People used to make so many fun textadventure games. It’s such an easy system, which meant that people just unleashed their inventiveness and really made some gems. However, I haven’t seen any or barely any recently. How come?
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I mean, its a complex question all things considered. Text games in general are just less appealing to the masses than visual games or more multimedia mediums, throw in the fact that in general for most working class folk the last few years, 2020 in particular were a huge detriment to folks ability to invest the time needed to do side projects and engage in fun things, you’re obviously going to end up with a drought of content in many forms, not just text games.
basically a combination of a lack of interest and a lack of free time for folk to make it, at least from my perspective.
I’ve always liked text games and im working on one myself, but its very very slow going giving my living situation and it being purely for my own amusement as its not going to provide anything in the ways or material support, at least not likely. Given others might be in the same situation, they might not see a merit in trying to learn a code langue they might not already know or have time to learn, on the chance they’ll find time to make the game they really dream about in their off time.
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Another aspect is that text games aren’t as simple as just clicking on certain items or going through a particular room. There is a bit of having to get your hands dirty in order to make things work to how you want them on these games, sometimes it just may not work.
Personally I can’t get flags to work even though it looks simple enough, so this only adds more on my plate of having to go a more convoluted path to make something work (so making someone sit or to have a flag set up on a locked chest is either a no go or having to create items and code to make them work).
It just takes time, and some may not have that in spades (I didn’t have enough making mine and somehow got it roughly out on time, though the amount of bugs in it was messy).
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Maybe this is a sign of renewed interest? I’ve been meaning to try developing a game in that system.
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I hope so. If you need any help let me know, I’ll see if I can
That’s fair. I wish there was a way to encourage it, but I get that people have lives to lead.
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Do you set / unset flags by using the Set / Unset flag features? Or directly through object.attribute = true? And do you remember to double your equal signs when checking for the attribute? Like object.attribute == true or object.attribute != true?
I believe this is the most likely reason we don’t see more text adventures. Text adventures aren’t easy to churn out unless they are super short. Authors tend to underestimate the extent of their scope when they start. To many people, the comparatively easy system Quest offers is deceptively difficult; it becomes a mess of variables and branching story paths for them. Then they get overwhelmed and quit their stories, or lose interest.
And my theory is that the authors who have successfully used Quest to that end developed a skillset that would allow them to use more powerful engines. They may have moved on to more powerful mediums or went on to develop their skillset in other ways.
Last I heard, in the IF community, Quest has a reputation for inviting people to publish underdeveloped games and first projects. But even the best Quest games don’t tend to be finalists in IF competitions. Engines like Twine and Inform 7 are more versatile when mastered. So that does explain why well-known authors tend not to stick with it, in my opinion.
That being said, I love Quest and would support anybody who wanted to learn more about it. But I hope there’s a general Quest help thread that could gain more traction for stuff like technical help.
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I think that one factor is that, even when there were more Quest games coming out, a lot of them were being made by only a handful of people (e.g. Jerkajerk made 6 Quest games in less than a year). So then it has a bigger impact if one or two people move onto other things, have to take a break, etc.
Pretty much everything has already been said, i mean: would you rather play a graphic RPGVX game, or rely on your own imagination ? I think the answer is clear, even it’s displeasing for some.
I know i made one, i’ve even got one i never released because i never finished it… a little passion project text adventure just isn’t as impactful as a big stakes unity game, ambitious mod, or much of the masterpieces people have made over the years. I may be wrong, but i think Quest games were made at a time and for a time when higher quality tools weren’t as widespread as they are today…
Sure, but a Quest game is so much easier to make, and so much more accessible for random people. I made one over a holiday, because I was bored. It was that ease, that simplicity, that meant that everyone could turn their stories into games, which in turn gave us a lot more variety and made games come out faster.
Personally, I’m really interested in a few games in development on here, but so many games seem to take years and years to make, often with the creator quitting halfway. I understand that it happens, and don’t mean to criticise them, but it happens far less when you can make a fun little game in a week or two instead of giving up hours a week for years.
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I’d actually rather have the text adventure! There’s so much tedium in quickly done graphical RPG maker games, and I’ve no nostalgia for the format which is inherently difficult to show WG in. Let me engage my imagination and it’s inherently easier to self-insert as my brain is having to do some of the work.
Quest is an odd beast though. It’s online play is extremely limited and often breaks, while it’s offline player chews CPU like crazy for what it does.
It’s interface looks simple, and draws you in, but doesn’t seem be as solid when you have to interact with an NPC. Then you often have to start typing, as you would in Inform or TADS, but the user-experience doesn’t make this obvious.
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They aren’t fully dead. It’s just fewer are being made here. I’ve seen quite a few being made but many of them are more vore focused like the game I’m currently working on. If vore isn’t a turn off for you, there is a thread on Eka’s vore game forum that keeps track of text adventures that have been made. The master post for it updates about once a month.
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Vore isn’t my thing, but thanks for sharing!
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Interactive Fiction creation is a solved problem.
So there is no one making new IF development systems.
So there is no one marketing IF development systems.
So people don’t know about the IF development systems.
So if someone wants to make a IF they have to make their own IF development system and that’s hard
So they give up before getting to creating their IF with it
So there is less IF being made.