From the links below, you can download, play, or view the source online for Sand-dancer, the example game, as it appears at the end of each chapter from 3 through 11, as well as the final version. If you’d like to start fresh on a certain chapter, you should visit the page for the previous chapter number, to be in sync with the first page of the new chapter.

(You can generate websites like these for your own Inform projects by simply including a line like “Release along with a website and the source text.” See “Chapter 11: Releasing” in the book for more information.)

Sand-dancer cover art

Here are some supplemental downloads related to Sand-dancer.

If you have problems getting Sand-dancer to compile, consult the list below.

  • First, make sure you’re using the latest version of Inform. On a Mac, select the Inform menu and then “About Inform”; on a Windows machine, look in the Help menu. You should see a line near the top of this window like “Inform (1.2 6.31/6E72).” Make sure the concluding four-character release ID matches the one currently shown on the download page of the Inform 7 website.
  • If the project won’t compile and the problem message says it can’t find an extension, make sure you have correctly downloaded and installed the mentioned extension. Instructions for this can be found in Creating Interactive Fiction with Inform 7 in Chapter 2, Getting Started, “Extensions”, on p.33-35.
  • If your project won’t compile and the problem message mentions the “release along with” instructions, download the files “Cover.jpg” and “Small Cover.jpg” from the links above and put them in the “Materials” folder for your project, which should be in the same folder as your main project file. Alternatively, comment out the line that says “Release along with cover art” in your project file.
  • If your project won’t compile and the problem message says “Translating the source – Failed” or “Ran Out of Space,” open the Settings panel and try selecting “Glulx” under “Story File Format.”
  • If you’re trying to release your project and your message says that you can’t find a copy ‘Quixe,’ you need to add support for the Quixe interpreter for Glulx-based story files (under the section “Put Quixe on your own web site”). Alternatively, comment out the line that says ‘Release along with the “Quixe” interpreter.’