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[MadZab]

Hi guys, I'm MadZab, designer of a simple text-based roguelike named Choose your own CaveVenture. I hear that these forums are the best place to go to, when in need of feedback for a project like this and as a long-time DF player I've been lurking about for a while anyways. Anyhow, the game we made is a choose-your-own-adventure roguelike, meaning that the mechanics are all rogue-style with a random-generated cave, randomized items with weird effects, deadly monsters and permadeath, while the interface is text descriptions and different choices on what to do in any given situation.

The long-term goal is to make this game a smart-phone app that you can play with just your head set, utilizing text-to-speech and voice recognition, nullifying the need for a screen in play, allowing you to play the game whilst driving, walking, cleaning your room, doing whatever. It would also be a game that visually impaired people can easily play at that stage.

So, it's free, go ahead and give it a shot, and tell me what you think:

http://madzab.itch.io/choose-your-own-caveventure

best regards,

Marten "MadZab" Zabel

[Neyvn]

Hey mate, Just gonna get in and say. Not a great form to make a first post to promote your game. Not many enjoy the idea of it. Regardless, at least its not just a boring stupid link and shit, got some info, may look into it later...

[MadZab]

Sorry if it comes across as such. I wouldn't exactly consider it promoting though. If others feel like that, I may delete the post.

[Supercharazad]

Out of curiosity, what would you consider this, if not promotion?

[MadZab]

"Asking for feedback". It's not as if I'm trying to sell something here. Like I said, if you guys are offended by my post, I will take it down.

[Sappho]

I'm not offended. Looks interesting. I'll give it a try.

[Shadowgandor]

Just ignore the naysayers, welcome on this forum! The more the merrier is what they say. I'll give this game a go this week. Thanks for posting

[Sinistar]

Personally, I see absolutely no problem if the first post you make here is about the game you are involved in, especially if it's made in a polite way like you did, but I guess people are free to have different opinion on this.

But I digress.
So this game is basically like old text-based adventure games but with more roguelike elements and implementation of voice recognition in the final version? Well, sounds interesting! Might give it a try later, why not. I'll let you what I think, though I'm not a roguelike expert so I can't offer much in-depth critique regarding those game mechanics. 

[Sappho]

Initial feedback:

The directional controls are very counter-intuitive. The reason for using WASD for directions in other games is so that you can control direction with your left hand while using the mouse (or doing something else) with your right hand, rather than using your right hand on the arrow keys. It's silly to type "w" then hit enter to go north. Better to keep n for north, s for south, etc., since we have both hands on the keyboard anyway (certainly if it were voice-controlled I'd want it to respond to the word "north").

The controls in general are quite clunky. Everything is in menus, accessed by numbered selections. I'd much prefer to have more traditional text-based commands like "wear amulet" instead of typing "i" for inventory then selecting "3" for "wear the amulet" then selecting "0" to leave the inventory screen.

I like the idea of the procedurally-generated text adventure, but the controls need a lot of work before it can really be enjoyable.

The combat is also very confusing. I have no idea what is happening, really. There is no information about what my attacks are doing - either it has "no effect" or I manage to hit it, but there's no indication of how much damage I've done. I don't mean that there should be a hit point meter or anything, but at the very least some sign that I'm winning or losing - the ratling looks badly hurt, something like that. I got killed in my first fight and I didn't even realize I was close to death - it went from "slightly hurt" to "hurt" to "DEAD." No idea if it's because the rat hit me exceptionally hard, or because I was close to death and didn't realize it. Overall, better information in fights, clearer feedback about whether we are outmatched or not, etc. is necessary. Presumably this will be added as the game is developed.

Overall, I really do like the idea, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Hope my feedback is helpful.

[MadZab]

Alright, thanks for the initial feedback, let's dive right into things: We do plan to make the keys remappable in a later version. For now, if you are playing this on a full keyboard, try to have the left hand on the WASD, the right on the numpad and its enter key. That's how I play it and it does give a rather fast rhythm of play, once you get used to it.

Combat is decided by a combination of die-rolls and stats, as with any RPG. While it is opaque right now, indicators on how much damage a monster has taken had been duly noted to be in our list of things-to-be-done. With the player character: You only have four HP. Unhurt, Slightly Hurt, Hurt, Barely Hanging on to Life. Then you are dead. Attacks can do more than one damage, especially if reckless attacks are involved. So yeah, that rat hit you relatively hard for at least two damage when it killed you.

While I do not intend to let the player know the numbers behind what happens while playing the game because this is more about immersion, I do plan to add features and descriptions that help you make more informed decisions during play. Also, as the monsters are not randomly generated in their stats, once you have some experience with the game, you will start to learn what monster is weak, and what is a reason to run away. As long as you are unarmed, I strongly suggest only taking on rathounds, if any.

Thanks for the feedback! Keep me informed if you have anything more!

[Sappho]

Aha. Then let me note that not all keyboards have a numpad. My laptop doesn't have one at all, not even accessible with the Fn key. My old laptop does have one, but I need to use the Fn key, which means it takes 2 hands to use it. That rhythm you have going only works on a really full keyboard, which a very large percentage of people do not have these days, since so many people only have laptops. On the other hand, using standard commands works on all keyboards.

My recommendation (or at least my preference) would be to have standard commands, if that's possible. I far prefer typing "wear ring" to navigating through a menu system, and I think it's fair to say that most people would agree. That system would also lend itself better to speech-to-text software than numbered menus.

I'll have to give it another go in a bit, now that I know a little more about how the game works.

[MadZab]

Hi everyone,

new release. Keys can now be configured, so no more WASDing if you dislike that sort of thing. Also, Linux-version, although it is somewhat experimental.

As before:
http://madzab.itch.io/choose-your-own-caveventure

[Zireael]

I like the idea. Will the game now work without a keypad?

[MadZab]

It always has worked without a keypad, you can also use number keys. As you can now customize your movement keys, you can see if you want to move with your right hand and use the left hand for the numbers - one through five are the ones used mostly anyways. While you can change all keys for sticky options (like inventory, movement, resting - things you can always do), the variable options remain numbered for now.

[Scoops Novel]

I see this is still being updated. When do you think you'll make it prettier? I'm not saying go full cogmind, but i'm saying go full Sorcery . There's a lot you can do with different fonts, let alone some art.

I was thinking a roguelike which embraced choose your own adventure elements could be great! The problem with games like dungeon crawl stone soup is that you feel like a murderous stat-block instead of a character. I think that maps, rudimentary graphics and all the rest of it can only be good for this game though. Your design philosophy is that they shouldn't be mandatory, but those who can take advantage of them should be able to.