Tombs & Mummies is a parser-based entry, written in Quest, by Matthew Warner.
The magic, monsters, and ancient artifacts in this entry made it fun to explore the underground tomb of the Pharoah Haputet. Rooms are illustrated with Egyptian artwork, and an in-game hint system allows you to trade health for clues.
Instead of red herring objects, Tombs & Mummies has traps that affect how the player behaves. I enjoyed figuring out how to reverse the curses that were placed on me, but they could also be avoided entirely whenever I restarted. And I restarted frequently.
We should discuss the "torch" mechanic. Your torch is your lifeline, but if experience with other games has trained you to TAKE TORCH on the first move, then trying to light it results in the message "you don't have a torch."
Also — you might not notice this if you restarted to use "LIGHT TORCH" on the first move — the torch is never just lying on the ground. If it's not in your inventory, it's in a wall sconce. You can only light the torch when it's in a sconce; trying to light an extinguished torch while holding it gives another "you don't have a torch" message, even when it's in your inventory.
Every time my torch went out, I had to use the DROP TORCH/LIGHT TORCH/TAKE TORCH sequence, making it faster and easier to RESTART.
The torch experience was representative of the overall work, which has a lot of clever ideas that could be better implemented to improve the experience.
I eventually escaped the pharaoh's tomb. It was an entertaining challenge, but it would have been more entertaining if some of the challenges didn't involve figuring out what the parser expected me to type.
Artwork from Donald Conrad:
Thanks for your review, which was fair. This is the first real text adventure I've ever created, and I have much to learn.
ReplyDeleteIt was programmed in Quest 5.8, which was made by British folk, so the "torch" noun gave me a lot of trouble, and "light" as a verb created further issues, so I settled on "ignite torch" as the key command. I'm sorry it nevertheless created issues.
Your screen grab about the lid mechanics is also helpful. as that tells me I should spend more time on programming for object synonyms, which is something the Quest program DOES support. I read recently that the classic Infocom games had literally dozens and dozens of synonyms programmed for each object in their games.
Anyway, thanks again for your review, and I hope you had fun reviewing the IFComp games.
Thanks, Matthew!
ReplyDeletePublishing a parser game isn't easy, so you've already learned quite a bit. I had a good time exploring the tomb of Pharoah Haputet, and I look forward to seeing what you create in the future.