TADS Upgrade News Supplied by Mike Roberts of High Energy Software TADS version 2.0 is here! The best adventure development system is now better than ever, with many new system features, a much improved debugger, and expanded documentation. For version 2.0, we've almost entirely rewritten TADS and we've tried to give you the new features you've been asking for. New System Features: ------------------- An "undo" system allows players to take back their moves. And, unlike some systems, players can undo more than just one turn - in most situations, the system will keep enough information to undo over a hundred turns. The undo system is transparent to your game. A new virtual memory subsystem gives TADS almost unlimited capacity to run your largest games, even on small machines running 8086s. More C-like syntax is now supported with statements such as for, do-while, switch and goto that make TADS programming even more powerful. Plus, new C operators such as "++" and "+=" have been added to make expressions more powerful. The status line can now be customized. You can replace the normal score/turncounter display with your own custom messages, allowing you to display the time or any other information you want on the status line. The .GAM file is now portable between systems. Now you only need to compile your game on one system and users can play it on any system where the run-time is available. More object classes have been added to ADV.T and improvements have been made to many existing classes. New, Improved TADS Debugger: --------------------------- A totally new user interface makes debugging easier. On the PC, TDB uses two virtual screens to keep your game's display separated from the debugger's; on the Mac, separate windows are used. You can set up expressions so that their current values are continuously displayed in a special window. You can set breakpoints at any line, simply by pointing at it. You can set conditional breakpoints, which only stop execution when expressions you specify become true. You can look at any source file in your game at any time, and you can even view files that have nothing to do with your game. The debugger uses the new virtual memory subsystem, allowing you to debug your game, no matter how big it gets, even on a small system. Expanded Documentation: ---------------------- Coverage of all of the new system features. A new "Getting Started" chapter showing you how to write your own game, from design to implementation. A new "Advanced Techniques" chapter, with detailed, fully working examples of how to implement a variety of adventure game situations: obstacles, doors, actors, vehicles and more. Instructions on using the new TADS Debugger. Registered Users: ---------------- Registered users of TADS can upgrade to version 2.0 for a special low price. The version 2.0 upgrade includes: The new version 2.0 software: compiler, runtime, improved ADV.T and user exit support files. The all new TADS author's manual with over 200 pages of detailed information to help you get the most out of TADS. TDB version 2.0, the substantially improved source-level debugger. The source code for Deep Space Drifter, so you can see more examples of implementing games with TADS. Supported Systems: ----------------- TADS 2.0 is available immediately for MS-DOS and Macintosh systems. We regret that, due to limited resources, we are not able to offer support for Atari ST, Amiga, NeXT or other systems at this time. However we plan to work with third parties to make TADS 2.0 available on more systems in the future; check our BBS for the latest information on availability. @~Dave Leary tells me that he and Dave Baggett, authors of the @~Unnkulian Unventures, are hoping Mike will let them do the ST @~version in the near future - Sue Tell a Friend about TADS! ------------------------ If you are a registered user who has a friend who is interested in writing adventure games but isn't a registered TADS user yet, we have a special offer that will save you the trouble of lending out your author's manual all the time. We will provide a certificate that you can give to a friend, allowing him or her to register TADS for only $30. This special offer is available for a limited time. Our New Support BBS: ------------------- We're adding a new way to contact us - the High Energy Bulletin Board System. We've dedicated a computer and a phone line to the BBS and we've equipped it with a state-of-the-art high speed modem - you can call in at 14,400 bps with V.32bis, or at whatever lower speed your modem will support. You can contact our bulletin board by calling (415) 493-2420. Set your modem to no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit (N-8-1); speeds of up to 14,400 bps are supported. Here are some of the conferences and libraries. TADS technical information forum: the best source of information on TADS programming issues. We'll try to make sure questions in this forum are answered within a couple of days. Adventure game design forum: discussions on the artistic side of game design. Game player's forum: hints, reviews and discussion of TADS and other adventure games. TADS shareware library: the latest TADS shareware packages. TADS game library: text adventure games developed using TADS. Utility library: public domain and shareware utilities of general interest. That's only the beginning - we plan to add much more in response to users' suggestions. Our BBS needs your input: ask some technical questions, upload your latest TADS game, start a discussion on the finer points of game design, or post your suggestions for features in the next version of TADS. We want our BBS to be the best source for TADS news and information, technical advice on programming adventures and TADS games written by our users. If you have any questions about TADS 2.0, please contact us. You can call our BBS or send electronic mail to us on CompuServe (user ID 73737,417), GEnie (mail ID M.ROBERTS10) or the Internet (73737.417@compuserve.con). If you prefer you can send postal mail to us at High Energy Software, PO Box 50422, Palo Alto, CA 94303. @~I've registered TADS 2.0 and have a copy of the "Tell a Friend" @~certificate if anyone wants to order it at the low price of $30. @~There's only one copy so if you're interested, let me know and @~I'll post it to you. The offer expires on March 31st, 1993 - Sue