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'''TADS'''{{Short isdescription|Programming alanguage programmingand systemIDE for creating [[interactive fiction]] games.}}
{{for|the military aircraft targeting system|Target Acquisition and Designation System, Pilot Night Vision System}}
The name is an acronym for "Text Adventure Development System".
{{more citations needed|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox programming language
| name = TADS
| logo =
| caption =
| file ext =
| paradigm = [[prototype-oriented programming|prototype-based]], [[___domain-specific language|___domain-specific]]
| released = {{start date and age|1988}}
| designer = Michael J. Roberts
| developer = Michael J. Roberts
| latest release version = Version 3.1.3
| latest release date = {{start date and age|2013|5|16}}
| typing = [[Strong typing]], [[type inference]]
| programming language =
| platform =
| operating system = [[Amiga]], [[BeOS]], [[DOS]], [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Unix]] ([[Linux]], [[Mac OS X]]), others
| license = TADS 2 [[Freeware]] source code{{clarify|date=July 2015}}
| website = {{URL|www.tads.org}}
}}
 
'''Text Adventure Development System''' ('''TADS''') is a [[prototype-based programming|prototype-based]] [[___domain-specific language|___domain-specific]] [[programming language]] and set of [[standard library|standard libraries]] for creating [[interactive fiction]] (IF) games.
 
==History==
The original TADS 1 was released by [[High Energy Software]] as [[shareware]] in 1988, and was followed by TADS 2 not long after. From the late 1980s to early 1990s, free development tools such as TADS and [[Inform]] enabled amateur communities to create [[interactive fiction]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Interactive Digital Narrative |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-78239-6 |page=23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZsGCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 |access-date=25 April 2020}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, TADS was a top development tool for interactive fiction.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Montfort |first1=Nick |title=Twisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction |date=2005 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-63318-5 |page=201 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiJFORKEm0oC&dq=TADS&pg=PA201 |access-date=25 April 2020 |language=en}}</ref> At the time, it was a more improved tool for [[Text parser|parsing]] and world building than existing systems like AGT ([[Adventure Game Toolkit]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Short |first1=Emily |author-link1=Emily Short |editor1-last=Ryan |editor1-first=Marie-Laure |editor2-last=Emerson |editor2-first=Lori |editor3-last=Robertson |editor3-first=Benjamin J. |title=The Johns Hopkins Guide to Digital Media |date=2014 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-1-4214-1223-8 |page=290 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qC0_AwAAQBAJ&dq=TADS%201990%20interactive%20fiction%20AGT&pg=PT304 |access-date=27 April 2020 |language=en |chapter=Interactive Fiction}}</ref>
The original TADS 1 was released by High Energy Software as shareware in the late 80s, and was followed by TADS 2 not long after.
In the early 90s, TADS established itself as the number one development tool for interactive fiction, in place of simpler systems like AGT ([[Adventure Game Toolkit]]).
 
TADS 2 syntax is based on [[C (programming language)|C]], with bits of [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]]. TADS 2 has been maintained and updated at regular intervals by its creator, Michael J. Roberts, even after it became freeware in July 1996. Graham Nelson, creator of Inform, describes Inform and TADS as the "only two systems... widely used" in the last half of the 1990s,<ref name="DM4">{{cite web
However, [[Graham Nelson]]'s [[Inform programming language|Inform]] has, since its release in 1993, slowly gained popularity and superseded TADS in the last half of the 90s.
| url = http://www.inform-fiction.org/manual/html/s46.html#p369
Nevertheless, TADS 2 has been maintained and updated at regular intervals by its creator, [[Michael J. Roberts]], even after it became freeware in July 1996.
| title = DM4 §46: A short history of interactive fiction
| access-date = 2007-09-03
|date=July 2001
 
| last = Nelson
Multimedia TADS, introduced in 1998, allows games to display graphics, animation and play sounds, if the platform supports it.
| first = Graham
| work = The Inform Designer's Manual
}}
</ref> and TADS has been called "The second most commonly used IF programming language today".<ref name="Maher">{{cite web
| url = http://maher.filfre.net/if-book/if-8.htm
| title = Chapter 8: The Growth of Hobbyist IF
| access-date = 2010-09-17
| year = 2006
| last = Maher
| first = Jimmy
| work = Let's Tell a Story Together (A History of Interactive Fiction)
}}</ref> Multimedia TADS, introduced in 1998, allows games to display graphics, animation and play sounds, if the platform supports it.
 
RecentlyIn 2006, TADS received a major overhaul with the release of '''TADS 3''', which is a complete rewrite of the TADS engine, only retaining the platform-dependent code to ease [[porting]]. TADS 3 uses a language with a syntax that resembles [[C++]] and [[Java (programming language)|Java]]. It has many new features, such as efficient dynamic objects (with automatic [[garbage collection (computer science)|garbage collection]]), structured [[exception handling|exceptions]], native [[UTF-8]] strings, and many useful function classes.
TADS 3 has many new features, such as efficient dynamic objects (with [[garbage collection (computer science)|automatic garbage collection]]), structured [[Exception handling|exceptions]], native [[UTF-8]] strings, and many useful function classes.
 
According to the [http://www.tads.org official TADS website], as of [[November]] [[2004]], the TADS 3 system is in its [[Development stage#Beta|beta]] release[http://www.tads.org/t3dl.htm]. While TADS 3 is still subject to last-minute changes, and while its documentation is incomplete, theThe TADS 3 [[compiler]] and [[interpreter (computing)|interpreter]] are stable and they have been ported to the [[UnixDOS]], [[AppleMac Macintosh(computer)|Macintosh]] and [[DOSUnix]] [[platform (computing)|platforms]]. It should be noted that severalSeveral TADS 3 games have been entered into the [[2002]], [[2003]], and [[2004]] [[Interactive Fiction Competition|IF Competition]]released.
 
==TADS games==
Games written in TADS are compiled to a platform-independent format that can be played on any computer for which a suitable [[virtual machine]] (VM) exists. Such virtual machines exist for mostseveral platforms, and in this respect, TADS closely follows the example of the original [[Infocom]] [[Z-machine]], as well as modern languages such as [[Java (programming language)|Java]] and [[C sharpSharp (programming language )| C#]].
 
Whereas the TADS 1 and 2 VMs had to [[parse]] the commands entered by the player, before sending the results on to the game, TADS 3 employs a more general-purpose virtual machine, where the command-parsing is done by the game code itself, akin to Inform. The rationale for this is that it is easier to customize the parser.<ref>{{cite web|last=Roberts|first=Michael J|title=Differences between TADS 2 and 3|url=http://www.tads.org/t3_feat.htm|work=TADS Website|publisher=Michael J Roberts|access-date=2012-01-05}}</ref>
 
===Notable games developed in TADS 2===
==The programming language==
* ''Uncle Zebulon's Will'', by Magnus Olsson (1995). It won the TADS category at the inaugural 1995 [[Interactive Fiction Competition]] and was included on [[Activision]]'s 1996 commercial release of ''[[Classic Text Adventure Masterpieces of Infocom]]''.
TADS 2 is based on [[C programming language|C]], with bits of [[Pascal programming language|Pascal]].
* ''The Frenetic Five vs. Sturm und Drang'', the first game in the "[[Frenetic Five]]" series by [[Neil deMause]] (1997). The game won a [[XYZZY Award for Best NPCs]] that year.
* ''Worlds Apart'' by Suzanne Britton (1999). Winner of [[XYZZY Award for Best Story]] and finalist in seven other XYZZY Award categories in 1999, the game features a huge amount of detailed worldbuilding.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Montfort|first=Nick|url=http://www.digitalhumanities.org/companionDLS/|title=A Companion to Digital Literary Studies|publisher=Blackwell|year=2008|editor-last=Schreibman|editor-first=Susan|___location=Oxford|chapter=Riddle Machines: The History and Nature of Interactive Fiction|editor-last2=Siemens|editor-first2=Ray}}</ref>
* ''[[Kaged]]'' by Ian Finley (2000). Winner of the 2000 annual [[Interactive Fiction Competition]].
* ''[[1893: A World's Fair Mystery]]'' by [[Peter Nepstad]] (2002). The game is one of a handful to be released commercially in recent years, garnering attention from the New York Times<ref name="NYT">{{cite web
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/business/yourmoney/30goods.html?ex=1264827600&en=49db8c4b16ce38ac&ei=5088
| title = A Game With A Low Body Count
| access-date = 2007-09-03
| date = 2005-01-30
| author = Brendan I. Koerner
| work = New York Times
}}
</ref> and the Associated Press.<ref name="AP">{{cite web
| url = http://www.columbiachronicle.com/back/2003_spring/2003-04-07/arts5.html
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130102123755/http://www.columbiachronicle.com/back/2003_spring/2003-04-07/arts5.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 2013-01-02
| title = '1893' has history, mystery
| access-date = 2007-09-03
| date = 2003-04-07
| author = Nick Wadhams
| work = Columbia Chronicle Online
}}</ref> It also won the 2002 [[XYZZY Award for Best Setting]].
 
===Notable games developed in TADS 3===
A [[Hello world program]] isn't that simple to write in TADS 2, because TADS 2 requires a working [[world model]] to compile.
* ''Max Blaster and Doris de Lightning Against the Parrot Creatures of Venus'' by [[Dan Shiovitz]] and [[Emily Short]] (2003). Winner of the 2003 [[Spring Thing]]; a somewhat unusual example of multiple [[player character|player characters (or PCs)]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}
* ''[[The Elysium Enigma]]'' by [[Eric Eve]] (2006). Eve was awarded [[XYZZY Award for Best Game]], [[XYZZY Award for Best Individual NPC]], and took third place in the 2006 annual [[Interactive Fiction Competition]].
 
==See also==
#include <adv.t>
* [[Interactive fiction#Development systems]], lists software similar to TADS
#include <std.t>
* [[Inform]] The other leading IF development system
&nbsp;
* [[Hugo (programming language)|Hugo]] The Hugo development system
replace commonInit: function
{
"Hello World!\n";
quit;
}
&nbsp;
startroom: room; // We must define a startroom object.
 
==References==
Of course, the goal of TADS 2 is to make Interactive Fiction (and not Hello World programs) simple to implement, and in pursuing that goal it succeeds.
{{reflist|30em}}
 
Nevertheless, TADS 3 dispenses with the requirement of a working world model, and also abandons the Pascal elements of the language.
 
function main(args)
{
"Hello World!";
}
 
==See also==
* [[Interactive fiction]]
* [[Inform]]
* [[Hugo programming language|Hugo]]
 
==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* [http://teladesign.com/tads/ The TADS page]
* [https://archive.today/20130105023649/http://wwwteladesign.com/tads.org/ The official TADS web sitepage]
* [http://wurb.com/if/platform/2 TADS 2] and [http://wurb.com/if/platform/39 TADS 3] games on Baf's Guide
* [http://www.firthworks.com/roger/cloak/tads/index.html Cloak of Darkness: TADS] presents a short game implemented in TADS, as well as other languages for comparison.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100130065238/http://lists.v-space.org/listinfo/tads3/ The TADS 3 mailing list]
;Interpreters
* [http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/programming/tads2/executables/ TADS 2 interpreters for several platforms]
* [http://wwwinky.drizzle.com/~dansorg/if/jetty/ Jetty] - Java Applet Interpreter for TADS 2 games
* [http://www.tads.org/t3dltads3.htm TADS 3 interpreters for DOS, Windows, and source for Unix]
* [http://www.hypertadsteladesign.orgcom/hypertads/ HyperTADS]{{dead link|date=September 2015}}, a Mac OS multimedia interpreter for TADS 2 and 3
 
* [http://www.firthworks.com/roger/cloak/tads/index.html "Cloak of Darkness" in TADS] (A sample game coded in several languages, to demonstrate the coding of each)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tads}}
* [http://lists.v-space.org/listinfo/tads3/ The TADS 3 mailing list]
[[Category:1988 software]]
[[Category:Domain-specific programming languages]]
[[Category:Freeware]]
[[Category:Interactive fiction engines]]
[[Category:GameVideo creationgame development software]]
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