Section Play Testers Wanted

OurJud
I'm just looking at getting a particular section of my game tested, as it's quite a complicated scene and I need to be sure it runs smoothly, logically, and that the player knows his purpose.

No flashing cursor indicates the game is waiting for a key press.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: All carried objects now removed (fixes 'already carrying gun' discrepancy). Also, timer in this version now works for me.

http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/iy8ilk-16uawfxy2dze8ca/test6

The Pixie
I get asked for a magic word, but have no idea what it is or where to find it.

Avantar
I tried.
I am stuck. not much you can examine to help you or look at. When the handgun is specified as a Meson, I expect to use the word Meson as well as handgun. grab gun was a lucky guess for me.
Looking at the room again, you get the same scenario description. This should change; since I have the gun in my hand now.[correction - I thought I had the gun - 'What the hell are you doing!' Is not what Luke said when I grabbed the gun; since I guess it is a phrase that pops up every now and again when not using the correct verbs] Looking again after the gun was taken out and put on the table - should still have reflected that - rather than having the same description again.
Here is some of what I tried:
You open the door and step into the room, closing the door behind you. The air smells fresher in here and the room is well kept.

A man in his 40s sits behind a desk. You guess this must be Luke. You quickly scan the desk for his weapon, but see nothing. No doubt he's packing something somewhere.

You suddenly wish you'd given your plans more thought. No need to fake your fear now.

"Oi! I haven't got all day. What are you after?"

"Uum... some Yellows."

The man opens a draw, reaches inside and pulls out a handgun. He places it on the table then reaches back into the draw and produces a large quanity of yellow pills in a clear plastic bag.

As he struggles with the knot fastening the bag, you eye his gun and wonder if you could reach it before him. The saftey catch is off and you prey it's loaded.


> x handgun
It's a Meson 9mm.

> use meson
I can't see that.

> use handgun
You can't use it.

> take handgun
You can't take it.

> grab handgun
"What the hell are you doing?"

> shoot luke
"What the hell are you doing?"

> look
You open the door and step into the room, closing the door behind you. The air smells fresher in here and the room is well kept.

A man in his 40s sits behind a desk. You guess this must be Luke. You quickly scan the desk for his weapon, but see nothing. No doubt he's packing something somewhere.

You suddenly wish you'd given your plans more thought. No need to fake your fear now.

"Oi! I haven't got all day. What are you after?"

"Uum... some Yellows."

The man opens a draw, reaches inside and pulls out a handgun. He places it on the table then reaches back into the draw and produces a large quanity of yellow pills in a clear plastic bag.

As he struggles with the knot fastening the bag, you eye his gun and wonder if you could reach it before him. The saftey catch is off and you prey it's loaded.


> pistol whip luke
"What the hell are you doing?"

> look at luke
I can't see that.

> take pills
I can't see that.

> take yellows
I can't see that.

> grab yellows
"What the hell are you doing?"

Avantar
The Pixie wrote:I get asked for a magic word, but have no idea what it is or where to find it.

You find it in the description. :)

I once had a whole description to the tee in my intro on how to play my game and getting in-game help. No-one read it and so no-one could play the game - it did baffle me for a while until I realized that most just skip the intro/description without reading it although it is a text adventure. :shock:

OurJud
Thanks for playing. It's certainly interesting and VERY helpful to see how people's minds work for a given situation.

As Avantar has already pointed out, TP, the magic word is in the intro.

Secondary descriptions, object/person descriptions, and additional commands will be added to the finished game, but I just wanted to try and keep this as straight forward as possible in order to test the mechanics. I obviously failed there by not providing enough command alternatives.

The sequence of commands to get you to the end are: n >> 1234 >> (key press) >> grab gun >> (key press) >> I'll let you figure out the final scene (this is where you'll either win or lose... providing the timer script works properly).

Silver
I don't know the magic word so can't progress. I don't think people will generally study info on an intro in order to take that forward. People generally discover puzzles and then try to find ways to overcome them. So there needs to be some way of going back to that which an intro won't allow.

Silver
Okay I got the password and progressed further to the room where Luke produces the pills and puts a gun on the table.

I type Take gun

>you're already carrying it

OurJud
I've uploaded it again, Silver. The timer worked for me this time.

Sorry, but can you try again. (take gun problem shouldn't be there. If it is, try 'grab gun'

http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/iy8ilk-16uawfxy2dze8ca/test6

The timer is right at the end, when the goon bursts into the room.

Silver
Well as I had a gun already I typed point gun at Luke (this was mainly because I remembered the thread discussing it...)

the game printed "what the hell are you doing?" (presumably luke was saying this) and as I didn't know what the hell I was doing I didn't know how to respond. So I tried take pills which the game couldn't see then I tried both 'pull trigger' and 'fire gun' which the game didn't recognise either. These are the things people will try. It's quite ambiguous as to what should come next and the obvious stuff drew a blank.

OurJud
Silver wrote:Well as I had a gun already I typed point gun at Luke (this was mainly because I remembered the thread discussing it...)

the game printed "what the hell are you doing?" (presumably luke was saying this) and as I didn't know what the hell I was doing I didn't know how to respond. So I tried take pills which the game couldn't see then I tried both 'pull trigger' and 'fire gun' which the game didn't recognise either. These are the things people will try. It's quite ambiguous as to what should come next and the obvious stuff drew a blank.


Well you shouldn't have got the 'gun already' message. I don't understand why you did as none of the other play testers got it, and neither did I when I just tried the new upload.

As I also said in an earlier post, I messed up by not including enough commands, which is why this has been so helpful as I know what kind of things need adding for the finished game.

Anyway, for the purpose of checking if the final timer works when the goon bursts into the room, the sequence is: n >> 1234 >> (key press) >> grab gun >> (key press) >> shoot goon (within 6 seconds) = win / otherwise lose.

Silver
Okay, even with the password it was difficult. because I typed 'say 1234' which got me kicked out. just typing '1234' worked.

typing 'take gun' still reminds me that I already have one. Iirc the game prompts you to grab the gun, but 'take' or 'pick up' are IF universal conventions so people will try those terms even if instructed to do otherwise. I'm guessing here that 'grab gun' is a command separate from any object so as not to confuse with the gun you're already carrying. Does he have to be carrying a gun? Couldn't he not be carrying one or carrying a different weapon to avoid this confusion?

I don't think the timer worked for me. Or by the time I'd read the line I was dead. I don't think it's a good mechanic tbh because again it isn't obvious that you should shoot the goon. Maybe some people will try that and maybe they'll try it in ther six seconds you're giving them to do that. I suspect a high percentage won't though and killing them when they're choosing diplomacy as a first option will likely piss them off.

Silver
Apart from that, I enjoyed the writing!

OurJud
Mmm, interesting.

Why the hell you're getting the 'already carrying gun' message is a complete mystery. I don't get it when I try it, and no one else mentioned it.

'Take gun' should work, but it's only cos you (for whatever reason) are already carrying it that it doesn't. I have a whole range of various commands for getting hold of the gun.

When you say the timer didn't work. Did it seem like 6 seconds before the goon shot you? If it did, then it's working as intended.

The biggest surprise to me is that you don't think it's obvious that you need to shoot the goon. To get to that stage, you've already snatched the gun from his desk, and then when the goon bursts in, the final sentence is "He's armed and starts to raise his weapon." How is it not obvious that 'shoot goon' is the next, logical command?

This is why writing good IF is so difficult... knowing how other players will react is impossible to determine. It seems so obvious to me that 'shoot goon' is the next command, but then that's maybe because I knew that's what I wanted to do.

Silver wrote:Apart from that, I enjoyed the writing!

Thanks :)

Silver
Because parser IF is open ended and there's lots of things I could do. You'd be surprised what you as the author think is obvious and what people playing it conclude. Six seconds might sound all the time in the world to you but it isn't to someone playing it for the first time. If you insist on using that mechanic then I'd be more explicit about it. Like make the timer ten seconds (don't punish people for not being quick enough) and have the goon say "Right, you've got ten seconds to hand me that gun" then start a five second timer which prints the goon saying "Five seconds..." which gives the player the knowledge that something probably bad will probably happen after that passage of time. As it is now, they know a pissed off goon has entered the room but they don't know they have a very short time before something happens. Throw them a bone.

I'll have another try specifically to test the timer and the existence of this other gun.

OurJud
Silver wrote:Because parser IF is open ended and there's lots of things I could do. You'd be surprised what you as the author think is obvious and what people playing it conclude. Six seconds might sound all the time in the world to you but it isn't to someone playing it for the first time. If you insist on using that mechanic then I'd be more explicit about it. Like make the timer ten seconds (don't punish people for not being quick enough) and have the goon say "Right, you've got ten seconds to hand me that gun" then start a five second timer which prints the goon saying "Five seconds..." which gives the player the knowledge that something probably bad will probably happen after that passage of time. As it is now, they know a pissed off goon has entered the room but they don't know they have a very short time before something happens. Throw throw them a bone.

I'll have another try specifically to test the timer and the existence of this other gun.

Love that countdown idea!!

I also didn't know that parser players typed 'say...' when they wanted to talk. Easily fixed, of course, by adding it as a command alternative, but it would never have occurred. I've got a fair few 'says' to add to this game now :shock:

I'm going to go away and work on this tester, addressing all that you and the other testers have mentioned, then upload it again.

Silver
The timer didn't work unfortunately. :( maybe by reprogramming it with my suggestion might fix it? Fingers crossed. As for the other gun, the very first thing I did was an inventory check before anything else and the gun was present. I even did a screen grab for you.



If you're nosey you'll notice I was playing on a mobile device there which can be problematic as mobile Quest is prone to errors. I just want to point out that I'm actually streaming the info from my PC to a tablet so it's a PC I was playing the game with.

The Pixie
Okay, I got to the end. Some comments.

"x notebook" gets the image, and then:
Error running script: Error compiling expression 'game.pov.parent = dawson office': Unknown object or variable 'dawson office'

Have notebook 2 as a synonym for page 2

have "say 1234" allowed (as someone else said)

The two guys frisk you, but fail to find your gun!

timer worked for, and I got shot! might like to give a bit longer to read and then type

I used "get gun", and got the gun on the table successfully

Silver
Silver wrote:If you're nosey you'll notice I was playing on a mobile device


Actually you wouldn't know that at all by virtue of it streaming my pc screen. You might notice a change in resolution though.

OurJud
I think I've confused folk. I uploaded a second version of the game where I have removed all objects the player is carrying.

I didn;t replace the original link, with the new version, but did add it to a post further down. I'll go back and edit the OP.

The amended version is: http://textadventures.co.uk/games/view/iy8ilk-16uawfxy2dze8ca/test6

Silver
Yes, always update the op! :D

But you do know you can replace an uploaded game with a new version?

The Pixie
Well I'm confused. Both links are the same, and both link to a game where "You are carrying a notebook, a gun, a torch, a photo and a notebook page 2."

OurJud
Sorry... I'm having a real moment here!!

I'd moved my player to near the end of the game while I was testing, so the one I uploaded started you at that point.

The links now should take you to the correct one.

Inventory removed.
More commands added
More descriptions added (although I can't get 'x pills' or 'x guns') to trigger the 'look at' description - no idea why, still trying to figure it out.

OurJud
Silver wrote:But you do know you can replace an uploaded game with a new version?

No. How?

Silver
Go into the uploaded game (where you can click to play the game) and there's a link there called 'edit this game'. Click that and in there it gives you the option to upload a new file.

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