Why 2.08 over 1.4?

Singletona

I keep seeing threads, discussions, and complaints about 2.x. Just from a newbie's perspective, why should i use the new version (especially sugercube since everyone keeps going on about Harlowe?) What advantages exist?

I'm very agnostic. Just trying to find the other side of things when I see thing after thing complaining 'NEW THING ISN'T DOING THING I WANT!'

prof_yaffle

For me 2.x has two advantages. It's easier to use on Linux. When I last tried a few years ago it was very hard to get the right version of wxpython installed. While 2.x just works.

I prefer the Harlowe syntax over the syntax over formats that come with 1.4.

greyelf

I personally don't think of Twine 2 as the new version of Twine 1. Instead I think of them as two different applications, both of which can be used to create a Twine story HTML file.

Originally Twine 2 was designed to work as a web-application (an application that works within a web-browser) so it would be easier to run because an Author would not have to install the application on their machine and it also allowed the application to work on machines/devices (like tablets) that Twine 1 does not support. Since then Twine 2 has changed to also be an application that requires installing, although there is still a hosted version of the web-application.

Choosing a Story Format has always been an important step for Authors using Twine. (both 1 and 2)
This is because it is the story format that defines the basic look of a story, it defines the macro language syntax and the core macros available, it also defines the structure of the HTML/CSS of the story HTML file generated.

So choosing which Twine application (2 or 1) or which story format (Harlowe or another) all comes down to personal preference, a bit like choosing your preferred media player or text editor.

Just trying to find the other side of things when I see thing after thing complaining 'NEW THING ISN'T DOING THING I WANT!'

This is a common complaint with new/immature software (which both Twine 2 and Harlowe are) and is generally a result of one of three things:
1. A feature does not exist yet.
2. A feature exists but is not well documented yet.
3. User does not know the product well enough yet.

And all of these things generally improve over time.

TextHero

Hi Singletona,

I'm a newb and I've had the same kind of questions. I want to get started and then I'm faced with all these choices which are really BIG choices and it is frustrating.

1. Will the choice I make be good for the long term?
2. Will enough people be supporting the choice I make so I can share with others and they can share with me?

I don't know if I have the right answer. I can just give you my opinion and some observation.

1. I want to go with Twine 2.x because that is what will be supported and more attention will most likely be towards the latest version going forward.
2. Harlowe seems like it is OK for simple things, but once you want to do more complex things then Harlowe seems like it has to do a lot more to do those complex items. Others may disagree. That's just looking at the help docs and some videos.
3. SugarCube uses a lot of the same syntax as TiddlyWiki (tiddlywiki.com) which I've started using recently without even knowing there was a connection. This is a big plus for me since I can use similar syntax for both.

The downside of SugarCube is that you have to manually install the v2, but it looks like you can do a lot of complex things while keeping things still somewhat simple in the syntax.

Again, I'm a newb and these are just some impressions from looking around at stuff. I'm sure others can give a better insight than I can, but I hope you find some of what I said useful.

Claretta

TextHero wrote: »

1. I want to go with Twine 2.x because that is what will be supported and more attention will most likely be towards the latest version going forward.

IMO Twine 2 will take a fair bit of work before it's at the standard of Twine 1, and some limitations might never be overcome due to the differences between the programs and the priorities of the creators. What some people regard as limitations, others may regard as pointless features, meaning those features will never come to Twine 2 due to lack of mainstream popularity.

I believe my desire to use Twine 1 because I can easily integrate Greensock Animation falls into that category. I do not think Twine 2 will be supporting it any time soon because while a very powerful plugin, the Twine 2 devs probably regard it as something that most Twine users do not want so do not wish to spend any time on supporting it.