Hello,
As many of you have experienced, the run function for Squiffy doesn't work right now. I totally understand that the moderators are working hard to fix the situation. I would like to raise the idea that, maybe, lovers of Squiffy should come together somehow to form a model in which money could be raised to ensure that programmers could be hired to quickly fix such problems. I do understand that Squiffy is open source.
However, I wish everyone (people around the world) could realize the impact that Squiffy could have and how much potential it has. I'm an English teach and somehow stumbled upon Squiffy about seven or eight years ago. Since then, Squiffy has become a massive part of my teaching and my life. it started out with having students make rather simple games based on the literature they were reading. It then turned into so much more. I've never taken a coding class but learned many basic things through using Squiffy. I would challenge myself by telling myself that I wanted to do thing A and then I would pursue thing A until I accomplished it. By using this strategy, I learned how to make random things occur in games, have users put their names in games, give characters hit points have cut scenes in the games, have talking characters and so much more.
Squiffy has taken me to new worlds. I've made a game in which players can play Lebron James and then talk to him later. I made a game based on Jay Gatsby in which you can actually talk to Gatsby. I've made programs in which I created a teaching helper that was actually used in class to help students with essays and actually helps them make a complete outline for an essay and too much more to mention here.
I used Squiffy to make a Valentine's Day card for my wife and used Squiffy as the basis for two educational books I've written and more than one article I've published. One of the articles is used once a year by some teacher somewhere in the world as some sort of experience with the teacher's class.
What high school students have created using Squiffy has enthralled and amazed me. I've been observed by my Assistant Principal while students were writing text for Squiffy games. One of the things I'm most proud of that my students made was a game they created during the pandemic called The Choices of George Milton. One student would virtually ask me each day how many plays did it have and I would go to Textadventures to tell him. I promoted the game on Reddit so my students could be proud of themselves and I was taken aback by the responses by people all over the world. I call it a time jump game. Players can go to different places in a story (The one my students made is based on Of Mice and Men) and make decisions that were different than the ones characters made in the book. In the game, I even made an option in which there was a random chance in which zombies could invade the ranch and the player would have to make decisions with George and Lennie based on the new situation. (I just wanted to see if I could do it.)
There is nothing like Squiffy and it is a remarkable, brilliant, revolutionary teaching tool. I don't want my love affair with Squiffy to end and I want the world to realize how valuable the Squiffy platform is.
I feel that there should be a way for Squiffy people to get together and somehow invest in Squiffy. I'm not sure how this could be done. Maybe allow people to have some type of ownership. This could raise money to hire programers to maintain Squiffy and to bring it to the next level (I know I would invest). Maybe that next level is making it easier to turn a Squiffy game into something that can be sold on mobile stores or trying to introduce Squiffy to schools. I don't want to commercialize Squiffy but rather maximize Squiffy's benefits to society. Would like to hear what everyone thinks. There. I will stop drooling over Squiffy now.
Sincerely,
David Giunta
I completely agree. Squiffy is such a simple base programming tool that gives you only your basic needs but allows you to go as far as you want. A great introductory tool to programming and game design. I learned so many coding fundamentals through Squiffy's wonderful forums and helpful community.
I hope to see a donations tab on the textadventures website, just like on all other non-profit websites. I would donate in a heartbeat. It's a lovely platform, and I'd hope to see it evolve. Hope to see you back, Squiffy!
Hi Dgiunta100, I feel the same way about Quest! I'm also willing to spend some time trying to help but the site needs a visible 'champion' to muster the troops and lead the charge for improvement. Is that on anyone's New Year's Resolutions list?
I think that is a great idea @broadwaydude. The donation tab that is. I think Squiffy and Quest for that matter are tools that are too valuable to let linger. Maybe throw us a bone and allow a minimum ownership that might not give us a lot but makes us feel a part of it all. Hopefully, we can keep the ideas coming. How about keeping Squiffy and Quest as open source but provide literature for a fee to schools to show educators how to use it. I know it's "text"adventures, but it can easily be used for science and social studies. I think I made a pretty cool game based on percentages in which someone can use a template to have players play a sports star. I made one, like I said, in which players can play Lebron James. About two years ago, a student took the template and made one in which you can play soccer with Messi. I thought that was so cool, and it really showed me that Squiffy can be used to get young people to think creatively and critically while learning the basics of math or any subject. Let me know if anyone wants the template.
