May 6, 2020: Want To Write A Solo Adventure?

[RoboAdmin]

May 6, 2020: Want To Write A Solo Adventure?

Read this article on the Illuminator.

[stefanj]

I've written a bunch of solos for Tunnels & Trolls, one published (I don't get royalties, so I feel free to post this: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product...ple?src=newest), some waiting art and layout, one in progress to be Kickstartered later this year.


I have a Perl* script which does the gruntwork of scrambling paragraphs. It requires that the solo be written in a text file; you can find some feature-loaded text editors that make getting the words out easy. (Sometimes I write first drafts in vim . . .)


The script isn't proprietary, I'd be happy to send it people who want to submit a scrambled solo. The documentation is in the script file; it specifies a precise formatting for paragraph labels and links:


P0063. You cast the spell; an aura forms around the mysterious stranger. The dull, flickering red glow suggests that he is . . . empty, powerless. You've seen recently dead bodies that seemed healthier! You conclude that this is some sort of spirit.
When the spell's vision clears and normal vision returns, you see that the figure is now standing close to your camp fire, seemingly warming its hands!
If you try another spell or weapon, turn to [ 058 ].
If you approach him, turn to [ 064 ].



I recommend a round of playtesting before scrambling, to work out design, balance, entertainment, and logic issues.


After scrambling, more playtesting to work out link issues is called for. Sometimes you'll need to manually relocate related paragraphs that accidentally ended up next to each other.



I hope to write a TFT solo someday. Because of the map-based tactical combat, they require a lot more care in setting up the alarums and excursions aspect: How the enemies will fight, contingency plans, etc. There might be a separate flowchart for each combat, with some randomization worked in, for each combat, or perhaps for each type of enemy. Kind of like an AI routine for the opponent.



* Available for any platform.

[acroyear]

If writing for print, certainly those older mechanisms and rules apply - get the 'story' right, paragraph them, and shuffle.

But part of me wonders if computers can't help by actually BEING the book. Instead of relying on numbers, construct the adventure using a text adventure system (plus images for the room layout - some systems can embed images but others may need to just reference the external map file in a separate document), with prompts for the available actions (e.g., try to escape). It'll remind you what the saving rolls are for some actions, and give suggestions on how the bad guys would fight or accept negotiation attempts, but otherwise, you play out the combat as normal.

So no need to build a combat engine in the text adventure system like Inform. Simply use it to store the room data, randomize the dungeon (like OrbQuest did) and the bad guys (and remember the randomizations if you go back), have specific actions for marking a bad guy as 'dead', show the treasures (and keep track of what you're carrying), and there we are.

Normal game play, but you can surf through the game with a tablet instead of flipping pages in a book and accidentally seeing other rooms.

[acroyear]

Twine looks like it shows the most promise for this use case. It has some extensions that allow for randomizing.

[Shadekeep]

I made a very simple graphical tool for building solo adventures a while back. Pure HTML5 and Javascript.

https://shadekeep.com/dmorte.html

It does the resequencing for you in the output as well. It's light and basic, but one could do a Death Test in it.