jeffnyman / playthology

A TADS 3 Adventure Library

A TADS 3 Adventure Library

The goal of this project is to try my hand at creating an adventure game library for the TADS 3 authoring system.

This may seem an odd choice as the TADS ecosystem is largely moribund at the moment. The original author of the system has apparently moved on to other pursuits. That said, there is still a community that plays around with it and creates various adventure games with it.

Thus this project offers little value except that of a pedagogical nature.

Currently the way that this library is being tested is by using my TADS 3 Playground.

Regarding the naming, it's probably fairly clear that "Playthology" is a portmanteau of "play" and "mythology" and I chose this because ... well, I had to call it something. That said, I think it does have a nice ring to it and is at least broadly meaningful.

• Play: Referring to engagement, interaction, and fun activities. This ties into the gaming aspect and the interactive nature of the average text adventure.

• Mythology: Referring to a collection of myths, legends, and stories that often carry cultural significance. This suggests a rich and diverse world of narratives. That ties into the idea of "text adventure" being "interactive fiction."

When combined, "Playthology" suggests a collection or universe of interactive and engaging stories, akin to a mythology of play. So this name conveys the idea that with my adventure library, users can create and experience a variety of unique and enjoyable interactive stories, much like exploring a world of myths and legends tailored for gameplay.

Credit Where It's Due

Playthology is based somewhat on the Adv3Lite Library from Eric Eve. This is in turn, based on the original ADV3 library created by Michael J. Roberts, which is part of the TADS 3 distribution.