Gamebook starting point

mrangel

28 Jan 2019 21:54

I came across some old files recently. I'm wondering if it might be easy to convert them to a Quest game; I can't imagine it being too hard.

The main file I've got, birthdaygames.cyoa, looks something like this:

[11]
Default: 12

[12]
Default: 12b

[12b]
Default: 13
Option: Ashamed -> 13
Option: Grown up -> 24
Option: Triumphant -> 25

[13]
Option: Cared for -> 28
Option: Ashamed -> 14
Option: Proud -> 29

[14]
Tags: dd, ws
Option: 1 year old -> 28
Option: 8 years old -> 15

[15]
Default: 16

[16]
(dd)    Default: 17
(!dd)   Default: 27

[17]
(ws>=2) Option: Be little -> 20
(ws<=1) Option: Be little -> 19
Option: Stay here awhile -> 18
Option: Grow up -> 21

[18]
Tag: ws
Default: 19
Option: Yes -> 20
Option: No -> 21

[19]
Tags: ws, dd
Option: Continue -> 21
Default: 20

[20]
Tags: dd, sc
Default: 21

It's accompanied by a bundle of other files; HTML files with multiple body elements, so they look like <body section="12b">. These contain everything but the option links.

Should be pretty obvious this is a gamebook. And it seems obvious to me that I could write a simple script to run through it and spit out a birthdaygames.aslx file. What I'm wondering is how you'd go about doing it.

I could:

Include the gamebook core, and spit out each section as a page. or
Include the core files, and a chunk of other Quest script to make a TA act like a gamebook or
Build my own core module providing just the functions needed for this type of gamebook.

I'll also be choosing to either:

Include the HTML files in the game directory, and read them with GetFileData, or
Stick all the pages in a single ASLX file

Which combination do you think would be most effective? How would you go about converting something like this?

In case anyone's curious, the only variables in this gamebook are "tags". It was originally intended such that conditions like (ws>2) display that option only if the 'thread' to the current location from the start of the game has passed through more than 2 pages with the ws tag.

Pages with a default: option could presumably display a "Press any key" message. Or maybe "Press space to continue", or "Scroll down to continue". They're just like page breaks. As originally intended, the pages that have a 'default' and options don't display anything to hint that there is a default path. But the reader could scroll down past the list of options to continue without picking one. Maybe if I did "Press space to continue", then pressing space on a page with options will choose the default, an interesting easter-egg for anyone who'd like to see my intended progression through the game.

(Also interesting that the default is usually one of the options available, but there's like 4 places out of ~200 sections where it's a hidden option, or what happens if the character waits without choosing)

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Gamebook starting point

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