sci-ts

An engine for Sierra's SCI2 adventure games, written from scratch in TypeScript, and the tools to make new games with it: scripts in SCI's own Lisp-like language on a class library of our own, rooms written as YAML and Yarn, a live editor, and writers for every kind of resource.

It runs in the browser and in Node. It was built by making one game, Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness (CD), play from its title screen on, and it now builds games that need nothing from Sierra: games/hello here, and a Sherlock Holmes teaser in progress.

No game data here. This repository contains no files, scripts, art, text or music from any Sierra game, and none are needed to build, test or use it. To play a Sierra game, point the tools at your own copy. Sierra, Quest for Glory and other names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to say what the software works with.

Make a game

mkdir night-walk && cd night-walk
npm init -y && npm install --save-dev sci2-ts
npx sci-ts new .          # a room in YAML and Yarn, a hero, placeholder art
npx sci-ts play           # build it and play it in the browser
npx sci-ts edit           # the live editor for its rooms

A game is a folder: scripts (scripts/<n>.sc), rooms as data (rooms/<n>.room.yaml and .yarn), message files, music (MIDI files), sound effects (WAV files), and art drawn in code or exported from a paint program. sci-ts build turns it into the RESOURCE.MAP and RESOURCE.000 an SCI interpreter opens. See docs/games.md.

(instance lantern of Prop
  (properties noun N_LANTERN view 100 x 160 y 172 cycleSpeed 12)

  ;; It chimes when touched, then says its line.
  (method (doVerb verb)
    (if (== verb V_DO) (sfx number: 50 play:))
    (super doVerb: verb)))

| | | |---|---| | docs/games.md | a game's folder, the build, the sci-ts command and the package's imports | | docs/language.md | the script language | | docs/library.md | the class library: rooms, actors, walking, talking, conversations, flags, sound | | docs/rooms.md | rooms as YAML and Yarn: features, exits, characters, topic menus, cutscenes | | docs/art.md | art from a paint program: the manifest, the palette, the checks |

The tools

The player plays a game in the page: saved games, a link to any room (play.html#room/2), music through a SoundFont or an emulated AdLib card.

The live editor shows a room's YAML and Yarn, or its script, next to the running game. Saving (or a pause in typing) rebuilds the game and walks into the room again; errors are marked on their line. Outlines name the features, exits, props and walkable floor; in Move mode things are dragged into place and floors painted with a brush, as edits to the YAML.

The resource viewer lists every resource with a thumbnail and the name the game's scripts give it, searchable, with a player for sounds.

The explorer maps a game's rooms and how they connect, its classes and objects, and inspects a running game.

On the command line: sci-ts build, play, edit, new, site (the game and its docs as a static site) and art (check and build exported art). The compiler warns about sends no class defines; editors/vscode highlights the language in VS Code.

Inside

| | | |---|---| | packages/sci | the engine: resources, the SCI2 virtual machine and its kernel, graphics, text, motion, sound, saves; readers and byte-exact writers for every resource; the script compiler and assembler | | packages/content | the room compiler: YAML and Yarn to scripts and messages | | lib | the class library, in the script language | | apps/viewer | the player, editor, resource viewer and explorer | | tools | the sci-ts command, the game build, the art tool, and tools for reading SCI2 games | | games/hello | the example game |

How SCI works, as far as we found out by running a game: docs/sci.

Developing sci-ts

pnpm install
pnpm check                 # typecheck and tests; no game files needed
pnpm game build games/hello
SCI_GAME=out/games/hello pnpm viewer

With an SCI2 game of your own in original/ (or SCI_GAME=<dir>), pnpm viewer opens it, and pnpm res, pnpm asm, pnpm msg and pnpm play read, disassemble and run it.

See docs/plan.md for where this is going and CONTRIBUTING.md for how to help. Changes are in CHANGELOG.md, generated from commit messages.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.