Hello.

I wish to learn a little Visual Basic, and I figure creating a text adventure with it would fun and educational.

Microsoft is saying I should use Visual Studio to author something in VB, but I'm wondering if there is something more basic I could use?

As I understand it, Visual BASIC and Visual Studio go hand-in-hand, hence the "visual" bit.

What is the appeal of Visual BASIC?

As I understand it, Visual BASIC and Visual Studio go hand-in-hand, hence the "visual" bit.

Ah. That makes sense; doesn't it? :)

What is the appeal of Visual BASIC?

I don't really know. . .

DL praises it every time he gets the chance, and I need to take a short break from learning to read ZIL (a.k.a. learning MDL (a.k.a. learning LISP)). So, I figured what the heck.

Of course I do... I have been working with Basic of one sort or another since I first started in computers in 1982.
VB can do most, if not all, that Quest can do.
BUT, Quest is written to do text adventures, VB isn't.
And for someone just wanting to write IF games, it is hard to beat.
It's like:
to drive a car, you buy it and drive... That's Quest.
or
your build a car from scratch, put the parts where you want, mix and match this with that, and you get a "car" like no other one... That's programming a text adventure with VB.
As for writing an IF in VB... "a little" learning on VB won't work. Sorry.
I would expect VB to be a bit easer than the ZIL you are trudging through.
But then, I know VB, and ZIL... well, if it was alien, it would make better sense.

"a little" learning on VB won't work

Well, I tend to understate and overachieve.

I am incapable of seeing the tip of an iceberg without trying my best to find out everything there is to know about said iceberg.

I've already made a text adventure in JS from scratch, and now I'm porting a ZIL text adventure to JS -- which demands I know what the heck the ZIL code is doing (and I've already got about 85% of it coded; of the remaining 15%, only 1% is something I might not have learned about yet (because I went straight to the hard part first)).

I've also created a text adventure from scratch in BASH!.

So, first, I learned Inform 7. Then I found Quest, where you guys taught me JS and whatever form of C Quest scripts are written in. That evolved into you guys teaching me JSON, and Ruby and Python got thrown in the mix, too. Then, you guys taught me some advanced CSS stuff. Recently, you guys have been teaching me ZIL (which in turn is teaching me MDL (which in turn is teaching a little LISP)).

If my calculations are correct, I found this forum in 2017. At that time, I had only ever used BASIC on a Tandy when I was 8, which doesn't count, and, when dial-up became a common household thing, I learned enough HTML and CSS to make a half-assed page on Yahoo (or MySpace or something like that which is no longer around).

Don't get me wrong, I've always played games, and I always used a computer at work for an HVAC/R parts and equipment distributor. And I always learned more ins-and-outs of whatever I was messing with than the average bear, but that's far from learning to code -- especially the stuff I've been learning since I found all the old ZIL source code online.

Anyway, I'm rambling now. . .

I just thought learning VB would be fun, and I thought I remembered being able to use something other than Visual Studio.

I would expect VB to be a bit easer than the ZIL you are trudging through.

Good. My brain needs a rest, but not a nap.

But then, I know VB, and ZIL... well, if it was alien, it would make better sense.

Ha ha ha!

That's what I thought a week ago!

Now, though, I think I've almost got my Little Orphan Annie decoder ring set correctly.

Sounds like you have covered just about every PC language!!!
Except for the "dead" ones.
Maybe Basic would be easy for you by now...
HOWEVER... You may start mixing your languages and really blow your mind! Ha! Ha!
VB6 (the one I know) is from 1998...
VB10 or VB.Net is the latest and I have seen free downloads, so I would say start there.
From what I have seen of VB10, it is closer to html than Basic.
I may make another stab at learning it.

Hey K.V.
I originally dabbled in VB3 then VB5 & 6 when they came along. VB.NET appears to be the latest as DL said but I just couldn't get into it.
If you want something a bit less daunting you could try QB64 (an updated version of QuickBasic for 64 bit computers) or Just Basic which I have recently downloaded and am still working my way around. Of course there are still copies of the DOS based GW-BASIC floating around too, but they can be a bit difficult to use in Win10.
The best way to get to grips with it would be to grab an existing BASIC adventure and "translate" it to whichever version you decide to use.
I have a book from the early 1980s called "The Captain 80 Book of BASIC Adventures" which might be a good starting point. (or not)
Good luck and enjoy your journey.

Ah, yes... the joy of typing programs in from a book... I remember those days well.
AND, the best way to learn to program AND how to debug.
(Then came the modifications to try out new idea.)

Sounds like you have covered just about every PC language!!!

I don't know about all that! :)

VB10 or VB.Net is the latest and I have seen free downloads, so I would say start there.

Groovy.

Hey K.V.

Hello!

originally dabbled in VB3 then VB5 & 6 when they came along. VB.NET appears to be the latest as DL said but I just couldn't get into it.
If you want something a bit less daunting you could try QB64 [...]

Awesome!

Just downloaded it, but haven't checked it out yet.

The best way to get to grips with it would be to grab an existing BASIC adventure and "translate" it to whichever version you decide to use.
I have a book from the early 1980s called "The Captain 80 Book of BASIC Adventures" which might be a good starting point.

Ha!

My next question was if anyone knew where I could find a scanned copy of an old book just like this!

Good luck and enjoy your journey.

Thank you!

Ah, yes... the joy of typing programs in from a book... I remember those days well.
AND, the best way to learn to program AND how to debug.

Yep!

I used have to type in BASIC programs from a book to make stuff happen on my old Tandy Color Computer from Radio Shack.

This is going to be FUN!!!

I have this one... https://www.atariarchives.org/basicgames/
And this one... https://www.atariarchives.org/morebasicgames/
(See the Wumpus?)
And this one... https://www.annarchive.com/files/Basic_Computer_Games_Microcomputer_Edition.pdf

Visual Basic doesn't look at all like the BASIC I used to know.

QB64 does, but it doesn't like my computer (I guess).

Hrmm... Maybe I'll just dig up my old Tandy keyboard, along with a CRT TV to use as the monitor. . .

Nope. Basic and VB are somewhat different, BUT, all the commands are the same.
One thing I noticed when I first started with VB...
In Basic, you write the code then work on the "look".
With VB, you create the "look", then write code to make it work.
It took some time to learn to think backwards, now, I think that way all the time.

I learned VBA working with Excel. I'd turn on the macro recording, do something on the screen (put a value in a cell) then turn off the recording and see what the macro did. Wrote a couple of games in Excel/VB, with sounds and such. It was really enjoyable and it made me into a guru at work, so it paid off.

Somewhere in my archives, I have an Excel spreadsheet (with VBA macros) that allows you to create adventures. All rooms and their descriptions as well as objects and responses are contained on a data sheet that is hidden. I should see if I can find it and determine if it will run in LibreOffice. A project for a rainy day. (or lockdown that we are in at the moment.)

I created a VBA spread sheet in Excel back in the nineties for work. It is still in use today - long after I have forgotten VBA.

I learned VBA working with Excel. I'd turn on the macro recording, do something on the screen (put a value in a cell) then turn off the recording and see what the macro did

Dude, you just taught me how to learn VBA!

You rock, sir.