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Geek Culture / I was bored

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Zombie 20
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Joined: 26th Nov 2006
Location: Etters, PA
Posted: 14th May 2007 10:37 Edited at: 14th May 2007 10:38
Its going on 4 am here in pa and rather than program a silly maroon box i decided to try a text adventure. I'm still way early on the backstory but i want some feedback, i know it needs tweaking. So let me know what you think, i plan on writing a full game with graphics and music .



NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Location: The Fifth Plane of Oblivion
Posted: 14th May 2007 11:51
I think it would be much better and easier if you made a flexible engine first, that read the story from text files. It would cut down on coding much. Or, you could make it write the text to the screen with a function that automatically waits for the key, like this:

It wouldn't make the game itself any better, but it would cut down on typing.


Since the other one was scaring you guys so much...
Zotoaster
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Location: Scotland
Posted: 14th May 2007 12:00
That's weird indentationating.

Zombie 20
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Location: Etters, PA
Posted: 14th May 2007 19:46
Nex-Thanks, um..how would i utilize that? I'm sorry i'm still such a novice :p.

Zotoaster-I'm a weird guy, need I say more?

sp3ng
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Posted: 15th May 2007 14:02
obviously - blat??!
and what in the heck is a minstrel? (sarcasm)
Van B
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Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 15th May 2007 14:19
Ideally you'd have a script that a text adventure engine would read, this script would have your rooms and item descriptions, maybe even game logic as well - but using Text is something that you really need to fix before doing any more work.

What I'd suggest is storing all your text in an array, then using a numbering system, you can pluck out the entries for a particular room. By loading the script file 1 line at a time and keeping it in the array, you only really need to flag each room. Like using #, then put the number after that, then the line right under it you could have the title of the location.

Like

#0
The vortex.
You are in a vortex, duh.
#1
The abyss
You are floating in an abyss.
The endless tredge of text adventuring holds no bounds here.

Then, when that's in place, you will find it soooooooooo much easier to move around. Like you might have exit flags, then you can use something like E=0, W=1, so when the player goes East, he goes to location 0, or west to location 1. It all takes some planning, but really getting a good engine together is the best route to take right now, then add a small part of your adventure idea to test it out. Being able to simply pass the room number to a description function for example is a good idea, this technique can be applied to items and characters, anything you care to add to your script system really. For now though, just concentrate on moving your room descriptions out of your code, it's not the 80's .


Good guy, Good guy, Wan...
Zombie 20
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Location: Etters, PA
Posted: 16th May 2007 02:49
VanB-thank you very much, i didn't quite unerstand it all for applying it but I will certanily give it a shot, i'd like an easier way to write this story.

Darth Vader
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Location: Adelaide SA, I am the only DB user here!
Posted: 16th May 2007 06:49 Edited at: 16th May 2007 06:52
Van if I were to store all the text into arrays wouldn't that still have the text in the code? Or do you mean reading it in from external files? I could make it read in the text and then save the array that way I only have to read the text in once, next time I just load the array. Is that what you mean?


EDIT: Okay I re-read your post and understnad everything a bit better, but I don't know what a script is exactly!

Van B
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Location: Sunnyvale
Posted: 16th May 2007 10:05
You know, it would probably be best if I made a small example, like a little starting point engine, no real logic, just locations, moving between them, and multiline text. It's quite hard to explain how to go about using a script system, it's easy to understand when you have a working example in front of you though.

It's no biggie, will see what I can come up with tonight.


Good guy, Good guy, Wan...
Darth Vader
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Posted: 17th May 2007 09:11
That would be great Van!


Van B
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Posted: 17th May 2007 09:17
No worries, should have it done tonight or tomorrow night, there's a couple of things I want to add to it.


Good guy, Good guy, Wan...
Zombie 20
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Posted: 18th May 2007 04:19
I'm interested as well to see how this turns out .

Darth Vader
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Posted: 31st May 2007 10:37
Any updates Van B?


Dazzag
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Location: Cyprus
Posted: 31st May 2007 10:43
Yeah you need an engine first that works off external files. Don't forget word wrapping. I have most of mine working at this point and still haven't a clue on the story.

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Current fave quote : "She was like a candle in the wind.... unreliable...."
Van B
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Posted: 31st May 2007 10:47
Sorry, been busy with something. I'll see if I can wrap it up this week, it does look very cool though, it'll be worth the wait.


Good guy, Good guy, Wan...
BMacZero
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Posted: 13th Jun 2007 06:21
Wow I'm planning on entering the text adventure compo, and I've been doing it a lot like Zombie has, though a little easier to navigate. I've seen something like this before but your explanation was a lot easier to understand


"Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire!" —Jaya Ballard, task mage

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