1, 20feb96, initial publication,
a detailed discussion and comparison of 10 IF
authoring systems (TADS, Inform, ALAN, Hugo, AGT,
Archetype, GINAS, LADS, Gamescape, and Aventuro)
by Bob Newell.
This file contains the document in four formats:
PostScript, TeX, DVI, and plain ASCII text.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/whichsys.zip]
# whichsys-alan-update.txt
An update to the ALAN information in whichsys.zip.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/whichsys-alan-update.txt]
# whichsys-tads-update.txt
An update to the TADS information in whichsys.zip,
by Neil K. Guy, 15oct98.
[file is linked to
programming/general-discussion/whichsys-tads-update.txt]
# ifdb
SQL database dumps from the Interactive Fiction Database ([IFDB](https://ifdb.org/))
# ifwiki
XML database dumps of the [IF Wiki](https://www.ifwiki.org/)
# intficforum
SQL database dumps from the [Interactive Fiction Forum](https://intfiction.org/)