Game Maker's Garage Forum

Game Maker's Garage => Challenge of the Month => Topic started by: Silverwind on May 30, 2010, 04:06:41 PM

Title: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on May 30, 2010, 04:06:41 PM
Wow… we're almost six months into 2010 and hardly any of us have produced a single game. Jadaco, Swamp, Guthan and Gan did well with a complete release each, but most of us seem to devote our time to engines.

Although we've all got an extremely busy summer ahead of us, I feel a few short games would re-spark our imagination and get productivity rolling again, so I suggest we do something simple for June's challenge of the month.

Interactive fiction, or "text adventures" are about as simple as you can get, but that doesn't mean they have to be boring or two-dimensional. The grandfather of all roleplaying games "Dungeons & Dragons" is almost entirely dialogue driven, yet remains one of the most engaging, enjoyable and replayable RPGs of all time, so why don't we examine some of its core gameplay aspects to improve the quality of our own games?

Here's a few observations:

This is something I tend to overlook myself. Merely being able to explore their surroundings is a rewarding task for players, so providing them with the ability to do so through choices is an important feature for any text adventure. What's behind that closed door? Where does that corridor lead?
[/list]

If a player takes on a room full of undead, braves a corridor of poisonous dart traps, leaps across a bottomless pit and sneaks past a sleeping dragon only to be rewarded with a chest full of copper coins, they'll never play again. Players want mysterious artefacts, powerful magic spells and enchanted equipment. Money and gemstones are affective motivators too, but power is the reward most sought after.
[/list]

Which dialogue do you find more intriguing? "You find a Potion of Healing." or "You search the room high and low for anything of interest, but its contents appear to be junk. You're about to leave when a small glass bottle catches your eye upon a cluttered shelf. Taking it down and removing the cork, you discover a sweet smelling liquid inside. Pressing a drop to your lip, the cut on your mouth heals up and the taste is wonderful. Confident that what you've found is a Healing Potion you slip it into your pocket before leaving the room."

Telling the player exactly what a cluttered room contains or removing all doubt about a magical item's abilities spoils the fun. Describing an object or situation in detail and allowing the player to form their own conclusion about it adds an element of mystery to the game. What's that NPC really thinking...
[/list]

This is perhaps the most obvious but most essential observation. Players don't like losing all of their hard earned equipment and starting again at level 1. As a rule, a player should only die if A) They make successive mistakes (and by that, I mean "obvious" mistakes. Choosing the right corridor over the left is no justification to be eaten by Chimera!), or B) They're unlucky. Bad dice rolls, high level random encounters etc. Remember, if the game isn't fun, people won't play it.
[/list]

So, keeping these guidelines in mind I'm gonna try to release a short text adventure. Anyone else up for the challenge?
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: WarHampster on May 31, 2010, 12:41:11 PM
I know I'm not... no time, blah blah blah etc.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: EqwanoX on June 01, 2010, 10:01:46 AM
 if you made a text adventure you should at least use a graphical nav system. i actually never finished my game for march, i worked on it for a couple weeks and abandoned it, its almost done, i lost motivation. it uses v7 and randomly generates maps

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/eqwanoxgames/Picture3.png)
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/eqwanoxgames/Picture2.png)
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/eqwanoxgames/Picture1-1.png)
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: GMG Hendo on June 01, 2010, 03:48:54 PM
That looks awesome Eq!!
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 01, 2010, 07:08:14 PM
Sure does! :o

I can never get over the awesomeness of the big screen.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Gnome on June 02, 2010, 12:24:53 AM
I had a vision. I must finish a game.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 02, 2010, 03:15:00 AM
I was originally gonna go for another murder mystery (perhaps a sequel to Night at Drundergond Manner) but I've settled on a multi-path dungeon explorer with similar gameplay mechanics to the "Fighting Fantasy" book series. It's going rather well so far. I'm only getting one room done per night but I'm accumulating a few nifty ideas.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: WarHampster on June 02, 2010, 09:17:51 PM
Damn... when are we going to see EqwanoX: The RPG?
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Tireas Dragon on June 02, 2010, 11:52:54 PM
I am not sure that we are going to.
Quote
if you made a text adventure you should at least use a graphical nav system. i actually never finished my game for march, i worked on it for a couple weeks and abandoned it, its almost done, i lost motivation. it uses v7 and randomly generates maps
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 03, 2010, 04:03:52 AM
GASP! Look what happens when you highlight these letters:

Quote
if you made a text adventure you should at least use a graphical nav system. i actually never finished my game for march, i worked on it for a couple weeks and abandoned it, its almost done, i lost motivation. it uses v7 and randomly generates maps
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Tireas Dragon on June 03, 2010, 10:16:48 AM
if mad ex venture east rap in shed for a couple weeks
What does that mean?
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Gan on June 03, 2010, 11:22:39 AM
My translation:
If mad at ex, venture far east, wrap and store her in a shed for a couple of weeks.

See, perfect sense.


-Gan
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 03, 2010, 01:56:29 PM
That ingenious EqwanoX...

Anyways, my game is coming along rather nicely, and amazingly I'm still getting one room done per night, so by the end of the month I'll hopefully have a decent game. That's not bad considering my tendency to leak enthusiasm. ;D

EDIT:

Oh yeah, get a load of the story (nothing finalised, especially bad grammar):


It's been a long, hard year for your village. The crops haven't produced enough to feed everyone, the wars in the south prevent trade by the roads and increasing bandit raids leave families with less than enough to survive. It seems a cloud of doom has settled over Tallowick, and there's no sign of it dispersing.

You're barely making enough to get by as an inn guard, but at least the job keeps a roof over your head. The Dusty Bottle scarcely sees half the customers it used to and it's little wonder why. Who'd want to visit a back-end village with little hope of surviving the coming winter?

Late one night as you swap your last coin for a drink, a raggedly dressed dwarf of a man stumbles through the front door and makes his way to the bar. He throws his weather worn cloak onto a stool before cursing himself for not having the price of a room. Taking pity on the poor soul you reassure him that Old Stubs the kindly innkeep will surely put him up for the night, as half of his rooms are empty and you're staying in one yourself. The dwarf mumbles an apology for his outburst and climbs the stool beside you.

"I beggin yer pardon sir, but if being without a room was the extent of my worries I'd not be grumbling. I've wasted three weeks up the Winterspine Mountains searching for a non existent treasure trove!" With your interest suddenly piqued the dwarf promises to elaborate over a sip of your drink.

* * *

Over the next hour the dwarf reveals his background as a travelling adventurer with an ear for rumours and an eye for reward. "Which I can tell ya from experience often go hand-in-hand." he winks. "Unfortunately my latest adventure turned out to be a dud."

"Apparently there was once a secret entrance to an underground network of tunnels built by foul creatures of the Underdark. The dangers within these tunnels are innumerable, but so are the rewards." As he talks your head is filled with piles of gold and magical items. If only YOU could find this secret entrance and bring back a horde of wealth for your village!

"Alas!" says the dwarf, interrupting your thoughts. "Whether or not the labyrinth exists is beyond me, but the secret entrance is nothing more than a rumour." The dwarf rummages his pockets and soon produces a large sheet of parchment, crumpled with age and torn in places. "I mapped the whole area where the entrance ought to have been, but after three week of searching I was forced to return empty handed." He sighs heavily and slumps to the bar. "I'm cutting my ties with this place. Tomorrow morning I'll move on and never look back at this miserable mountain."

Seeing your opportunity, you ask the dwarf if he'd part with the map since he'll have no use for it anymore. He regards you carefully before answering. "Well, I could use a better travelling cloak, so I'll make an exchange if you'd like. But I warn you, you're wasting your time going up there."

* * *

After bidding the dwarf a good night you take to your bed with dreams of wealth and glory. By the following sunrise you're packed and ready to go, bringing what little provisions you have as you set off for the Winterspine Mountains.

It's a three day hike to the mountains but you complete the journey uneventfully. From here on it's rough going though, as the slope steepens rapidly. You manage the first day without much trouble, although you notice a significant drop in temperature, but the second day proves much more difficult.

By now frost covers every inch of ground making it easy to miss your footing, and a single fall from up here would bring you all the way back down. You shudder at the thought and wonder how on earth the dwarf managed. At last you reach the spot where the entrance supposedly lies. Excitement shoots through your veins and you waste no time getting to work

Hours drift by as you uproot every plant, turn every stone and search every crevice for some sort of pit, passage or doorway, but you find none. As night fall you begin to despair. What if the dwarf's suspicion was correct and there wasn't a labyrinth after all? What if the dwarf had never believed in the labyrinth to begin with and merely tricked you out of your travelling cloak? Or what if the dwarf was a foul creature of the Underdark himself, luring you all the way up here so to reveal his true, hideous form and pounce upon your frail, mortal body! You shudder at the thought.

* * *

As you drink from a stream in contemplation, you notice that the stream trickles from an area of the rock face. Curiously, yet only half expectantly, you press your ear to the stones and immediately your heart leaps into your throat. The sound of dripping water echoes from the other side.

You get to work clearing rocks and before long you've uncovered a natural tunnel yawning deep into the mountain. You can hardly believe your eyes! Taking your last glance at the sunlit world you venture forth into the labyrinth...

Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Tireas Dragon on June 03, 2010, 04:03:13 PM
lol Gandolf that translation actually makes sense.


The Story look good Silverwind. I can't wait to play the game.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: EqwanoX on June 03, 2010, 08:53:24 PM
to much reading!  >:( , eq no like read!

Quote
My translation:
If mad at ex, venture far east, wrap and store her in a shed for a couple of weeks.

See, perfect sense.
-Gan
i dont even know what i meant, i think it means i'll finish it a a couple weeks, but it should only take me a couple days though
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Gan on June 03, 2010, 09:02:46 PM
That story's awesome Silver! You should write a book or something. Extremely interesting read. Really got me in the zone. Autozone.


-Gan
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 04, 2010, 07:44:34 AM
Quote
The Story look good Silverwind. I can't wait to play the game.
Quote
That story's awesome Silver! You should write a book or something. Extremely interesting read. Really got me in the zone. Autozone.
Thank ye kindly! ;D

Quote
to much reading!  >:( , eq no like read!
It is actually quite long. When I get round to cleaning up the grammar I'll try to shorten it.

As a progress estimate, I've already got 40 cards completely finished. :)
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Tireas Dragon on June 04, 2010, 09:08:53 AM
Quote
As a progress estimate, I've already got 40 cards completely finished. :)
I wish I could say the same for other projects  :(
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Connors on June 13, 2010, 09:37:19 PM
I am inspired to continue my own game Dungeon escape! :D
...It will have a better name later I hope.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Gnome on June 13, 2010, 11:01:10 PM
Right now In the middle of moving. but With the help of silver's awesome engine I'm making progress!

I expect my game to be out this month! (yea I said it :P)
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 14, 2010, 06:54:15 AM
Quote
I am inspired to continue my own game Dungeon escape! :D
...It will have a better name later I hope.
Hehe... I love the generic name's as well. Mine's Dungeon of Darkness. ;D

Quote
Right now In the middle of moving. but With the help of silver's awesome engine I'm making progress!

I expect my game to be out this month! (yea I said it :P)
Oh? Which engine is that?
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 20, 2010, 06:47:36 PM
DoD is really coming along and should be finished by the first week in July if progress continues as is. It's the first game I've worked on consistently for a long time, and it's nice to see daily progress in a playable manner. It's acually turning out to be one of my favourite games yet, as the dungeon itself is so exciting, what with risk around every corner and mystery behind every door...

The large amount of multi paths adds a lot of replay value too.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 23, 2010, 07:07:15 AM
I've decided to draw artwork for certain rooms in DoD, so it'll likely take me a bit longer to complete. Drawing art for every card would take ages, as there's gonna be close to 250 by the time it's finished. Because I still want to release a game for the exercise, I made this one yesterday: Link removed.

It's a short text adventure entitled Quest for the Roguesoft Sword.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Tireas Dragon on June 23, 2010, 05:22:38 PM
It doesn't work. (I recommend zipping it before uploading.)
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 23, 2010, 06:48:55 PM
Whoops, my mistake: http://www.mediafire.com/?mwjjolydyez

EDIT:

I thought I might go with a rough, sketchy art style for DoD, partly because it would cut out the time involved in fixing the drawings, and partly because I doodled two samples in work today and liked the look of them.

(http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1907/pic1q.png)

(http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/5331/pic2y.png)

Obviously I'd convert the pen colour to black and white, but they'd still maintain a scribbly feel.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: WarHampster on June 23, 2010, 07:07:10 PM
Your text adventure is funny, but there was no way of telling when an option would kill you... kind of takes the thinking out of the game.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 23, 2010, 07:42:42 PM
Yeah, and most things do kill you! ;D Dungeon of Darkness is nothing like that, you usually always have the chance to investigate a situation before risking it further. What's more, there are hardly any instant deaths, and none of them result from doing something ordinary, such as choosing the right tunnel over the left.

Nay indeed, the Dungeon of Darkness is a really big dungeon so far, with multiple nested paths, many of which lead to the endgame (instead of just one right path). The 'true' path involves relatively little danger and can be accomplished by most any character, regardless of stats. The major fun factor for me is choosing which rooms to explore and which ones to bypass. After glancing into a chamber piled high with dead bodies around a glowing sword set in a pedestal, you have the choice to risk it or not. The sword must be powerful if so many people tried to claim it, but for all you know it could be cursed, and maybe the bodies will rise to defend it. It's a risk for reward idea.

One of the other things I'm really enjoying is writing door descriptions. There's just so many ways to make a door intriguing, whether by a sound on the other side or a visual characteristic.  
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Swamp7hing on June 23, 2010, 08:11:21 PM
I'll make a text adventure. :)
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: EqwanoX on June 23, 2010, 09:38:02 PM
 i like the drawings, the first one would make a good title screen for something. i dont know about this text adventure stuff, i dont see why this couldnt have been done in v6, where you just explore maps, maybe press space bar to search, you could still have all the text included. my other complaint, to much random game overs, you shouldnt get game over, you should be able to go from area to area collecting items, you even said yourself the player likes to survive. why text adventure? you made the rougesoft rpg engine
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Tireas Dragon on June 23, 2010, 11:57:19 PM
LOL funny game. I thought the sword was just lost. I didn't know it was stolen.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on June 24, 2010, 04:37:17 AM
Quote
my other complaint, to much random game overs, you shouldnt get game over, you should be able to go from area to area collecting items, you even said yourself the player likes to survive.
Yeah, Dungeon of Darkness is like that. Quest for the Roguesoft Sword was just a short game made in a single afternoon to keep my promise of releasing something for the exercise. ;D

Quote
i dont know about this text adventure stuff, i dont see why this couldnt have been done in v6, where you just explore maps, maybe press space bar to search, you could still have all the text included.
Yeah, I know what you mean, but the main reason is just that I'm incredibly busy and it's less time consuming to write paragraphs than it is to map and program dungeons. I definitely will return to V6 incorporated games once my schedule cools down a bit. Elathondréoth is gonna be great. ;)

The second reason however, is that I love interactive fiction. I grew up with an obsession of three things: drawing, reading and game design, resulting in textbook upon textbook of paper RPGs:

(http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/4661/pic1xr.png)

Most of my games had multi path comic style narratives with puzzles, battles and occasional dice rolls, but some were heavily stat based and incorporated game boards, secret languages and frequent dice rolls:

(http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/1479/pic2na.png)

(http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/9887/pic3n.png)

(http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5977/pic4x.png)

The largest paper RPG I ever made was over 100 A4 pages in length, while the second largest took up two A5 text books.

Anyways, you've missed out if you haven't played interactive fiction. Hand made games are the best in the world! ;D
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Al Staffieri on July 07, 2010, 03:03:39 PM
Just played this game. Would the options be better if instead of:

If you want to explore the kitchen, press [1]
If you would rather explore the living room, press [2]

Make it like this:

[1] Explore kitchen
[2] Explore living room

Title: Re: June 10
Post by: GabrielCA on July 07, 2010, 05:49:52 PM
Great game !
The vampire's unexpected actions were an amusing twist
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: EqwanoX on July 07, 2010, 08:57:07 PM
Quote

The largest paper RPG I ever made was over 100 A4 pages in length, while the second largest took up two A5 text books.
wow, thats alot of content, you ever think of scanning it all and make a GM or SC game with it?
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on July 08, 2010, 02:46:47 AM
Quote
Just played this game. Would the options be better if instead of:

If you want to explore the kitchen, press [1]
If you would rather explore the living room, press [2]

Make it like this:

[1] Explore kitchen
[2] Explore living room

Yeah, that's allot more readable. :) I'll release an update when I get a few free minutes.

Quote
Great game !
The vampire's unexpected actions were an amusing twist
Thanks. The result from looking in the mirror made me laugh the most tough! ;D

Quote
wow, thats alot of content, you ever think of scanning it all and make a GM or SC game with it?
Yeah, since I picked up GM actually. It would take a long time though, and because most of the games were drawn in portrait view I'd have to use a tall canvas rather than a wide one, but I might get around to scanning one of the smaller ones someday.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: GabrielCA on July 08, 2010, 05:27:38 PM
@Silverwind
You keep writing "allot" in lieu of "a lot" ;D (the spellchecker will accept it as it is a verb meaning something else)
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Silverwind on July 09, 2010, 04:07:34 AM
Yeah, it was only a few weeks ago around the time when I started Dungeon of Darkness that I found out they didn't mean the same thing! ;D I've spelled it like that for years.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: EqwanoX on January 27, 2011, 06:51:58 PM
check this out, this guys eyes are screwy, i used a little photoshop and hes much better now
(http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/1907/pic1q.png)
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/eqwanoxgames/pic1q.png)

Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Gan on February 03, 2011, 09:52:12 PM
Looks good. Really good.
Ah I'm envious of you guys. Eq, your artist skills are incredible. Silver, your ingenuity, creativity, and persistence is admirable. I wish I could draw stuff better than stick figures and create whole worlds, enough to fill A4 and A5 books.
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: WarHampster on February 03, 2011, 10:48:39 PM
(http://i73.servimg.com/u/f73/11/03/78/78/progra11.jpg)
Title: Re: June 10
Post by: Connors on February 03, 2011, 11:39:25 PM
http://www.mspaintcomics.com/
Just check out Problem Sleuth first. You may or may not have the patience to read the whole thing, but it's worth it. Effing hilarious.