Puzzle Stories

[Ryan_DuBois]

I'm currently working on a story, which could be described as an "escape the room" game crossed with a classic Resident Evil game... in the form of a CYOA. Right now I've got it set up so that you can navigate fully through one bedroom, and even perform a few simple tasks (such as drawing back a curtain or turning on a light switch).

I intend to place items throughout the story, which are required to progress further. Also, I intend to have a "battle system" set up so that when you encounter an enemy, you must roll a di (or is it die?) that will decide your fate. Right now I'm considering adding "combat items" to the battle system (such as knives or guns), which will make your odds of a positive outcome much greater during each roll.

I have no plans to add statistics, like "health" or "luck", to the game.

In order to help you navigate through the game without being bored or confused, I've added in a map (complete with a compass), which will appear in every room.

Here is a map of the first bedroom, used in the story:

In this map, you are standing at the door. Your position on the map will change as you move around the room.

I'm not going to make any promises about this story being reeased any time soon (or ever); it appears that it's going to require many rooms, many maps, and much fancy looping (especialy if I include the "combat items"). I was just interested in your thoughts... I understand that this idea is quite radicaly different from what you're used to.

[donteatpoop]

Not that radically different, really. Apotheosis did one like that (Escape Artist), and there's another one that was done by Morathi (Visual Epic)

Still though, because of the work involved it's pretty rare that anyone takes this task up.

[End Master]

There was that "Maze" story too that was over 700 rooms of mind numbing dullness. Got deleted though. I think Shabti was the only one patient enough to actually find the exit.

So whatever you do, just try to make it interesting.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Yes -- I have played Visual Epic and Maze in the past. I thought Visual Epic was really cool... it was kind of complicated, but enjoyable. As for Maze...



Anyways, thanks for the link to Escape Artist. I thought the game was clever and enjoyable. I also liked the animation a lot.

[apotheosis]

Thanks and good luck with writing the story. Escape Artist was incredibly dull in parts to write because a lot of repetition was involved, but I'm pleased with the finished product (though it is still a work in progress, though I'm not sure if the last two difficulties will ever be finished...). I wish they had strings on this site or some memory storing device, it would make puzzle stories a thousand times easier to write.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Well, you were right, DEP; it's a lot of work. I've got about 30 rooms so far... and I'm only about 60% of the way done with the first bedroom!

Giving the player the option of whether or not to pick up items is not the way to go.

And as of right now, I'm pretty sure I'll scrap the whole "combat items" thing. Essentially it would just force me to re-create the story (not just tiny parts of the story, but the whole thing) with miniature tweaks... unless I forced the player to pick up specific combat items and specific places where they have to go in order to advance.

Or I could get rid of the "backtracking" element.

I don't know.

[Usoki]

Yeah, this site was not really built for that kind of story. It's doable...it's just obnoxious. It would be nice to have a variable function for choices- half of Rentyre's length comes from identical rooms cloned to accomodate different story choices. Different choices, different endings...duplicated middle. And that's only one variable. Get into stories like what you're talking about...

But, it's been discussed before, with one overwhelming conclusion- this is primarily a writing site, not a game site. The story comes first. Put in a variable feature, and it would get abused so fast... There are other sites with a variable feature. They also have an average literacy rate of a diseased monkey.

You know, if the barrel was a website, and the disease was Ebola...that'd explain End's sig rather well. How inadvertantly profound.

[apotheosis]

I don't think the variable feature would detract from the site as much as you build it up to. We have a pretty solid community at this point, I doubt it would suddenly become infested if a convenient feature was added.

[Usoki]

Personally, I agree with you, Apoth- but I'm expressing Drag's opinion. And unless everyone vehemently disagrees with him, his weight with Sev wins out. Silly "Veteran member by several years" status. XD

[donteatpoop]

Having been to a few sites with variable options, I have to agree with the "no way in hell" ruling.

I agree that we have a solid group here, and thaat people aren't going to be coming by in buses to use a new feature. Idiots already come to the site, most of them move on to other sites with this feature. I feel that the absense of variables is like an idiot repellant.

[Dragavan]

I love that I don't even have to speak on the subject any more.

The absence of it keeps the focus of this place as being a STORY site and not a GAME site, as many of those that use that feature really are treated as. Nonetheless, we still have some people here who try to treat the format here as a game anyway and this feature would only increase their numbers.

As for my so called clout here, I never asked for it or even wanted it. I simply speak my mind and voice my personal opinion, especially on subjects I feel strongly about. It all really comes down to what Sev says. It is his site and even if we all disagreed with him on something it would still be his place to say otherwise. It just happens that he and I (and several others) actually agree on this one.

[Ryan_DuBois]

I can see the point.

...But it's not as if we don't have people abusing the features on the site, as it is. I'd peg the percentage of quality stories at about 20% or less. I really don't think this "variable feature" would make things much worse than they already are.

Though this website is clearly oriented around well-written interactive stories, I don't think that allowing "game-like" works would really destroy the CYOA focus, either; they could simply be viewed as a different type of CYOA. People already have the freedom to write linear stories, which are much further from the CYOA format than gamebooks or "puzzle stories".

Dragavan is right though -- sev is the one who runs things around here... I just wanted to toss in my opinion. For the record, I doubt the story I'm working on will be finished, although I might try to turn what I've got into a much simpler "escape the room" type game.

[Usoki]

Except that any "CYOA" website with the variable feature has ass-tons of games, and even fewer actual stories. You wouldn't think so, but there it is. I know exactly WHY we don't have the feature- I'd just like to have it. Half wishful thinking, and half "Well, dammit, I wouldn't abuse it. Stupid people are why we can't have nice things."

And, Drag, as far as your...how did you put it...clout? I meant nothing more than that, if Sev is going to listen to one person in a minority, it'd be you above all others. Yes, it's Sev's opinion in the end, but seniority does matter. A bit. Not too much- we're still a dictatorship, not some freakish oligarchy.

I mean, I can't complain too much- the site's free. If I don't like it, I have no justifiable reason to throw a bitch fit. I lose, I shrug, I roll with it.

[Ryan_DuBois]

Don't get me wrong -- it's not that I don't believe the bit about other sites becoming infested with tons of "games"; I just happen to agree with apoth, in that it seems we've already established a pretty solid CYOA core on this website. I think the movement toward "games" would take a long time.

And I also don't really care about what type of stories are "dominant" on this webstie, as long as they're quality stories.

But I just know a lot of other members (including sev) probably do.

And, like you said, the website's free anyways.



I'm happy.

[apotheosis]

Alright, that's it. I'm just going to have to ask Sev how big of a donation he would want to add the feature in.... as soon as the economy turns around.