I.S.O.S. - text game

[Gepard]

My name is Marcus Frederick. Im one of the few people still living on the Earth, which now serves as an emergency station for our glorious spaceships. Last night one of them was about to approach us by a hyperspace jump. Well it did... at least what has remained of it... It is my duty to find out what happened. And the I.S.O.S. (internal security operating system) is my only source of informations.

Download here: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=931

Also dont forget the original soundtrack: http://rapidshare.com/files/55319830/music.zip.html

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Two things:

The correct code is

Code: ags

[img]http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/5481/isosrs0.gif[/img]

And you might want to make the GIF actually animating back in a loop.

And congrats on finishing it.

[Gepard]

Thank you :f ) Hope you like it at least a bit.

[voh]

Looks interesting. Will try it once I'm done with work

[jkohen]

The AGS database entry says this is a non-adventure game. What kind of game is it?

Could you give some more information?

Thanks!

[Gepard]

As it is written in the name of this thread - text game. So it isnt a classic point-n-click adventure. More about the game: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=32252.0

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

"Text game" does mean "not point and click", but it certainly doesn't mean it's not an adventure game. Otherwise IF wouldn't be adventure game.

[Thalon]

I tried to play it for several hours: don't be offended Gepard, but the game's textual interface is too difficult to understand.
After several efforts I only managed to send an e-mail and understand the power schematics, but i didn't manage to find the correct command to do the next step (raising the power output), and trying some logical command (something like "raise back-up power supply output") doesn't work.
I suppose there's only one possible correct command to make an action: it would have been better if more alternate commands (with different syntiax structures) were available...

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

I got to play it, and I must say I'm surprised the game was beta-tested. It has a very serious problem - it's bloody hard to use. It's a constant "guess the verb". I couldn't even send an e-mail. There's no message of what happens when something doesn't work - we don't know if it didn't work because it was an invalid command, or because the word didn't make sense, or it just wasn't possible at that time, or whatever.

I did send you a link to a similar game, Gepard. I advise you to take note on how easy the interface is to use (the interface should ALWAYS be helpful; the interface should NEVER be a puzzle in itself), and how there's no question of how to do whatever you want.

At the very least, include a "LIST" command that displays available commands, some sort of response for typing wrong things and some sort of response for when we send e-mail. I tried to send e-mail about 10 times in a row, got ZERO feedback, and not knowing whether the people were not replying, whether the e-mails had been sent or whether the syntax was correct, I gave up on the whole game.

A game of this scope is ambitious, and it seems to me you have failed its the most important aspect. Didn't your beta-testers tell you any of this?

[Akatosh]

Well, apart from one thing at the beginning, I didn't have a problem with "guessing the verb" (and I'm not even a native speaker!), and the verb I tried to use was added later on, so...

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Kudos to you. If I hadn't seen "system check" in a screenie, I would never have known it was a valid command. Neither "main power supply" - the former is a command, the latter is a description. It feels random. "check supply", for instance, would feel a lot friendlier. Again, if games like this are really keen on using their specific words, they should be listed.

[Ashen]

I've found the same thing as Rui - I tried several combinations of 'check power supply', 'power supply status' 'activate power supply', before seeing the screenie. A 'list' command would be nice, as would a 'back' command for navigating the I.S.O.S. menu system, and some sort of feedback for incorrect commands. I'd settle for auto-clearing the TextBox...

It's a really good concept, but I'm not sure how well executed it is. I'll keep at it for now, though.

[Gepard]

Well OK! I would like to write something that you might just overlook. This game is not meant to be a perfect computer simulation. It is more like a continuous path, where you must catch on the last indication given. For example: at the beginning there is a personal thought displayed: I will need an electrification scheme. Well, you can find a man in your contact list who could provide you with one. And when you get it, you just enter the words from the scheme into ISOS and see what will happen. Aye? Hope it will help you guys. I dont say you cant get stuck in this game, I just think its not so difficult to solve.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Then at least provide us with e-mail feedback. I tried "1 scheme", "2 scheme" and so on. If only a keyword is necessary then "scheme" should work. This is the syntax you say we should use. Having zero response when these sensible things are tried out makes one give up.

[Gepard]

Try 4 scheme - if you are looking for an electrification scheme. As I said before, Im not native speaker, but I think plans and projections could tell you that you will get the scheme from the last one on you contact list.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Ah, I see what happened. And it's a perfect example of what we're discussing.

The first few times I tried it, the times which included "4 scheme", I hit ENTER instead of clicking WRITE - which is common sense. When I figured I had to click "write", I tried a couple of "1 scheme" to see if it worked better, but it still gave no response. So I assumed ENTER *did* work, because it worked in the main console.

This is a very serious flaw, IMO.

BTW, if the game is more like "flow with the last thing said", there should be a way to recall what that thing was, otherwise saving and later loading when one doesn't remember exactly what was said before will make playing a nightmare.

[jkohen]

I just checked the game (even though I wasn't going to after your arrogant and unhelpful answer to my question above), and I must say that I agree with Rui and the rest of the guys here on every single point that has been made. I'm glad that they took the time to explain everything in great detail before me, because I just came here to do exactly the same.

I hope that you take their positive criticism into account instead of waving it off.

Thanks for the game. However, as far as I'm concerned the UI is too unwieldly to make me want to play it.

[Gepard]

Heyyy no problem Its just a game

[Nlogax]

I have to say I have no idea what the game is about, and no idea what to do. Maybe a help file or even a brief wordpad document in the zipfile would have been helpful.

Shame, as the opening sequence looked quite neat.

Also, you need to get it proof-read by an English speaker, cos there are some jars in that opening sequence.

[voh]

Couldn't figure out how to email the dude, and had no clue what else I could even do.

And then I just removed it again, because as intriguing as the introduction was, the game just... It was like, "do this" and I'd be "how?" and the game'd be like "..." and I'd be all "aww, just tell me how" and the game'd still be like "..." and then I'd be all :'( and the game didn't care.

(seriously, you need to make it more intuitive, because now it's just frustrating)