If you are interested in learning a new technology while you are developing your game (which is always a good thing), in addition to TADS and inform, you might want to take a look at prolog, as it is ideal for developing such applications. Adventure games in prolog can be written in less than an hour (once you know what you are doing). There are a lot of free prolog compilers out there. The consensus is that swi prolog is the best. It has ports for a multitude of operating systems. You might want to check out Amzi!Prolog. It, too, is free and also a tutorial in which they develop an adventure game. Might be right up your alley.

davidj