Text Based Games

[jb143]

I've started playing the C64 Sherlock Holmes: Crown Jewels game the other day and after figuring out the basics I've really been getting into it. And I must say...that my imagination has better graphics than the best of todays systems :-D

Anyways...does anyone else have any they might recomend to me once I finish this one? I've also always wanted to play "The Pawn" since seeing it in a computer magazine about 100 years ago. I'm guessing the screenshots were from an Amiga but does anyone know if the C64 version is any good?

[tom]

more Infocom
http://videogamecollectors.com/gallery/album301

Broderbound/Synapse
(Mindwheel, Essex, Breakers etc, they are all excellent)
(Mask of the Sun, Serpents Star)

Rainbird titles are very good:
The Pawn, Guild of Thieves, Fish, Corruption, Jinxter, Knight Orc, Silicon Dreams

Mindscape:
James Bond and Indiana Jones games

Datasoft:
Dallas Quest, Gunslinger, Dark Lord

UKs Level 9 had very good text games, Snowball, Return to Eden, The Worm in Paradise

and don't forget:
Activisions PORTAL

.

[Rob2600]

does anyone else have any they might recomend to me once I finish this one?

There's Transylvania (1984) and The Crimson Crown (1985) by Polarware / Penguin Software, Inc.:

http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/transylvania

http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/crimson-crown


I vaguely remember playing Transylvania on my friend's monochrome Apple IIc in the mid 1980s.

[Sniderman]

Infocom's The Lurking Horror.

Lovecraftinan horror text adventure. Whoa.

[jb143]

Thanks for the sugestions. Does anyone know the average time it takes to complete these the first time throuh? I've been playing this one a couple hours not counting the times I started over and it doesn't seem like I've acomplished a whole lot yet(although my score is about 30 out of 100)

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

If you have a DS with a flash cart, you should check these out:

http://gugusse.central.free.fr/papafuji/adventures.html

The DS really provides a nice platform for text adventure games, I think, and PapaFuji's interface is well done.


...word is bondage...

[Flack]

Those of you interested in text adventures should keep an eye out for Get Lamp (http://www.getlamp.com/), Jason Scott's upcoming documentary about text adventures. If it's even half as good as his BBS Documentary, it should be awesome. Check out this link (http://www.getlamp.com/photos/) to see a list of everyone who's been interviewed so far.

I'd say any of the Infocom and Scott Adams adventures would be worth your time.

Also, The Pawn for C64 was okay, but if you're playing on real hardware expect lengthy loading times.

[Jorpho]

Don't forget all the recent stuff (better known as "Interactive Fiction"). Rematch is one of the greatest gameplay experiences I have ever had, period.

I've also heard lovely things about Photopia.

[Trebuken]

I bought some TRS-80 computers a while ago and while searching for games for them I came across quite a few text adventures. I never got into them but you may find some of them interesting. I would imagine that they are easily playable via emulation if you can fin them...

[Gapporin]

If you have a DS with a flash cart, you should check these out:

http://gugusse.central.free.fr/papafuji/adventures.html

The DS really provides a nice platform for text adventure games, I think, and PapaFuji's interface is well done.

Whoa. That is awesome. Thanks for the link!

/me dusts off his flash cart

[jb143]

If you have a DS with a flash cart, you should check these out:

http://gugusse.central.free.fr/papafuji/adventures.html

The DS really provides a nice platform for text adventure games, I think, and PapaFuji's interface is well done.


...word is bondage...

That is pretty cool. I kinda wish I had a DS now

[jb143]

Thanks for all the sugestions. It may be a while before I beat this one though. I seem to keep getting stuck and I'm guessing it's goign to take me a while. Is this typical of these types of games or it there just something that I'm not getting? Like, can you beat the game ONLY if you do things just right? Such as if you burn your match once and don't find the clue, is it necessary to start over or will there be other matches arround(as an almost hypothetical example)

Also note: I'm not looking for a walkthough or blatant hints, I'd prefer to figure stuff out on my own but any help on playing this *new* type of game would be apriciated. Thanks

[Jorpho]

Like, can you beat the game ONLY if you do things just right? Such as if you burn your match once and don't find the clue, is it necessary to start over

This would not be at all surprising. Part of the "charm".

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Yeah, I find that most (well, *ALL* that I've played) text adventure games are very strict and linear. If you don't have the right item at the right time and do the right thing with it, it's very easy to get stuck.


...word is bondage...

[jb143]

That's what I was afraid of. So basially I need to save the game before I do anything and if my score doesn't go up, load it and try again? I was hoping it was a little more open ended but I guess I'll keep trying. So far I do enjoy the experience and it really brings me into the game, I just keep getting stuck.

[mailman187666]

the only text based game I ever attempted to play was Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the Apple 2e. But I was so young I could barely read and remember my mother had to read it for me ha ha. So I barely remember it at all.

[Berserker]

I've been recently looking into these games too, albeit for a different reason -- I'd like to make games. Nothing serious, mainly as a hobby. I figure it'd be a good exercise in writing and storytelling as well.

So my first thought was adventure games. There's a good engine (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/) already around for making your own adventure games called AGS. However, to do that you need graphics; character sprites, backgrounds and the like, as well as dialogue. I soon realized that this may not be the best place to start, so I looked around and thought a bit more and decided that IF games, Interactive Fiction, might be a better alternative.

Quickly I discovered there were a few engines for making your own IF games as well. Inform seems to be the defacto choice for many. There's Inform 6 (http://www.inform-fiction.org/inform6.html), which seems to have a more C-style syntax, and there's also a still-in-development Inform 7 (http://www.inform-fiction.org/), which takes a less-typical approach of trying to construct games from a sort of natural language system. A novel idea, to be sure. I'm basically settled on Inform 6 for my purposes however, as a C-like syntax seems more familiar to me.

Also in the course of this I found a few widely-praised IF games whose names kept popping up, besides the classic Infocom titles. I have yet to try any of them, but they're definitely on my 'to play' list, and they might also be of some use to this thread:

(in no particular order)

Photopia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photopia) by Adam Cadre (Jorpho already mentioned this one)
Varicella (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varicella_%28computer_game%29) by Adam Cadre
Galatea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatea_%28computer_game%29) by Emily Short
Spider and Web (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_and_Web) by Andrew Plotkin
Slouching Towards Bedlam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slouching_Towards_Bedlam) by Daniel Ravipinto and Star Foster
Vespers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespers_%28computer_game%29) by Jason Devlin
Anchorhead (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorhead_%28computer_game%29) by Michael S. Gentry

Looks like I've got my play cut out for me.

[jb143]

One of the 1'st games I made was a actually a text one coded in basic on the C64. It was a pretty simple find the tresure in the castle thing and you got to buy food and weapons. I wish I still had it. If you really want to make games then I'd recomend not using the engines and just going with C++. Expecially for something like a text game where it's pretty much a bunch of data structures and logic. Actually doing such a thing would be a great way to learn programming.

[Berserker]

I was considering it, but since I have over the years already written simple text games in BASIC, C, C++ and Python, I already know the general programming ideas that come into play there and decided it was unnecessary to reinvent the wheel. :)

Here what I'd like to get into is less of the engine/programming side of things and more of the "meat" of what makes a game -- story, dialog, and overall design.

[jb143]

I was considering it, but since I have over the years already written simple text games in BASIC, C, C++ and Python, I already know the general programming ideas that come into play there and decided it was unnecessary to reinvent the wheel. :)

Here what I'd like to get into is less of the engine/programming side of things and more of the "meat" of what makes a game -- story, dialog, and overall design.

In that case you might want to search out programmers who are interested in making games but might not be as interested in, or good, at the story, dialog, and overall design. Believe me, there's a lot of them out there. I used to be one. Maybe make a few games using the engines to get some experience then find other people to do the programming and graphics. Of course that's only if you want to get serious with it. I was doing this about 7 or 8 years ago but we all weren't too serious with it and sort of lost modivation.

[Dreamcast]

The best text game (http://www.homestarrunner.com/dman3.html)

[debian4life]

I remember fondly playing the Scott Adams adventures on my trusty TI99/4a. He made about 12 different ones that I know of. He now has them for free download at http://www.msadams.com/downloads.htm. The games range from easy to extremely difficult. I would rank them right up there with Zork as far as story and fun.

Regards,

Brian

[Jorpho]

No thread about interactive fiction is complete without a mention of Pick Up The Phone Booth and Die.

(And once you've had fun with that, look up Pick Up The Phone Booth and Aisle.)

[Nikademus1969]

the only text based game I ever attempted to play was Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the Apple 2e. But I was so young I could barely read and remember my mother had to read it for me ha ha. So I barely remember it at all.


Awww...that's actually kinda cute :)


I used to really get into the Infocom games when I was a kid. I liked them not only because of the games, but all the cool stuff you got with them. Anyone still have their Wishbringer stone? :D

[kainemaxwell]

Anyone remember "The Hermit" for the C64? If I remember right it was one of those games you program in from Compute.

[Daria]

That is pretty cool. I kinda wish I had a DS now


I want a flashcard now. O.o

edit: This post was in response to the text adventure games ported to the DS.

[Gapporin]

No thread about interactive fiction is complete without a mention of Pick Up The Phone Booth and Die.

(And once you've had fun with that, look up Pick Up The Phone Booth and Aisle.)

YES.

I had so much fun with PUTPBAA. The way the authors turned what was basically a one-shot gag into various running jokes and puns is really quite something. I've never laughed so hard at a IF game.