@Vendetta - I’ve added my WIP as well 
@CJW - I’d recommend them, as they’re pretty useful for pin pointing silly mistakes. I do test in browser too, but like I say, I don’t think I could write a game without the autotest! I’m not the most methodical of people either, hence stupid mistakes creeping into my code.
@AlexCosarca
Thanks for adding them. Now it’s on there, I’ll have to finish it!
Many thanks for your contributions to the WIP Games Hub.
@bawpie As with @CJW, the auto-test files are something I use only occasionally as a ‘final check’ thing, preferring to test methodically as I go using a “built-in” scripting technique not unlike the one detailed somewhere in this article:
You do seem to have a very good grasp of the command prompt though, so if you’d like to tackle an article on that subject for the Wiki, please feel free. It could certainly use one! Just add a new page as you did for your WIP, with an appropriate name, work on it at your leisure, and when you’re happy with the final result let us know here and we’ll add it to the Main Articles list and link accordingly from other pages.
@Vendetta I’ve put together a quick page of how to use the command prompt in conjunction with the automatic tests as well as a few other tips/observations. Hopefully it’ll be of some use to someone!
The local alpha testing system seems like a good idea though, so I might consider incorporating that into my own project. Thanks!
@bawpie & @vendetta - Indeed… I like that.
You could actually use an *input_text and *gotoref to allow you to jump to and test any label in your vignette too, without file edits.
*if (alpha_testing)
*input_text selected_label
*gotoref selected_label
Useful if you change something and think “I’d like to see how that affects this particular bit”.
@bawpie That was quick! Excellent article – many thanks. That should really help a lot of people get to grips with using that old DOS-throwback command prompt for running the autotesting batch files. I’ve added it to the Main Articles listing beside the link to CoG’s own testing tutorial: who knows, maybe one day that tutorial will link to your Wiki article instead of saying “If you’re not sure how to run a .bat file, see if you can find someone to give you a demonstration.” 
@CJW That’s actually extremely useful in particular situations, thanks. I’ve amended the Alpha Testing technique to include it. (Now to go and edit my own scene files!)
Thanks all round, from an author who never figured out the DOS-ness of the auto testing tools or a workaround half as handy as @Vendetta’s…
@Vendetta - glad it was okay. Hope it helps others figure out the tools (I did chucklewhen I read the CoG testing tutorials suggestion of finding someone who could give a .bat demonstration!).
@CJW - you’re full of helpful tricks! It’s probably too broad a subject, but it’d be cool to have a ‘cool tricks’ page on the wiki.
@Havenstone - I grew up with dos so I do know just about how to use it, but google has been invaluable to me for figuring out how to do some things in it. Given how fairly user friendly choicescript is, I think it’s a shame that the tools aren’t at easily accessible to all.
@bawpie - I’m glad to hear it
And yes, what I think I’m more likely to do is an article on advanced coding techniques to follow up on the current basic coding techniques article.
I’m also carefully considering a request/workshop - where I’ll try and write up tutorials to match specific requests…
@CJW That would be awesome. I’ve just written my own crude dice game for my WIP, and although I did a quick search of the forums, there wasn’t anything readily available that I could use as a jumping off point (short of peeking at other people’s WIP code which isn’t something I feel entirely comfortable with without permission).
I think it’d be great to have a library of examples of things like conversations, mini games, combat, atmospheric effects etc like with the extensions you can get for inform. You might not necessarily need to use them as is, but it could give people an idea of how to put together certain things. But the request idea seems like a good one to me though you could find yourself inundated with requests!
@bawpie - Well originally I was planning on writing a handful of useful systems, like random-scenes and a container/inventory thing, but it is pretty time consuming. I’m thinking a more workshop like thing, perhaps as a topic, would be a way for me to guide and help people start off their ideas, yet for them to be the final producers. You often learn best by doing, after all 
A library of functions is definitely something I’ll be tackling though.
Also, don’t be scared of looking at other people’s code, as long as you’re not directly ripping it, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s how I taught myself my very first bits and bobs in coding logic.
@CJW - a library of functions would be extremely useful.
The workshop approach seems to be a really good idea, as I think getting input from multiple sources could be helpful. There’s a really good topic on different ways of approaching dialogue in the forums somewhere that is full of neat ideas, so maybe the workshops could be like that. Doing is the best way of learning, I agree.
Just a quick reminder to all ChoiceScript authors currently developing a game that you can now add (and at any time, edit & update) a page for your work-in-progress on the Wiki’s WIP Games Hub:
Full guidelines are available earlier in this thread (posted on the 7th) as well as on the WIP Games Hub page itself.
@Vendetta - would the wip games hub warrant it’s own thread I wonder? Maybe people are missing it because they don’t look in the generic wiki thread? I was surprised only 4 games had been added, given there must be dozens on this forum.
@bawpie Quite possibly, although the forum is so active these days (which is nice to see) that any such extra thread would likely very quickly sink into oblivion! We’ll see how it goes for another week or so, maybe, but it’s likely one of those “snowball” things – it will either begin rolling and so build a momentum all of its own, or it will go nowhere fast because everyone’s waiting to see if anyone else bothers to help give it a push . . . 
All we can do is make the service available and hope that others also see the potential long-term benefits of a central place for all WIPs where players can scan through all the available offerings & more easily find the latest links, etc.
If we can indeed build this page to something worthwhile, it would then provide the ideal link to use in promoting the Wiki (and by extension, the ChoiceScript system itself) throughout the IF world, with the ultimate aim of steadily bringing more authors (and players of other IF systems) over to this system. I personally think that’s a worthwhile long-term aim, but we do all have to pull together to achieve this. The WIP Games Hub could be a great starting point . . . if it gets the support it needs.
I’ve uploaded a page for my future game, Ozoic. Early days yet but let me know what you think: http://choicescriptdev.wikia.com/wiki/Ozoic
@Vendetta That was quite the speech, it - almost - made me create a page for mine.
Can I now dub thee, thou unofficial Choicescript ambassador?
@derekmetaltron - It looks interesting and well explained - I think - we agreed a demo was necessary for an addition to the index page though, but otherwise that looks great to me
Added to the WIP Hub; I also added some links to the bottom of the page (that lead to the WIP Games Hub and the other main Index). I set it a protection level; let us know if you can edit the page or not, as the protection is “Block new&unregistered users” (there’s no other better option as there are three stages of protection: the one mentioned above, no protection or admin-only).