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[SolarShado]

First off: DF is awesome.
Thought that since this is my first post ever I should get that out.

Anyway, here's amuQuest "http://solarshado.awardspace.com/aq/index.shtml"
It's really more of a game engine but I did include 2 quests.

Feedback?

EDIT@2015-12-10: congratulations, internet stalker, you've found what is most-likely my first-ever use of this screen-name. http://goo.gl/GWl6jf

[Aqizzar]

You are at the mouth of a cave which runs north in to a mountain.
There is a defense potion here.

:-? take potion
There isn't a potion here.
:-? get potion
Huh?



Unless you were trying to be ironic, this is a big problem.  That's about all I can say.

[Torak]

You are at the mouth of a cave which runs north in to a mountain.
A sign reads: "Welcome to Tut Cave."

There is a defense potion here.

:-? eat
Huh?
:-? eat ground
Huh?
:-? look

You are at the mouth of a cave which runs north in to a mountain.
A sign reads: "Welcome to Tut Cave."

There is a defense potion here.

:-? read sign
Huh?
:-? go cave
Huh?
:-? enter cave
Huh?
:-? GO INTO THE GODDAMN CAVE
Huh?
:-? WALK INTO CAVE
Huh?
:-? WALK FORWARD
Huh?
:-? KILL SELF
Huh?
:-? Huh?
Huh?
:-?



Wow, that was so fun.

[Tahin]

North?

[Aqizzar]

I was being completely serious.  A text adventure that can't accept different verbs for the same action, and shortened obvious names for objects in the room, is a text adventure that will rapidly lose the player's patience, let alone interest.  Also, something like, "I don't understand.  Type 'help' for a list of commands." would be a lot better than just an empty "INVALID COMMAND" response.

[Soulwynd]

Someone needs to be locked in a room with a crappy telnet client and old rom muds.

[Deon]

Ah, old MUDs.
I remember that annoyance and anger while I tried to make some not very easy actions there =).

[SolarShado]

  I know it's limited...
i don't claim to be a great programer... i couldn't figure out how to allow abbreviated names. (tho multiple verbs are east to add)

It's really more of a game engine

by this i meant that as little as possible is hard-coded, items, enemies, everything, is stored in plain text data files.
btw, "help" is a valid command, is prints:

use "move" or a direction to move to a different area
use "look" to look at the current area again
"take" or "pickup" to pickup an item
"stats" will show your current level and HP, among other things
"inven" will let you change what you are wearing or carrying
For more help, check out solarshado.awardspace.com/aq

i'm open to suggestions, i haven't played many teext adventure game and never did well at the few i have played...
here's a full list of verbs: help, look, take, pickup, move, north, n, south, s, east, e, west, w, up, u, down, d, inven, stats, shop, save, quit, exit

this might be my last chance to get online till friday

[Tahin]

Well, for one, the inventory is really clunky. I'd suggest that typing "i" or "inventory" bring up a list of all the items you have, and all the items you have equipped. Then just allow the "equip" and "remove" to be used to interact with items, along with "drop," "eat," "drink" or "quaff," etc.

It doesn't seem to be able to handle anything beyond the first word, which is probably why you have it the way it is, but I'd see about fixing that, because it is really quite confusing the way it is.

As far as movement goes, I would suggest that you add an "obvious exits" line to each room which could even manifest itself simply as, "(NSEWUD)". Just something that can be glanced at to quickly figure out where you can go, whithout having to read the whole description, and without having to type "look" each time if you've already been in the room. Oh, and "look" should also accept "l."

"Take" and "pickup" are all well and good, but they should also accept "get" as that is one of the more common commands for that action in most modern muds and such.

It took quite a bit of digging to figure out that "shop" let you buy stuff. I'd use "list" just because that's the most common.

It should also really let you type "look sign" to get a proper description of the sign, or to "look goldmonger" to get a proper description of the creature.

Other than that, it's a good start. If you want a look at what I personally consider a near-perfect text-based experience, (codedly, at least) check out Accursed Lands.

[Asheron]

A small question, how do you actually buy the amulet off the old man.

EDIT: Nevermind, I just read Tahin's post. "Shop"

[LeoLeonardoIII]

And you just have to sit and wonder why in the world you cannot get ye flask!

So Aq, any tips on places that have resources for MUD developers, or a robust MUD scripting tool?

[Aqizzar]

And you just have to sit and wonder why in the world you cannot get ye flask!

So Aq, any tips on places that have resources for MUD developers, or a robust MUD scripting tool?

Uh, me?  I figured Tahin was doing all the code stuff.  I wouldn't know where to begin.

By the way, I know this completely undercuts the point of this thread (sorry SolarShado, but I feel obligated to mention it), but there's actually a do-it-yourself text adventure maker out there, called ADRIFT.  I found this thing eons ago, and played with it for a while.  The newest version has some really cool features, but sadly, the developer insists on a $20 donation to get a non-hobbled version.  Apparently he's still doing it, although nothing about the project has been updated in more than a year.  However, you can download the previous version (3.9) for free, and it works well enough for what it is.

[LeoLeonardoIII]

It's not a MUD maker though? I don't know all that you'd need to make the difference.

[SolarShado]

Has anyone been able to finish tut1? I know there's a serious issue with the spider being overpowered.

Thanks for the comments, Tahin. The inventory was more like you describe in the first version, but items were either useable or equipable.

It doesn't seem to be able to handle anything beyond the first word

I'm not sure what you mean about that. I know that my general processing of user input is far from perfect, where exactly are you referring to?

"obvious exits": I see your point, and they were hardcoded in v1. I removed that because I wanted to allow more freedom to quest creators. (Describe exits as you see fit.) I can add it back easily, tho.
 
I'm all for additional synonynms. Like I said, I haven't played many text-based adventure games. (I would like to know how "list" makes sense to enter a shop, tho.)
 
Adding a noun after "look" is problematic, because the sign doesn't really exist; it doesn't have an object associated with it. Info on enemies is a planned feature (if you look at one of the files, they have a description) but I haven't figured out the best way to integrate it into the game. Using "look >enemy name<" doesn't work, because when the command's available, there isn't an enmy to look at.
 
By all means, keep sending suggestions! Next weekend, I'll upload v1, so you can tell me which features I should have kept.

[Soulwynd]

And you just have to sit and wonder why in the world you cannot get ye flask!

So Aq, any tips on places that have resources for MUD developers, or a robust MUD scripting tool?

MUSH/MOO are good if you don't know anything about C. But without any experience in programming, it kind of difficult to turn those into any sort of complex mud. LPMud is another traditional source that doesn't require programming, however, almost every LPMud looks the same, which is sad.