Where imagination meets science: tools for creators
MYTHOI
Our Technology
Apollo, an analytic language designed and built from scratch over decades.
Nothing else would do. Our goals required advanced language features that would have been a tacked-on compromise done any other way. With a bytecode stack-based virtual machine, design and debug are a breeze. Need more speed? LLVM-based JIT support is a button away on every platform we support.
Morpheus, our runtime, the heart of the system.
Architecturally inspired by the best. We took cues from research projects such as Inferno and Plan 9 from Bell Labs and fused them with early MUD server design to provide the perfect framework for rule engineering and analysis.
Prometheus, a custom IDE built for Interactive Fiction
Interactive Fiction : Interactive Authoring. With first-class-citizen mapping support, a top-flight code editor, and a built-in runtime output console, we have created the perfect environment for bringing interactive stories to life.
Alcibiades, our standalone compiler and runtime host
Roll your own? We got you. Still a fan of the command line? So are we... Alcibiades provides access to our entire eco-system without the need for a GUI. Write Apollo in any editor, provide some json meta, and use alcibiades to run and test.
Combinatory Categorial Grammar, built-in
The latest in natural language parsing, part of the package. The latest parsing technology linguistics has to offer, available as an apollo module. Tired of clunky traditional parsing libraries and routines? We did the work for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will your products be available for sale?
We are currently planning on a late Q3 2025 beta. Additional dates to follow.
What sort of runtimes environments can the Mythoi platform target?
We have a standalone runtime host application, Alcibiades, which supports a text console, graphics, and audio that can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Additionally, we have a web application that can be deployed along with an Apollo Codex to any web server for a no-install user experience. An ncurses module is planned.
Are you Z-Machine Compatible?
Yes, with caveats. Authors must adhere to several limitations in Apollo types and library modules, but throughout the design and development process, we knew we couldn't have interactive fiction without Z-Machine compatibility. It was one of the first things on the design table, and it never left. Because of our toolchain architecture we retain a great deal of meta, including the full abstract syntax tree, throughout the compilation process, which, taken with resulting bytecode enables us to convert on the bytecode level. Again, there are limitations, not ours mind you, but if users are willing to trade features for compatability, they can publish to traditional interactive fiction platforms.
Do I have to use your IDE, Prometheus, in order to use Apollo?
No. While we put a great deal of time and effort into crafting what we think is the ideal environment for IF authoring, we understand some people will want to use command-line tools, so we support that as well. If you want the Prometheus mapping support, you can load your Codex file at any point in the development process.
What kind of documentation can we expect to find on the Apollo language?
We will provide a full EBNF/PEG grammar, full API documentation, and comprehensive tutorials, both written and video. Because AI-assisted coding is now a reality, and while we have no immediate plans for direct AI integration, we will provide a PDF with enough information about Apollo to help any AI assist you, should you choose to go that route.
Is Apollo a General Purpose Language?
Short answer: no. Longer answer: it could be. Rather than designing Apollo as a domain-specific language, we opted instead to design a GP language and then neuter it. That is to say, Apollo's prototype-based design is built to accommodate our needs, giving access to as many modern language features as possible while taming the feature and test matrix into a feasible, focused solution.
The result is a language and runtime without any need for manual memory management and offering built-in concurrency, but at a price. Completely native solutions will always be faster, as is always the case, but we find the features, lack of required tedious boilerplate for dedicated use cases, and ease of debugging to be an acceptable exchange.
For example, if you're a budding TTRPG or CRPG/JRPG game designer who wants to use their expensive playtesting hours for look, feel, and flow rather than technical testing—which can be a poor use of resources as it is tedious, slow, boring, and financially incredibly inefficient—you can use Mythoi tools. It's possible to code up a combat system, a couple of NPCs, and an environment for them to interact in far less time than it takes to make even a crappy spreadsheet. We can do this in under an hour; an AI can do it in milliseconds. The result? Millions of hours' worth of technical playtesting in a few hours, sometimes minutes, yielding useful results beyond statistical and combinatorial analysis, 'gut-feelings' and guesswork.
Want to tweak the rules? Thanks to Apollo's lambda/formula language constructs, you can alter combat calculations in seconds, in one place, and see the effects immediately.
Users, as users do, will probably find uses for it we did not anticipate, but its stated and designed goals were to exist as a language capable of serving our needs in use cases such as interactive fiction, rule-testing, and simulation. Is it a General Purpose Language? Maybe, but unsupported.
We've gotten a bit ahead of ourselves with this answer, but, if you were wise enough to wonder if Apollo is a GP language, you're wise enough to understand a brief glimpse into our roadmap.
Isn't this a bit of overkill for interactive fiction?
Kind of. While Apollo and Morpheus were designed to accommodate a number of interactive fiction must-haves, there are a lot of other must-haves present in the codebase whose concrete implementation lies further down the road, related to rule engineering, simulation, and testing.
Far from being just a stepping stone, interactive fiction and MUDs represent a convenient abstraction of game and rule environments. It made sense to first shape this very low-level sandbox into a form that fulfills a need: interactive fiction authoring.
are you all mad?
as hatters.
How do I find out more?
Our social links are at the bottom of this page, we have a forum, discord, X, press inquiries should be sent to pr@mythoi.io.