Dialog

Dialog
Authoring system
[[File:|class=ifwiki-infobox-image]]
Links	Home page Download Run online
Developers	Linus Åkesson, Daniel M. Stelzer, Henrik Åsman, Ben Kirwin
Formats	Å-machine, HTML, Z-code
Interaction style	Parser, Choice
Systems	Browser, Windows, Linux
System details	An online editor is available: see Borogove.
Latest version	1c/02, library 1.2.3 / 16 June 2026
Status	Beta
Implements
Uses
Used by	Borogove, Dialog-Tool
Multimedia support	graphics
License	BSD-2-Clause
Notes
Events	XYZZY Awards 2018 Winner: Best Technological Development
Browse 11 games written with Dialog
Browse the software database
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Dialog, originally developed by Linus Åkesson and since community-maintained, is "a domain-specific language for creating interactive fiction". Dialog was inspired by Inform 7 and Prolog.

The Dialog compiler can compile story files for the Z-machine or the Å-machine. The latter allows dialog story files to be bundled for play in a web browser or on the Commodore 64.

Major version 0

This is the original version created and maintained for some time by Åkesson. It was announced at intfiction.org on November 22, 2018.

At the time of writing, the last release in this line was 0m/03, Lib 0.46, released 02-Jan-2021.

Åkesson reserves the right to continue development of major version 0.

Links

• Original Dialog home page.
• Original Dialog manual.
• The Å-machine.
• Announcement at intfiction.org (22-Nov-2018).
• No Time To Play review.

Major version 1

This is the community-maintained version, developed by a team including Daniel Stelzer, Henrik Åsman, and Ben Kirwin, with Åkesson's blessing.

The GitHub organisation for it was created in December 2024, and the first official release was 1a/01 (Lib 1.1.0) in January 2026 (although several games built with development versions were released before this point).

Links

• Dialog-IF GitHub organisation.
• Manual for this version.
• IntFiction forum threads:
  • Thread where community maintenance was mooted (titled "Dialog Wishlist"), started 11-Aug-2024.
    • Linus Åkesson's blessing and terms (20-Jan-2025).
  • Announcing: Dialog 1a/01! (22-Jan-2026).
  • Dialog Resources Masterpost (started 25-Jan-2025).