Thunderword [experimental] app updated - Hugo interpreter on Android

New alpha release put up on Google Play. The Hugo story "The Hugo Clock" opens fine in preliminary testing! Name files .hex or .hugo and rebuild the database. The new control panel choice "[ Useful A ]" has an easy macro pick to rebuild the search database. It should find .hex or .hugo files anywhere on your public /sdcard paths.

Keyboards for parser Interactive Fiction in Thunderword

Firefox on desktop PC access Thunderword on Android

Screen shot of a desktop PC running Firefox web browser - accessing the integrated Thunderword web server.  This can be used as an alternate to Bluetooth and USB keyboard solutions that Android offers.  Wake Reality is also working to integrate Onyxbits' excellent telnet solution.  You will be able to use any device that can connect over TCP/IP via telnet or web browser to act as a 'remote keyboard'.  This could be your desktop PC, another mobile phone or tablet, etc.  We are also working on some ideas for better on-screen keyboards for version 2 of Thunderword, later this year.

P.S. This keyboard solution works well enough to play Tetris for Z-Machine (Andrew Plotkin's freefall.z5 on IFDB).

April 2, 2017 target date for Thunderword beta release

Thunderword should be usable enough on or before April 2, 2017.  A few things are planned as far as the transition from 'alpha' to a 'beta' stage:

1. Two apps will be put on the Google Play store, one named "Thunderword [experimental]" (the current one in alpha), and a second called "Thunderword" without any addition to the name. They will have differences in their icon and can both be installed on the same Android device.

2. The main app, "Thunderword", will be set to be an open beta test that anyone can join.

3. An enhanced version of the popular "Text Fiction" app by Onyxbits, named "Text Fiction for Thunderword" will be released on the Google Play store in open beta test. The enhanced variation will offer the player the choice of using the built-in Z-machine interpreter ("stock" Text Fiction's Zplet) or to use Thunderword's various interpreter. It can be installed on the same device as the original "Text Fiction" app and should not interfere.

More frequent development updates will be pushed to the "Thunderword [experimental]" app - and it may include newer Glk interpreter engines depending on player interest.

All three apps will be free of charge on Google Play and advertisement-free (with the exception that listing or featuring certain interactive fiction stories, download sites, and partner apps to download and work with Thunderword is a form of "promoting" products). There will be no in-app purchases or Google/Adsense/AdMob advertising like you see on a lot of "free" Android games. 

Glux on Android is no April Fools joke, despite the wide beta opening date ;)

P.S. For support, "what is broken", how-to, etc. free discussion - I created a new discussion forum here: groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/int-fiction-android Thank you!

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.