TADS 3 - The Latest Beta Release

The following downloads are the latest testing version of TADS. This version is a "beta" test, which means that it's still undergoing testing to make sure that its quality is acceptable. "Beta" means that it's finished in terms of features and appears to be stable in our internal testing, but that we want to test it in real-world conditions before making it an official release.

This test is for a relatively small update to the last major release (3.0.16). This update corrects several bugs and adds a few minor features. Usually, when we release a minor update like this just after a major release, we wouldn't bother with a separate beta test. The main reason for the beta designation this time is that a couple of the new features could conceivably cause compatibility problems with existing game source code.

Should I use this version? Our beta tests are open to everyone, but if you've just started with TADS, you might want to stick with an official release instead. We don't call a release "beta" until it's pretty solid, so you shouldn't need to worry that it's going to crash constantly, but there might still be a few rough edges. Also, if you're almost finished with a game you've been writing, you should stay on your current version to avoid any surprises. You should always do thorough play-testing after any library upgrade, so if you've already done the majority of your testing, you'll probably want to finish your game before upgrading.

If you'd prefer to use an official general release rather than this beta test version, you can find that here.

What's new:

8/12/2008: a patch version (3.0.17.1) corrects a compiler bug that was introduced in 3.0.17, which causes the compiler to produce corrupted .t3 files in certain cases; the corrupted files can cause Workbench and the interpreter to crash when attempting to load them. If you downloaded the original 3.0.17 Author's Kit from 8/9/2008, you can skip re-downloading the entire Author's Kit, and instead just download the patched compiler - see below.

For details on the bug fixes and new features in this release, refer to the change logs (see versions 3.0.17 and later):

• HTML TADS and Workbench changes
• T3 VM and Compiler changes
• Adv3 Library changes

Downloads

Beta Version Author's Kit for Windows with Full Documentation. This is the version with full documentation, including integrated full-text searching of the doc. [14 MB download, 55 MB installed; August 12, 2008]

Beta Version Author's Kit for Windows - No Documentation. This version contains just the software, with built-in Web links to the on-line documentation. [5.8 MB download, 21 MB installed; August 12, 2008]

Beta Version 3.0.17.1 compiler patch. This is a patched version of the compiler, to correct a serious bug that was introduced in 3.0.17. If you've already downloaded the original 3.0.17 Author's Kit from 8/9/2008, you can install this patch rather than downloading the entire Author's Kit again - just download this ZIP file and copy the contents over your existing t3make.exe in your C:\Program Files\TADS 3 directory. If you download the current Author's Kit version (3.0.17.1 - 8/12/08), you DO NOT need this patch. [August 12, 2008]

Beta Version Player Kit for Windows. This is the full HTML TADS interpreter, which can play TADS 2 and TADS 3 games and features full multimedia support. [1.3 MB download, 2.2 MB installed; August 9, 2008]

Beta Version New Names library add-on. This is an optional library addition for improved object name generation in parser announcement messages. This extension automatically inserts distinguishing phrases into object name announcements, based on factors like location and ownership, in cases where there are several objects with similar names present. We plan to integrate these enhancements directly into the library in the future, but until we have more confidence that they're working properly, they're available via this optional extension. [27 KB; August 9, 2008]

Beta Version Porting kit (system source files). This is the generic C++ source code for the TADS 3 compiler, interpreter, and other tools, for porting the system to other platforms. You'll also need the latest TADS 2 sources, below; and if you want to build the Windows HTML TADS version, you'll need those sources as well, also linked below. [August 12, 2008]

Beta Version TADS 2 Source Code. This is the TADS 2 porting kit, which the TADS 3 porting kit depends upon. [August 12, 2008]

Beta Version HTML TADS Source Code. This is the HTML TADS porting kit, which you'll need if you want to port HTML TADS or build the Windows HTML version (including Workbench). [August 9, 2008]

Beta Version Documentation. This is the full documentation package, including Getting Started in TADS 3, the TADS 3 Tour Guide, the System Manual, the Technical Manual, and the Library Reference Manual. [August 9, 2008]

Tester Responsibilities

When you use a testing release, we ask two things. First, we ask that you recognize going in that you're using a testing version - if you can't accept a certain amount of instability, we ask that you stick with the official release version instead, because otherwise you'll probably just become frustrated. Second, if you do encounter any problems, please let us know about them, in as much detail as you possibly can. For the most part, when there's a bug, it's because we never tried whatever it is you did to reveal the bug - once we can see the bug for ourselves, we can usually track down the cause and fix it.

Please refer to our bug reporting tips for information on how to report a bug.

Release Levels Defined

A release cycle will usually consist of multiple alpha versions, followed by multiple beta versions, followed by an official general release. A general release might be followed by one or more "patch" releases that fix bugs or make other small changes that we don't think will cause much risk of instability.

Alpha: This is an early testing version, released partly to let eager, cutting-edge power users get their hands on the latest and greatest, and partly to generate some real-world testing of the software. An alpha version has undergone basically no testing outside of our development labs, which means that it might have some pretty stupid problems - there might be some simple, obvious things you can do to cause it to crash or otherwise misbehave. It might also be missing some features: because we're eager to show off the software and get some testing feedback, we might release it before we've finished everything we're planning to do before releasing it officially. And finally, an alpha will probably have out-of-date documentation, or lack documentation for some new features, or both. Part of the alpha/beta cycle is bringing all of the different components of the system, particularly the documentation, into sync with the software. Alpha releases are recommended primarily for experienced users who are willing to put up with some bugs and instability in exchange for getting their hands on the very latest.

Beta: An intermediate-to-later testing version. We change the designation to Beta when the software is feature-complete, meaning that all of the new features planned for the current release cycle are implemented and working. A beta will generally be more stable than an alpha, because most of the new code will already have been tested for a while during the alpha period; however, since features are usually added while the alpha test is ongoing, some parts of the beta may be relatively untested. The documentation might not be entirely up-to-date during the beta period - one of the reasons we freeze the feature set during the beta period is to ensure that the documentation is in sync with the software. Beta releases should be stable enough for most users, but you might prefer to stick with the last official release if you're very new to computers or if you're nearly finished with a TADS project already under way.