Text Kart collaborative adventure game

Playing Beta Testing Requests and Discussion
1

I’m announcing a simple and relaxed collaborative text adventure called Text Kart. This is essentially Mario Kart with IF characters.

The gameplay is very simple. Every character has a position from 0-100 and a speed. You can go straight or turn each turn, depending on if the track is curvy or straight (this is deterministic, but obfuscated. For instance, if the terrain is “volcanic and rough”, it will always be curvy, if it’s “sandy and subdued”, it is always straight. As the player plays more, they will learn when to turn and when not to). Doing the right thing increases your speed up to some max.

Every few mile markers, there are power up cubes that give you a random power up associated to your chosen character. You can use a powerup instead of normal movement. This keeps you from accelerating.

Characters are selected by going down a long hallway at the beginning with rooms on both sides. Each door has the game name on it. If people are worried about spoilers, they can just ignore that door. Inside the door is a dressing room based on that game, and a helmet. If you put on the helmet, that is your character.

Here’s a sample character:

Name: Adventurer
Game: Adventure/Zork
Kart description: Your kart is a mishmash of improvised materials. Keys, rocks, leather straps and scrap metal are all bound together.
Room description: You are in a dark, shadowy cave. A black grease spot stains the floor. Water drips slowly from stalactites into small pools on the ground. On a small stone pedestal in the center of the room lies a mining helmet with a brass lantern attached to the front.
Power 1: Elvish sword of great antiquity. Can only be used on a character at the same mile marker. Reduces their speed to 0. “You attack [person] with the ancient Elvish sword, slashing their tires. Their kart spins uncontrollably and comes to a rest.”
Power 2: Black scepter. Can be used at any time. Increases speed by a large amount. “You wave the black rod, and a rainbow arch springs out of the ground. Zooming up the rainbow ramp, you go airborne for a minute before crashing back to the ground.”
Power 3: Caged bird. When released, attacks the leader, reducing their speed by a small amount. “You open the cage, and the bird flies out, fiercely attacking [leader]. Their kart loses speed as they fend off the attack.”

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the form below and post in this thread:

Name:
Game:
Kart description:
Room description:
Power 1:
Powers 2-4 (if desired):

If your suggested powers involve new game mechanics, these may be added. I will do my best to code each character as described.

All participants will credited as authors in alphabetical order. I do not intend on submitting this game to any competitions, but a majority vote decides all such questions.

I had some characters in mind, but if someone does them first (Galatea, the Coloratura character, Meldrew from Curses!), go ahead. I especially welcome characters from authors’ own games.

Thanks everyone!

(Edit: Powers don’t have to be creative, mechanically, it’s the flavor that matters most)

2

Is this going to be a single-player game or multi-player, like on Seltani or something?

3

It will be single player, in Inform, with three npcs chosen from the characters. They will act randomly, possibly with difficulty levels affecting their speed.

Multiplayer IF doesn’t seem to have much interest, as far as I can tell.

4

Some clarification from some comments:

The room doesn’t have to have a helmet, it an have anything representative of your choice of Kart, including the kart itself.

If any authors want to let others use their characters, please let us know.

5

Okay, here goes!

The Hon. Ampersand Fodge, from “Aunts & Butlers” ( ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=kvg34tnaj1zpydoe ).

Room:
You are in a large, well-kept drawing room. There is an indigo velvet armchair in one corner, and a grand piano in another. On a mahogany tea-table sits a more-or-less well-kept trilby hat.

(Do we get to choose karts? If so, it’s a vintage two-seater with an open top.)

Power 1: brass bell. Summons the butler, who gives you advice: “A word in your ear, sir; might I recommend turning left at the upcoming terrain?”
Power 2: silver bell. The butler appears and gives your kart a push for some extra velocity.
Power 3: gold bell. The butler appears at the sidelines and slyly trips up a competitor’s kart.

6

This is great! Thanks from reminding me about kart description. I’ve added it to the template.