The Order of the Swan by nomad5000

The story so far:

The dark witch Abuna destroyed Yina's island in revenge for having been bound and for the murder of her son. Yina should have been dead, but instead woke up in a strange hut on the mainland, five hundred miles from her home. How she had got there was anyone's guess, but all Yina knew is she should have died.

Yina encounters various characters from whom she learns she is not an ordinary girl of fifteen summers. She has become embroiled in a battle between various religious sects, all of which seek world domination through means they cannot control.

She is the voice of reason in a gathering storm.

Type HELP as this gives you the (more-or-less) standard Quest response for first-time IF players, and also some information on the idiosyncrasies of the game for more experienced players.

Oh, and graffiti is not always decoration in this game. (Also, I can't spell graffiti, so also try 'grafitti' and various other versions just in case I haven't removed all my mistakes).

There is an intended prequel to this story. Not having played the unwritten prequel should not stop you completing this game, though.

This is an updated version as I am still working on the game. I have corrected some of the typos and mistakes, but there are still many problems which need fixing, and your help is highly appreciated.

Play online

Comment nomad5000

29 Mar 2015

hi senti_87,

I found the spelling mistakes, eventually, but thanks anyway.

I've updated the game because I found some really big problems a bit later on (the puzzles weren't at all doing what I hoped they would, or what I thought they were doing when I was testing the game). I'm guessing any game you saved under the older version wouldn't work. The version that's on here at the moment is, I hope, fairly polished up to the point where you reach the big city, but I will probably put another updated version up in a couple of weeks' time.

Good luck, and if you have any problems getting past a puzzle, I'm always happy to offer a clue.

Comment senti_87

28 Mar 2015

hi nomad,
Sorry for the late reply. I've been having some issues with my connection the past few days. And, I couldn't get my game to load either so I just got me a fresh download done today.
In case you haven't still found the error, it was used in the description both for the horse and the dragon. With the horse, I guess you meant fiery, and it was before the spell was cast ( I used look/examine). As for the dragon, it was after it'd been killed.
Don't remember what I did at the river crossing. And no, the navigator panel doesn't show up. Also, in my earlier comment it should read text games - new to text games and not just here. Made it seem like I was more experienced that I actually am.

Comment nomad5000

23 Mar 2015

senti_87,

Sorry to keep bothering you. I haven't found the double-listed exit at the riverbank. Can you remember what exactly you did? Also I haven't found the word 'fearsome' in any of my text. I think it was about the dragon, but 1) not sure, 2) can't find it. Which object does it refer to, and what were you doing to it?

I want to keep improving this game, and your help has been very important and useful. Thanks again.

Comment nomad5000

23 Mar 2015

senti_87,

Thanks for your help. I feel pretty honoured that this is one of the first games you've tried!

I shall be a man of leisure in two days' time, at least until that nuisance of needing money crops up again. Anyway, in the next month or so, I will have some time to spend fixing the mistakes.

'Guess the verb' can be very annoying, I know, especially as Quest games usually get round this problem by simply writing USE, but I prefer more natural verbs.

Please let me know if there's anything else that doesn't seem to work, or if you need any help on any of the puzzles.

Any feedback on spelling mistakes, strange descriptions, puzzles that are too difficult, etc. is highly appreciated. Also, if you're not a British-version speaker and you notice anything that is unfriendly for speakers of other varieties of the language, please send a comment. That's another thing I want to improve.

Just wondering, have you managed to switch on the navigator panel (the thing on the right that you get in most Quest games that lists all the visible objects and exits)? If so, how did you do it?

Comment senti_87

23 Mar 2015

IN!!!! wow! that makes me look so good :) The only excuse I have (if it can called that) is I'm fairly new to text adventures and apart from Craig Dutton, Wonderjudge, CJ592 and now yours, I haven't gotten round to trying out other authors. I still keep having trouble figuring out the correct verb/command to use. But this was just....ah...
Regarding spelling mistakes, the only ones I've come across so far are graffiti and fearsome. I only caught the graffiti mistake as I had to type it in. If it had been in the description itself I might even have missed it ( I'm usually not very fussy about a few spelling errors in the description). And yeah the error messages are a bit annoying. As for non-existent/non listed exits I don't remember coming across any so far. Although at the river crossing, I think there were two of the same exit options showing up. I'm gonna go back and continue with the game now that I know what to do. Curious to find out what's inside the hut and the cave and also redeem myself for the 2 day brain freeze. If I do find any major errors/issues with the game I'll let you know.

Comment nomad5000

22 Mar 2015

Just checked the game again. I haven't fixed many of my problems with not being able to spell graffiti, so this is one major problem getting the things you need to get to the cave. Again, when I have time, I will try to remove this problem. In the meantime, try grafitti instead.

senti_87, as you got to the cave, you are apparently unphased by my rubbish spelling. As far as I can see, you can just type IN to enter the cave, but let me know if this doesn't work for you.

Comment nomad5000

22 Mar 2015

Just tested the game again. Yeah, the 'error' message is pretty misleading. When I have some time, I'll try to change that. In the meantime, less confusing would be to read 'There was no exit' as 'Yina couldn't go there.'

Comment nomad5000

22 Mar 2015

Most of the huts are just decoration, and you can't do anything with them. The normal IN and OUT commands work for the hut in the southern village.

Thanks for commenting, by the way. Please comment if you find an exit is listed when it shouldn't be, or there's an exit which is not mentioned but exists. This would be very helpful for me.

Comment senti_87

20 Mar 2015

Hi,
Okay, so this is a pretty stupid question but I can't seem to figure out the command to use to enter the huts in the village or the cave down the cliff. I've tried go in, into, to and enter cave/hut but that doesn't work. Can you help please...?

Comment nomad5000

20 Mar 2015

Hi,

I really did not want to be the first person to comment, but I have realised since posting this game that it is more difficult than I wanted it to be. I hate games where you can't get out of the first room, so below is how to do it.

Try LOOK UNDER BED. Do the obvious thing with the object you find. This also unlocks the door OUT. Write SOUTH. Find the object you need to get here (very standard IF, so no help here). Then you are ready to leave the hut (which you can do anyway, but you can't leave the village without the other object).

I think it gets easier afterwards, but maybe I am wrong. More help is available if you ask for it.

N