Not sure what computer club is? Think of it like a book club, but instead we’re playing text adventures. Every month, the game we’re playing will be introduced in a short post. Bookmark the post so you can return to it during the month. I’ll give a small introduction, but the meat of the post will take place in the comment section as we discuss the game, pass each other hints, and share maps. If you want to join along, read the first post, which discusses what you’ll need including downloading a free interpreter such as Frotz and setting up a free account with the Interactive Fiction Database (IFDB).
Okay, so calling this club meeting to order. The first game we’re playing is Adam Cadre’s Endless Nameless. If you don’t have it yet, you can download the game (for free) from the Interactive Fiction Database (IFDB).
I chose this game because I was immediately struck by its nod to the early text adventures, especially bringing in the sense of humor that permeated games such as Zork. I also realized on my first play-through that the map was very very easy to draw. This isn’t always the case. As someone who has been spoiled by Infocom’s maps, being able to draw the map easily is very important to me.
So, the game starts out in a bar. Once you leave the bar, there’s a town to explore. And then… well… the way Cadre handles the above ground/below ground homage to Zork is very clever. I’ll leave it at that. Just know that death isn’t necessarily a bad thing in this game.
So get your legs with this game and start to play. Feel free to start over a few times. And then jump into the discussion section and let’s start talking about it.
Side note: the comment thread may contain information that you could accidentally read before you’re ready, such as a hint. To try to limit this, please lead off any information you’re giving about the game (such as how to solve a section of the puzzle) with this heading at the top of your comment — SPOILER: about bar… That way, if someone doesn’t want to read anything about the bar, they’ll know to skip over that comment.
I play a ton of text adventures (if you check my blog I have a project called All the Adventures where I am playing all of them in chronological order) and I’ve played everything else by Adam Cadre but somehow I missed this one. So I’ll give this a try.
Here is my map so far (disclaimer: not too far yet)
https://bluerenga.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/endlessa.png
I have found the “twist” but I’m kind of tentative talking about it at this point, even with a SPOILERS HERE on top without more people getting there first.
I read Renga in Blue! Happy to see you over here. Didn’t put the name with the blog.
Is the twist the space with the conversations? Or something else?
Played for a few hours yesterday and had fun. I was a huge Infocom nerd back in the day (Apple ][) and it was fun to jump back into this after 30+ years (God, I’m old…). My only complaint is that there seems to be a real Groundhog Day sense to it – repeating things in order to succeed as you learn more. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but it’s feeling a bit repetitive at the moment. Also, seems odd that you can essentially lock yourself out of being able to proceed (and need to die) because of lots of different actions that seem nitpicky (careful what you carry into the Weapons Shop.)
Has anyone tried the “recording” option yet? You can record and replay your actions so you don’t need to keep redoing them. But I haven’t tried it yet.
Ah, didn’t know what the recording option was for, will look into that. Like KevinB has said, I’m finding it a bit of a frustration that it is easy to omit something that then requires you to restore/restart in order to go back and complete a task first. This leads to a rather fragmented story arc where the player’s knowledge is not in line with the in-game character’s knowledge because you have to know that you have to do something in advance before the in-game character has even experienced it. This of course may be by purposeful design and exactly what the game is meant to be about! I’m having fun though nonetheless 🙂
(Small) SPOILER regarding the “TWIST”: I think you hit the nail on the head with your observation about the player’s knowledge vs. the character’s knowledge. Given everything you learn in the “afterlife” this makes sense in, as I noted before, a Groundhog Day kind of way. You (player) are Bill Murray and get the opportunity to do it over and over again. And RECORDING ON may be the film equivalent of skipping over Ned Reyerson blabbing on and on…;-). My approach so far has been lots of save/restore, but I think that won’t work because unless you actually go through the various deaths, the alter egos don’t tell you anything new. One alter ego even identifies the recording feature as magic. That’s perhaps a bit too meta for my tastes, but I see how it could work. My score right now: 70. Anyone else?
I restarted a few times (meaning, literally shut down the game and started it over again. Why? I don’t know), but the game I’m currently on, I only have 4. But I just left the bar with the dart.
I’ll also say that right now, the return to the afterworld doesn’t bother me, but will I still say the same thing the 10th time I’m there?
It all seems to have gone quiet on here 🙁 I’ve been busy recently and have only jus got back into playing the game. My current score is 60 and I’m a little stuck. Could someone kindly offer a hint at how to go about making sure that I hit the bullseye with the replacement purple dart?
Make sure you get plenty of practice with the darts at the bar.