Ok, this isn't even an adventure, I just thought I'd have a go at "modelling" Tex's office on day 1 of UAKM. It's not even complete yet, but I'm going to bed now so I thought I'd post up what I have so far.
http://marinedalek.co.uk/tex/test.html is an online version (type L if you just see a black background and white cursor to begin with) and you can download the z-code file at http://marinedalek.co.uk/tex/uakm.z5
Have fun
P.S. Try taking things...
http://marinedalek.co.uk/tex/test.html is an online version (type L if you just see a black background and white cursor to begin with) and you can download the z-code file at http://marinedalek.co.uk/tex/uakm.z5
Have fun
P.S. Try taking things...
Strongbad?. . . as in Homestar Runner?!? My 16-year-old son loves that site! I think I'll ask him about it.Cyndi V wrote:i tried the links and it didn't work for me... i love text-based adventures (anyone else try the strongbad "get ye flask" games?)
I, on the other hand, struggle to feel the humor of Homestar Runner.
Never too late for coffee, never too early for beer.
Great idea, marinedalek! In the event of no more full-fledged Tex games, I'd definitely settle for a text adventure before a book. I hope you code some more.
~ Member: Tex Murphy's Mutant League, Crazy 888's Chapter~
*Revitalizing Old San Francisco's Chandler Avenue District With Style*
(also known as Steve Douglas, but usually by people less awesome than UTMers)
*Revitalizing Old San Francisco's Chandler Avenue District With Style*
(also known as Steve Douglas, but usually by people less awesome than UTMers)
Thanks for the kind words. It's not really "my idea" - I've seen the suggestion (and a demo) in the past posts on here, and I like a challenge so I took it up. I would post a more updated version but I've left it in the middle of something to go to bed. Hopefully I'll have something tomorrow!
Cyndi V << If you can download the *.z5 file (second link) then it can be played using the Windows Frotz interpreter which you can get here: http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/ ... taller.exe
Thanks again, and I'll be sure to keep you posted on developments.
Cyndi V << If you can download the *.z5 file (second link) then it can be played using the Windows Frotz interpreter which you can get here: http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/ ... taller.exe
Thanks again, and I'll be sure to keep you posted on developments.
I love it. And I think text adventures are the best hope for a new TM game.
I hope you will have better luck than I did at getting this board interested in a TM Text Adventure.
For starters, although I used Inform, same as you, you have a great idea using a Java interpreter. My implementation required the user to download Frotz which not many people were either willing or able to do. Also, my demo was probably a little too hard for unseasoned text adventurers. Especially interacting with the NPCs.
Did you happen to play my Pandora Demo? There is a link to it here:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pdrallos1 ... andora.htm
Do you think you could download my z-code and link it to your Java interpretor?
I hope you will have better luck than I did at getting this board interested in a TM Text Adventure.
For starters, although I used Inform, same as you, you have a great idea using a Java interpreter. My implementation required the user to download Frotz which not many people were either willing or able to do. Also, my demo was probably a little too hard for unseasoned text adventurers. Especially interacting with the NPCs.
Did you happen to play my Pandora Demo? There is a link to it here:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pdrallos1 ... andora.htm
Do you think you could download my z-code and link it to your Java interpretor?
Yeah, I played it - that's what inspired me to make mine!
I've made a page for your demo here: http://marinedalek.co.uk/tex/pdtest.html
This interpreter even seems to have a "MORE" function!
I'll keep working on mine. I'm extending it to a simulation of Chandler Avenue at the start of Day One. Puzzles (such as entering Rusty's Fun House and getting together the pens, stamps etc. for the electronics shop application) will come later once I've got the framework down.
I've made a page for your demo here: http://marinedalek.co.uk/tex/pdtest.html
This interpreter even seems to have a "MORE" function!
I'll keep working on mine. I'm extending it to a simulation of Chandler Avenue at the start of Day One. Puzzles (such as entering Rusty's Fun House and getting together the pens, stamps etc. for the electronics shop application) will come later once I've got the framework down.
Hey, thanks for posting the link. I haven't tried it yet, but I will right after I post this.
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If you're writing a TM game, one of the biggest decisions you will have to make is how to handle conversation. The Tex Murphy games, and probably any detective game, is going to require asking lots of people lots of questions.
The absolutely simplest thing to do is simply require the player to repeatedly type "talk to <name>" and have the program carry out the dialog in sequence. There is no challange this way, but it's easy to program and even easier to play.
A little more sophisticated thing to do is to handle NPCs like the graphic games do. That is, to present a dialog or action menu. Graphic games do this because user input is limited by point-and-click. A player merely has to go down the list to be sure he has covered all the options. The process can be made a little tricker by requiring a certain order or actions. Besides being easy to program, this is the method most of the TM gamers are used to.
However, since text adventures allow for much more variety of user input, text games can be made more interesting and challanging by programming the NPCs with AI and requiring players to come up with the appropriate questions and actions themselves. Like "ask the lady about malloy", "show him the money", or "attack the old lady", etc.
That's how I programmed my demo. But I think it was kind of hard or frustrating for players who were not used to text games. I built in some code that would automatically give the player some hints if it saw that the player wasn't getting anywhere. But, apparently, it was still kind of frustrating for some. Also, this format requires *considerably* more programming.
Anyway, that's something to think about.
---
If you're writing a TM game, one of the biggest decisions you will have to make is how to handle conversation. The Tex Murphy games, and probably any detective game, is going to require asking lots of people lots of questions.
The absolutely simplest thing to do is simply require the player to repeatedly type "talk to <name>" and have the program carry out the dialog in sequence. There is no challange this way, but it's easy to program and even easier to play.
A little more sophisticated thing to do is to handle NPCs like the graphic games do. That is, to present a dialog or action menu. Graphic games do this because user input is limited by point-and-click. A player merely has to go down the list to be sure he has covered all the options. The process can be made a little tricker by requiring a certain order or actions. Besides being easy to program, this is the method most of the TM gamers are used to.
However, since text adventures allow for much more variety of user input, text games can be made more interesting and challanging by programming the NPCs with AI and requiring players to come up with the appropriate questions and actions themselves. Like "ask the lady about malloy", "show him the money", or "attack the old lady", etc.
That's how I programmed my demo. But I think it was kind of hard or frustrating for players who were not used to text games. I built in some code that would automatically give the player some hints if it saw that the player wasn't getting anywhere. But, apparently, it was still kind of frustrating for some. Also, this format requires *considerably* more programming.
Anyway, that's something to think about.
cool i got it to work but can't seem to get past the gun either.
yeah the strongbad one is on http://www.homestarrunner.com there's also a fun 8 bit game called peasant's quest that's wonderful (especially if you're a fan of the series). i think both can be found under the games section.
wee! this sorta reminds me of my old choose your own adventure story (available at my tex page).
yeah the strongbad one is on http://www.homestarrunner.com there's also a fun 8 bit game called peasant's quest that's wonderful (especially if you're a fan of the series). i think both can be found under the games section.
wee! this sorta reminds me of my old choose your own adventure story (available at my tex page).
Hey Cyndi,
I remember reading/playing your Tex Murphy CYOA story way back when. I quite enjoyed it and appreciate the work that must go into something like that (writing alternate story lines that can branch nearly anywhere - and keeping track of it all.)
Your CYOA was written in HTML. An advantage of that is that anyone with a web browser can play it. So I don't know if my next suggestion is a step forward or a step backwards but...
A few years ago, a fellow named Jon Ingold http://www.ingold.fsnet.co.uk/ wrote a CYOA authouring system called Adventure Book http://www.ingold.fsnet.co.uk/adbook.htm . Adventure Book, literally, requires no programming skill. The final result is, optionally, a z-code file (automatically written in Inform) that will run in a Z-code interpreter (like Marine Dalek's game) or a Windows executable.
So anyone out there who wants to write a game, but can't program, this system is for you. Check it out.
I remember reading/playing your Tex Murphy CYOA story way back when. I quite enjoyed it and appreciate the work that must go into something like that (writing alternate story lines that can branch nearly anywhere - and keeping track of it all.)
Your CYOA was written in HTML. An advantage of that is that anyone with a web browser can play it. So I don't know if my next suggestion is a step forward or a step backwards but...
A few years ago, a fellow named Jon Ingold http://www.ingold.fsnet.co.uk/ wrote a CYOA authouring system called Adventure Book http://www.ingold.fsnet.co.uk/adbook.htm . Adventure Book, literally, requires no programming skill. The final result is, optionally, a z-code file (automatically written in Inform) that will run in a Z-code interpreter (like Marine Dalek's game) or a Windows executable.
So anyone out there who wants to write a game, but can't program, this system is for you. Check it out.
Cool! I'll check it out. I did start writing a sequel to my old CYOA that still follows Chelsea's POV where she has to rescue Tex again, but sort of gave it up after reviewing the Radio Theater that takes the storyline a different direction than where I was headed... but maybe I can encorporate it in somehow. wee text games are fun.
EVERYONE WHO LIKES TEXT GAMES go here:
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail94.html
That's the strong bad e-mail where he talks about the old style games. If you wait after it ends you can play it too!
EVERYONE WHO LIKES TEXT GAMES go here:
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail94.html
That's the strong bad e-mail where he talks about the old style games. If you wait after it ends you can play it too!
