I've got a game in the progress. It's an rpg called the Sh4d0w Pr0j3kt. I won't be able to release it to the public since I will enter it in the IF Comp (http://www.ifcomp.org) 2004. It's a reasonably complex game with a complex battle system and a magic system similar (vaguely) to FF7's materia system. It's fairly long and complex and I will put in sufficent effort to make this the best it can possibly be. The content will be more than decent. I am also writing a novel so I won't have the crappy style and spelling/grammar of numerous other games. Any questions will be welcomed.
<Psych07ik_S1aY3R>

I don't think a complex battle and magic system will do you too many favours in the IF Comp since that tends to favour the more standard style of interactive fiction rather than text-based RPGs. Still, it might be worth a go!

You might want to rethink entering a big game in the IFComp. I announced I was going to several months ago on RAIF and practically got lynched.

Well, the game also has an excellent storyline and still has the puzzles, etc. from classic IF. I just added stats and equipping/magic/etc. for added detail and more fun. That's why I classify it as an RPG. Hopefully it'll help. I think I have good chances, but, as Alex mentioned, they DO tend to prefer classic IF over RPGs.

hey i say give it a shot sounds like a class game to me alex is probably right but hell it's gotta be worth a try if ya can try sendin me a copy so i can test it see what i think i hope ya win!

hey i say give it a shot sounds like a class game to me alex is probably right but hell it's gotta be worth a try if ya can try sendin me a copy so i can test it see what i think i hope ya win! oh yeh one piece of advise check your spelling really really really well then double check it then check it agian and then double check that, you wouldn't believe the difference good spelling and grammer makes,trust me i know i lost a comp cos the competitors was better spellin and grammar than mine.GOOD LUCK

I reckon you should have a go. If you get a high score (or whatever, i've never been in the IF Comp), it'd get Quest good publicity!

Matthew G.

PS Kingmorgoth99, you need to learn to puncuate!

Life's to busy to punctuate what with school,qdk,eating,sleeping playing,eating,sleeping,eating and stuff there's more important stuff to do. Oh ye about the game in the IF comp can't you just copy it and send one copy to the comp and one copy to the quest site?

hi s1ay3r i went on the if comp website What is your game called? cos i couldn't find it?

Slayer's game isn't on the comp site. Read the rest of this thread and you'll see it's a game he's writing for next year's comp.

And no, he can't put a version on the Quest site and a version in the comp. The rules state that entries have to be completely new games so any other version floating around the net would disqualify it from entry to the comp.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can't have a couple (only a couple) of testers. I only have the basics and maybe 30 rooms for the game so far so it'll be a while. I don't want to make some half-baked game like 3/4 of the ones in every if comp for years. Some of those other games would take me less than five minutes to design. I plan on taking full advantage of my time (until september 2004) and I may add another as well. There's no limit for the number of games if you have the time.

That previous post was mine.
I hope to add multiplayer capabilities after the competition. I will before but I might not have time. Multiplayer RPGs are cool!

then connect to my server, details are in Hosted! in Games & Chat

I feel the urge to mention that most of the other RPGs in the IF Comps are of very poor quality. I have said this before, but I feel my chances are very good. Also, I'm making the game systems (magic, item, attack, defence, armor, weapon, etc.) into a massive library. I'm fairly sure I will purchase Quest before I finish the game. Yay!
BTW, I probably won't need any testers for at least 3-5 months, I think.

if you're that good at ASL, perhaps helping me out wouldnt be too much trouble

lol. I think you know about the same I do (i assume). Or perhaps more.
P.S. I tend to try not to be cocky.

i dunno, once i get something explained to me, i open a new door and everything seems so much simpler.

I've been told I'm a sub-genius. I learn things extremely fast so I guess I can agree with you there

S1aY3R wrote:I've been told I'm a sub-genius.

A pity modesty isn't one of your traits.

people who are modest lack self-confidence, people who arnt modest get somewhere in life!

however, i AM modest, but i am a fast learner, and multi-talented, i just lack self-confidence in myself as a person.

I didn't mean to brag or anything. I just thought it might explain me a little better. Sorry if it seemed that way.

lol, its all jealousy Slayer dont listen to em! lol

j/k

That was weird. I logged in right before I posted that message.

Actually, EVERYONE who's not a genius is a sub-genius.

Technically, yes, but I refer to directly below genius (AKA Sub-genius). I don't know why people gave it that name.

yeah well i AM a genius and have an iq of 149 (i took a test!) so i beats the lotta ya HA!

IQ tests are stupid. Either way this is going off-topic so try and keep to the topic.

kingmorgoth99 wrote:yeah well i AM a genius and have an iq of 149 (i took a test!) so i beats the lotta ya HA!

An IQ of 149 and that kind of spelling?

davidw wrote:

"kingmorgoth99"

yeah well i AM a genius and have an iq of 149 (i took a test!) so i beats the lotta ya HA!

An IQ of 149 and that kind of spelling?

It's a forum not a spelling contest lol. keep on topic please

I think my testing average is about 129.... having about 135 and 125 as my limits (so far).

I'd love if you (king) were aged between 12 - 14... because I don't even think the IQ scale goes up the high for that age range (it varies depending on your age according to most IQ tests out there).

I know I'm smart, and I know I learn quickly... I know I have a confidence problem - but I know I'm truthful. I also know what part of the IQ test is giving me troubles - and it's the word parts... I get about 90 - 100% of the maths/shape part of the IQ test correct - whereas I get about 30-50% with words.

What was the original topic anyhow?

the topic was about Slayers game, Shadow Project

[removed]

I was always under the impression the rules of the Comp specifically forbid discussion of games on forums. Chat rooms are okay but forums aren't. There was even mention of disqualifying games that are discussed in details in forums so I'd be careful about what you say.

I thought that, but I could find no evidence in the rules. If you find where you heard this, let me know. For now I removed my post. It only described the basic plot and part of the magic system anyway.
100 posts... I talk too much...

Here are the rules, straight from the IFComp website:

1. Games must not be based upon works currently under copyright unless permission is obtained from the copyright holder. You may parody established works, but you may not, for example, write a game based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld without permission. This avoids the entire issue of copyright and the ethics involved.

2. Do not use copyrighted multimedia assets (graphics or sound) without permission from the copyright owner. This is especially important for MIDI files, as many web sites have MIDI versions of copyrighted songs available for download. If you don't know if a song, sound file, or picture is under copyright, don't use it.

3. All entries must be freeware or public domain. Do not enter a game unless you are willing to give it away. No shareware, donorware, commercial products, etc. may be entered.

4. All entries must be previously unreleased at the opening of voting. If an entry has previously been circulated, it will be disqualified. Translations of previously-released works are not considered to be unreleased. If you are unsure whether your game fails to meet this rule, please ask me. Note that this rule does not prevent you from having your game tested by a few beta-testers.

5. Authors of a competition entry may not discuss any of the entries in a public Internet forum during the voting period. Once the competition has begun, do not post your thoughts on your entry or anyone else's on a newsgroup or bulletin board until the deadline for voting has passed.


So it looks like you can discuss your game all you want but only before the voting period starts. And as that's not till August 2004 you've got eight months to talk about your game all you want.

I read that before. That's why I described the game. Too bad I removed my post
I just wanted to be safe

There aren't any Quest games at the comp site, only ones using interpreters such as alan, adrift, tads, ect... Are you sure they'll let you enter your game if you make it in QDK?

Two Quest games have been entered in the Comp before - Lovesong in 2001 and Blade Sentinel in 2002. Neither did very well.

Guest, the site you're looking at is the one for the IFComp 2003 when no Quest games were entered hence you won't find any Quest games there. Go the IFArchive and look in the Comp section for 2001 and 2002 and you'll find the Quest entries there.

As far as I know, the Comp is open to games written on ANY system so you certainly wouldn't be disqualified for using Quest.

Quest games are of course welcome for the IF comp, even if many of the IF programmers are very snobbish toward the Quest system. It's a real pity because most of them seem they don't know anything about Quest, they just consider it's not free and dislike it for this purpose (it's false, coding in ASL with an ascii editor is free and the player is free too). They also think it's not powerful, but it's because Quest lacks the many libraries we can find for Inform or Tads.
I'll try to propose a game for the next Ifcomp, if I manage :

- to finish coding and debugging it
- to find someone for turning it into very correct english
it's just a skeleton for now.

It will probably not be a winner or much noticable, but I hope it will be in the average and can bet games made with Tads or Inform.

The problem with Quest games and the IFComp is that most people interested in the Comp have very little knowledge of Quest so they tend to base their opinions of it on the two games that were submitted. Both were pretty dire, hence the fact that Quest isn't held in very high regard.

I just downloaded these two games. You're right about Lovesong, it was pretty lame. What about the Blade Sentinel made it unacceptable? Length? Gameplay? Story line? Other?

I'm still trying to learn about IF games, and why Quest games don't do better.

Thanks!

Alf

You'd have to make an exceptionally good game to get people to notice a new game system.

And Shadow Project will be an "exceptionally good game" and make Quest become noticed, correct? I can't wait to see this game. Will it be done by the next comp?

I would think it would be good, but I'm still not sure if I'm going to write it for the competition. I might just take out the single-player (for the Comp.) and make a multiplayer MUD (not for the competition)

That would be good, but will it be in Quest or some other language, such as Inform or C++?

Alf wrote:I just downloaded these two games. You're right about Lovesong, it was pretty lame. What about the Blade Sentinel made it unacceptable? Length? Gameplay? Story line? Other?

For a start it was full of bugs - always a bad thing. People will overlook a few bugs, they might even overlook a lot of bugs if the game in question is good enough, but a game that has bugs right from the very first location is never going to go down well. And then there was the fact that it was written by someone whose grasp of the English language left a lot to be desired. That sort of thing tends to alienate people pretty damn quickly and their gut reaction will be "crap game, crap system".

That makes sense. I started playing it, but not enough to catch any bugs. I spend enough time with software to know that quality is *everything*. Thanks! - Alf

iamdaman13 wrote:That would be good, but will it be in Quest or some other language, such as Inform or C++?

It will be in C++ and be connectable via telnet, hyper terminal, any mud client, custom client, etc. but NOT Quest.

Oh i think you should make it work with quest net aswell but i think it migh be difficlt

I have decided it will be written in C++ and be IRC based. So far it's in the concept stage. It will be based mostly in DCC chat. #shadowproject on irc.halca.org when it's finished. Also, http://shadow.halca.org describes it a little.

Well the IRC idea was scrapped when my internet connection was lost. Amazingly I've revived the Quest version and updated it significantly. It's still nothing to be in awe with since it's almost non-descriptive. I've finished a very basic beta version of the beginning portion of the game, and I'll send it to Alex ASAP. Don't judge the game on what will be included in this beta version. It's just to give a vague idea of some of the features (many of which may be totally revamped)

Is there any point in uploading it at all if it's only a beta version of the first portion of the game? From your tone, I'm guessing you don't expect people to like it much. Wouldn't you be better off leaving it until it was at least ready to be released?

Yeah, but I'm notoriously impatient. Basically what you'll find is a city that seems sort of empty since it's not finished. There are a few enemies to fight in the wilderness. You'll need to level up a few times so you can complete the first quest (which you get in the tavern). After completing the mission you'll get some info into the storyline, which is the main reason I'm releasing this beta. It gives a little info about the game that I don't want to ruin without people playing that first bit.

Well, I didn't read the submit games requirements too clearly. It stated 'no demos' so I assume Alex won't add it to the database. In that case I'm looking for 3 volunteers to test the game as it is now (maybe an hour MAX playing since it's an RPG)
At each update I would like 3 more volunteers, not necessarily the same. This should take a few months to complete (up to a year)
OR, if someone will host the file then anyone can download it. I believe CW offered for the "simple game" (Temple of Laahn). Will you accept this one instead, CW?

Yeah, sure I'll host it.
You can email my hotmail account and I'll upload it - then edit/reply to this with the address to download.
I'll also have a quick play with the game too - it'll give me a break from the great MGS3 I've been playing recently.

Oh, there's only a few things I have to reccomend to ANYONE who creates these games - make a good "help" command!
If you type help and get the normal Quest response, with basically NO info, then it's automatically rubbish!
It should list alot of the commands available... With either ALL the commands, or a list of commands available up to now... You can also optionally have another list technique (I would say "command list" or something like that) which lists the commands available at that time, in the current room..

cw beat me to it. I'll gladly host any quest games as well. It'll hopefully boost traffic to my site

The asl file I had on these school computers was outdated and when I transported the new copy I accidently used a partially corrupt diskette.
I'll send the file tomorrow.

My help file includes all the commands I added to the game as well as their syntax. It also has some information on enemies, equipment, etc.
It will also have magic info when I rewrite the scripting to include magic. That will be my next feat since the demo ends at the North Ghenna Magic Academy (where you acquire magic).

CW, I sent version 1.1 to your hotmail account [email protected]

Thanks... I'll be opening it soon.

I assume you're not going to do anything with it.

Oops...
To be perfectly honest, I've totally forgotten about it - sorry.
I'm just going to do it now, I have nothing else to do for the rest of the day. - not really.

Most of the code is horribly written. It was converted from Black Magic to the original Shadow Project, to this, so it's been reused for several years and I'm trying to clean it up from earlier quest code.

Yeah - it would have been easier if you removed it and placed it into a library file. That way you have one source that you can constantly update, and one game. Both independant, and both non-reliable.

I'm updating the new code constantly as well though

Well, unfortunately this project is almost dead. I recently had a total hdd failure which resulted in a loss of nearly all my code. I had an ancient version backed up on a cd-r which I may just turn into a short game. CW has the newest version now...
If you could email it to [email protected] I'd appreciate it, Tron. If not, at least tell me you don't have it so I can make the shorter version. I'll try and make it a few towns and battles long at least. I'll make it a Part One thing so the story doesn't just suddenly cut off with no explanation. It will still cut off though.

S1aY3R wrote:Well, unfortunately this project is almost dead. I recently had a total hdd failure which resulted in a loss of nearly all my code.

Gee, I bet no one ever saw that one coming. A massively over ambitious project that never had a hope of ever being finished but which the author assured us at countless intervals would be finished... dies because of the good ol' "hard drive failure" excuse.

Makes me wonder sometimes if there will ever be someone who embarks on a game like this, discovers he's never going to get it done and then decides to admit it was beyond him instead of going for the "hard drive failure" excuse.

LOL

I'm having a try at one, but am going to be extreemely slow and also wait for the newer version of Quest.

... But be glad in knowing that I will continue to develop it and - Oh! look at that, a hard drive error!

... I'll look and see if I have the file saved somewhere.

Speaking of epic games that haven't got a hope of being finished, anyone notice how quite MetalGod is these days? 8)

It wasn't an excuse. I did a total overhaul on my PC (motherboard, ram, cpu, video card, etc.) and it couldn't handle the old hdd. I tried overclocking my old cpu at 30% and my hdd never worked again (most likely unrelated). My most recent backup was several months ago. I am still trying to rewrite my code so it isn't totally dead. Just set back a bit

You did a total overhaul of your computer without backing everything up first?

You must like living dangerously.

I can't believe that.
Just upping everything doesn't destroy a HDD.
You have to wait an average of - IIRC - 10,000 days or something.

If you tried just plopping the old HDD in and expecting it to run, then that's a big mistake. The system is still trying to use the old system as it's base, and will probably go tit's-up. A clean install would be best, and then re-installing programs etc, from the old drive's partitions.

---
EDIT
---
It's just getting into backing up myself, after 5 years of no hard drive failures... Still need to do a whole lot more though.

Tr0n wrote:I can't believe that.
Just upping everything doesn't destroy a HDD.

Hmm... sounds almost like you're implying that (gulp!) he might be telling porkies...