Subject:
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Re: Text-based Adventures
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.fun
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Date:
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Wed, 21 Jan 2004 13:18:49 GMT
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Viewed:
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1279 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.fun, Bruce Schlickbernd wrote:
> In lugnet.gaming, Andrew Engstrom wrote:
> > Anyone every played 'em?
> >
> > Text-based adventures caught my attention last week when I visited the Homestar
> > Runner website (http://www.homestarrunner.com). Strong Bad answered an email
> > about what he would be like in a game, blah, blah...
> >
> > And at the end of it, the website's creator had created a (very) short version
> > of his example of a text-based game.
> >
> > Now, having grown up in the age of color, lights, sound, and fast action, this
> > struck me, as it is said, as "Something Completely Different." (a little Python
> > humor there...) I set out to find out where I could make one of my own, and lo
> > and behold, a billion gazillion websites pop up on the search engine.
> >
> > I'm currently learning to use two different game creators (one is newer and
> > includes mouse commands), but I'd like the input of any "experienced" text-ers.
> > Any suggestions, hints, rules to follow? And if anyone out there is interested
> > in seeing the final product, just let me know and I'll post it here on off-topic
> > (maybe in gaming, too, if there's an audience) WHEN IT IS DONE. Not a
> > guarantee for a date, because this is a hobby, not to mention one that competes
> > with my LEGO hobby ;-)
> >
> > So, yeah. Any input would be appreciated. Here's to Text-Based Games!
> > Andrew
>
>
> Make a map for yourself. Be clever. Be complete. Know your subject. Be funny
> and amusing. If you decide to do graphics, for heaven's sake don't have
> multiple characters that you have to simultaneously have to manipulate and
> figure out all the permutations of actions for.
>
> Kids today. They act like they never saw Colossal Cave, Zork, Scott Adams...
> ;-)
Ah, Colossal Cave Adventure. Still one of the greatest computer games of all
time. Back in the days before frame rates and polygon counts dictated what made
a "good" game. Back when most of the action happened in the mind's eye.
If you're thinking about writing an adventure game, you might want to check out
the original: (Warning- may be highly addictive!)
http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/e_downloads.html
This site has a lot of info about the origins of the game, maps, playing tips,
and downloads (many with source code) for the original classic. Many adventure
games sprouted in the early days of the computer revolution, but the Zork
trilogy is one of the few that maintained the feel of the original. Forget
graphical adventure unless you're doing another Myst.
When designing a game of your own, devise good puzzles that must be solved in
order to explore further. Leave subtle clues carefully. And inject humor
wherever possible. A good game design predicts the many ways an adventurer
might try to do the wrong thing, and allows them to do it. (In the original,
you can eat the food or drink the water, but that's not what you need them for.)
One unwritten rule about adventure games is the "one object one use" rule. For
example, if you find a ring of keys, there is usually only one place where you
need to use it. I have always thought that this "rule" needed to be broken, but
in a very non-obvious way. Not: "oh, another locked door, I'll just whip out
the key ring again" but as "I already used the jar to carry water, now I smash
it on the floor so the barefoot elves can't follow me into the maze..."
Good luck, and let us know how you make out!
- Chris.
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Text-based Adventures
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| (...) Thanks for the input, guys. I'll keep those tips in mind. I've had only limited experience directly related to TBG's, but I think I can use some of my Starship and CCA experience (URLs, respectively: (URL) especially for that last suggestion, (...) (20 years ago, 21-Jan-04, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
| | | Re: Text-based Adventures
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| (...) This works especially nicely when there's multiple ways to solve the various problems -- if, instead of carrying water in a jar one can trick the sky king into making it rain, and instead of keeping the barefoot elves out one can give them (...) (20 years ago, 21-Jan-04, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
| | | Re: Text-based Adventures
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| (...) (URL) (you'll need advent.pl and advent.dat, which is unchanged from the original). You'll also probably need an antiquated version of Perl - I wrote that on an old Sun box, running Perl 4 point something. ROSCO (20 years ago, 21-Jan-04, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Text-based Adventures
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| (...) Make a map for yourself. Be clever. Be complete. Know your subject. Be funny and amusing. If you decide to do graphics, for heaven's sake don't have multiple characters that you have to simultaneously have to manipulate and figure out all the (...) (20 years ago, 21-Jan-04, to lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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