In an earlier thread, I talked about the possibility of writing short little text adventures that would fill in some of the gaps which are left out of the graphic game, but are described in the novel. I also mentioned that I'd try to do Chapter 12 of the PD novel, in which you actually have to do some work to break into the building in order to find Malloy.
Well, I've done it. It only took me four days, working in my spare time. It's not very polished, but I wanted to demonstrate what can be done in a short time with a reasonably small effort in this medium.
You can find the game here: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pdrallos1 ... ndora2.htm
I originally wrote this game with a menu-driven dialog interface like we talked about in the last thread. But as you may recall from the game or the book, the meeting with Malloy is essentially one long monolog with Malloy doing all the talking. So the menu-driven interface didn't work well for this case. I rewrote Tex/Malloy interface so that it simply requires the player to type "talk to malloy" repeatedly at each of Malloy's pauses.
Enjoy! And please give me your comments.
Well, I've done it. It only took me four days, working in my spare time. It's not very polished, but I wanted to demonstrate what can be done in a short time with a reasonably small effort in this medium.
You can find the game here: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pdrallos1 ... ndora2.htm
I originally wrote this game with a menu-driven dialog interface like we talked about in the last thread. But as you may recall from the game or the book, the meeting with Malloy is essentially one long monolog with Malloy doing all the talking. So the menu-driven interface didn't work well for this case. I rewrote Tex/Malloy interface so that it simply requires the player to type "talk to malloy" repeatedly at each of Malloy's pauses.
Enjoy! And please give me your comments.
I used Inform 6, which available here:I'm sure others have asked this, but what program are you using to create these?
http://www.inform-fiction.org/inform6.html
It is a fairly easy to learn text adventuring language.
There is a new version of Inform (version 7) which I haven't tried yet. Apparently, it writes the program code for you and all you have to do is write in natural English what you want to happen, etc.
No programming skills necessary. Sounds interesting.
It is available here:
http://www.inform-fiction.org/I7/Welcome.html
Thanks for the links DrPaul. I guess if I ever get the time to look at the program and learn it, I shall. I enjoy writing fiction, so I'm confident I could come up with some good IF work if I knew what I was doing. Yep, just as soon as my other obligations fall off the edge of the planet, that is what I will do! 
ME DOES IT!
Fantastic!
Just a question (spoiler here, select the text to appear):
If you drop the free end of the cable, there is no more picking it up. Is that right?
Fantastic!
Just a question (spoiler here, select the text to appear):
If you drop the free end of the cable, there is no more picking it up. Is that right?
"Wer ein holdes Weib errungen..."
"My religion is the one in which Haydn is pope" - by me.
"Set a course, take it slow, make it happen."
"My religion is the one in which Haydn is pope" - by me.
"Set a course, take it slow, make it happen."
SeuLunga,
Yes. That was a bug. Thanks for noticing it. I have fixed it and a couple other things that are related.
Oh. And congratulations to you and all the others that have finished it.
Did you guys find any particularly frustrating "guess the verb" problems with the game? Were the required actions all reasonable?
Yes. That was a bug. Thanks for noticing it. I have fixed it and a couple other things that are related.
Oh. And congratulations to you and all the others that have finished it.
Did you guys find any particularly frustrating "guess the verb" problems with the game? Were the required actions all reasonable?
When we find the thing at the place and must use the thing on the thing on the place, I did guess a bunch of words, until I got it. Also true when we walk on the place and we should find something in the dark.
"Wer ein holdes Weib errungen..."
"My religion is the one in which Haydn is pope" - by me.
"Set a course, take it slow, make it happen."
"My religion is the one in which Haydn is pope" - by me.
"Set a course, take it slow, make it happen."
A lot of people don't like text adventures because they are too difficult. But, of course, it wouldn't be fun if it were too easy either. So I'm trying to walk that fine line.When we find the thing at the place and must use the thing on the thing on the place, I did guess a bunch of words, until I got it. Also true when we walk on the place and we should find something in the dark.
So, would you say that the difficulties you described above were unfair or too difficult? After you got them, was your reaction like jcarnby's where you slapped yourself for not seeing the obvious earlier?
Or, were you simply having a hard time getting the game to understand what you were trying to tell it? After learning what it is you were supposed to do, can you suggest some other phrases that the game should be able to understand and accept?
Keep in mind that you are supposed to get stuck in the games for a little while so that you can get some sense of satisfaction when getting unstuck. This is all hard to talk about without coming out and saying specifics.
Thanks for the feedback you guys.
PM'edDrPaul wrote:A lot of people don't like text adventures because they are too difficult. But, of course, it wouldn't be fun if it were too easy either. So I'm trying to walk that fine line.When we find the thing at the place and must use the thing on the thing on the place, I did guess a bunch of words, until I got it. Also true when we walk on the place and we should find something in the dark.
So, would you say that the difficulties you described above were unfair or too difficult? After you got them, was your reaction like jcarnby's where you slapped yourself for not seeing the obvious earlier?
Or, were you simply having a hard time getting the game to understand what you were trying to tell it? After learning what it is you were supposed to do, can you suggest some other phrases that the game should be able to understand and accept?
Keep in mind that you are supposed to get stuck in the games for a little while so that you can get some sense of satisfaction when getting unstuck. This is all hard to talk about without coming out and saying specifics.
Thanks for the feedback you guys.
"Wer ein holdes Weib errungen..."
"My religion is the one in which Haydn is pope" - by me.
"Set a course, take it slow, make it happen."
"My religion is the one in which Haydn is pope" - by me.
"Set a course, take it slow, make it happen."