Is there still a place for text-based games of any genre?

[Vikter]

I've been questioning that for a while now. It's so easy to make any kind of graphics now that this may seem silly, but is still something that while I don't exactly enjoy per its nature, is interesting in its own. Not only this novelty factor, but it could serve as a prototype for games that require great design.
Not trying to be an asshole about it, but if I made a text-adventure with interesting concepts for level design, progression and narrative, if I were to port it to a graphical version, it would only improve, while if I made it from scratch as a graphical game, not only would it be harder to develop, but it would also make it harder for me to design certain elements without overlooking certain flaws.
I'm not saying everyone should be making games like these all over, but wouldn't it be interesting if some more appeared? And maybe even some with RPG elements in it?

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

There is a place for that, at least I'd play one of those.

I tried to create a CYOA game where you had to survive 3 weeks on the spaceship that is lost in a foreign galaxy and while events happened in random order, the choices made in previous events would affect some of those. It also had stats that affected you and the possibility of some choices, but the events were botched by Twine and its issues with scripting.

Feel free to steal this idea.

 

[Vikter]

That sounds like a neat idea, because as I thought, the "genre" needs some kind of progressive design element that sets itself apart from the others. And in that case, it would translate well in case you were to make it a graphical game (Gods Will Be Watching-like).
I'm thinking of making a Javascript-based "engine" that makes this easy for me, since I usually play MUDs and other stuff without graphical elements at work using PuTTY with the company's server, and a web language would make it easy to host the files on Git and maybe build and run them on the client.

 

[Alchemist]

I'm not saying everyone should be making games like these all over, but wouldn't it be interesting if some more appeared? And maybe even some with RPG elements in it?

Yes I definitely think so - and I'd love to see some text adventures with deep RPG elements, and stuff that explores some new ideas in that area. I had thought about making one myself, but right now I'm too fixated on my 1st-person blobber / dungeon-crawler project. I'm planning to include a large amount of supplemental textual detail in that though.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

That sounds like a neat idea, because as I thought, the "genre" needs some kind of progressive design element that sets itself apart from the others. And in that case, it would translate well in case you were to make it a graphical game (Gods Will Be Watching-like).

Nah, it was planned as a text-only game with some illustrations and music to add to the atmosphere.

 

[belowmecoldhands]

I've been questioning that for a while now. It's so easy to make any kind of graphics now that this may seem silly, but is still something that while I don't exactly enjoy per its nature, is interesting in its own. Not only this novelty factor, but it could serve as a prototype for games that require great design.
Not trying to be an asshole about it, but if I made a text-adventure with interesting concepts for level design, progression and narrative, if I were to port it to a graphical version, it would only improve, while if I made it from scratch as a graphical game, not only would it be harder to develop, but it would also make it harder for me to design certain elements without overlooking certain flaws.
I'm not saying everyone should be making games like these all over, but wouldn't it be interesting if some more appeared? And maybe even some with RPG elements in it?

100% behind you. It's much easier to code using the console, as long as you go with the default offered by most IDE's (Codeblocks, etc). It might be easy enough if you use some of the more established libraries, but you still have to make the graphics usable even for a proof of concept. In my experience, graphical work does indeed require more time. HOwever, since I've limited myself to c++, I could be very wrong. And since programming games is barely even a hobby, I can't say I know for sure.

Alls I can say is it depends what you're using probably. And yet if you're a beginner and you don't know what's good? It's probably better to just start with the console and make your first game. AFTERWARDS, figure out a good gfx library.

Want to add the default console setup (for me at least) is NOT real-time friendly. Insofar as input is concerned, I'd be using cin or getline and that prevents a real-time gaming. So it has to be turn-based. There's probably an easy way to fix this, possibly by using another library (ncursor?). And yet doing a turn-based game is not so bad. I prefer hybrid real-time/turn-baed.

 

[crufty]

i am currently doing just that!!!

however -- i have no plans to make $$$ and doubt it will get more then a few plays from anyone, if i ever finish it. it has been in process for over a decade now

I realized that I was more interested in the game, and not the fx. time for me is precious. Avoiding gfx has allowed me to migrate the game from system to system, and it runs flawlessly.

 

[Johannes]

Example of a text-based RPG, Corruption of Champions:

http://www.fenoxo.com/play/#

 

[crufty]

fwiw if you are doing text based games, why do it in c/c++?

do it in something sane like python.

 

[Morkar Left]

I would love something like Blackguards 1 with textwritten choices, skill checks and dialog. You could make entire dungeoncrawls in this style.

 

[Vikter]

fwiw if you are doing text based games, why do it in c/c++?

do it in something sane like python.

I'm currently doing it in Lua but I then decided to do it on NodeJS and make it accessible via Telnet. It really doesn't matter much, in this case, since you won't have to deal with GUI libraries and stuff like that. This kind of thing can hinder many amateur projects since it's really hard to go to a low level language with only Glut as a way to render stuff.
As much as I love both low level and GUI designing, fuck me real good if I need to do both on the same project, especially alone.

 

[crufty]

agreed.

I went down many false starts before i settled on a very rudimentary text based system--from 3D, to 2D SDL, to rogue like to

"The crowd roars above you.
There is a goblin here.

> "

wasted a lot of time, sort of

 

[Davaris]

"Is there still a place for text-based games of any genre?"

Cypher is a perfect example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypher_(video_game)

 

[DraQ]

Text based games are tech-invariant.

Your question does not make any sense, it's like asking if there is still a place for books now that we have movies.

Text adventure ported to graphics and text is still at its core a text adventure, not, for example a point-n-click one.
The addition of graphics helps setting the mood or clarify the description, but it's not a part of the core of the game, just like the music is in other genres (you can add music to text adventures too) - at best it's still like a book VS book + illustrations rather than book VS movie.

As for RPG elements, they work better with games that have actual mechanics, but actual mechanics implies flexibility beyond CYOA state machine and computers are lousy writers.

 

[crufty]

Want to add the default console setup (for me at least) is NOT real-time friendly. Insofar as input is concerned, I'd be using cin or getline and that prevents a real-time gaming. So it has to be turn-based. There's probably an easy way to fix this, possibly by using another library (ncursor?). And yet doing a turn-based game is not so bad. I prefer hybrid real-time/turn-baed.

yes...and no! it is actually easier then that. consider muds. evennia is a hot one ( http://evennia.blogspot.com ) I always thought would be a neat rpg engine in that you could set up pvp and really stress rulesets.

 

[empyrean]

While not strictly "games", there's a definitely a market for casual interactive fiction if Choice of Games is anything to go by. They even got some of their more popular releases on Steam recently.

If we accept your outline, we’ll offer you a contract, under one of the following terms:

• 25% Royalties: We’ll pay a $500 advance when we accept your outline, plus a $2,000 advance when we accept your finished game. You’ll retain full IP rights to the story and characters in your work, granting us an exclusive license to publish your multiple-choice game electronically.
• 0% Royalties with a Larger Advance: 0% royalties; Choice of Games LLC gets the IP rights to your game. We’ll pay a total of $10,000 over a series of milestones. (Not all game concepts qualify for this plan, so please let us know early on which plan you’d prefer.)

Seems like they found themselves an easy way to curate and distribute content for money.

 

[MRY]

Twine games are the hot new thing, so I think the answer is certainly yes. But I suppose that there may be almost no overlap between hipster Twine fans and hardcore RPG fans. IIRC, there was recently a new Fighting Fantasy game released on tablets that did relatively well, though that of course has nostalgia working for it. My current project relies heavily on text interactions, although they're accompanied by graphics.

 

[Piety]

That sounds like a neat idea, because as I thought, the "genre" needs some kind of progressive design element that sets itself apart from the others. And in that case, it would translate well in case you were to make it a graphical game (Gods Will Be Watching-like).
I'm thinking of making a Javascript-based "engine" that makes this easy for me, since I usually play MUDs and other stuff without graphical elements at work using PuTTY with the company's server, and a web language would make it easy to host the files on Git and maybe build and run them on the client.

Do it, man. The types of games you're talking about benefit greatly from abstraction, and it doesn't get much more abstract than text.

 

[Vikter]

Text based games are tech-invariant.

Your question does not make any sense, it's like asking if there is still a place for books now that we have movies.

Text adventure ported to graphics and text is still at its core a text adventure, not, for example a point-n-click one.
The addition of graphics helps setting the mood or clarify the description, but it's not a part of the core of the game, just like the music is in other genres (you can add music to text adventures too) - at best it's still like a book VS book + illustrations rather than book VS movie.

As for RPG elements, they work better with games that have actual mechanics, but actual mechanics implies flexibility beyond CYOA state machine and computers are lousy writers.

I wasn't really thinking of text-based adventures, exclusively. Maybe there should be other genres that benefit from that, even if they wouldn't be able to stray too far from the usual text-adventure routined.
For example, let's imagine a practical concept:

• You use text commands to control the orders to different officers, and you basically build cities. Of course, for it to work, it would need to be turn-based, unless we're talking about something like that browser game, Tribal Wars, in which most things are done via text, although that is not necessarily the example, in design, that I would use;
• The maps are an imaginary grid, since they can't shown effectively in a graphical way, but you do have access to coordinates and stuff;
• The data related to the game's balance, like information about the units, or the maps, or even the dialogue, are all in separate easily readable files, maybe XML, JSON or a database.

Now my idea is exactly to take the concept of making an entirely playable text-based game, that is not necessarily designed around text prompts, and be able to port it to a different way of playing. If you have all the data in separate files, and only the logic is in the software itself, it could be possible to just rewrite the engine with the same game. I know that sounds stupid, but shouldn't that practice be a good way for amateur people to develop balanced (even if ugly and broken) games as they learn?

 

[Bibbimbop]

Example of a text-based RPG, Corruption of Champions

What the fuck am I playing? It's like someone actually coded a game based on the F.A.T.A.L. RPG system.

Body Stats

Anal Capacity: 0
Anal Looseness: 0
Fertility (Base) Rating: 5
Fertility (With Bonuses) Rating: 5
Cum Production: 2mL
Pregnancy Speed Multiplier: 1
Total Cocks: 1
Total Cock Length: 8 inches
Total Cock Girth: 2 inches




I'd add a slightly more down to earth Kerkerkruip as a text-based Rogue-like that is non grindy and strategic.

Or a small lark of an RPG called Dungeon Stompage hacked out of the ChooseYourStory CYOA engine.

FLAPP, Lone Wolf, etc. There's definite interest in these games that don't distract with graphics. I want just the mechanics and the story. Seems I'm not entirely alone.

 

[crufty]

If you have all the data in separate files, and only the logic is in the software itself, it could be possible to just rewrite the engine with the same game. I know that sounds stupid, but shouldn't that practice be a good way for amateur people to develop balanced (even if ugly and broken) games as they learn?

maybe yes, maybe no

consider your time. If you are young and mostly idle, do it dude!

or, if you want to practice building interfaces, then this is a great way to get into it.

But if time is not on your side, building a proper interface can be a time sink.

Back in the mid naughties (05?) I abandoned 3d for 2d. I had this great idea that game levels could be shared objects / dlls, and so I could grow a game infinitely--swap out the engine to upgrade it, or add custom scene functionality. My plan was to use pov-ray to render tiles and take pictures of miniatures that I painted as game pieces. It actually did work however I spent precious hours developing this interface and it was a bit of a pia to debug. I switched computers, to a mac--and that pretty much killed the entire enterprise. I couldn't figure out how to get it all to go under OS X and X-code blah dot blah.

I would have been better off spending more time on gameplay.

however--there is no time like the present to give it a stab. These things can require multiple passes, iterations, just depends on where you at versus where you need to be.

net/net, try it out.

 

[JarlFrank]

As for RPG elements, they work better with games that have actual mechanics, but actual mechanics implies flexibility beyond CYOA state machine and computers are lousy writers.

This, although pretty light on mechanics, works pretty well: http://kerkerkruip.org/

 

[belowmecoldhands]

...........
Back in the mid naughties (05?) I abandoned 3d for 2d. I had this great idea that game levels could be shared objects / dlls, and so I could grow a game infinitely--swap out the engine to upgrade it, or add custom scene functionality. My plan was to use pov-ray to render tiles and take pictures of miniatures that I painted as game pieces. It actually did work however I spent precious hours developing this interface and it was a bit of a pia to debug. I switched computers, to a mac--and that pretty much killed the entire enterprise. I couldn't figure out how to get it all to go under OS X and X-code blah dot blah.

I would have been better off spending more time on gameplay.
........

Been there done that. Know exactly where you're coming from, or think I do. For example, I've spent large amounts of time on a GUI library for Allegro. It started out as some routines I used in the windows gdi and then grew to utilize allegro. Takes a lot of time to code. I'd have been better just finding a GUI library, of which there were many. I got that "bug" where I work and work on something with tunnel vision. Inevitably, I lose interest for different reasons. My advice to newer programmers is to get right into the gameplay, on the theory it'll help to maintain interest levels.

Despite I fel bad about all the wated time, I think it's also just the way I am. More than that, I don't think it's a game I ever wanted to make. At the heart of it, I think I always wanted to make a world, not a game. I think that's also an obstacle to me finishing things.

I been looking at Python for the past few days in terms of its potential for text-based games. So far, from what I can tell, there're some drawbacks to python:
1) The lack of backwards compatibility from 3.x to 2.x concerns me, but it's not a show stopper
2) Is a lovely language, except for a few nagging things like no variable declarations (i got pychecker and pylint)
3) Easier apparently to "hack" python executable than c/c++ executables
4) OS's don't always ship with python (ex: Windows) or with the newest version (3.x to 2.x problem)
5) Executables are slower than lower level languages like c/c++
6) I have to build pygame for it to work with Python 3.4 (I'm using Ubuntu)

As always I still got a lot ofquestions to anwer regarding python.

I did download an example adventure RPG which runs in Python 3.4. I programmed in python many years ago and loved it back then. Inbetween looking at that code and reviewing python in genral, I also am continuing work on the c++ text-based "game". I can't really call it a game because it's just an idea, like all the others I've had over the years. Whether it ever becomes "playable" is a mystery. But it gives me something to do and keeps my programing hobby fresh.

I have these links for the python adventure RPG, if someone interested in pursuing:
https://github.com/asweigart/textadventuredemo
http://www.bluzeandmuse.com/final_site/how_to.html