Newbie Choosing QUEST: Any Guidance or Warnings?
Buck Kelso
it was first released. I ate the whole Infocom catalog, I think. When the
graphics started I followed, through Kings Quests and Space Quests and such,
but my interest waned and eventually I dropped out.
My mind never quit playing with the idea of writing my own game, though, and
lately I've gotten serious. While diagramming it out I've been looking into
the current state of IF programming. I assumed by now there'd be a simple
system: you know, "Edit/Add Room" and a properties box would pop up, check
the attributes you want, write your descriptions, and done. And so on for
actors and objects and so on.
I haven't found that. I guess there's been no incentive for anyone to write
such an editor. So I looked at HUGO and TADS and INFORM and just didn't want
to get into all that.
The closest description I found to what I was expecting was QUEST. I'm
downloading it as we speak. I looked at the archives here and see the QUEST
directory was just created last month, so I'm assuming it's pretty new. The
newsgroup FAQ mentions it, says its not superpowerful but seems solid
enough. I couldn't find any discussion threads about it, either live or
archived.
So, as I'm about to dive into this, does anyone have any experience with
QUEST? Any words of discouragement, etc?
I've learned to rely on practical advice, if I can find it: would love to
find some here. Thanks for any and all replies.
Alex Warren
> The closest description I found to what I was expecting was QUEST. I'm
> downloading it as we speak. I looked at the archives here and see the QUEST
> directory was just created last month, so I'm assuming it's pretty new. The
> newsgroup FAQ mentions it, says its not superpowerful but seems solid
> enough. I couldn't find any discussion threads about it, either live or
> archived.
>
> So, as I'm about to dive into this, does anyone have any experience with
> QUEST? Any words of discouragement, etc?
Quest was first released in August 1998, and has progressed since then to become
the amazing version 2.0 we (or at least, I) know and love today. It's a good
choice, in my biased opinion, if you're not too good (or just not a big fan of)
programming, as it lets you get on with the important bits of game writing
rather than having to constantly look things up in a manual.
It's easier to create games with Quest than for any other IF system, to my
knowledge, whether you create the games by hand using a text editor etc., or if
you use the included QDK utility.
As for disadvantages, some say that it is less powerful than many IF systems,
but I say this is rubbish. It is quite possible to create very complex games in
Quest, and just because it doesn't "automatically" handle obscure things such as
lockable see-through booby-trapped containers, it is incredibly easy to create
such things yourself with a bit of thought just by using some basic code.
Also, I will admit that QDK, the visual editor, is a bit iffy at times - but
bear in mind that it's a pretty new tool for Quest, the current version being
only v1.0 Beta 2. A few of the features are not yet working, yet it is still
possible to create a complete game using QDK and add any complicated features
once it is fleshed out, using a bit of simple coding. As long as you save
regularly, back up your work, you shouldn't run into many problems. Also bear in
mind that you don't have to use QDK at all - the ASL programming language is
very easy to understand and a complete reference manual is included in the
download, so you can stay away from QDK altogether and still create games with
ease if you want.
As Quest is still fairly new by comparison to pretty much every other IF system
that exists (excluding the "vapour-ware" ones that are always promised but never
arrive in the form of an actual download, just a huge list of features of "what
this great system will do"), there aren't a huge number of users or any released
games, to my knowledge, although there certainly *are* people using Quest who
plan to release a game very soon. For support matters regarding Quest, there may
be some users in this newsgroup, though you may be more likely to get an answer
by visiting the web-based Axe Software forum (linked at the Quest website at
http://intfiction.cjb.net), or by emailing me directly -
sup...@axesoftware.co.uk is the address for technical support questions
regarding Quest.
--
Alex Warren, Axe Software · al...@axesoftware.co.uk · ICQ: 4043750
http://www.axesoftware.co.uk - including Quest, the IF system for Win95
Agbampton
Most of the routine requirements of implementing your I-F 'world' are dead
simple to do - and QDK can make this a coding free task if you choose to use
it.
Personally I still prefer to code everything manually - fortunately Quest's ASL
is easy to understand and that's no real hardship.
The fact is - at some point you need to code some tests and responses, like if
the player has the sword he can slay the dragon or whatever. to make it a
worthwhile game.
All I-F systems must provide a coding language for this sort of capability - I
think Quest ASL is the easiest to master, it's also deceptively powerful and
you'll be amazed at just how many of those 'superpowerful' features that seem
to be missing in Quest can be coded exactly as you want them.
Quest also makes excellent use of the Win95/98 GUI - which is both a good point
and a bad one. Good, because it looks nice and familiar to end users and can
even show graphics, play music etc. as part of the game etc if you want, and
bad because by being designed to use the GUI so effectively it limits your work
to Win 95/98 users.
There are many non Win 95/98 non PC machines out there in I-F land, so that's
an issue you might consider important - or maybe not, a personal decision.
I suggest you write yourself the same small game in Quest and one or two of the
other languages, to get a feel for how they work, it's not until you try to
put them into action that the differences become clear.
Good luck with whichever you decide to use.
If you can keep calm when all around you are losing their heads,
then you don't understand the gravity of the situation....
BStevensBaker
Don't choose quest, learn inform instead. Quest is total utter cack.
Wonder Boy
>
> Don't choose quest, learn inform instead. Quest is total utter cack.
>
>
If you had problems with Quest, it'd probably be more helpful to
list the things that you didn't like about it so that the readers of raif
know a little more about it and the creator can work to fix it.
-jon
"If I got stranded on a desert island (with electricity)/
And I could bring one record and my hi-fi/
I'd bring that ocean surf cd (Relaxing Sound of Ocean Surf)/
So I could enjoy the irony." - Dylan Hicks
Mike Snyder
This seems totally uncalled for. So if I write a simple little adventure
engine, you're going to discourage people from checking it out as well?
Mike.
Mike Snyder
news:19991015165647...@ng-fx1.aol.com...
> Troll.
Who is?
Mike.
Marnie Parker
Doe :-)
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And _please_ don't answer my question with "yes"... :)
Chad Schultz (chads...@hotmail.com)
--------------------------------------
When you make a piece of interactive
fiction, you put part of your soul
into it. It comes as no surprise that
commercial IF authors sold their soul.
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Before you buy.