so missing one moderately sized section of the game, another small section of the game, and the end-game. and figure out the lounge (can’t solve the game without this)
nice map though.
I’ll consider adding a single space save/restore after I fix the douse fire/pour water bug
I removed it because prior testers kept abusing it rather than actually playing the game,
So I appreciate actual playing and actually trying to solve it.
As I said, the game isn’t score-based, your score doesn’t matter at all.
the issue with pour water seems to be another clash between old code and new code.
I usually get around this by making sure both are implemented in parallel.
Patch 5 has been posted - fixing the POUR WATER bug, tested and working.
Please use that exact command, I can’t speak to DOUSE FIRE, USE WATER, or whatever else.
it’s the original game command now, was the only one, and it works.
I’m going to get some sleep, then spend probably at least a day figuring out how to re-add save/restore
probably 2-3 days (including my own testing) - it’s not complicated, it’s just horrendously tedious.
One alternative (easier? depending on how you manage the internal state of the game) would be to add a way to “read” a game script from a text file. I guess all you’d have to do is read from a file buffer instead of stdin. This file would work as a “savegame”.
I personally wouldn’t mind writing that file manually, so you could even skip the “save” feature (i.e. writing out a script from the current game session).
I’ve fixed the score issue in the shack,
patch 6 has been posted as newcast_patch6_nov01_2022.rar
I’m ultra-lazy so all this does is make it so you get no points for picking up anything in the shack.
you still lose points if you drop it outside the shack - but then get points if you pick it up outside the shack. which is all normal behavior for the game.
The New Castle v22.2c pre-release has been released!
All reported and known bugs have been fixed!
HINT command re-added - but really it’s all covered in the intro/instructions/user guide
Also a single slot SAVE option has been added, you can now save the game,
save is somewhat restricted - eg: it won’t let you save if you’re in the maze, that sort of thing
And the restore function is only available immediately upon starting a new game,
it’ll prompt you for it.
If you are using v22 pre-release you can also download patch 12 and overwrite the main program executable (for linux, windows) or you can download the whole new thing and install fresh, up to you
v22.2c save games are not backward compatible with v22 patch 8/10,
and v22 patch 8/10 save games won’t work with v22.2c
Mac 32Bit version is badly deprecated, I’ve lost the ability to create this version of the game (again)
I’m also still working on trying to build the raspberry pi version of the game as well.
Windows CMD or Windows Command Prompt would perhaps be less confusing, especially when DOS has such a different meaning when it comes to classic text adventures.
I am trying to run the game in a dosbox emulator and I can run the exe file. If the game needs the windows enviroment is not a DOS game at all. Nevertheless I haven’t found earlier a game wich untitles DOS/Windows meaning DOS prompt under Windows. That would be my mistake.
Beyond Zarf’s hopefully well-taken note about defensiveness, the command prompt is not in fact DOS, at least in modern versions of Windows (I think since XP/NT?) – it’s a native Windows application that allows you to input commands using a DOS-like interface. But it is not actually running DOS, which is why people use emulators like DOSBox to play old games that require a DOS runtime environment.
This thread would seem to contradict that statement.
Nobody is trying to intentionally annoy you here. Jade is a really respected and experienced player of classic text adventures who I’m sure could really provide you with some great feedback. For you to doubt their honesty is just not on.
(Please also remember that this is an international community. Not everyone here is communicating in their first language. There is always potential for slight, unintentional misunderstandings.)
I would definitely expect a game that said it was a DOS game to be a 16 bit application that wouldn’t run in modern Windows, with a 75%+ chance that it would run in DOSBox.
Just to be super super clear, I don’t think anybody in the thread has suggested you port the game to even a single version of DOS, just updating the documentation to make clear that it requires Windows, not DOS. There is a retrogame community that enjoys making or backporting games to older OSes; if you’re not into that, cool, it’s not at all a baseline expectation in the IF community by any means, but it does mean that when you say “DOS” folks will think you mean, well, DOS.
(And not to pick a fight, but in case you really are confused about the distinction, what’s maybe at the root of folks talking past each other is that this statement:
…is incorrect. The modern Windows command prompt is not an emulation of DOS in the sense of being a virtual machine creating a DOS runtime environment, it’s just an interface convenience that allows you to give instructions to the Windows OS using DOS-like syntax. There are many old PC games that won’t run on a Windows 10 box regardless of whether you double-click the .EXE file or drop to the command prompt and type its name – but you can use DOSBox to set up an appropriate virtual environment and play them that way).
Everybody here knows about I usually play and test games in an Android table or ipad. When I play old games from Jason Dyer blog I use a bunch of emulators.
The only thing I tried to expose here is that I couldn’t play this game in my tablet via Dosbox. Nothing about porting the game or technical issues.
So, I have done a mistake, something wrong here. I hope all of you can forgive me. Please, enjoy this game and if you can, help the author.
I think it’s quite generous, explaining to someone telling people to “RTFM” the difference between a 64-bit console and MS-DOS. This from a person asking for help, no less.
Quite the contrary, your feature request has been processed,
and unfortunately has been rejected.
I could actually get it running on Android, unfortunately even after much heavy searches, I have been unable to find a way to do the installation - there’s no way to package it.
At least not without rewriting the whole thing into - most likely - java (yuck)
I am working on other platforms as budget allows,
but likely the limit will be Windows/Dos (Command Prompt), Linux, Mac, and Raspberry Pi.
update: I’m actually also working on porting it to two other platforms-
The C64, and Vax/VMS (Vax because that’s where it started life)
I’ve actually only recently just figured out how to port it to the c64 - but actually doing it is another matter…
There are two platforms currently available to play the game,
So thanks for your request, but I hope you can enjoy it on one of those.
those are not bugs or mistakes. and it’s not something weird in response to that command.
“L” as a synonym for LOOK was never part of the original game, so it’s functioning exactly as it should and exactly as expected.
LOOK doesn’t print the room description twice instead of once either, it’s functioning exactly as it should. As when you start the game, you default to “verbose” mode, which prints the room descriptions after every command in a “verbose” fashion. This is not a flaw.
If you don’t like it, you could use the command “brief” to change to brief mode, or the word “mode” to switch between modes, and “verbose” will bring you back to default.
This is all very clearly documented in the user guide, and even in the intro and instructions at the start of the game.
“take all” is not a valid command, was never a valid command, and never will be a valid command.
So that too is not a bug or flaw, it is operating exactly as it should, and as expected.
Many people complained that the normal response “I don’t understand that” was too dull and boring,
so because of that pile of complaints, the game will now choose one of 100 responses at random to tell you what you’re trying to do doesn’t make any sense to the game.
The original game would just say “I don’t understand that” to everything, which is, I agree, dull.
So now you get a randomly chosen response.
As to what you said about “testers” vs “players” I don’t think what you wrote makes any sense.
Testing is about testing the game, finding bugs, which is exactly what I’m looking for, and fits the very definition of what people should be doing.
Bug testing does not include typing in random gibberish that is clearly outlined as not accepted in the user guide, intro, or instructions.
Testing is classically, finding bugs, and that’s what I need. players are just for playing like in competitions, but there’s no point in having a game that has possible bugs entering into a competition.
So until a tester or testers solves the game to completion, and completes the map to completion, it can’t be said to be free of bugs.
Getting known, expected responses is not a bug.
Asking for testers is not a mismatch, it’s exactly what I want, and exactly what real testers would think I want, and exactly what they’d see themselves as.
I’ll get to posting for ‘players’ once there’s been at least one run-through by a tester. at least once.
A complete map should happen along with that.
Until then, please continue testing the game, and look for bugs.
Remember if a command isn’t valid, it’ll give you a message and let you know.
I’m not going to change the core essence of the game, it needs to be in keeping with the original,
which is why it automatically generates a transcript every time you play.
You could use expect to replay any game to where you left off,
or you can use the save/restore feature.
The current game version is v23 pre-release, posted for windows/dos and linux.
You don’t have to do exactly what other development systems do, but it’s usually a good idea to consider what existing conventions the community has. In other systems verbose vs brief refers to the automatic look action that happens after the player moves room: in verbose mode it always shows the full room description, in brief mode it only shows the room description if the player has never been there before.
Printing the room description after every command is odd. Indeed, it sounds very accurate to describe it as verbose! Maybe you could make it so that the “look” action doesn’t do anything if the room description will be printed anyway?
Sorry, but this is a terrible idea. Players seeing that will think that the parser is interpreting their commands in different ways because of the different error messages. Instead I’d strongly recommend that you make the parser clarify why it can’t understand: could it identify a verb but not what follows? Say that. Could it not even see a verb that it knows? That is very helpful information to communicate to the player.
There has been a small trend in recent years for “restricted parser” games, which have basic parsers which only understand a few commands. In such games it is reasonable to reject requests for new verbs. Is that what you’re trying to make? If so it might be helpful to explicitly label your game as a restricted parser game in the introduction, and then to explicitly list all the supported verbs.
But I think it would be difficult to have something in between a restricted parser game and the full parsers the community is used to. A restricted parser of only a dozen verbs is easy to understand. A parser with a few dozen verbs can’t really be called restricted, and so people will expect to be able to enter the commands that other development systems’ parser allow them to enter. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but I suggest you aim for one of the extremes: either restricted, or full-featured.
Also note that in Victor’s transcript no error message is printed after the command “take all”.
It’s reasonable to dismiss testing reports about people typing in literal gibberish, but you should listen to your testers who are trying commands that work in most other systems. Players want frictionless parsers so that they can get on and enjoy the story or puzzles, not to fight with the parser at every step.