On September 17th, I released my text adventure game Bael’s Rock on Steam. I haven’t posted until now because I didn’t want to interfere with the ongoing IFComp.
Briefly about the game: Bael’s Rock is a classic parser text adventure and a simple, traditional fantasy story. Kidnapped and left in a desert by a mysterious figure, you follow his footsteps to find shelter in a giant mountain called Bael’s Rock. You solve riddles and ascend the mountain, trying to uncover the secret behind it all.
You can find the game, more details, and a trailer here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3694940/Baels_Rock_A_Text_Adventure/
Some personal background (for those curious about the development story): I’ve been working on it for many years. I started about 10 years ago during my studies, inspired by the Zork trilogy, which I played during some of the less exciting lectures. Later, I took breaks and, from time to time, came back to it. Eventually, about two years ago, I scrapped everything and started from scratch - changed the tech stack, and began rewriting all the logic and text (while staying true to the original ideas, which was important to me to maintain its identity and preserve a sense of resolution and nostalgia).
I hadn’t planned to release it at all, even for free to communities like this one. I thought of it as something very personal. But in the end, I thought - why the hell not?
Note that all this time, I wasn’t part of the community. That may sound odd or concerning, but to be honest, I’m a bit antisocial - both in real life and (especially) on the internet. Another reason was that I didn’t want anything to affect my creative process; I wanted to limit outside influences on the project. It’s hard to explain, but that’s just how I wanted it to be made. It may seem strange, but I’m being honest here (I’m eager to join the community now).
This also means a few things: the parser isn’t your standard one, as the “engine” was written entirely by me. But…
About a month ago, Ruber Eaglenest from this community noticed my Reddit posts about the game and shared them here. Some users (Andrew Plotkin, rmartins, Daniel Stelzer, prevtenet, Hidnook, R2T1 - thank you all very much for your help and contributions!) tried out the game and pointed out some shortcomings of the parser. After some discussion (in which I regret not being more open to critique at first), I improved it and brought it closer to current standards.
Here’s the post if you’d like to read more:
https://intfiction.org/t/baels-rock-new-zorkian-text-adventure-in-steam/76850
But I also think this isolation of mine had its pros - I truly believe the game benefits from it, and that it might feel fresh to you in some ways and perhaps even surprise you with certain features.
Thanks for reading, and for all the support. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer.
May your Firefly Torch stay lit!
