pity-of-thieves 0.9.0

A simple text adventure.

This is a technical demonstration of Balladeer. I first wrote it for the Icehouse game jam in 2021.

Balladeer helps you build parser-based Interactive Fiction for the Web. Balladeer is a Python library.

Installation

• Windows

• Linux

Windows

Pity of Thieves is a command line program. You use it from the Windows command interpreter.

To launch a new command window:

1. Tap the Windows key so that the Start Menu pops up.

2. Type the word cmd.

3. When you see the Command Prompt app highlighted, tap the Enter key.

You should see a prompt like this (your user name will differ):

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18362.1139]
(c) 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\author>

Prerequisites

Download and install Python from https://www.python.org/ . You need Python version 3.8 or higher. Make sure to check the option to add python to your environment path. This makes command line operation more easy.

After you’ve installed Python, open a command window and type python. You should see something like this:

C:\Users\author>python
Python 3.8.2 (tags/v3.8.2:7b3ab59, Feb 25 2020, 22:45:29) [MSC v.1916 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

Type quit() and press Return.

Virtual Environment

1. First make a fresh Python virtual environment:

   python -m venv C:\Users\author\balladeer-app

2. Update the package manager within it:

   C:\Users\author\balladeer-app\Scripts\pip install -U pip wheel

3. Install dependencies:

   C:\Users\author\balladeer-app\Scripts\pip install aiohttp

4. Install (or update) Balladeer:

   C:\Users\author\balladeer-app\Scripts\pip install -U balladeer

Download

1. Download the repository as a zip file. Unzip it to a local directory.

2. cd to pity_of_thieves.

Run

You can run the demo in two modes.

1. Launch a local web server to play in a browser (http://localhost:8080):

   C:\Users\author\balladeer-app\Scripts\python -m pot.server

2. Or text-only in the terminal:

   C:\Users\author\balladeer-app\Scripts\python -m pot.story

Linux

The Linux command line is generally more easy to work with than the Windows command prompt. If you’re finding the Windows command prompt tricky, you can install Git Bash which behaves in a Linux-like way.

I encourage you to move to a Linux operating system when you are able. You can try one out at little cost on a Raspberry Pi or similar device.

Here are the install instructions for Linux. You need Python version 3.8 or higher.

Virtual Environment

1. First make a fresh Python virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv ~/balladeer-app

2. Update the package manager within it:

   ~/balladeer-app/bin/pip install -U pip wheel

3. Install dependencies:

   ~/balladeer-app/bin/pip install aiohttp

4. Install (or update) Balladeer:

   ~/balladeer-app/bin/pip install -U balladeer

Download

1. Download the repository as a zip file. Unzip it to a local directory.

2. cd to pity_of_thieves.

Run

You can run the demo in two modes.

1. Launch a local web server to play the web app (http://localhost:8080):

   ~/balladeer-app/bin/python -m pot.server

2. Or text-only in the terminal:

   ~/balladeer-app/bin/python -m pot.story

The freedom to copy

You are free to use this project as a teaching example, or as the basis of your own work. Please read the licence and make sure you understand the Affero GPL.