Text adventure games

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I don't think I played that one -- I can't remember if I voted that year or not. There were a few years where I voted on the IF Competition and somehow managed not to play the game that everyone was drooling about.

Anyway, perhaps I'll fire up the ol' Z machine and give it a go, finally.

Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 16 January 2005 07:16 (nineteen years ago) link

If anyone cares, the four Zork text adventures are free here.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 12:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Although the other 35-odd Infocom games can only be had at a ridiculously steep cost now. Despite the fact that they're 20 years old and horribly anachronistic.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 12:08 (nineteen years ago) link

that game was right at the end of my familiarity with the scene - tho obv Emily Short is a familar name. downloaded - and i'll have a go at it at home. ta

i have SOME infocom games lying around here, if i could get that Direct Connect thing working - i could sort it out better.

Jaunty Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 12:22 (nineteen years ago) link

I was impressed with the vocabulary mechanics of 'The Pawn' but it still wasn't as enjoyable as Mastertronics 'Contact Sam Cruise'.

I have recently written my own text adventure in C++, but now realise there are dozens of programs out there that can do it all for you.

Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 12:23 (nineteen years ago) link

Jaunty Alan: Whoo! I have all the Zorks [except the Quest things], Planetfall, Enchanter, Seastalker, Sorcerer, Spellbreaker, Wishbringer.

Ste: I was going to do that myself, but thought about the parser and lost interest pretty quickly.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 12:25 (nineteen years ago) link

You are in a dark forest, trees align both sides
You can go N,E,S,W
What do you want to do:- N

You are in a dark forest, trees align both sides
You can go N,E,S,W
What do you want to do:- E

You are in a dark forest, trees align both sides
You can go N,E,S,W
What do you want to do:- E

You are in a dark forest, trees align both sides
You can go N,E,S,W
What do you want to do:- N

You are in a dark forest, trees align both sides
You can go N,E,S,W
What do you want to do:- W

You are in a dark forest, trees align both sides
You can go N,E,S,W
What do you want to do:- get bent!

Ste (Fuzzy), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 12:31 (nineteen years ago) link

years ago i i got hold of an old copy of Lost Treasures of Infocom for mac. The files are old os mac apps, but the "data fork" is the z-file needed to run it on a z-interpreter, which is nice. Here's what it has

Zork Zero
Zork III
Zork I
Suspended
Zork II
Suspect
Stationfall
Spellbreaker
Sorcerer
Planetfall
Moonmist
Lurking Horror
Starcross
Infidel
Enchanter
Beyond Zork
The Witness
Ballyhoo
Deadline
Hitchhiker's Guide

also i have Trinity as a z file on my acorn somewhere...

Jaunty Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 13:15 (nineteen years ago) link

Jon Ingold is one of the most talented humans I've ever met, easily.

Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 13:26 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, the Z files is the core thingo. I love how Infocom invented omniportability 20 years before Sun did.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 13:27 (nineteen years ago) link

I've got those; I'm having trubble running them on Zoom for OSX though. What do you use Alan?

Dave B (daveb), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 13:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Dunno if it helps, but here's a list of interpreters:

http://ifarchive.giga.or.at/if-archive/infocom/interpreters/

There's a frotz for OSX in the frotz/ directory. WinFrotz is great for Win2000, so the OSX equivalent is probably worth a try.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 13:33 (nineteen years ago) link

frotz-2.41-MacOSX.dmg.sit
Frotz version 2.41 for MacOS X 10.1.2 or higher,
distribution 1.5, ported by Mike Johnson.

Sounds ideal.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 13:34 (nineteen years ago) link

But, if you get really stuck, try this. It's a slow dodgy JS applet of sorts, but it'll work in Mozilla regardless of platform, and it works with x8 files.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 13:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I mean z8.

Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 13:53 (nineteen years ago) link

i have been using zoom, but there've been a couple of moments when i've though something wasn't quite right. will try that osx frotz

Jaunty Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 16:49 (nineteen years ago) link

three years pass...

http://code.google.com/p/iphonefrotz/

i hope this helps bring back some audience for text adventures

kingfish, Friday, 15 August 2008 05:19 (fifteen years ago) link

from the first computer lulz thread. need help. see below.

http://www.applefritter.com/images/overview-201.jpg
got about '86, which, it turns out, was about the end of these knockoffs.

i played this text adventure game on it that i've been trying to remember. it involved getting a magic stone and going up a hill to visit an olde magick shoppe. then you dropped the stone in the gathering fog and it is--as far as i knew--impossible to reach down and grab the fucking thing! anyone? what is this game?!

andrew m., Friday, 15 August 2008 05:40 (fifteen years ago) link

was it infocom?

kingfish, Friday, 15 August 2008 05:42 (fifteen years ago) link

doesn't ring a bell

andrew m., Friday, 15 August 2008 05:43 (fifteen years ago) link

kingfish: I doubt it, but omg wouldn't it be fantastic.

Autumn Almanac, Friday, 15 August 2008 06:16 (fifteen years ago) link

wishbringer. You start the game by delivering an envelop to A magic shoppe. I tried this game tonight.

kingfish, Friday, 15 August 2008 07:18 (fifteen years ago) link

Yep, it sounds like Wishbringer, which was the first ever text adventure game I played (it was on my gran's computer for some reason, which had only Snake and this, and I played it loads and never got further than getting back from the shop and being constantly arrested).

emil.y, Friday, 15 August 2008 08:17 (fifteen years ago) link

that's totally it! wishbringer. i would always get to the shoppe, get out, fog sets in and the thing won't let me go in any direction at all. so i gave it up after awhile. this from wickipedia made me laugh:

Feelies

Included in the Wishbringer package are several items, which Infocom called feelies:
A book, The Legend of Wishbringer, that explains how the magic stone came to be (in the Solid Gold release, an in-game object included in the player's starting inventory instead of the packaging)
The envelope and letter to be delivered to Ye Olde Magick Shoppe
A "postal zone map" of Festeron
A plastic glow-in-the-dark replica of the stone

wah?! it's not the real magickal stone?!

andrew m., Friday, 15 August 2008 20:50 (fifteen years ago) link

what was the one where you enter a saloon and have to pee. enter ladies or gents...

then you step on a black spot and are whisked somewhere else then you look around and see things and gather them as you go along. It had a weird name like "ladies from mars" or something.

Wiggy Woo, Friday, 15 August 2008 22:43 (fifteen years ago) link

Lesbian Goddesses of Phobos.

Casuistry, Friday, 15 August 2008 22:47 (fifteen years ago) link

Leather! Leather Goddesses of Phobos. My bad.

Casuistry, Friday, 15 August 2008 22:47 (fifteen years ago) link

yes! that was it! I killed hours playing that one.

Wiggy Woo, Friday, 15 August 2008 22:49 (fifteen years ago) link

And depending on which bathroom you entered the game referred to you as a man or a woman, right?

The Yellow Kid, Friday, 15 August 2008 23:01 (fifteen years ago) link

Yep.

Autumn Almanac, Friday, 15 August 2008 23:35 (fifteen years ago) link

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/LGOP_box_art.jpg

Feelies

The game featured no copy prevention as such, but like many Infocom games, it included puzzles that were nearly impossible to solve without hints from the accompanying documentation (the so-called feelies). Leather Goddesses included the following feelies, one of which was quite uncommon among Infocom's games:
A small scratch and sniff card which bore seven numbered areas (at certain points in the game, the player would be instructed to scratch a certain number and then whiff the resulting odor. Given the possibilities for a game featuring a "lewd mode", the scents were relatively innocuous, such as pizza and chocolate.)
The Adventures of Lane Mastodon, a 3-D comic book containing vital hints to the game
3-D glasses for the Lane Mastodon comic book
A double-sided map of the catacombs

This creative take on copy protection earned Leather Goddesses a SPA Excellence in Software Award for Best Software Packaging in 1987.

kingfish, Saturday, 16 August 2008 05:28 (fifteen years ago) link

http://www.wurb.com/if/game/2186

"Slouching Towards Bedlam"

Neat victorian steampunk story so far, comes bundled with Frotz.

kingfish, Saturday, 16 August 2008 06:18 (fifteen years ago) link

Slouching is, alongside Galatea and AMFV, my favorite IF game ever.

Mordy, Saturday, 16 August 2008 06:39 (fifteen years ago) link

this is neat: http://ccxvii.net/gargoyle/

kingfish, Saturday, 16 August 2008 06:46 (fifteen years ago) link

Sloughing is one of the classics. Many classics come bundled with Frotz, actually.

Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 16 August 2008 08:47 (fifteen years ago) link

ON IPHONE

Autumn Almanac, Saturday, 16 August 2008 08:47 (fifteen years ago) link

Had a hunch I would fine something with this, and whaddayaknow:

There are only three Doctor Who Interactive Fiction Text adventure games I know of so far...

with links to all three.

kingfish, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 07:19 (fifteen years ago) link

Article here: The rebirth of grue

talking about the resurgence of the genre.

kingfish, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 07:24 (fifteen years ago) link

browser fun: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Unfocom

kingfish, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 07:27 (fifteen years ago) link

http://www.squidi.net/comic/if/view.php?ep=1&id=1

kingfish, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 07:34 (fifteen years ago) link

Since the backspace key had yet to be invented, the name stuck.[

erm, what

Ste, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 08:15 (fifteen years ago) link

nine months pass...

Anyone know where I can get to play Curses ?

Ant Attack.. (Ste), Tuesday, 26 May 2009 11:51 (fourteen years ago) link

ah, may have found it http://www.wurb.com/if/game/55

Ant Attack.. (Ste), Tuesday, 26 May 2009 11:52 (fourteen years ago) link

one year passes...

anyone know of any text adventures set in a futuristic kind of setting, like cyber punk of similar?

old or new

go O and O (Ste), Saturday, 19 June 2010 11:15 (thirteen years ago) link

http://www.wurb.com/if/genre/4

Start on that page and knock yrself out, my man

Yahia Trick Yahia (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 19 June 2010 12:53 (thirteen years ago) link

woah, cool. thanks

go O and O (Ste), Saturday, 19 June 2010 13:21 (thirteen years ago) link

Quintin Stone's Scavenger is like a post-apocolypse (Fallout-style) themed IF. Not quite Cyberpunk, but it was fun IIRC.

Mordy, Saturday, 19 June 2010 14:37 (thirteen years ago) link

A Mind Forever Voyaging is the definitive cyberpunk IF classic.

bamcquern, Saturday, 19 June 2010 18:05 (thirteen years ago) link

I was a beta-tester for that! (Scavenger not AMFV obv) - I didn't like it that much :(

Gravel Puzzleworth, Saturday, 19 June 2010 18:07 (thirteen years ago) link

six years pass...

https://texturewriter.com/

thrusted pelvis-first back (ulysses), Tuesday, 26 July 2016 05:30 (seven years ago) link

Oh, interesting. A platform in the space between Inform and Twine could really work. (Also is that one of ours in the beta testing list??)

For other text adventure peeps, Sub-Q Magazine is a pretty good, pretty new publisher of IF works, though they do all seem to be disappointingly short.

emil.y, Tuesday, 26 July 2016 11:40 (seven years ago) link

Having played a few of the example games from Texture, I'm not that impressed. It's way more on the Twine side, with a bit of Quest thrown in. Not completely closing my mind to it, but would much rather play a proper parser game.

emil.y, Tuesday, 26 July 2016 16:18 (seven years ago) link

It feels like a gimmicky Twine at the moment but new media are welcome once they're debugged

Guangchang, thank you man (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 26 July 2016 18:19 (seven years ago) link


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