Quill and Stein platform

[kleelof]

I am currently building a new platform called Quill and Stein for designing text-based games and am in search of a few people who would be interested in learning about QnS and using it to build your next/first interactive fiction adventure.

You can read the user manual at quillnstein.com under the menu title Help. One of QnS’s strong points is you can play as you build, you build right in the story. With a visual world designer and game window that reflects your updates live, building with QnS is easy to learn and build with even if you’ve never built interactive fiction before.

The builder is all online and mobile friendly, so no software to download and maintain.

If you are interested, please register then contact me through the contact form on the website so we can discuss the project and I can set you up to start building.

I am currently working on the first story which should be released around the end of the month.

The documentation does not have screenshots yet, so here are some so you can get an idea of how easy it is to work with. Look after the screenshots for answers to questions.

world designer: easily add and edit chapters, scenes and items to your world

Play window lets you interact with your story just like a reader would. Comes with tools to manage the objects in your scenes

Assign custom actions to your objects and scenes

A powerful events system that allows you to control your world and how it reacts to player interactions.

What I would call the key selling point of QnS is that it is online and geared toward authors who want to create fun, rich stories without having to code or download software.

Where is the documentation for creating a game? Main website under ‘Help’
Is there documentation for how a programmer could extend the system? It cannot be extended
Is there built-in support for managing extensions/modules/libraries? No, it is all self-contained
How easy is it to pick up and use? 8/10 ( 10 is totally easy )
What does the syntax look like? There is no syntax; there is no coding. All building is done in the UI

Does it have spellchecking? The builder is in a browser, so it depends on if the author’s browser has spellcheck.

Is development and hosting on the website only or is there a separate IDE? All on the website
Can you save projects locally? You can DL an HTML/Javascript package that lets the game be played from anywhere

Are games exportable as playable websites? Yes. Authors can download an HTML/CSS package that allows their game to be played anywhere
Can you download/play games outside the platform? No
Can people play without an account? yes

are there ways to get complicated mechanics made (e.g. variables, functions)? At this time QnS does not support coding scenarios. This will be added in the near future.
Text input? Yes
World model support? Yes
Can you make relatively linear storylines easily? Yes. Linear and ‘exploring’ where the player can roam. Similar to Zork.

Is it easy to style your stories, without elaborate knowledge of CSS? Styling is not available.
Are there alternative color schemes for the site interface? No; player can select light and dark themes

Is it paid or free to play/write/use? free

Was AI involved in the making of this system? I’m a SWE and I co-code with AI
Is AI a part of the features? AI is used when players enter text instead of choosing from the menus. It only parses the command into parts the platform can use. AI Plays NO PART in running the game.

Is there an example game written using the system? The first game is scheduled for release at the end of September.

[tvil (Tobias V. I. Langhoff)]

There is perhaps not that much potential for confusion, but note that “The Quill” is the name of an old, well-known system for creating text-based games.

The Quill (software)

[jkj_yuio]

the key selling point of QnS is that it is online and geared toward authors who want to create fun, rich stories without having to code or download software.

that isn’t a selling point. it just states the obvious.

Following my own suggestion, i am starting a template response to new systems.

Firstly, these are my own opinions and i don’t purport to speak for the community. Also some points i make may be hard to swallow.

Consider the following points where applicable.

You are making an IF authoring system

Ask yourself: Why should anyone use it? What is so special about it?

If it’s new, then it’s unfinished. There will inevitable be breaking changes. There are many existing free, production quality authoring systems already.

As an author, why shouldn’t i use one of those instead?

The new system has yet to prove itself and this is a big negative against you.

You are announcing your new IF system

Do you have a demo or sample game that i can play in the browser without having to register?

If the answer is no or soon, then focus on this as a priority and understand that not having a demo is a huge impediment to attracting interest.

Your authoring system is web-based

What reassurance can you give that this web system will not disappear. What is the migration plan when the web-system changes and old games can no longer be edited?

You have a no-code authoring system

There is no such thing, unless it can only make the most trivial games. if your system is visual, then it’s just visual programming.

Sooner or later, you will inevitably need to add more types of structured logic and this will be similar to code.

You have visual authoring with connected boxes

Show me the diagram for a medium sized game (or the demo), where there’s more than a handful of boxes and arrows. How does it handle scale?

Authors publish exclusively through your site

Then you are not in the authoring business, you are in the publishing business. Pivot away from authoring systems and focus on attracting visitors/players. Consider hosting games written in other systems.

Answer, why shouldn’t authors host games on Itch.io instead of yours?

[kleelof]

Thanks for letting me know. Fortunately the name is different enough I’m sure nobody will confuse it.

[kleelof]

Thanks for the suggestions. I simply answered the questions posted in this forum.

I’m just looking to find anyone interested in a new type of story building. Once it is released and ready for use to the public, I’ll actually post something that addresses your questions.

[kleelof]

I was on the go when I responded earlier, and I can see you’re trying to help. So I’d like to add some info.

It’s been about 40 years since I played text games. A couple of years ago I became nostalgic for those days of downloading cracked text games from local BBS’s. So I started building a framework for my coding students to use to build their own text games. It was a neat concept, but, the main drawback was that anyone who wanted to do it had to know how to code in Python AND want to build a text game.

So I set out to build a platform that people with story ideas can build without having to learn any coding or the template languages some game engines use. Essentially, I wanted something that lets authors build in a way that is similar to Fancade or Minecraft or any number of 2d and 3d game building platforms. The main difference is that QnS is for building interactive stories instead of action games.

Your response, and what I’ve gathered from looking around here at IF, has helped me realize I need to do a better job of defining exactly what QnS is and how it is different than most of the systems I’ve looked at.

As for the question about itch.io, I’m not sure that’s even a question here. QnS is not about hosting games, there are plenty of sources to host your game. QnS games can easily be hosted on Itch.io or other similar hosting platforms, so I figure QnS games will most often be played off-site.

Thanks again for taking the time to post all of that. I will keep your questions and comments in mind as I continue to shape QnS and how it finds a place in game building.

[8bitAG (Strident)]

@kleelof

Thanks for letting me know. Fortunately the name is different enough I’m sure nobody will confuse it.

I would disagree with that. I opened this topic expecting to see something linked to the Quill system and so was disappointed. It’d be a bit like calling a new text editor Word and Picture.

The Quill isn’t an obscure system; over 800 games have been created using it. I guess you’re pretty locked in on the name now, though.

Your system looks interesting for making very simple interactive worlds. I can see how it may be something that could be used with students as an entry point to interactive fiction.

[Warrigal (Garry Francis)]

@kleelof

Thanks for letting me know. Fortunately the name is different enough I’m sure nobody will confuse it.

It certainly confused me. I thought it was going to be similar to that thing in Inform 7, but for The Quill. That’s the only reason I clicked on the topic.

EDIT: I just Googled it and the thing in Inform 7 is called a “skein”, not “stein”. So, I now know that this new tool refers to a feathered pen and a large beer mug.

[kleelof]

Thanks for the info. We’ll see about the name. It’s part of the concept for the website as well as the story building, so I’d need to come up with something else that fits.

[kleelof]

The idea is a pub concept. Sitting in a dim corner, stein of beer nearby, a quill in hand and writing an adventure.