Player's Kit



Welcome! 

Thanks for installing the HTML TADS 3 Player's Kit! This kit has everything you need to play games created for TADS 3 and HTML TADS 3.

TADS stands for the Text Adventure Development System; it's a programming system for creating interactive fiction games, and TADS 3 is the latest version. HTML TADS is an enhanced version that provides graphics, sound, and powerful text formatting capabilities.

How to Play a TADS 3 Game 

To play a TADS 3 game, you don't need to know anything about TADS, HTML, or programming. All you need is this Player's Kit, plus the game that you want to play. To run a TADS 3 game, select "HTML TADS Interpreter" from the "TADS" group on your Windows "Start" menu; the interpreter will then ask you to select a game to play.

Where to Find TADS 3 Games 

One of the best places to look for anything related to Interactive Fiction is the IF Archive at ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/. The IF Archive probably has the internet's most extensive collection of free and shareware Interactive Fiction software, including games, articles, and programming systems.

As of this writing (September 2000), TADS 3 is a brand new system - not even finished yet, in fact - so very few TADS 3 games are available. If you're looking for games to play, numerous TADS 2 games can be found on the Archive in the directory ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/games/tads/. However, note that TADS 2 games require the separate player kit for HTML TADS 2, which you can also find on the Archive.

Where to Learn More 

The Usenet newsgroup rec.games.int-fiction is dedicated to discussion about playing interactive fiction games. The newsgroup has lots of hints, reviews, and information on IF games. If you need a hint for a game you're playing, try looking at this newsgroup; if you can't find what you're looking for, try posting your question, and chances are that someone will be able to help. You might also want to check the rec.games.int-fiction Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list.

Writing Your Own Games 

If you're interested in writing your own TADS games, you should download the TADS Author's Kit from ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/programming/tads/executables/. The Author's Kit has the tools you need to create games for TADS and HTML TADS. (Look for a file called tads_authkit_###.exe, where the # signs are digits. The 2## kits are for TADS 2, which is a complete system ready for use today; the 3## kits are for TADS 3, which isn't finished yet but is available for the especially adventurous!)

Important Compatibility Note 

If HTML TADS crashes when you select the "Options" item of the "View" menu, you probably have an out-of-date version of a Windows system file called COMCTL32.DLL. If you encounter this problem, you can fix it by downloading this file from the Microsoft web site:

     ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/com32upd.exe

After downloading the file, double-click it to run the installation program, which will install the upgraded DLL for you. Note that HTML TADS automatically checks to make sure you have the correct version installed and warns you at startup if you don't. Although you can choose to continue running if TADS displays this warning, we strongly encourage you to upgrade your COMCTL32.DLL before running HTML TADS.









Copyright ©1999 by Michael J. Roberts.