TADS is a programming language created by Mike Roberts. It is similar to an object-oriented version of C, and compiles to virtual machine code so it can be played on many platforms, including DOS, Windows, Amiga, and various flavors of unix. Like Inform, it is used for writing interactive fiction aka text adventures. If you want to learn more, check out rec.arts.int-fiction or ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive