Bouncing ideas off you
Hypernaut
having trouble developing them:
1. Have a game a wizard's apprentice. Have a magic system that consist of
runes represented by ASCII characters. You can combine the characters to
create your own magic spells. Problem? I don't know of an adventure
scripting language that would be able to do that with ASCII characters. The
other problem is that I can't think of a goal for the apprentice to achieve.
2. Have some other game about an apprentice in a castle, and has to complete
a series of tests set up by his master to prove himself worthy. I'm having a
little trouble thinking of what kind of tasks he should, but I'm thinking of
making the first one being trying to escape a dungeon cell.
3. Have a game in legalese. Part of the challenge will come from trying to
figure what the narrator and characters are talking about. I'm having rouble
thinking of a goal, though. I've thought about making it be about the main
character being flat broke and having to pay off a one million dollar loan.
The problem with that, though, is how on Earth can raise a million dollars?
Fangz
>
> 2. Have some other game about an apprentice in a castle, and has to complete
> a series of tests set up by his master to prove himself worthy. I'm having a
> little trouble thinking of what kind of tasks he should, but I'm thinking of
> making the first one being trying to escape a dungeon cell.
>
The second task being to file an official complaint about having to
escape a dungeon cell?
Branko Collin
15:57:44 -0700:
>I've come up with some ideas for some short text adventure games, but I'm
>having trouble developing them:
[...]
>2. Have some other game about an apprentice in a castle, and has to complete
>a series of tests set up by his master to prove himself worthy. I'm having a
>little trouble thinking of what kind of tasks he should, but I'm thinking of
>making the first one being trying to escape a dungeon cell.
This sounds a bit like a game from last years competition, called The
Erudition Chamber.
>3. Have a game in legalese. Part of the challenge will come from trying to
>figure what the narrator and characters are talking about. I'm having rouble
>thinking of a goal, though. I've thought about making it be about the main
>character being flat broke and having to pay off a one million dollar loan.
>The problem with that, though, is how on Earth can raise a million dollars?
Do you mean something like Bureaucracy?
--
branko collin
- dr: "have you been exposed to any user interfaces designed by engineers?"
- woman: "yes"
- dr: "you have interface poisoning. you'll be dead within a week" (scott adams, dilbert)
Hypernaut
just remember there was some legalese, and the legalese wasn't part of the
challenge. Well, maybe I should check out Erudition Chamber. I wouldn't want
to make something really similar to something that's already been made.
"Branko Collin" <col...@xs4all.nl> wrote in message
news:u9e5a0to32fk494m5...@4ax.com...
Hypernaut
Idea #4: Have some prisoner in an enemy's prison cell. The whole game takes
place in only that one room, and, the objective is to escape. The problem,
though, is how can one escape from a bare cell since no right-minded enemy
is going to hand tools for escaping.
I also thought Bureacracy was about going on a vacation, not earning a
million dollars.
Branko Collin
>Really?
Really what? You wouldn't have me guessing if you adapted a quoting
style that is better adapted to dealing with threads in which multiple
points are being discussed.
>Beuracracy describes everything in legalese? I don't recall that. I
>just remember there was some legalese, and the legalese wasn't part of the
>challenge.
Having never played Bureaucracy, I cannot tell. That's why I was
asking. The impression that I had from Bureaucracy was that in it, you
had to fight your way past a lot of, er, bureaucracy. That sounded a
bit like what you were describing.
>Well, maybe I should check out Erudition Chamber. I wouldn't want
>to make something really similar to something that's already been made.
The Erudition Chamber was written trying to provide multiple solutions
to every puzzle. As such, I thought it lacked meat; there was little
story, and what there was hinged on the fact that you had to move from
task to task.
Hypernaut
> style that is better adapted to dealing with threads in which multiple
> points are being discussed.
OK, sorry. How's this?
> >Beuracracy describes everything in legalese? I don't recall that. I
> >just remember there was some legalese, and the legalese wasn't part of
the
> >challenge.
>
> Having never played Bureaucracy, I cannot tell. That's why I was
> asking. The impression that I had from Bureaucracy was that in it, you
> had to fight your way past a lot of, er, bureaucracy. That sounded a
> bit like what you were describing.
Well, trying to pay off a huge loan isn't quite the same as going through a
lot of bureacracy, but I see your point now. Well, I can see the
similarities now that you bring it up, but I thought and still think it is
pretty different. That's why I was at first confused by your likening it to
Bureacracy.
> >Well, maybe I should check out Erudition Chamber. I wouldn't want
> >to make something really similar to something that's already been made.
>
> The Erudition Chamber was written trying to provide multiple solutions
> to every puzzle. As such, I thought it lacked meat; there was little
> story, and what there was hinged on the fact that you had to move from
> task to task.
Oh, I was thinking more along the lines one solution for each puzzle, but,
to be honest, I hadn't given the story much thought for that one.
Greg Ewing
> Hypernaut wrote:
>
>> I'm thinking of
>> making the first one being trying to escape a dungeon cell.
>>
>
> The second task being to file an official complaint about having to
> escape a dungeon cell?
In properly-formed legalese.
--
Greg Ewing, Computer Science Dept,
University of Canterbury,
Christchurch, New Zealand
http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~greg
John Evans
>I've come up with some ideas for some short text adventure games, but I'm
>having trouble developing them:
>
>1. Have a game a wizard's apprentice. Have a magic system that consist of
>runes represented by ASCII characters. You can combine the characters to
>create your own magic spells. Problem? I don't know of an adventure
>scripting language that would be able to do that with ASCII characters. The
>other problem is that I can't think of a goal for the apprentice to achieve.
You'd have to read the input character by character...I suspect Inform
might be able to do it; I should probably read the docs closely before
making
such an extravagant claim, though. ^_^; You might be able to get away with
it, though, if the runes were separate "words". Like the player could
say: "cast $ # ! ! &". Or you could have actual words like "cast thorn
othel rad".
Just an idea.
What you're describing here is more a game system than a plot, though.
Just an observation.
>2. Have some other game about an apprentice in a castle, and has to complete
>a series of tests set up by his master to prove himself worthy. I'm having a
>little trouble thinking of what kind of tasks he should, but I'm thinking of
>making the first one being trying to escape a dungeon cell.
Now, this is just the way *my* mind works, but I immediately started
thinking: What if the apprentice is being tested, but *while* he's being
tested, something
bad happens in the castle? Like, they're attacked by an evil wizard. The
apprentice has to prove himself *and* save the castle. Perhaps these two
objectives even interfere with each other?...
>3. Have a game in legalese. Part of the challenge will come from trying to
>figure what the narrator and characters are talking about. I'm having rouble
>thinking of a goal, though. I've thought about making it be about the main
>character being flat broke and having to pay off a one million dollar loan.
>The problem with that, though, is how on Earth can raise a million dollars?
I don't think we have a parser smart enough to handle that...
;)
>Idea #4: Have some prisoner in an enemy's prison cell. The whole game takes
>place in only that one room, and, the objective is to escape. The problem,
>though, is how can one escape from a bare cell since no right-minded enemy
>is going to hand tools for escaping.
Well, if you can't figure it out, how do you expect the players to figure
it out?...
=====
I have no signature. Wait...darn.
ems...@mindspring.com
> I've come up with some ideas for some short text adventure games, but I'm
> having trouble developing them:
>
> 1. Have a game a wizard's apprentice. Have a magic system that consist of
> runes represented by ASCII characters. You can combine the characters to
> create your own magic spells. Problem? I don't know of an adventure
> scripting language that would be able to do that with ASCII characters. The
> other problem is that I can't think of a goal for the apprentice to achieve.
Inform could deal with this, and I would not be at all surprised if
TADS could as well. It's not what I'd call elementary Inform, but you
can take input from the parse buffer and convert it to an array of
characters which you could then use to drive your spell system. If
you didn't want to write all this code yourself, you could consult
Roger Firth's StringMaker.h, which would do the
string-to-character-array conversion for you.
That would be the easy part. The hard part would be writing a
spellcasting system that would handle all those crazy combinations in
a sensible way.
Rexx Magnus
> You'd have to read the input character by character...I suspect Inform
> might be able to do it; I should probably read the docs closely before
> making
> such an extravagant claim, though. ^_^; You might be able to get away
> with it, though, if the runes were separate "words". Like the player
> could say:
"cast $ # ! ! &". Or you could have actual words like "cast
> thorn othel rad".
> Just an idea.
>
> What you're describing here is more a game system than a plot, though.
> Just an observation.
That's how I was going to do mine. Give descriptions of the rune shapes
(which isn't that hard) but use the germanic names (as that's the set that
I use) for each, causing less confusion with the nouns.
To email me, visit the site.
Branko Collin
>> Really what? You wouldn't have me guessing if you adapted a quoting
>> style that is better adapted to dealing with threads in which multiple
>> points are being discussed.
>
>OK, sorry. How's this?
Much better, thanks. :-)
>> The Erudition Chamber was written trying to provide multiple solutions
>> to every puzzle. As such, I thought it lacked meat; there was little
>> story, and what there was hinged on the fact that you had to move from
>> task to task.
>
>Oh, I was thinking more along the lines one solution for each puzzle, but,
>to be honest, I hadn't given the story much thought for that one.
I can imagine how a game where you have to progress puzzle by puzzle
can be fun, as long as the individual puzzles are
fun/interesting/challenging/etc.
Hypernaut
> >runes represented by ASCII characters. You can combine the characters to
> >create your own magic spells. Problem? I don't know of an adventure
> >scripting language that would be able to do that with ASCII characters.
The
> >other problem is that I can't think of a goal for the apprentice to
achieve.
> Just an observation.
Well, that is true, but I still thought it would interesting to put it to
use somehow.
> >2. Have some other game about an apprentice in a castle, and has to
complete
> >a series of tests set up by his master to prove himself worthy. I'm
having a
> >little trouble thinking of what kind of tasks he should, but I'm thinking
of
> >making the first one being trying to escape a dungeon cell.
>
> Now, this is just the way *my* mind works, but I immediately started
> thinking: What if the apprentice is being tested, but *while* he's being
> tested, something
> bad happens in the castle? Like, they're attacked by an evil wizard. The
> apprentice has to prove himself *and* save the castle. Perhaps these two
> objectives even interfere with each other?...
That sounds like a pretty good idea to me! ^_^
> >3. Have a game in legalese. Part of the challenge will come from trying
to
> >figure what the narrator and characters are talking about. I'm having
rouble
> >thinking of a goal, though. I've thought about making it be about the
main
> >character being flat broke and having to pay off a one million dollar
loan.
> >The problem with that, though, is how on Earth can raise a million
dollars?
>
> I don't think we have a parser smart enough to handle that...
>
> ;)
No, no. The DESCRIPTIONS would be in legalese, not what the player types.
For example:
You see a cylindrical drinking apparatus.
>GET STRAW
Acquired.
> >Idea #4: Have some prisoner in an enemy's prison cell. The whole game
takes
> >place in only that one room, and, the objective is to escape. The
problem,
> >though, is how can one escape from a bare cell since no right-minded
enemy
> >is going to hand tools for escaping.
>
> Well, if you can't figure it out, how do you expect the players to figure
> it out?...
Well, that is a valid point, but I thought maybe someone knew of an escape
story where someone relied on something I hadn't considered like, say, some
grate, which he used to scrape away at some part of the wall or something
like that. Then I could put said grate in the game. Just a wild example off
the top of my head, though.
Paolo Lucchesi
> I've come up with some ideas for some short text adventure games, but I'm
> having trouble developing them:
>
> 1. Have a game a wizard's apprentice. Have a magic system that consist of
> runes represented by ASCII characters. You can combine the characters to
> create your own magic spells.
Cool, reminds me of Dungeon Master. If I'll ever need a magic system, I
think I'll borrow this.
I don't think this will be very hard to code in Inform (as someone else
said, the difficulty is to handle every possible rune sequence).
> 2. Have some other game about an apprentice in a castle, and has to complete
> a series of tests set up by his master to prove himself worthy.
Why don't you simply merge these two ideas?
bye
--
Paolo Lucchesi
email: plucchesi(at)tin(dot)it
home page: http://www.paololucchesi.it
Non viviamo in un mondo perfetto...
Rikard Peterson
> No, no. The DESCRIPTIONS would be in legalese, not what the player
> types. For example:
> You see a cylindrical drinking apparatus.
> >GET STRAW
> Acquired.
You'd want to allow >AQUIRE APPARATUS even though you're (possibly
wisely) not requiring it.
Reminds me of The Gostak.
Carl D Cravens
> > You see a cylindrical drinking apparatus.
> > >GET STRAW
> You'd want to allow >AQUIRE APPARATUS even though you're (possibly
> wisely) not requiring it.
Unless figuring out the right words is the puzzle, like in Nord & Bert.
Which is what I think he was getting at.
--
Carl D Cravens (ra...@phoenyx.net)
BASIC programmers never die, they GOSUB without RETURN.
Jan Thorsby
"Hypernaut" <hype...@adelphia.net> skrev i melding
news:0JWdnZwXlql...@adelphia.com...
> 1. The other problem is that I can't think of a goal for the apprentice
to achieve.
1. Make all the preparations for the wizards birthday party.
2. Rescue the wizard that has been kidnapped by... er... a zombie.
3. Kill the wizard and take his place.
4. Take over the world.
> 2. Have some other game about an apprentice in a castle, and has to
complete
> a series of tests set up by his master to prove himself worthy. I'm having
a
> little trouble thinking of what kind of tasks he should, but I'm thinking
of
> making the first one being trying to escape a dungeon cell.
1. Bake a cake in a kitchen where everything is invisible.
2. Fight a bunch of non-invisible monsters in an invisible castle with
invisible traps.
3. Gather all the wizards pigs, which has been drinking the wizards magic
potions and gained superpowers.
4. Get all the bugs out of the wizards beard.
5. Find the wizards lucky sock that he lost in a dessert years ago.
6. Find the wizards lucky scratching stick that he lost in a lake last week.
7. Play a prank on the wizards neighbor.
8. Put on a show witch the wizards mean aunt will find funny.
> 3. Have a game in legalese. Part of the challenge will come from trying to
> figure what the narrator and characters are talking about. I'm having
rouble
> thinking of a goal, though. I've thought about making it be about the main
> character being flat broke and having to pay off a one million dollar
loan.
> The problem with that, though, is how on Earth can raise a million
dollars?
1. Sue someone.
2. Blackmail someone.
3. Marry someone rich.
4. Kill off your rich parents.
5. Get inside information about stocks.
6. Scam someone.
7. Work really hard for many years.
>Idea #4: Have some prisoner in an enemy's prison cell. The whole game takes
>place in only that one room, and, the objective is to escape. The problem,
>though, is how can one escape from a bare cell since no right-minded enemy
> is going to hand tools for escaping.
Have you never seen an episode of Macgyver? Anyhow:
1. You have superpowers/magic spells that you use to escape.
2. You have amnesia. You must find a way to remember that you have
superpowers/magic spells that you use to escape.
3. You are imprisoned with another man. Persuade him to use his
superpowers/magic spells for you both to escape.
4. You are imprisoned with a man with amnesia. You must find a way to make
him remember that he has superpowers/magic spells that he uses for you to
escape.
5. Make tools from thing you find in the cell.
6. The prison used to be an old castle, and your cell has a secret door.
Sounds like a short game.
7. Trick the jailor.
8. Set the jailors up against each other.
9. Seduce the jailor.
Hypernaut
Idea #2
----------------------
> 3. Gather all the wizards pigs, which has been drinking the wizards magic
> potions and gained superpowers.
> 5. Find the wizards lucky sock that he lost in a dessert years ago.
-------------------
Idea #3
-------------------------------------
> 6. Scam someone.
------------------------------------
I could have it like this:
The main character has made a how-to-get-rich-quick video, and the video has
basically is him saying, "The way to get rich quick is to make thousands of
these videos telling other people how to get rich quick!" And THAT'S how
gets his million dollars!
Idea #4
----------------------------------
> Have you never seen an episode of Macgyver? Anyhow:
To be honest, no. Maybe I should have looking back, but the series ended
when I was about 9 or 10.
> 5. Make tools from thing you find in the cell.
Yeah, I was thinking along those lines, but that the challenge is figuring
out HOW the character could do that.