Chord Version 1 – A new IF modeling language for parser web games

Chord Version 1

Over the last two weeks I have aligned Sharpee with a new parser-IF modeling language called Chord. This effort was not to adhere to one side or the other. It was a true alignment where both sides were required to maintain their "way", be elegant, and in their own way provide a path for an author to create parser-based IF that publishes to a browser. There were changes across the Sharpee packages to enable this alignment and Chord matured into what I consider a highly readable and usable interactive fiction modeling language. Chord is a declarative pseudo-code styled language. It compiles to IR (intermediate representation) and can be deployed to a framework-less web application the same as a standard Sharpee story. It has the same features as the Sharpee Typescript API and a few additional wrinkles. The details for Chord are on the Sharpee website. I posted the work-in-progress syntax last week and today it's a complete and working new IF language. The GenAI created sample story is listed at the end and that hits all of the Sharpee capabilities. I use the Typescript version for regression testing changes to Sharpee and now this version will also be used to regression test Chord. Full documentation for Chord is on the website and in the GitHub repository on main. I call it a modeling language because it is not a programming language. It does not have if-then-else blocks or boolean flags. It asks the author to find the correct domain meaning and implement its parts accordingly. As in Sharpee, Chord also adheres to the post-turn text emission process in Channel-IO. Every piece of text is within a definition or defined as a phrase. Phrases can be listed in named phrasebooks with predicates to differentiate when they apply to the world. A Chord story can be one .story file or a .story file with .chord imports (though a .chord cannot also import other .chord files). An author can replace the index.html template and add their own components to be filled with additional custom channel data. The template still has to follow a contract for its named styles and required components like the command line. The website also has a sandbox/playground where you can try Chord live. I encourage you to give it a try. ## ## The Folly at Fernhill — one winter night to find the deed. ##

story "The Folly at Fernhill" by "The Sharpee Project" id: fernhill version: 0.1.0 blurb: One winter night to find the deed that keeps Fernhill in the family. states: evening, midnight use state-machines

on every turn while one chance in 12 phrase distant-bell end on

## The estate exterior — the night begins here.

create the Grounds a region containing the Iron Gates, the Gravel Drive, the Fountain Court containing the Greenhouse, the Boiler Shed, Folly Hill

on every turn while one chance in 6 phrase night-wind end on

after entering it phrase cold-returns play ambient night-wind when client has sound end after

after leaving it stop ambient when client has sound phrase out-of-the-wind end after

create the House a region containing the Entrance Hall, the Study, the Pantry containing the Kitchen, the Cellar Stairs and the Cellar

after entering it phrase house-hush end after

create the Iron Gates a room aka gates, gate north to the Gravel Drive south is blocked: long-road

after entering it while the player has the deed play music dawn-theme when client has music win fernhill-saved end after

first time The cab is already grinding away down the lane, its lamps swallowed by the dark. An auction notice is nailed to the left-hand gate, ruffling in the wind: FERNHILL HOUSE AND GROUNDS, BY ORDER OF THE ESTATE, AT DAWN.

Wrought-iron gates stand open on one hinge apiece, rust freckling the scrollwork. The gravel drive runs north toward the dark shape of the house.

create the Gravel Drive a room aka drive south to the Iron Gates north to the Fountain Court

The drive curves between bare lime trees, gravel crunching underfoot. The house looms ahead to the north; the gates are back south.

create the Fountain Court a room aka court, courtyard south to the Gravel Drive north to the Entrance Hall west to the Greenhouse east to the Boiler Shed

A paved court before the front door, holding a dry fountain crusted with last summer's leaves. The greenhouse glimmers palely to the west; a squat brick shed hunches to the east; the front door of the house is north.

create the Greenhouse a room aka glasshouse east to the Fountain Court north to Folly Hill north is blocked while the boiler is off: frost-sealed

Glass panes furred with frost on both sides. Staging benches run the length of the house, and a door in the north wall — glass too — leads up toward the folly, if it would open.

create the Boiler Shed a room aka shed west to the Fountain Court

Brick, low, and bitter with old coal dust. The estate's boiler sits cold as a tomb against the back wall, its pipes running off through the earth toward the...

Chord Version 1 – A new IF modeling language for parser web games

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