Supplicant - A DOS Text Adventure

calzone407 2022-04-05 15:41

Alright, here we go. I think the DOS approach was really cool, albeit not super accessable. Within the first minute, and I'm sure this is DosBox fault and not your own, I was thrown into a dos environment and the game was gone. I have a basic understanding of dos so i was able to DIR my way back into the game, but this would have scared most people XD. The gameplay was cool, very early computer. I like it.

rojo 2022-04-05 22:11

@calzone407 Appreciate the feedback! I'll take a look to see if I can improve the ease of getting the game running for future players.

mooptychunk 2022-04-06 04:48

Cool and mysterious, as all good text adventures should be. Enjoyed it!

const-arch 2022-04-07 08:27

I always like seeing these, played another dosbox game last LD, too. This one was pretty fun, I appreciated the map layout and the second use for one of the items. The interactions were all pretty straight forward, which has its pros and cons. I didn't run into any issues while running it.

slecornu 2022-04-10 18:12

This is a very cool entry, love to seen more games developed without mainstream game engines. Thanks for contributing to this side of the game dev community.

baubau 2022-04-10 20:10

I enjoyed this game. Took me a while to get through the maze but I managed. The PILE put me off course for a while. I actually mapped the game so I can navigate better :smiley:

best_winner.png

rashcan 2022-04-17 06:56

I liked it! Overall presentation was nice. The map seemed daunting at first but it didn't take too long to navigate the whole thing. The minimap helped me figure out the layout without having to write it down. I would have liked to see more depth story-wise and puzzle-wise, but making an MS-DOS text adventure is impressive as is. Well done!

toppervideogames 2022-04-17 08:04

Good logic puzzles! I do like how every obstacle had a good reason why and how it could be solved. The body was probably the most of a stretch, but at that point there was little else that could be interacted with. I really do appreciate having a mini-map as well, being able to see where I can go is just as important as where I am.

I suppose the pile is just extra, or there is some secret I do not understand. Overall I do like the creativity to make this, good job!

rjhelms 2022-04-17 17:39

Well, this took me way back! Great job capturing the flavour of the old text adventures, without some of the cruelty in the puzzle design. :p

I think you got the difficulty & complexity just about exactly right for an LD game. Well done.

wassim 2022-04-17 21:44

You have earned my biggest respect, Honestly I know how much hard work has been put into this amazingly done man and Congratulations on the Submission you deserve all the best! :smile:

lilkrit 2022-04-18 11:47

I liked everything except for the confusing mazes (I never liked those). But the game was really fun :)

pragmascript 2022-04-19 01:14

Borland Turbo C++. those were the days...

dis0rder 2022-04-19 02:23

Gotta love some classic **DOS text-adventuring!**

I've actually had some thoughts about making something simple for Ludum Dare using **QBASIC** on **DOSBox** myself.

I think I was probably seven years old when I made my first "game" which was a crude text-adventure using **GWBASIC** on our family's **286** (which we considered dated hardware already back then!)

So the nostalgia-value here for me is evident.

---

It took me some time to realize that you didn't need to input specific verbs like **THROW ROCK AT BELL** etc. but simple **USE [ITEM]** sufficed.

Never was a big fan of the compass direction system in text adventures. The mini-map you provided made it a easier to get around though, but I still found it a bit frustrating at times.

screen11.png

I gave up at the point when I had acquired the **SEAL,** and returned to the **ALTAR** only to discover that it wasn't accepted as a sacrifice. I really didn't want to backtrack to the maze and caverns for a third time. :sweat_smile:

Drawing my own map like @baubau would've been a smart move! :map: :pencil2:

--- I use **DosBox** regularly so it's not a problem for me, but it would probably benefit the "average" players if you could somehow port this to browser. I know it's certainly possible, but it would require some extra-work.

But yeah, always nice to see someone breathe some fresh air to ancient hardware/software.

Keep on jamming!

epb9000 2022-04-19 15:47

I very much appreciated the minimap. Made navigating the maze and cavern much easier. I gave up partway through admittedly but solid entry. I love seeing retro stuff make an appearance in the jam.

(Someone in a previous jam made a Nintendo DS game. A game I sadly couldn't get to run with ndsbootstrap on real 2DS hardware.)

arihan10 2022-04-21 00:28

Wow! What an innovative take on the theme! Almost unexpected :D

I really love DOS-style text adventure games, and not only is this one of the richest I have seen in any game jam, but probably one of the best I've ever played, period.

The map took a little getting used to but I found it quite intuitive after a while. The story, depth etc. was all tuned quite well, and even though I wasn't able to make it to the end, I had a really fun time (got very close to the end I think). How you were able to script, code AND organize all of this in just a weekend of hacking is beyond me!

The only critique I have (and perhaps this is a bit of an unpopular suggestion in such games but sue me) would be to add checkpoints, since nearly half of my time was spent trying to backtrack to a previous junction.

Overall, you've created a really solid text adventure game and should be really proud of yourself. Good job!