Amazon App Store testing of Thunderword

In addition to the Google Play store alpha testing, I added Thunderword to the Amazon app store "Live Testing" where I can assign e-mail addresses of approved testers. Locally testing on a 7" Fire tablet (2015, generation 5). So far, the proper app distribution download seems to work perfectly fine.  More work needs to be done before the Thunderword app is ready for intermediate and novice technical users, but progress is being made every day. It looks like we can have a proper release sometime before April 2, 2017!

Level 9 Interpreter, version 5.1 added to Thunderword Experimental

Build 164 (version 0.3.64) of Thunderword Experimental now has Level 9 Interactive Fiction Interpreter version 5.1 included. The Thunderstrike example app on GitHub has been updated to demonstrate how outside apps can launch a Level 9 story.

Thunderstrike example JSON app published on GitHub

In follow-up to the previous blog posting, an example app has been posted on GitHub to demonstrate the interfacing with Thunderword to get the raw JSON feed from the internal RemGlk.  github.com/WakeRealityDev/Thunderstrike - it is ready for Android Studio 2.2.3 and SDK 25.

Thunderword will expose a JSON interface for other Android apps

I'm going to be adding an option to expose RemGlk JSON input/output to other apps. This is to encourage people to focus on the user-interface side of how to best adapt classic and newly created Interactive Fiction.

You will be able to make your own app and tell Thunderword to load the interpreter engine of your choice (currently: Bocfel. Frotz, Git, Glulxe, Nitfol, Scott, Tads) with the data file of your choice. Then your app will have a full JSON interface to the interpreters.  This will allow you to have lightweight APK files and not have to get involved with the NDK cross-compiler side of Android development.  Your app will have full and total control of the screen and presentation.

Should be ready for early preview in a few days.