# Lord of the Text-Adventures



## Mike (Apr 19, 2005)

Among my many hobbies I've decided to add making text-adventures to the list after recieving a program that let me make them.

I've already completed two text-adventures.

For my next one, I thought I'd base it on LOTR. My general plan is a 6-game series with about 50 rooms per game, and you get to play a different character for each one.

Your suggestions on puzzles and style would be very helpful in the conception stage, and I hope to make it freely available for download when its finished.


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## YayGollum (Apr 22, 2005)

Sounds achingly cool. What are the first two about? Anyways, I happen to be interested. These types of games are pretty much always very entertaining. Alas, I do not have the knowledge of what ideas you already have, exactly what sorts of things I could suggest that would be appreciated, or how to make up the achingly intricate puzzles that I enjoy.  I would be all about the style, though. Anything else that you could think up to write that might help before I begin tossing any random thought at this thread? Toss Private Message things at me if writing any random thoughts that you have in here is evil.


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## Mike (Apr 25, 2005)

I just wrote a detailed message about the game the server was too busy to submit it! Aghhhhhh! I'm not rewriting the damn thing either.

So, just toss your random thoughts here. So far I only have some room maps and a few Moria puzzles (Involving Trolls and stones).


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## YayGollum (Apr 27, 2005)

Am surprised that there is not more interest. Is the love of the text adventurish type game dying? Or is it just that not enough people know of them? oh well. You don't want to tell me what your first two text adventurish type games were about. Okay, fine. Or maybe that was in the thing that was lost. Anyways, a six game thing. Playing a different character every time. Is this a six game thing as in, a game for each of the six bits of that The Lord Of The Rings story? Or is it a six game thing as in, some Lord Of The Rings based thing, one game for play through each of the six characters that you wish to use? Gollum is one, yes?  Nevermind. That would be too crazy.


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## Mike (May 3, 2005)

> You don't want to tell me what your first two text adventurish type games were about. Okay, fine. Or maybe that was in the thing that was lost.



It was in the thing that was lost. Anyway, the first game was called "Darksword", and you played a scholar who had to find three pieces of a magic sword (That you learn about in a library) to defeat an evil warlord. The second game was "Realms of Chaos", where you got to be a mage who blasted his way through the seven realms.



> Is this a six game thing as in, a game for each of the six bits of that The Lord Of The Rings story? Or is it a six game thing as in, some Lord Of The Rings based thing, one game for play through each of the six characters that you wish to use?


 
Option one, of course. The book is split up among six games with a different character each:

Game I: The Return of the Shadow--Play Frodo
Game II: The Terrors of Moria--Play Gimli
Game III: Rohan at War--Play Aragorn
Game IV: Journey to Mordor--Play Sam
Game V: The Siege of Minas Tirith--Play Pippin
Game VI: Mount Doom--Play Sam

I'm already putting Game I together as a game, got rooms and objects already listed, and I'm trying to create some convincing characters, really trying to get the "mood"before I start working on the puzzles.


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## YayGollum (May 4, 2005)

Ah. Was merely wondering about the first two. They were your first, so who knows how horrifyingly bad they were?   Anyways, yes, the mood is what I would be interested in. An achingly challenging and long and detailed game could still be very fun, but one with some great language is much more memorable. What sort of narration type of thing do you have going on? Something bad, like ---> "You enter Moria. It is too dark to see anything." Or something much better, like ---> "You let out a long sigh of relief. What was that thing that just attacked you and why did your family never mention it? After deciding to speak with them about that shortly, you dust yourself off and check the place out. Even with your sharp Dwarven eyes, you can only make out possible outlines. You could wait a bit and hope for them to adjust to the darkness, but don't you know how to light a torch?"  But then, I doubt that you would want to make the thing too light-hearted, and I am not the best at the suspense and the tension and the caring about characters types of writing. Are you using a third person sort of narrator, or will the character you play be talking? I have no idea. Also, how intricate are you getting? Achingly descriptive descriptions are in the works, or you will only be descibing the things that might matter for the game?  Also, also, dang. So much evil sam? *hides*


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## Mike (May 5, 2005)

> They were your first, so who knows how horrifyingly bad they were?



My first game was extremely bad. But my friends liked it because it had lots of twisted humour. My second game was light-years ahead of my first one, because I implimented the techniques I use to write short stories. Much, much better that way!



> What sort of narration type of thing do you have going on? Something bad, like ---> "You enter Moria. It is too dark to see anything." Or something much better, like ---> "You let out a long sigh of relief. What was that thing that just attacked you and why did your family never mention it? After deciding to speak with them about that shortly, you dust yourself off and check the place out. Even with your sharp Dwarven eyes, you can only make out possible outlines. You could wait a bit and hope for them to adjust to the darkness, but don't you know how to light a torch?"  But then, I doubt that you would want to make the thing too light-hearted, and I am not the best at the suspense and the tension and the caring about characters types of writing. Are you using a third person sort of narrator, or will the character you play be talking? I have no idea. Also, how intricate are you getting? Achingly descriptive descriptions are in the works, or you will only be descibing the things that might matter for the game?


 
My text-adventure writing style is somewhat in between. Nobody plays a text-adventure that reads like Walter Scott. So, this is how i write them:
"The pillars of this hall cast strange shadows as they block the light from the windows above. Your view continues into endless darkness when you look south. A small door hangs on rusty hinges to the north."
Sort of thing...but more refined.


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## YayGollum (May 5, 2005)

Uh, huh. But will there be room for twisted humor in this one, too? Sure, it would be achingly understandable to try to toss the mood that was in the book at the time, but oh well.  Anyways, as to the style, got it. I wonder how refined, because your example seemed pretty normal and usual and expected. Who knows? Anything else? *is sure that the best way to get his ways of doing things into a text adventure sort of thing is to make his own*  Okay, where do each of the six parts begin and end?


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