		       ALAN ADVENTURE LANGUAGE


		      Release 2.7 now available


The Alan System is one of the most easy-to-use tools to create
interactive fiction, aka. adventure games. The Alan System is based on
a special purpose computer language designed to be used by people more
interested in authoring and designing games than for computer
programmers.  The system consists of a compiler which compiles Alan
source to a compact and portable form and an interpreter that
interprets such a form to allow playing of the game.

Version 2.7 is an upgrade with radically new features including
possibility to refer objects and actors that are not present, more
general default attribute handling (objects, actors and locations may
now share attributes), multiple names on objects and actors and
general statements allowed in the message definitions (see the file
Changes and the documentation for details)

Another major change is the fact that distribution of the compiler is
now allowed. The compiler is included in the distribution file for
each platform. Continued use of the system requires only a
registration (see below). Distribution of the interpreter program
together with games is still completely free.

The format of game files have changed slightly between 2.6 and
2.7. The 2.7 interpreter can therefore *not* run 2.6 compiled
games. Older interpreters are available for various platforms and
source for a conversion tool will be made available.

The Alan System is register-ware. The complete system is available
without charge through electronic mail on request from

	alan-request@softlab.se

The documentation is delivered separately. To get it send an email
message with a single line like:

	SEND <text>

where <text> should be replaced with one of TEXT or POSTSCRIPT for
plain ascii or PostScript versions of the documentation
respectively. The PostScript version is delivered in a compressed,
uuencoded format (compressed size 184k).

Executable programs for a particular platform can be acquired by an
e-mail message consisting of the single line

	SEND <platform>

for a complete distribution including demos and executables for
<platform>. <platform> should be replaced by one of currently
available platform names:

	<platform>	size packed and compressed
			(one package containing compiler and interpreter)
	----------	--------------------------------
	SOLARIS1	192k
	SOLARIS2	190k
	HP		276k
	AMIGA		133k
	PC		312k
	MAC		334k

Packages are distributed as archives in various formats depending on
platform.

Complete distribution and documentation packages are available using
e-mail as described above or using ftp at

	ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/programming/alan

and its mirrors.

The distributions package contains some small examples as well as the
compiler and interpreter. The documentation is separately available as
text or PostScript.

Registration can be done with a simple email to the server
(alan-request@softlab.se) with a message body containing the single
word REGISTER.

For complete copying conditions refer to the file COPYING in the
distribution or appendix J in the manual.

If you have any problems requesting or receiving the packages don't
hesitate to contact the authors at the following email addresses:

	thoni@softlab.se
	gorfo@ida.liu.se

All communication is welcome! You may also wish to visit the
(temporary) Alan Home Pages at

	http://www.ida.liu.se/~gorfo/alan



If you haven't already, join the 881 people registered. Happy Authoring!


	The ThoNi & GorFo Adventure Factories
