#text games

[hpowellsmith]

Honor Bound Chapter 5 update!

I’m pleased to share Honor Bound Chapter 5 today, on dashingdon and itchio! There are some minor changes and fixes here and there earlier, but you can skip to the start of Chapter 5 if you’d like.

If you have the time and energy, I always love to hear what you think, whether here or on the anonymous form - I read everything that comes through and often make edits to the demo and to later chapters based on player feedback as it’s incredibly helpful to hear how people are finding the choices and characters.

The demo is now around 227,000 words - just over 50,000 words added! Things you may encounter in this chapter:

drama among students, town, and families

locking gazes over a desk

holding someone’s hand very intensely

kisses, if you want them

a road trip

some really nice food

a breakup, if you play your cards right (or wrong)

Chapter 6 is also currently up for £6+ subscribers on Patreon!

Read more about Honor Bound on the forum thread

Play the Honor Bound demo on dashingdon and itch

Give feedback

Wishlist on Steam

#interactive fiction #interactive novel wip #dashingdon #amare games #honor bound #creme de la creme series #romance games #text games #if wip

[arconinternet]

Sam Siam: FurryMuck Land (Zine, 1993)

A zine about a text-based furry MMO that continues to this day. You can read it here.

#internet archive #zine #zines #furry #furries #anthro #furry fandom #furry fandom history #furry history #muck #mu* #text games #text based game #internet history #old internet #computing history #computer history #1993 #1990s #90s

[if-seal]

Say hi to your new advice-giver, IF Seal!

In honour of the dear dormant @if-confessions and the even older, beloved Story Hospital I am here with an advice blog to hand out cheerleading, encouragement, advice, and maybe even some writing and narrative design wisdom to interactive fiction creators and players.

If you have questions like...

I'm stuck on a branching scene that's turned huge and can't figure a way of getting through it.

I'm worried about players wanting to take actions in my IF that I don't want to include.

I've fallen in love with an IF and want to give critical feedback but don't want to offend the author.

I've made some characters that I LOVE but once I start the story I just don't know what to do with them.

Readers are saying my game doesn't take their choices into account and I want to change that.

Readers are saying my game doesn't take their choices into account... and how much does that really matter?

...I am here to help out!

I hang out in @hpowellsmith's bathtub from which I dictate my many and varied thoughts.

Please send in your questions and I will share my sealy knowledge and experience!

A few notes:

If you're talking about a particular game, please anonymise it. If you don't, I will assign it a comedically anonymous title

I am not much of a Tech Seal and it is unlikely that I can answer detailed technical questions, but I will try to point you in the right direction

I am not interested in answering "which scripting tool is the objective best" because unanswerable questions are beyond my sealy ken but I will have much more to say about "which scripting tool might suit this project best for which reasons"

If you send a non-anonymous ask, I will check that you're happy to have your name on it before I post an answer

Enjoy!

#if seal #interactive fiction #text games #twine games #choicescript games

[bandyriddles]

I finally got to play the Werewolf: The Apocalypse - The Book of Hungry Names demo by Kyle Marquis and it’s great.

Marquis' Vampire: The Masquerade - Night Road is not only one of my favorite text games - it's one of my favorite games I've played in the last few years. The player character is a vampire courier in the American Southwest, and the vibes are Fallout: New Vegas meets Vampire: The Masquerade. Like D&D, World of Darkness is a system I'm more familiar with from video games than actual tabletop play, but Marquis really captures the tabletop experience through interesting combinations of character builds, stat checks, and branching narrative paths.

I was thrilled to learn he was working on a follow-up Werewolf: The Apocalypse game set in rural New England. I'm way more of a werewolf girlie than a vampire girlie (I nearly always play Gangrel when it's an option in VtM), and I was really interested in the character writing he would bring to a setting where pack dynamics are more important than being a lone predator.

It's fun. The Werewolf system, unlike VtM, is a much messier amalgamation of new age beliefs rather than traditional folklore and so it takes a little while to understand how things like moon auspice, pack, and spirit patrons interact in actual gameplay, but the game does provide very helpful in-game descriptions and glossaries. I went in completely blind, and ended up accidentally building a ragabash (new moon) werewolf with high dexterity, wits, and intelligence and pretty much zero strength, charisma, and endurance. 

While I initially thought that would make the game basically unplayable, I ended up with a fabulous upstate dirtbag who's great at sneaking, breaking and entering, stabbing, and analog library research. She almost never actually transforms into any wolf-forms, and in fact is so mild-mannered that she frequently loses the ability to transform at all because her rage stat is so low.

While you'd think being shitty at being a werewolf would be a problem in a werewolf game, she's actually been a stat-passing beast who can single-handedly take down powerful monsters because she is just that good at reading books and stabbing.

While the demo only lets you recruit three out of the four main pack companions, they all seem great so far. You've got Massachusetts' only black goth widower werewolf. You've got the wolf-born girl with communication issues who speaks partially via guitar riffs. You've got a crust punk camboy who shows up at one of your first encounters wearing a t-shirt, baseball hat, and booty shorts that all say "MASSHOLE". 

Marquis gets that urban fantasy needs both horror and humor, and I cannot wait for the full game to drop in late April.

#a writes #video games #interaction fiction #text games #review #world of darkness #vampire the masquerade #werewolf the apocalypse #vtmnr #wtabohn #wta

[allstartrekgames]

Star Trek: First Contact

Original Release: 1988

Developer: Micromosaics

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Original Platform: Apple II

Version Played: DOS

Using similar systems to The Kobayashi Alternative, First Contact (not to be confused with the episode or film of the same name) refines some of its systems, making walking around much easier as it shows which rooms you’re heading to. It also displays who you are speaking to, so you aren’t constantly giving commands to the wrong people.

The story involves taking some diplomats to a planet for negotiations, however this is just a ruse for a secret mission to make first contact with a new species who are sending out a signal (the Federation don’t want the Klingons to notice). But while the transportation of diplomats is just supposed to be a simple thing, a murder happens that you need to solve.

The exploration element of The Kobayashi Alternative is gone, and this is a much more linear adventure. Events will progress at certain times, so you can miss important moments, so you need to prioritise what you want to look into. The story is a decent one, with a few locations and different problems at each, but doesn’t have the wonder of The Kobayashi Alternative.

#star trek #star trek gaming #star trek video games #retro games #text adventures #text games #ms-dos #star trek tos

[stra-tek]

Type

Dear Spock

And let the middle button decide what you tell him.

Dear Spock is going to the office for a second but I have to quickly get the car

#star trek #spock #text games

[luvcraze]

3 text games for couples

1. 20 Questions:

This isn't your regular "20 questions" game that we all know, this one has a lovely twist to it!

Take turns asking each other questions to guess a specific object, place, or person that the other person is thinking of. Set a limit of 20 questions each to guess the answer. Start with broad questions and gradually narrow down the possibilities until one of you guesses correctly.

For example:

Partner 1: "Is it something you can eat?"

Partner 2: "Yes, it is."

Partner 1: "Is it a fruit?"

Partner 2: "No, it's not a fruit."

And so on, until the object is guessed.

2. Story Building:

Begin a collaborative story together by sending alternating sentences or paragraphs to each other. Each person adds onto the story, building upon the plot, characters, and setting with their contributions. Let your imagination run wild and see where the story takes you.

Here's an example:

Partner 1: "Once upon a time, in a magical forest, there lived a curious fox named Finn."

Partner 2: "Finn had a secret power that allowed him to communicate with the other animals in the forest."

Partner 1: "One day, Finn stumbled upon a hidden cave filled with glowing crystals that emitted a mysterious energy."

3. Emoji Charades:

Use emojis to act out phrases, movie titles, song lyrics, or common expressions for your partner to guess. Send a series of emojis that represent the word or phrase you're trying to convey and see if your partner can decipher the message.

Here's an example:

Partner 1: 🐱‍🚀🚀🌕

Partner 2: "Cat in space?"

Partner 1: "Close! It's 'To the moon and back.'"

These games are a great way for couples to connect, have fun, and keep the conversation engaging, even when they're communicating over text. Enjoy playing together and getting to know each other better through these interactive activities!

#in love #love #lovers #i love you #love quotes #i love her #love language #couple #i love him #couples #text #my text #text post #text games #couple games #couple love #partner #boyfriend #girlfriend #self love #game #love game #board games #text game

[loressa]

Development on an update of Earthsong continues slowly. We've had a heat wave here in Australia and our aircon broke, so staying in the house at all, much less using the computer, has been hellish.

I'm sitting outside writing this - the heat broke this afternoon with a sudden brief bout of rain - and the creature I've heard on my roof for the past few months finally hopped out to say hi. It's a quenda (bandicoot)!

I take it as a good omen - I spent a lot of time today on Earthsong, but I really do need to write about what I know... And that's Australia. The setting is shifting to a pretend village or island in Western Australia with a quokka as the guide. Quokkas are not only adorable and known world-wide, they are also a vulnerable species, with their mainland numbers and spread diminished greatly in recent years, so it will still serve the same role as the kākāpō did in the original jam game!

https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/action-plan/priority-mammals/quokka

Visiting creatures will still include birds such as cockatoos, magpies and ibis, but also creatures like my backyard's quenda helping keep pests out of crops or an echidna serving as a bioturbator.

The game has shifted to more of a simulation game as a way to work through grief/depression, with hobbies you can choose, changing room descriptions based on things you do as well as time of day/seasons, a village to participate in and nature to explore.

I've been updating the UI. The background images feel too busy and the icons are placeholders so I'm not done with it yet, plus I will be swapping this all for Aussie creatures!

Today I added this unskinned (it will look nicer when done!) journal system - the eventual goal is to give players a way to work through feelings as they experience them, to help process grief. Take a look in the video below!

Check out the original jam version, set in New Zealand, bugs and all (please read the itch.io page for details on how to bypass those bugs):

Follow me here for updates!

#game dev #earth song #Earthsong #simulation games #therapy games #grief #healing games #introspective games #introspection #australia #quokka #quokkas #cathartic games #twine games #text games #intfic #twine interactive fiction #interactive fiction #western australia #bioturbation

[scryingshame]

I made a text game! My first narrative-based game ever. Content warning: kinda spooky.

#indiedev #indie games #interactive fiction #text adventures #text games #revolutionary war #american revolution #history #retro gaming #horror games

[hpowellsmith]

Play Royal Affairs - Out Now!

Steam | Apple Store | Google Play Store | Browser | Amazon

As the middle child of the Queen of Westerlin, you’ve led a sheltered life in the palace, but now you must spread your wings and prepare for your royal responsibilities with a year at the exclusive Archambault Academy.

Everyone knows your name, everyone has an opinion on what you do, and everyone views you as the face of the new generation of royalty. Your every move is reported in the press, a word from you could make or break a teacher’s career–or the fate of the school itself. You’re being courted by every club and social group on campus; and there are countless students who would love to be in your orbit.

In luxurious armchairs behind ivy-covered walls, you and your fellow students debate political theory—but outside, real trouble simmers across the realm. There are activists fighting to open voting rights beyond the aristocracy, and you can use your influence to sway the government’s decision in either direction. Relations are growing increasingly uneasy with your country’s neighbors, and there are conspiracies around every corner. Why is your mother whispering behind closed doors with the Prime Minister? Have the leaders of the protests really disappeared? Which allies can you trust? There are some secrets that only your royal authority can uncover.

Will you honor centuries of royal tradition and follow the path that your mother the Queen has laid out for you? Or will you be a force of change, leading your country in a new direction as you break free of a lifetime of expectations?

Oh, and speaking of expectations—there’s also the foreign royal that your mother wants you to marry. Who is in your class. And who happens to hate you.

Play as male, female, or non-binary; gay, straight, or bisexual; monogamous or polyamorous; asexual and/or aromantic.

Find love and/or friendship with your free-spirited childhood companion, a firebrand radical, a dreamy dancer, a financier haunted by tragedy, your devoted bodyguard, or a rival foreign royal.

Cuddle and train your pet: a horse, dog, or bird of prey.

Put on a lavish play, become a sports star, or run Student Council; and represent Archambault Academy against its rival Gallatin.

Become your classmates’ confidante and help them solve their problems—or make those problems worse.

Embrace your royal responsibility and carry on your mother’s tradition—and perhaps even take your sister’s place as heir to the throne.

Forge a path to the future by supporting revolutionaries’ calls for change, or stamp out the movement with scheming and deceit.

When this tumultuous year ends, will you be Archambault Academy’s crowning glory?

Steam | Apple Store | Google Play Store | Browser | Amazon

#choice of games #royal affairs #creme de la creme series #interactive fiction #indie games #amare games #text games #romance games #interactive novel #please rate and review if you enjoy! #this has been a huge journey and I'm so pleased it's out in the world

[museum-of-screens]

On Monday July 31th, will begin...

-TEXT WEEK-

7 days dedicated to text games on the Internet, of every year, or every kind! A new text game will be featured on the Museum of Screens every day, plus an article on sunday! Plus, one big surprise. Stay tuned for more info...

#Web Games #text adventures #Text games #choose your own adventure #Museum of Screens

[pici-gamergirl]

#visual novel #text games #in process

[thediktatortot]

I actually have a bit of energy so I'll do these two at the same time :D

5 Things You Never Get Tired Of Writing

@neonponders tagged me in this one:

Capture/Kidnapping

There's just something about the act of loved ones searching high and low that will always and forever entice me.

Growing Old Together

This is basically the way I Hurt & Comfort myself. Dying is obviously a big inevitable and I have a pretty bit like, existential breakdown over that every few years but I try to like...desensitize myself to the idea with this writing topic. It hurts, but it's also so romantic to grow old with someone. So, Family, or Friends.

(Kinky) Extreme Bondage

What can I say, it's just my main kink so *shrug*.

Hiding Pain

I like this trope because for one, I deal with a lot of chronic pain so I vibe with the idea of hiding pain because I do it on a daily basis. And two, because there's nothing better than a loved one finding out their person has been hiding pain the whole time and djasdas;da so good.

Found Family

Honestly? There's so many ways you can do found family but my most favorite is when adults actually take the time to look and pay attention to the people around them. When people are pulled into the family even if it causes issues or tension because that person NEEDS a family.

And 15 Questions

@memes-saved-me tagged me in this one:

Are you named after anyone?

Sort of! My first name comes from a song my dad really liked, and my middle name is the same as my grandmothers. My nickname is from an icecream shop xD

When was the last time you cried?

This morning :) I cry a shit ton. When I'm happy, sad, mad, you name it I cry over it. I get really intense emotions and it makes me cry. I'm also a sympathetic crier and that sucks too.

Do you have kids?

Nope!

Do you use sarcasm?

Who needs sarcasm when you have a glowing personality.

What is the first thing you notice about someone?

How they treat people. I take notice to how people treat others or pay attention to others because I'm ALWAYS paying attention to those around me and it can really effect how I make friends which sucks. I'm so used to being shut down from a few different relationships that I am very conscious of that.

What is your eye colour?

Brown :(

Scary movies or happy endings?

Scary movies for sure.

Any special talents?

Uhhh I can wiggle my ears independently?

Where were you born?

Maryland!

What are your hobbies?

Anything creative, illustration first and foremost.

Do you have any pets?

My kitties :)

What sports do you play/have played?

I played powderpuff football for a spring in highschool does that count? It was for an elective grade xD

Favorite subject in school?

If I had to pick anything other than choir or art, I'd say history.

Dream job?

To be one of those people that helps people come up with ideas. I am an idea farm.

#text games

[allstartrekgames]

Star Trek (1971, Mike Mayfield)

Original Release: 1971

Developer: Mike Mayfield

Publisher: Self-Published

Platform: HP Basic

Version Played: Direct C# Port by Michael Birken (No enhancements)

The first Star Trek video game, made for the Sigma 7 and then ported to the HP 2000C minicomputer. These were devices that had no screens, but were instead connected to a printer and printed the new game game as you played.

This game was ported to many different systems, under a lot of different names such as Apple Trek, Tari Trek and Dragon Trek. I have chosen a couple that I will go through with significant changes, as the vast majority run the same, just ported to different systems, with the latest major version being released in 2023.

In this game, you need to destroy a set amount of Klingons in a few days. You need to explore the area, as well as dock at stations to repair yourself.

This game is very difficult, as you need to hunt for Klingons, navigate around and so lots of actual calculations to work out how to navigate as well as aim torpedoes. For such an old game, there is a surprising amount of detail in it, with enemies that attack you, systems that break, scanning and even a built-in calculator for torpedoes.

Your systems breaking are completely random, though, and something like your warp drive breaking can render a playthrough unwinnable as you won’t be able to find a starbase in time. Even without any damage, navigating around is very difficult as you need to set a direction and speed, and take into account both sector and quadrant locations.

Despite all this, there’s just something that’s a lot of fun about trying to do all this with such basic input, having to figure it all out yourself. It’s a fascinating game and it’s definitely impressive for what it was originally made for.

#star trek #klingons #the original series #star trek tos #basic programming #mainframe games #basic games #retro games #text games #video games

[debthedemi]

ACE and ARO representation alert!!

#asexuality #aspec positivity #gray asexual #gray ace #aspecs of color #black aces #asexual #aces of color #ace flux #aspec #demisexuality #demisexual #demisexual pride #black aros #aroace #aro pride #aromantic #gamer #text games

[this-has-returned]

Hey, idk who needs to hear this, but if you're writing text adventures or interactive fiction with the TADS 3 Adv3Lite library, you should know that the Adv3Lite developer just dropped a HELLUVA update (Adv3Lite 1.6)! The update is AWESOME.

He posted the changelog to his GitHub, BUT THE FULL DOCS ARE NOT ON THE GITHUB. If you wanna get the full package with the docs and everything, he's hosting it on his usual Dropbox account.

But yeah!! More info on his site here!

#tads 3 #adv3lite #interactive fiction #text games #text game #text adventure #text adventures #adv3 lite #tads3