The Erebus and the Terror by sfernald
This is a work of interactive fiction. In other words, no graphics and sounds, just text, like a novel.
The Erebus and the Terror is a science fiction thriller set on the prospector ship Erebus. If you like reading science fiction stories or watching science fiction movies or playing survival horror games, you might enjoy it.
The game was made with Inform 7. You can play it online with any computer, iOS device such as iPad or IPhone, Android phone or tablet, or pretty much anything with a CPU and a browser that has javascript.
Please let me know what you think. I am going to withhold providing the source code or any hints until the last day of voting. I really want to see if anyone can solve this one on their own without cheating.
I know it's hard to commit to the time and effort needed to play an IF game when most submitted games can be evaluated in a couple minutes. So play all the other games, with their exciting graphics and gameplay, and then later when things have died down and you feel like something meaty, come by and give this one a try!
The Erebus and the Terror is a science fiction thriller set on the prospector ship Erebus. If you like reading science fiction stories or watching science fiction movies or playing survival horror games, you might enjoy it.
The game was made with Inform 7. You can play it online with any computer, iOS device such as iPad or IPhone, Android phone or tablet, or pretty much anything with a CPU and a browser that has javascript.
Please let me know what you think. I am going to withhold providing the source code or any hints until the last day of voting. I really want to see if anyone can solve this one on their own without cheating.
I know it's hard to commit to the time and effort needed to play an IF game when most submitted games can be evaluated in a couple minutes. So play all the other games, with their exciting graphics and gameplay, and then later when things have died down and you feel like something meaty, come by and give this one a try!
| Web | http://www.bitjets.com/if/index.html?story=stories/Terror.zblorb |
| Source | http://www.bitjets.com/if/stories/terror.ni |
| Original URL | https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-24/?action=preview&uid=258 |
Ratings
| Coolness | 62% | 3 |
| Overall | 3.09 | 305 |
| Fun | 2.75 | 394 |
| Humor | 2.45 | 245 |
| Innovation | 2.94 | 332 |
| Mood | 3.28 | 103 |
| Theme | 2.29 | 598 |
I like this - it's nice to see something different. Your writing voice is very consistent, and the game is perfectly sized - the world is small, detailed enough to have purpose but not to the extent that it's overwhelming.
I haven't played very many interactive fiction games, so it may just be my lack of experience, but I got stuck on this one a few times, so I think that in the non obvious points a few hints might be nice.
Other than that though, great. I'm very impressed - you've inspired me to try to get into the IF world, which I've always known has existed but I've never taken the time to explore.
ps, mach, let me know if you want more of a hint on what to do next and I'll give it to ya.
"An error occurred:
Parchment could not load load the story. Check your connection, and that the URL is correct."
I just checked it and it's up. Is it still not working for you?
I may return and try the game later on, since it does pose a good mystery. I also quite liked what I felt it was foreshadowing and did find it enjoyable up to the point where I got completely stuck.
It is funny, I can sort of see a visual game playing out while I'm reading it :D
@sfernald
From memory of a few hours ago, so I may be recalling some things wrong:
I'd slept and gotten the grenade. Raul told me to get popcorn and watch a movie, I found the room with Raul in and got the combinator, I tried to sit on the couch and used the remote but I couldn't find the popcorn anywhere. I tried to use the grenade on a bunch of things by taping it and using it, which it didn't seem to understand. I hadn't got through the blast doors at the south, I hadn't got into the pantry, If there was a kitchen I couldn't find it, I couldn't go into any of the "up" exits.
But I will most likely give it all another shot later on, as I'm sure I missed something obvious!
Try this, 'attach grenade to [something that looks like it's in your way]'.
Aha, "Attach" I think is the word I was missing out on (since I did try "putting" and "taping" it to a number of things). I'll give it another blast, thanks for the tip!
In that case, I think I'll be playing it through a third time.. I'll probably leave it a few days though, and give some other games a chance ;)
For example someone typed 'cook' in the kitchen, and I should have a response for that, but the game currently doesn't even understand the verb cook.
Really nice game! I played through it for a bit and closed it. It would have been nice if I knew about the save feature though.
However, as innovative and fun as your game is, you are in clear violation of rule 6 in the compo.
As I mentioned just before the end of voting, i intended to put it up just before voting ended. The natural language source reads like a cheat guide. I wanted to give people a chance to solve it without having the option to cheat.
That said, it looks like some people have already solved it, so I'll put it up shortly.
I found a bug with the popcorn, and i realize right away where I need to give more hints.
Worse of all someone made it right to the end and then got stuck in the Kat-a-Klone machine because of a bug.
I think I'll be able to improve it greatly. Thanks for all the feedback and playthroughs guys.