You're right. This could be very interesting.Also, keeping the dialogue options in text form will be interesting.
In the TM games (and most graphic games) conversations are usually menu-driven. Sometimes the choices are vague, like: "Be honest"; "Bend the truth a little"; "Lie like a dog." Other times, there is an explicit list of topics to ask about.
We can do the same thing in a text game, or we can do something quite different. For instance, in many text games you have to figure out what to ask, tell, show, or give to a character yourself. So when you encounter a character, you might type, "Ask Louie about the necklace." or "Show the photo to Chelsea." etc. But you have to think of these things yourself. You're not given a list.
Sometimes, this can make it very difficult to get information out of the characters. What I like to do is partially implement a 'talk to' command. The way that works is, when you first encounter a character, you can type 'Talk to <character>". Then the program will ask the character one 'right' question to get the ball rolling. After that, you're on your own. But by listening carefully to the character's responses, you get some clues about what to ask/tell next and how to steer the conversation. You have to work a little harder this way, but it's more realistic.
Hi!
The text game is probably the only realistic one we can make. But why don't we do some improvements, which would be simple, but highly extending the level of entertainment ?
I got a few Ideas:
1) Add music.
- we can make some great midi's , changing according to the current situation in the game. We could also use some great existing midis from UAKM
2) Auto - completion
- help to write commands , by pressing TAB for example.
Something like this is implemented in Linux shells
3) Lets do it in JAVA and prepare also a version for a mobile phone! This should be no problem, i can help with the implementing
Any other Ideas ? Let's make this game!!
The text game is probably the only realistic one we can make. But why don't we do some improvements, which would be simple, but highly extending the level of entertainment ?
I got a few Ideas:
1) Add music.
- we can make some great midi's , changing according to the current situation in the game. We could also use some great existing midis from UAKM
2) Auto - completion
- help to write commands , by pressing TAB for example.
Something like this is implemented in Linux shells
3) Lets do it in JAVA and prepare also a version for a mobile phone! This should be no problem, i can help with the implementing
Any other Ideas ? Let's make this game!!
In response to Doc Paul,
Your idea sounds like a lot of fun. I remember hearing that the Douglas Adams game "Starship Titanic" had a dialogue system similar to that.
I think your idea works extremely well for trying to get information out of a character, but maybe for back and forth dialogue, while not using the system the TM games use, have something like a list of attitudes or ways to react built in the game and then during certain conversations, only a couple of them you're able to choose from.
It could be as simple as emotions (ie. Angry response, apathetic response) or like you used as an example (ie. Be honest, lie through your teeth).
The reason i press this point is that i feel the dialogue options are a big factor of what has made the TM games so enjoyable, and we should try to emulate it in some way, shape or form.
Your idea sounds like a lot of fun. I remember hearing that the Douglas Adams game "Starship Titanic" had a dialogue system similar to that.
I think your idea works extremely well for trying to get information out of a character, but maybe for back and forth dialogue, while not using the system the TM games use, have something like a list of attitudes or ways to react built in the game and then during certain conversations, only a couple of them you're able to choose from.
It could be as simple as emotions (ie. Angry response, apathetic response) or like you used as an example (ie. Be honest, lie through your teeth).
The reason i press this point is that i feel the dialogue options are a big factor of what has made the TM games so enjoyable, and we should try to emulate it in some way, shape or form.
All of these things are possible.1) Add music.
2) Auto - completion
3) Lets do it in JAVA and prepare also a version for a mobile phone!
The Glulx extension for Inform allows you to add music.
Some of the Inform interpreters (especially for handhelds) make command entry a snap.
There are already JAVA interpreters for Inform which can run on mobile phones and native interpreters for other handleld devices. Inform is sort of like Java. It runs on a virtual machine and will run on just about anything.
You are absolutely right. It is essential that the dialog be done in a way that is consistent with the style of the originals.The reason i press this point is that i feel the dialogue options are a big factor of what has made the TM games so enjoyable, and we should try to emulate it in some way, shape or form.
The real games actually used three different methods. First, to get the character to cooperate, we would choose from some vague list like 'Be Forceful', 'Be Casual', 'Beg'...that sort of thing. But when we finally get cooperation then we could ask about any number of things or we could offer from inventory any of our items.
We can do this, and we'll probably use a menu for the 'Be Forceful' part, but not for the ask/tell questioning. But we'll try different things and see how they feel.