Announcing the Kindliser

A few weeks ago I blogged about a Kindle ebook I’d produced and put on Amazon. It was a simple “click the links” CYOA story with one cunning twist: a limited ability to store information about what the player had done, and use that information to alter game text and game choices.

That ebook was built using a custom tool – that tool is now getting its version 1 release. While it needs some validation and error checking to help diagnose typos and simple coding mistakes, it is fully functional and capable of producing working CYOA ebooks.

Full documentation and download on the Kindliser page.

The Kindliser is a perl script that’ll turn a simple plain-text format into linked-up, Kindle-valid html, ready to then be converted into the Kindle format (.prc) by an application such as MobiPocket.

Using it will be easy — if you know how to get a perl script to run. If not, you may have a little learning to do. I’m afraid the Kindliser isn’t a proper application, and I’m not sure how I could make it into one. (If anyone feels like doing that, please do!)

• Download the Kindliser script.
• Download the example game source code.
• Download a zip file containing the script, an example source and output file, and the documentation as a readme.
• Try the Flaws example Kindlisered ebook.
• Go to the Kindliser page.

Enjoy, and let me know if you hit any problems!