VN/TEXT [Palaverous] The Lost Hound [English AIF Text game]

[Palaverous]

Hello, I’ve been a long time lurker here though never had much to contribute. I am an Adult Interactive Fiction (AIF) author, which means I make text parser adventure games with sex in them.

A short introduction might be in order for those who don’t know what that means. I wrote this when posting somewhere else:

Spoiler

IF games are text-parser adventure titles in the vein of classics like Colossal Cave, Zork or Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (yes, the one with the legendarily douchey puzzle). In short, games navigated by inputting commands such as ">take key" rather than clicking on any GUI. AIF games are that, but with sex (A stands for Adult). There’s a moderately thriving community of authors and players over at adultinteractivefiction.blogspot.com and some other related sites.

To put it simply, they’re interactive text games involving sex and, very often, some manner of puzzle solving in order to achieve said sex. You can think of them as interactive stories. Some of them contain pictures, though some others do not. For beginners, I’d recommend reading this introductory guide to playing AIF games: overanalysingaif.blogspot.com.ar/2012/12/aif-player.html

It's probably obvious, but all links are snipped at the start since I am not allowed to post full URLs due to low postcount. Any decent browser will still understand them if you drop them on the address bar.

Some of you might be familiar with these already, especially seeing as BBBen has also posted his games here before: ulmf.org/bbs/showthread.php?t=17433

I first released The Lost Hound, my first and so far (not for long!) only game. As opposed to BBBen’s titles, mine is exclusively text-only, though I still hope you might enjoy it.

In short, it is a fantasy-adventure title including sex, fairly–old—fashioned combat mechanics, a metric ton of dialogue and somewhat more of a robust plot than is normal for AIF titles. The game begins with a cryptic introduction, at which point the player finds himself lost in an unknown location and must find his way around trying to piece together where he is, who he is, and generally what is happening all around him. Along the way, there are numerous NPCs (mostly women, though you probably guessed that) with which to interact that may help (or require help) in order to get around and figure out what is going on.

I was actually hesitant about which tag to use for this thread, since the game does not have any CGI nor a “click-to structure” and the combat system technically would make it “a gameplay mechanic that would make it at least slightly enjoyable if there was no hentai, with a set of rules and a clear way to win and a clear way to lose”. I played it safe since it is ultimately a text game, but please change it as appropriate if needed.

I am posting this around now since I am nearing the final development stage of Aftermath, a sort of sequel to The Lost Hound, taking place a few years following one of TLH’s possible endings.

Being a TADS game, TLH requires you to use the TADS Player Kit, downloadable for free here: tads.org/tads3.htm. I’d like to assure anybody who’s ever had bad experiences with ADRIFT: TADS is way less of a pain in the neck. Just install the thing and it’s done, no need to muck around with versions or what not.

The Lost Hound can be downloaded for free here: palaverous.weebly.com/home/game-release-the-lost-hound

The rar file also includes three short stories (snippets, really) I published during the lead up to the game’s launch, and work as a sort of setup for some of the setting and characters. It’s not required reading to get what’s going on, but they help.

Aaand, yes, I do have a Patreon account.

Given the rather desolate economic situation of my little corner of the world, I’m really not in a position to turn my nose up at any possible source of revenue, especially when what passes for chump change in countries with real currencies translates to a great deal of our monopoly money.

If you wish to support me, you can do so here: patreon.com/Palaverous?ty=h

In any case, I hope you enjoy the game and would very much welcome your feedback.

 

[NaoSoul]

Re: The Lost Hound [English AIF Text game]

Could you talk a bit about the game in your main post? As in, what it is about, what someone can expect to find in the game and so on?

You don't need to spoil anything, but a bit of information before we jump in would be nice =p

 

[stuntcock42]

Re: The Lost Hound [English AIF Text game]

Being a TADS game, TLH requires you to use the TADS Player Kit, downloadable for free here: ads.org/tads3.htm.

You're missing a "t" at the start of the URL.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the game and would very much welcome your feedback.

I guess that my main complaint is: "why is this a game?"

Map traversal isn't interesting. I'm not really discovering much about the world as I move around; I'm just building up a mental map so that I can avoid accidental backtracking and hopefully find the next bit of plot. None of the locations have enough "flavor text" to make me want to explore the world.

Combat isn't interesting. My options are "fight" or "run" (although I'll presumably acquire MP-using skills at some point in the future). The opponents don't tell me much about the gameworld (e.g. its history, its civilization, its ecology, etc). I can't learn anything about my opponents in order to make clever decisions; I just mash the attack button until combat ends.

The initial infodump doesn't give me any context for gameplay. You could replace the whole thing with "ninjas have kidnapped your girlfriend!" and it wouldn't change my motivation as I run around fighting imps and listening to cryptic nonsense from an old man in a tree.

The game ought to engage me with its narrative - probing the whole tesseract-origin-identity-amnesia thing. Or perhaps intrigue me with its characters. But it insists on hiding all of its story and characters behind adventure-game puzzle bullshit and XP grind. I can't meet the first interesting NPC until I figure out which verb will dislodge a wardrobe blocking my path. I can't proceed to the next area until I've defeated enough slimes to reach level 5. I can't get the heal spell unless I

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. I suppose I should be grateful that I didn't run into any inventory puzzles.

I don't have a sense of agency in my character's decision-making. Consider the initial encounter with the faeries. I can either ignore them or fuck them. Either way, they disappear and are never seen again. My character's inner monologue considers but immediately dismisses the idea of attacking them. Why? If they're going to vanish anyways, would it really hurt anything to give the player an additional choice?

I stopped playing when I was presented with an unavoidable binary choice, and then discovered that one of the options was an instant game over. Dude, that's not a choice. That's a fucking quick-time event.

My overall impression was that the "game" aspect didn't add anything to the experience except repetition and annoyance. I would have preferred to read the story as an actual story.

Note: it's entirely possible that I wasn't paying enough attention, because I never figured out how to heal my character. I just cheated instead.

 

[Palaverous]

Re: The Lost Hound [English AIF Text game]

Could you talk a bit about the game in your main post? As in, what it is about, what someone can expect to find in the game and so on?

Heh. It rapidly became apparent after release that a game where “figuring what it is about” IS in essence “what it is about” would pose some issues when trying to write a spoiler-free summary. Chalk that one up to inexperience.

In short, you are a young man of peculiar appearance who finds himself dropped in the middle of a hostile area populated by monsters and rampaging animals – initially a forest, though the geography is strange enough that you will find different environments existing in unfeasible proximity. The nameless main character has no idea who he is or how he got there, though he soon realizes he has access to certain skills and knowledge. It is soon very apparent that everything around is not as – or where – it ought to be, and it’s up to you to explore the landscape to find someone who can clue you in on what is going on, as well as others caught in similar situations.

Stuff

Corrected the link. Thank you.

Some of these complaints are rather inherent to a genre that ultimately is about overcoming some sort of hurdle to have sex with certain characters. Others I will own up to myself.

I’m curious about the wardrobe, I thought I had implemented all obvious verbs. Which ones didn’t work that you feel should have?

Admittedly, the initial “I have no idea what is going on” has been met with mixed reactions. I’ve heard both from people who enjoyed slowly figuring out what happened and others who pointed out like you that the introduction is a too vague. It’s something I’ve taken to heart since.

The initial area was the first part I ever wrote, which explains though does not excuse how kind of samey it seems. Not front-loading more impressive material is less than stellar design to be sure, but like I said, inexperience.

It does definitely sound like you’ve skipped nearly all of the area’s content though. The game is designed so as to let you skip sections, though it is obviously not the optimal course of action and not really conducive to figuring out anything about the present situation. There is a method for healing right off the bat, and another unlocked by exploring certain content.

As for that particular choice, all I can say is that not every choice should be equally viable, especially not in a delicate situation.

 

[NaoSoul]

Re: The Lost Hound [English AIF Text game]

Is the game going to be packed with transformations, like most text games have been since CoC came out?

 

[stuntcock42]

Re: The Lost Hound [English AIF Text game]

I’m curious about the wardrobe, I thought I had implemented all obvious verbs. Which ones didn’t work that you feel should have?

IIRC I tried to "open" and "enter" the wardrobe at first (because Narnia) and then either "push" or "move" (which worked).

The point is that it's just a barrier to progress. It doesn't tell me anything about the gameworld. If you replace the wardrobe with a door (and the solution is "open door") then nothing has been lost from the narrative.

The scene after the wardrobe puzzle tells the player that the world is strange and magical - that it consists of many dissimilar environments which nestle closely together. It also tells us that the player character is strangely resilient to the dangers of the environment.

Game design is not haphazard. You have a limited budget of content which you can effectively develop, and at runtime you're working with a limited amount of "player attention." Each element should fulfill several design goals. For example: enemies in Fenoxo's game serve as a combat challenge, but they also inform the player about the world (through their pristine or mutated appearance, their aggressive or depraved actions in battle, their mixture of intelligence and emotion and instinct, etc) and sometimes allow the player to make moral choices.

Each puzzle in an adventure game should require the player to learn something significant about the game world, and then demonstrate this knowledge. The puzzle can include other challenges (such as logic, math, memory, or dexterity) but it needs to have some involvement with the game's narrative.

This criticism may be unfair. After all, I haven't actually finished the game ... it's entirely possible that the wardrobe is actually the phylactery of a dormant archlich, and that the player's decision to move it will have disastrous consequences.

As for that particular choice, all I can say is that not every choice should be equally viable, especially not in a delicate situation.

Risk is inherent to gameplay. When Mario jumps on a Goomba, he can proceed towards his goal. When Mario walks into a Goomba, he dies. But the presentation of choice is important.

If the player sees two paths through a Mario level, they will assume that both paths are viable but will involve different challenges. The upper path might involve more difficult jumping puzzles, while the lower path might include more monsters to avoid.

Imagine that the player jumps up to the upper path and proceeds for a while. Then they find a dead end. The Mario game mechanics do not allow backtracking. The player is trapped and will inevitably die. They apparent choice (upper path or lower path) was a false choice. The player is going to be upset at the game designer for tricking them and wasting their time.

I don't have a problem with punishing the player for ignoring clues. Imagine that the scene played out exactly as written, except that the knight woman slashes the player character and leaves them for dead. So you're at 5 HP and a random monster appears. That's fine! It preserves the previously-established game mechanics (i.e. death occurs via loss in combat) and it functionally achieves the same goal (player ignored obvious warning; player dies). After dying and reloading their saved game, the player will be more cautious.

Better yet, give the player actual choices: [Tell her that you don't know] vs [Lie about where you came from] vs [Beg for your life]. All of them could all lead to the same outcome, but they could introduce minor variations in the conversation which ensues (and perhaps have an impact on the player's subsequent relationship with the NPC).

There is a method for healing right off the bat

Yeah, I know. The problem is that it's poorly telegraphed. The starting location is obviously safe, and the player's inclination is to return there when hurt. But the game rejects many verbs which are normally used for recovery (such as "rest", "sleep", "heal"). These verbs could have triggered a brief scene in which the player tries to rest, but gets distracted by the mysterious radiance of the spring. Now they're clued in that they need to investigate the spring.

and another unlocked by exploring certain content.

No. Spamming a "search trees" command in every part of the forest is not exploration. It's busywork. You need to include some kind of detactable hint upon arrival in the target area, so that the player is motivated to investigate.

Edit: I just replayed it, and there IS a clue - but it's bugged. Upon arrival, the player hears a scream to the west. But there's an EXIT to the west. So the player heads west instead of investigating the immediate area.