How do I create a text-based game

Walking down on memory lane, i felt a warm fuzzy feeling remembering the days before the internet, when we had only dialup modems and BBS:s and those door games like legend of the red dragon and such. I thought it would be a fairly easy task to start creating one with construct, but as i read through some old threads, many seemed to have quite large problems right from the beginning <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_confused.gif" alt=":?" title="Confused"> I was wondering since construct has been updated a kazillion times from those posts, has anything changed for the better to create these types of games, is it doable? what problems might i encounter and where should i start. I found rojohounds demo from and old post that seems to work well as a base for the game (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5426011/example ... nture.capx) Anything else i might need? (besides a good story)

How would i implement lets say an inventory or stats for the player?

If you looking to make the next Zork or text based adventure game then your better off using:

Quest: http://textadventures.co.uk/

Tads: http://www.tads.org/

Adrift: http://www.adrift.co/cgi/adrift.cgi

or even Unity with the Tidy Text toolkit: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/5981

If you looking to make a modern MUD (multi-user dungeon) or BBS style game like L.O.R.D. then you will have a tough time with Construct2. It can be done but there are better alternatives imho. I published two doors back in the 90s (The Cove and WildWest), both were of course scripted, scripting works very well for text games, Construct2 and most other developing programs make handling text clunky.. I made test project in Construct2 to see if I could make a decent Main screen menu for a door style game. It worked well but required quite a few events for the simplest choices.. and that was just single node..

Thanks for the info, it just seems so strange that one of the simplest gametypes cannot be done very effectively with construct. I think i'll go with the unity option then as im quite interested in dipping my toes in that pond too.

Those text adventure creation tools likely implement a lot of the things you'd need for you, so that indeed would be the easiest. Apart from that you can make a text adventure in pretty much any programming language/tool under the sun as long as it lets you use text.

As far as creating a text adventure the steps are:

1. creating a way to parse or understand what the player inputted.

2. using variables and such to define the current game state.

3. just use a bunch of conditions to do stuff like: if the player types A, and the game state is in B then do C

For 1 that capx is one possible solution. You can go as complicated as you like here.

With two you can do absolutely anything. One idea that appeals to me here is to use sprites and stuff to lay everything out. You can then make them all invisible when you run the game. An inventory can be done with a dictionary I'd imagine.

Three is just a lot of busy work as you should consider all cases.

The process would be similar with any other tool/language unless they have something specific to text adventures that could make things simpler.

So basically what you're saying is that if you want to walk the whole nine yards, it can be made with construct 2, but it would be alot easier just using a platform designed to do this?

I've a lot of spare time since i work at sea and after work hours there is basically nothing else to do than sit on your computer and play around with programs so i'd be keen on giving it a go with construct too if it is actually a plausible plan and not necessarily an insanely difficult one. Tried to download the unity program, but realized that its an massively large download for our ships meager internet connection, so i'll have to make do with construct for the time being. I suppose i can take it as a learning lesson above all to see what works and what doesnt.

Construct adds a lot of stuff that you're essentially not going to use, or not use as intended at least. Which would make the whole gamemaking process far clunkier than it needs to be.

if I were you I would make the decision based on whether I just wanted to create the game itself or use it as a way to learn how to use ( and abuse) construct's systems. If just the game, then use a tool that fits better, yeah.

I like the word ' abuse ' i want to abuse something..

Yeah Unity is a beast to download.. I am in a similar situation with Unity and Construct2 since in my downtime at work I can't use Unity due to my POS work computer but Construct2 works fine so I play around in Construct2 there and thumb drive my capx back and forth or dropbox it.

Like I said earlier I made a menu system.. that worked quite well, it was very basic and had a "Town Square" that led to a "Go into Forest", "Tavern", and "Quit". Each of these also had a "Quit" and "Return to Town Square". It took a bit of event making but I imagine there would be a steep curve at first but then as you progressed your chains would be easier based on the previous events you have already made. I imagine you could layout the entire framework for something like L.O.R.D. menu wise in a couple of sessions.

I would recommend you not try and stay too close to simply text and embrace some of the abilities Construct2 gives and like ROJOhoud said use sprites and the ability to hide/unhide objects and many of the other cool aspects of Construct2 to make it your own.

If your going traditional door style you wouldn't need a complicated inventory system.. most everything could be handled with variables.

This thread makes me want to revisit this.

Trying with what rojohound said as option three. I'm not quite sure if this is the right way to go, feeling like walking in the dark here, but it seems to work so far https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73502848/text.capx

[quote:blmhmu4x]With two you can do absolutely anything. One idea that appeals to me here is to use sprites and stuff to lay everything out. You can then make them all invisible when you run the game. An inventory can be done with a dictionary I'd imagine.

"absolutely anything" gets me exited here but i'm drawing a blank how would one get going with this, any tips?

For a CYOA style game I would use TWINE. And for one where you have to type in the next action, I would use Inform7.

Thanks for the info, but i rather stick with construct. Not because it's the best program for the job, but because i think i can learn to use it better (with helpful guidance )

Trying with what rojohound said as option three. I'm not quite sure if this is the right way to go, feeling like walking in the dark here, but it seems to work so far https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/73502848/text.capx

[quote:37hi97xn]With two you can do absolutely anything. One idea that appeals to me here is to use sprites and stuff to lay everything out. You can then make them all invisible when you run the game. An inventory can be done with a dictionary I'd imagine.

"absolutely anything" gets me exited here but i'm drawing a blank how would one get going with this, any tips?

So uh..quoting myself here. But am i doing this wrong or should i try some other approach. Realizing this way of doing things makes the code expand like dough so it's starting to feel like im going the wrong way here..

Can TWINE's html file be exported to an .apk by something like Intel XDX or phonegap?

I am trying to build one with Construct 2 after successfully making an interactive fiction with Unity 5. The only problem with Unity I faced was the alignment of text. Even the C# programming was easy. But aligning the text for multiple devices (android) is a nightmare as a small difference in anchoring (or fixing the text/buttons on the scene) will lead to varying text and button sizes while playing.

Another option is ChoiceScript. But the learning curve is a bit deep as the ChoiceScript language (mix of HTML and javascript) can become annoying for lengthy stories/novels. Also there are many restrictions (style, number of buttons etc) that will affect creativity unlike Unity.

Twine is a very good option though I am not sure of its Android portability.

Anything is possible in construct 2. the problem is the difficulty it takes to get to what you want