I'm new to making text adventures...

Is there a tutorial I can watch? Or do I need actual help? I'm confused on all the coding.


there's lots of resources and lots of help from us too :D

here's the doc main page (there's tons of information here, just got to explore/navigate all of it, once you understand what all of this stuff is, of course):

http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/

and here's more resources too:

http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/#Howto (guides)
http://textadventures.co.uk/forum/samples (more guides: libraries and code samples forum board)

Pixie has a github page with more guides too, but I don't know the url off-hand (sorry)

and here's the tutorial:

http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/#Tutorial

XanMag also has created a tutorial 2, as the doc tutorial above, just covers the basics of using quest and its GUI/Editor, and thus still leaves a big gap from it to jumping into trying to make your own game and to do the things you want in/for your game, here:

http://textadventures.co.uk/forum/games/topic/5940/quest-tutorials-and-templates-published

also, 'onimike', has online youtube tutorial videos, but I don't know their url off-hand, sorry.

and while this is a big jump, if you can learn this stuff (Attributes and the 'if' Script usage), it opens up 90% of game making for you! whereas, you're pretty limited unfornatately with jsut the basics of using quest and its GUI/Editor via the tutorial:

http://textadventures.co.uk/forum/samples/topic/5559/attributes-and-if-script-guide-by-hk

this is a good thing, when you're ready for it, to jump into, to start learning some cool/more advanced stuff:

http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/guides/character_creation.html

here's my own struggle when I first found quest 5 years ago (I was interested in learning to code, as well as trying to make a game), if you're interested in seeing my difficulties and slow progress at trying to learn to code and of using quest and its coding:

http://textadventures.co.uk/forum/quest/topic/3348/noobie-hks-help-me-thread

and there's more to learn (lists/dictionaries and iteration, functions, commands, verbs, object types, etc)... but let's wait until you get there or you need help with it


you do NOT need to know any coding at all, quest has a very good GUI/Editor that allows you to do everything that can be done through coding. I personally don't know the GUI/Editor that well, and it's much easier and faster to help with code... so, if you're interested in learning to code, it'll make game making much easier/faster and you can do a lot of really cool stuff too (you can still do this cool stuff without coding using the GUI/Editor, but coding is faster/easier). So, just wait for others who can help you through using the GUI/Editor, and ignore us (mainly me) who're lazy to help you through the GUI/Editor and just through code at you, lol.

that said... game making still requires you to learn the 'if/code' logic/concepts, especially if you want to have fancy RPG-type stuff, even if you never use code, as this is how you do the stuff you want to do in your game. So, unfortunately, learning the logic /concepts is required, but you do NOT have to learn to code.


my recommendation of steps of learning:

  1. tutorial (try to go through the entire thing, even if it's a bit boring, it still helps a lot to go through as much of the tutorial as you can, and ask away as you need help with anything within it)
  2. XanMag's tutorial 2 (templates and tutorials game)
  3. character creation
  4. Attributes and the 'if' Script
  5. (first got to get to here first, then we can get into what to learn next)

I would add...
1.5. draw a map of connected rooms on paper...
1.6. add the rooms and connecting exits in Quest...
1.7. Play your map/game... ( here, you are just moving room to room making sure all the rooms connect correctly.)
1.75. add descriptions to your rooms.
1.8. "Do" the tutorials above... #1 and #2...
2.4. add objects to your game...
2.5. play your game again...
2.6. modify the objects so you can pick-up and put down...
At some point, download someone else's game...
play their game...
Examine their code in code view.
The problem here is that Quest add all the support code that is needed by the game that you would not normally see...
Here, it would be nice to have an option to upload games with just the writer's code...

I first learned programming in BASIC, and that was from books with type in program listings...
Then how to tweak and change those programs...
By looking at other people's code, you can learn what they did, then copy and modify for what you want...
The best part of programming is that, to a certain extent, you are a god, ruling over your own little world or universe!


Okay, thanks to all of you! This helped me a lot.


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