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About the StoryAn interaction fiction based on the artwork of Caspar David Friedrich. You begin in a oak forest and must discover how to prevent a tragedy from happening by exploring the world around you and solving simple puzzles that fall within classic conventions of IF. This is the first IF written by this author. This IF was designed to be beginner friendly, hence the instructions at the beginning of play indicating the type of commands being used, nonetheless there are ways to lose the game, and there are not hints built in game. Game Details
Language: English (en)
First Publication Date: April 3, 2020 Current Version: 1 License: Freeware Development System: Inform 7 Forgiveness Rating: Polite IFID: Unknown TUID: awdcacv1wqw13ozq |
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| Average Rating:  Number of Reviews: 1 Write a review |
A great first parser game that needs a lot more polish to be a finished work, April 16, 2020This is an introspective parser game set in the world of the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, one of my favorite artists. It revolves around exploration and small, one-item puzzles in the classic Zorklike mode.
I've seen many first parser games (including my own, a game I never released), and they are almost uniformly buggy and unfinishable.
This game has surprisingly few, if any bugs, which is a welcome surprise. However, it is lacking a lot of polish. I had to decompile the game to find the ending. Some suggestions for the next game:
1. Having one or more beta testers can alleviate almost all problems, if you implement their feedback. Intfiction.org is a good place to find some.
2. Room exits should be listed in every room unless finding the exit is a (hinted) puzzle, like a maze.
3. It's good to have either everything have a description or nothing to have a description. It takes a long time to describe everything, but it's often worth it.
4. Some puzzles may need cluing (like the magpie puzzle). Having a beta tester or two can help here.
5. Having instant deaths and disabling UNDO is a pretty frustrating combo. There's been a lot of debate over the years on whether disabling UNDO is worth it, but it's worth knowing that some interpreters have built-in UNDO that works even if you try to disable it, so some players will always have UNDO.
Overall, I think the author is capable of creating truly great parser games given enough tester support. I'd love to see more!
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Polls
The following polls include votes for Monk by the Sea:The most underrated game you've authored by Anya Johanna DeNiro
Interpret "under-rated" however that means to you. Perhaps it's one that's simply not played very much for whatever reason. Or it's a game you consider flawed but still worth playing, or an early effort that you are fond of.
I am looking for games that involve exploring and collecting objects but don’t involve horror or creepy themes by Brennen Kinch
fore example games that involve keys and things that unlock other parts of the game that don’t involve creepy things such as ghost and monsters and things like that
IF with a sense of wonder by blue/green
What interactive fiction would you recommend that evokes a sense of wonder? These could be games that capture wonder or beauty in ordinary things, perhaps by viewing the world through the eyes of a child. Or they could be games that...