Text of Duty by psychicparrot

[raw]
made by psychicparrot for MINI27 (COMPO)
It's a text-based FPS. Well, just most of the training level. Didn't get in nearly as much as I would have liked (I really wanted to blow some stuff up!) as learning to use Inform7 and putting together all the actions and set pieces took me a lot longer than I thought.

This is my first interactive fiction since I wrote a text adventure for the ZX Spectrum back in 1987. This was a much nicer experience, though, since the tools we have today for this stuff are awesome.

Building this reminded me of how much I loved making adventures back in the 80s and how much fun it is to not have to worry about graphics and 3d models and all those things. The scenery is infinite and there are almost infinite possibilities even on the lowest budget. Having that freedom was pretty cool and I had a great time making this.

I decided on a remake of the first level of Call of Duty because I wanted to see what such a visceral experience would be like in text and whether or not the actions you perform in an FPS would translate to a completely different interface. I didn't get as far as I'd liked, so some of the things I wanted to see will have to wait longer until I can find time to try them out (grenades, aiming down the sights, 'chunks' of combatants to get through before progressing etc.).

For now, though, enjoy the taste of an FPS in Text of Duty. I hope it amuses you for a few minutes, at least. I can't wait to get back to working on it - this text stuff is FUN!

Ratings

Coolness 21% 7
Fun 3.30 13
Gameplay 3.00 15
Presentation 3.00 18

Feedback

Maple
27. Jun 2011 路 04:33 UTC
I played until the east- and west-gate obstacle courses... But mind you it did take some getting used to! I had an interesting dilemma to start me off, where I had a little bit of fun with my unintelligent narrator hehe. Quite interesting!
馃帳 psychicparrot
27. Jun 2011 路 04:48 UTC
Thanks for the comment! I really liked the idea of taking the most visceral game and making it into a text-based version. It's interesting to see if the actions and logic make any sense in a different context or even if they present any kind of puzzle in just performing tasks through another kind of interface. Now, must...get...grenades...working!
馃帳 psychicparrot
27. Jun 2011 路 05:54 UTC
Boo! Sadly, I didn't manage to get those grenades in yet, but hey go see if you can find the carbine at the observation tower and send Sgt. Moody to meet his maker! I've had so much fun working on this game that I want to keep going.. but right now, it's time to go and sleep some! Enjoy!
馃帳 psychicparrot
27. Jun 2011 路 13:18 UTC
Sorry about all the bugs, guys. I know it's a bit tough to get through right now (no gates where there should be some, confusing descriptions)... I'll be trying to squeeze in some time this week to fix it up some!
rhockman
27. Jun 2011 路 23:09 UTC
*SPOILER*

I really liked having to kill the Sgt. at the end. I think that's the first thing that most of us do in any FPS (Kill the non hostile npcs). I would've liked to be able to talk to the Captain and look at the clouds in the sky though :)
jester747
28. Jun 2011 路 12:25 UTC
Got through the obstacle course and found the gun, but couldn't find out how to fire it. Would really like to have shot the sergeant, though! Fond memories of all those Spectrum games!
Fiona7
28. Jun 2011 路 12:26 UTC
The difference between reading a book and seeing the film. Great
Winterblood
28. Jun 2011 路 22:35 UTC
Lots of attention to detail! I'm not sure the tutorial level (designed to teach you navigation and controls) is the best choice for adapting to text, though - it's a bit dry to begin with. Maybe a later level with some more meaningful choices would have worked better?
Breakdance McFunkypants
29. Jun 2011 路 04:54 UTC
Such a cool idea. I would love it if you dove into some hardcore combat and simply skipped the tutorial. Dive deep into cover/sniping/reloading/running and gunning straight from the get go. Just keep it mega fast paced - scene 1 should be the very middle of a hardcore battle with gunfire and people dying all around you to really pull players in.

Overall, fantastic use of Inform7, I'm happy that you had so much fun working with it. Don't stop now: this could become a really cool game - I'd love to see a future version.

So impressive. Keep up the awesome work.
Harievilozanini
29. Jun 2011 路 20:57 UTC
The concept is awesome, perfect idea!
Now you just need to improve the whole thing, sounds for a better immersion, maybe some visual art (not necessary at all) and a better interface.
Radiatoryang
30. Jun 2011 路 21:39 UTC
Very cute. Didn't like how the parser couldn't understand "climb ladders" because ladders isn't a thing, or "climb" thinks I want to climb Moody, etc. Definitely room to expand though, good start.