Limitations to Gamebooks

mcarrara
I have been using Quest in my class for a couple of weeks. My students are creating a gamebook because it was much easier for them. I understand that gamebooks have limitations compared to text adventures, but what are those limitations? Or put another way what can you do with a text adventure you can't do with a gamebook? Our specific question is can we use maps in gamebooks?

Mark
Mark Carrara
Amy Biehl High School

OurJud
Not sure about maps in Gamebooks, as I never use the format, but in answer to your other question, text adventures give a much greater sense of freedom and feeling of control to the player.

Gamebooks say, "Okay, this is where you are, and these are the choices you have. Pick one."

Whereas a text adventure says, "Okay, this is where you are. What would you like to do now?"

In other words, it forces the player to think for themselves.

XanMag
How old are the students? And what kind of class is it?

jaynabonne
I almost hesitate to answer such questions, because Quest keeps changing underneath me, removing limitations. For example, you used to not be able to get text input directly, but now you can. All that aside, I would suspect that maps would not work in Gamebook mode because the map has to do with game world topology - rooms, exits, etc. Gamebooks don't have such topology; they don't even have the concept of rooms, at least in Quest.

What would you want to use the map for in gamebooks? If you're trying to simulate world building in a gamebook, then I would recommend using a text adventure mode but have it look and act like a gamebook.

mcarrara
Thanks for all the replies.

Basically it is a high school freshmen class where we explore uses of technology. For example we had a unit on video editing, 3D character creation and now game design. Because we are spending 10 weeks on this unit, I wanted to make the execution of the design easy. However I have a group of three students who have done the basics and want to move on with a special project. We came up with a 'game' for incoming freshmen where they can wander around our building meeting teachers and staff. Each room will have a photo of the teacher, a short description of the class and maybe a video of a typical class. Yes there are better programs to do such a project, but we are learning Quest and I think it can be done. The map was an idea that I consider a nice feature, but not a requirement.

From what I've seen Quest will work. It is a great product, easy to understand, yet it can be powerful.

Mark

The Pixie
What you describe sounds far better suited to a text adventure, which by its nature is geography-based, than a game book, which fit better with time-based stories.

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