Hello everyone! We have recently released our free interactive fiction/choose your own adventure web site. We have a first game out: “A spaceship accident…” and are working on a second one “The three burials of Magister Corvan”.
I’d really love any feedback on the game mechanics (we have an inventory, character sheet, turn-based fight system, etc.), graphics, story, etc.
Here is the link : http:www.pickyouruniverse.com
2 Likes
Are Chooseco still really litigious over the whole “choose your own adventure” thing? I presume you’ve already thought of that?
1 Like
Netflix’s $25 million payout to settle a lawsuit was back in 2020, so it probably is best to play it safe.
1 Like
I think you have a good foundation for a game platform/engine. It’s still a little rough though.
- The tool tip disappears immediately for inventory items. Win10, Firefox
- I like that you used Twine and made it feel like your own thing. I didn’t even know it was Twine until I went to change my character’s name. Then I was like, “Oh, Harlowe.”
- The dice rolling takes you out of the game entirely. I would somehow integrate it into the battle screen. Both side’s dice should appear in front of them (you have lots of room between anyway).
- I don’t know how the combat rolls actually work. You roll, they roll, but what’s happening? What’s cancelling each other out? What constitutes a hit or miss?
- I like the graphics. Just the right amount of detail without being a distraction to the story text.
- I didn’t know that I had points to spend in the character screen. An indicator next to the button would be useful. EDIT: I see you have one designed already, does it trigger upon the first few pages if you haven’t assigned the points?
- Upon death, there is a single message that is the link and no other text. With all links being yellow text, when presented with nothing but yellow text, it doesn’t look like a link anymore (a little message above the link will alleviate the problem).
I’m not much for choose your own adventures, but this felt engaging enough for me to give it a go.
Definitely let us know when you make more content and updates. 
Lastly, I feel that the fact that you mention “choose your own adventure” on your front page and the name of your site is “choose your own universe,” you are just asking for infringement trouble. There were other brands of choose your own adventure books that avoided infringement (I think pick-a-path was one). Perhaps a rebranding is in order.
This article lays out some of the basic details of Chooseco’s lawsuit and reasoning against Netflix. You are doing practically the same thing as Netflix did.
Anyway, it’s good to see ambitious works in the IF space. Good luck with your project!
4 Likes
Hello Gareth,
First of all, thank you for your comment, which led me to discover your website. The Amstrad CPC 464 was one of my first computers, so I really enjoyed that nostalgic moment.
As for our name… I had heard those stories but didn’t give them much thought until all three people who responded pointed out what I’d been refusing to face. So we made a quick decision and renamed the site. You can now visit:
https://pickyouruniverse.com/
If you have any other comments on the gameplay, story, or graphics, please don’t hesitate to share them. I’d love to get your feedback on what we’re trying to do.
We also have a dedicated Discord server here:
https://discord.gg/yXVjCbm8
1 Like
Hello,
Well… you are right. After reading the 3 reactions to my message, all pointing out the same thing, we have decided to change our name. you can now go to : https://pickyouruniverse.com/
If you have another feedback on our game or project in general, don’t hesitate to tell us!
We also have a dedicated Discord server here:
https://discord.gg/yXVjCbm8
Thank you, Olivier.
If you’re going to respond with near-identical messages to multiple people, you can either reply to the entire thread or mention people with @name (e.g. @cyou).
2 Likes
@Hidnook Ok, thank you for the tip !
1 Like
I would have expected “choose your universe” to be out of the trademark scope.
1 Like
They were originally using the phrase “choose your own adventure” high up in the homepage content.
3 Likes
Got it. Thanks
@HAL9000
Hello HAL,
I had a meeting with Quentin (the main programer for the ‘javascript’ more complex stuff, I am responsible for the story and illustrations, and twine scripting) and we have started to implement some of the changes you proposed. By tomorrow, the tool tip problem should be fixed. We are working on an option on the settings to enable or disable the dice rolls (should be live in 2 days) and the inventory and character buttons will be animated when you need to click on them. We are also going to change the death links. Thanks for your feedback, the next game should be on the site next month. Don’t hesitate to post your feedback on this subject or aour new discord server : https://discord.gg/yXVjCbm8
1 Like