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CCSF Creatures Explorer: a game   
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  11/29/2016  4

It's rather short notice & rather late in the game to be starting this, but the idea didn't occur to me until a few days ago.

CCSF Creatures Explorer

Overview:
The idea for this is a simple text based exploration game where you play as a creature; either a Norn, Ettin, or Grendle. You would be able to explore, find food, toys, bugs & critters, encounter dangers such as pests & beasts & either run from them or fight them. More complex interactions can be added later, but if I want to get it out in time for the CCSF it would be best to keep things very simple.

I thought it might be an interesting way to get more involvement in the CCSF by letting the Creatures community help with writing up various descriptions of stuff in the game. I have most of the code already figured out & set up as templates, so all that will need to be done is add in the descriptions.

Things that can be described:

- Rooms & locations : a basic 'what do you see when you enter the area' type of description. If there are other areas linked to that location, descriptions of those areas would be nice as well. (So if you describe a forest with giant trees & want a cave hidden under the roots of a tree, leave a description of the cave as well as a description of finding the cave.)
- Toys : finding them & what happens when played with.
- Foods : finding them & if anything special happens when eaten. (Stuff like getting drunk or sick from bad food or alcohol, having a balloon fruit pop when you bite into it, ice carrots making you shiver after eatting one.)
- Bugs & critters : what you see when you see them in a room, what happens when you play with them, or eat them.
- Pests & beasts : What you see when you see them in a room, do they attack you on sight or do they only hurt you when you poke them? What happens when they attack?
- Randomness & eastereggs : Random things that might be seen or happen. Like, wallbonking, riding an elevator, getting teleported, finding the C2 shee statue & being frozen in fear, seeing a rainbow, getting soaked by a sudden rain, caught in a dust devil in the desert.

-----------------------------------

The descriptions can be from any of the creatures games, any of the add-ons, official or player made, or even new places & things not seen in any of the games. Even the places & things seen in the Survivor games could be described & added to this game. If you have ideas for worlds, metarooms, agents & cobs that you've wanted to make for the creatures games, but haven't finished or don't have the skills to make, you could write up their descriptions for this if you wanted.

The navigation system will be a blend of directional & location specific buttons & random descriptions. So places like the hallways of a space ship, or the tunnels leading to a cave will have specific descriptions for each connected area, but larger more open spaces will have random descriptions. For example, in the 'Ettin Desert', there could be five or more random descriptions that you might see as you wander around & explore the area, but when you leave & go into the hallways connecting to different areas, you'll see the same description(or set of descriptions) whether you are entering, or leaving that location. So a clear name for that room or area description will be helpful for building the map you can explore.

Ideas for other stuff that can be added to the game at a later date are welcome as well, but unless they are really simple to add, they will likely have to wait until after the CCSF to be added.

 
NornBreeder
Brewer of Tales

NornBreeder



  11/30/2016

Love it. I've actually been working on a creatures themed interactive short story of my own for the CCSF. I'm a huge D&D and Call of Cthulhu fan, so I love telling and participating in interactive stories. Can't wait to see how yours turns out.
 
the1whoscreams

the1whoscreams



  11/30/2016

Helping with the descriptions sounds pretty cool.
 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  11/30/2016

If anyone does want to help write up descriptions, feel free to post them here in this thread. They don't have to be long, just a sentence for an item, or a paragraph for a room description.
 
Doringo
Lodestar

Doringo


 visit Doringo's website: Abacus & Ettinus
  12/8/2016

Being able to flood the volcano would be a cool easter egg.
 
Brynn

Brynn



  12/8/2016

> Push/Pull/Get/Hit Weather
You stretch an arm towards the cloud. Try as you might, you can't reach it. You feel a sense of satisfaction anyway.

And, occasionally,
> Push Weather
You stretch an arm towards the cloud, hoping to push it somehow. Just when you imagine you accomplished doing so, the cloud lets loose a dramatic lightning bolt! Luckily, its path avoided you. Was that a coincidence? Maybe you should avoid doing that from now on...

(Based on a COB in Creatures 2 that allowed Creatures to "activate" a cloud, making it shoot lightning and disappear. Doesn't seem to be on the Creatures Caves archive, though...)

 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/8/2016

[nlaugh] I remember Clouds of the Gods.... I think that's what that cob was called. [ntongue] That was a fun one. [ngrin] Thank you both for the ideas & the descriptions. That is exactly the type of stuff I was looking for.
 
c1anddsaddict

c1anddsaddict



  12/8/2016

Infinite Any-Food Dispenser (not a real cob or agent, but a Survivor reference you might recognize): You come across a food dispenser. Oddly enough, it doesn't seem to specify what sort of food it dispenses; it assures you, however, that the food will be the best you've ever tasted and infinite in number. Do you brave the machine?

Push Dispenser: There is a universe of possibilities available to you. You could vend anything you could imagine, and have it be of ambrosial quality. It's almost too good to be true! Excited, you activate the machine, which beeps and whirrs. In a few moments, you are presented with a single slice of cheese.

Eat Food: But it's the best cheese in all the universe!

Hit Dispenser: When you slam into the machine with your fists, its lights go out. The fragile machine crumples to pieces. The universe just wasn't ready for that kind of perfection.

Get Dispenser: There's no way you're letting this opportunity go to waste! You take the dispenser for yourself. If you can keep track of it, you will have an infinite supply of the best food imaginable-

Hey, is that a ball? Oh, it is! You chase after it and triumphantly pick it up, leaving the infinite food dispenser of wonders behind.

_______________________

I'll try to come up with more later.


DS village

My TCR norns

STAY AWAY FROM THE MOLDY, DISEASED CHICKEN NUGGET STASH!!!

 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/9/2016

Excellent! Thank you!
 
Doringo
Lodestar

Doringo


 visit Doringo's website: Abacus & Ettinus
  12/9/2016

What if certain outcomes of events depended on your current 'powers'? Like you could have a gene that makes you amphibious so you don't drown in water, allowing for underwater exploration, etc.
 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/10/2016

[ngrin] Yup, I do plan on adding stuff like that eventually too. I'm thinking that when I add mernorns to the list of breeds you can play as, that will be when I add aquatic areas for the players to explore.
 
ylukyun
Patient Pirate

ylukyun

Manager



  12/12/2016  1

C1 Carrot: You see a patch of carrots growing in the ground. You pull one out and bite into it. It tastes bland and starchy.

C2 Carrot: You see a patch of carrots growing in the ground. With great difficulty, you pull one out and bite into it. It's juicy, and tastes starchy but with some flavor.

C3 Carrot: It's cold here. You see a patch of carrots growing in the ground. You pull one out and bite into it. It's quite soft and tastes a little buttery.

Ice Carrot: It's very cold here! You see a patch of carrots growing in the snow. You pull one out and bite into it, making your teeth hurt. As you eat the carrot, you shiver, but it's tasty!

Random event! You see a beautiful rainbow! It doesn't do anything, but it's nice to look at. Your mood improves considerably.

Random event! You've been teleported to $LOCATION. How strange. Oh well, time to explore your new surrounds.

Dragonflies: (Seeing) There are lots of green bugs with translucent wings flying around. Some of them are crawling up the sides of $PLANTs. (Playing) You catch a dragonfly. It flutters inside your hands and tickles, before you decide to let it go. The dragonfly flies away. (Eating) This dragonfly tastes bad and is squishy and crunchy - gross, but it fills you up.

Albian Carrot Beetle: (Seeing) You see colorful bugs in the carrot patch. You worry they're going to eat all the carrots, but they sure are pretty. (Playing) You kick the carrot beetle. That was fun! It screeches. (Eating) This bug is full of protein. The meat is delicious and tender. (Eating alt) Crunch, crunch. This bug is full of protein. It wouldn't be so bad if only you'd taken the shell off. Silly you.

Am I doing this right? I can edit the descriptions if you need me to.

 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/12/2016

Yup! Those descriptions work wonderfully! Thank you!
 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/19/2016

Well... I didn't get it done in time for the CCSF like I had hoped, shall I try for a Christmas release instead?

Now for a little update on where the game is currently...

Since the first release is going to be small, I started it off in the Docking Station meso. I figured it would be something familiar & simple, while allowing for easy expansion to other areas through the warp portals. At the moment, I currently have the top two levels of the meso should be completely described. Same with the various pods & vendors on those levels. The bottom level of the meso I have partly described. The room is described, but the various pods, vendors & the learning machine are not described yet, & the various interactions with them still need to be written.

A random exploration area has been started & partly described. Some random events for in that area still need to be wrote up & put in, but many of the descriptions you've given me will be able to be used in there, so that will speed things up quite a bit. The search option & it's various lists of results still need to be added in. Same with the descriptions & interactions of the critters & pests native to Docking Station.
And the opening still needs to be wrote as well. I'm thinking of having the opening be where you hatch from an egg. But I am not sure if I should just leave it as only one species be available at the start or if I should have grendel, ettin & norn be starting options in this first version. Later on there will be some interactions or results that will only appear for specific species, but I'm not sure if I should include those in the first version since that will be a lot of extra typing which will delay the release a bit longer.

For the moment that's all I can think of to put in this update.

 
ylukyun
Patient Pirate

ylukyun

Manager



  12/20/2016

What descriptions do you need most? I could try to write a few more (critters and pets, things from the bottom meso) if you want?
 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/20/2016

Snotrocks, Stingers, the stinger hive, trappers, the holistic learning machine, the carrot pod, the commedia pod & the commedia itself, the grassy knolls that the explodonuts drop from, those are all things in the lower meso that could use some descriptions &/or interactions. The commedia with it's shapeshifting powers certainly has many options for descriptions.
 
Missmysterics

Missmysterics



  12/20/2016  1

I tried to keep the tongue-in-cheek tone of the help descriptions, but I don't know how well I did.

"There's plants growing from the ceiling, they're knolls, and they're grassy... they must be grassy knolls, some kind of nuts are growing from these plants."

"There is a nut on the floor, you flinch as it explodes with surprising force,maybe you should eat one of these explodonuts when they're not overripe."

"The taste can't really be described as explosive, but it is nutty."

Starseeds:

"The empathic vendor vends seeds shaped like stars, you wonder what they taste like."

"You wonder if this is what stars taste like."

@Ylukyun, no love for raw, crunchy carrots?

 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/21/2016

Thanks! Those descriptions will work very nicely. [ngrin]
 
ylukyun
Patient Pirate

ylukyun

Manager



  12/21/2016  1

Some updated carrot descriptions...

C1 Carrot: You see a patch of carrots growing in the ground. You pull one out and bite into it with a great crunching sound. It tastes bland and starchy.

C2 Carrot: You see a patch of carrots growing in the ground. With great difficulty, you pull one out and bite into it. It's juicy and crunchy, and tastes starchy but with some flavor.

I still maintain the C3/DS carrots look soft and buttery. :P

Stinger hive: You look up to find a large, translucent sphere above you, it seems to contain a nest with several buzzing insects.

Stingers: (Seeing) Some of the buzzing insects from that sphere have gotten out. You hope they're not dangerous. (Touching) Foolishly, you touch one of the buzzing insects. It stings you and flies away. You don't feel well. (Being randomly stung) A buzzing insect appears seemingly from nowhere and stings you! You slap it, and it dies, but you don't feel well.

Trappers: (Interacting) This is a very interesting plant, shaped like an open mouth. You wonder what it feels like. You reach out to touch it, half expecting it to snap shut, but you're fine. The plant's flesh is hard, with a collection of seeds inside. (Stinger) A buzzing insect flies into one of the mouth-like plants, and is devoured! This could also have one for dropping seeds? I'm not sure if I should include that.

Holistic learning machine: (Seeing) This blue screen on the wall is very hypnotic. You don't know what it does, but you're overcome with a desire to push it. (Pushing) You walk up to the blue screen, and push it. A beam appears, surrounding you with light and lifting you off your feet! You feel an odd but pleasant sensation coursing through your body as you are filled with knowledge in the form of high-pitched sounds that your brain somehow translates into new words for objects. The machine drops you gently, and you realize you can now communicate with... well, you're not sure who, exactly, since you seem to be the only one around. (Pushing again, can happen multiple times) You already know everything the blue-screened learning machine can teach, but you just can't resist pushing it again - after all, who doesn't want to levitate in mid-air every once in a while?

 
the1whoscreams

the1whoscreams



  12/21/2016  1

Looking at Inanimate Object: This is a waste of time.

Continue Looking at Inanimate Object: This is boring.

Continue Looking at Inanimate Object Again: ...

Finding Snotrock: This strange animal... or is it a plant? You can't tell. Well, it has a hard, cream-colored shell, with green, spider-like limbs. It has nubs on its back in the same color.

Looking at Snotrock: The snotrock scuttles about in search of food. It finds a tuba and promptly devours it. Hey! You could have eaten that!

Continue Looking at Snotrock: The snotrock finds another snotrock. One flops over on its back and the other sits on top of it, resembling a nut with grass growing out of it. Eventually, they break away, revealing a third, smaller snotrock. One of the parents runs off with the baby, leaving you with a lone snotrock.

Continue Looking at Snotrock Again: The snotrock walks around for a bit, then lays down and dies. It begins to dawn on you that everything you just wasted three turns of your life watching may have been a colossal waste of time. [if you are a toxic breed] Oh, well. You now have some delicious generic detritus. [if not] The snotrock's decomposing remains are highly unappealing.

Hitting Snotrock: You give the snotrock a good smack. Startled, it runs away.

Eating Snotrock: You pick up the snotrock and gnaw on it. Nothing much happens. Determined to eat this creature, you persevere, eventually breaking open the shell and devouring the insides. Tastes like a tuba. [if you are a toxic breed] You feel a bit ill after eating this.

Pushing Snotrock: You poke the snotrock. Startled, it runs away.

Pulling Snotrock: You pull one of the snotrock's legs. Startled, it runs away.

Getting Snotrock: You pick up the snotrock. It struggles to get out of your hands. The feeling of its legs flailing against your hands is somehow calming.

Dropping Snotrock: That's enough of that. You drop the snotrock. The terrified critter makes a mad dash for the nearest place to hide.

Finding Generic Detritus: This is something rotten. [if you are a toxic breed] Looks yummy. [if not] Ew.

Hitting Generic Detritus: You smack the detritus. Nothing happens.

Pushing Generic Detritus: You poke the detritus. Nothing happens.

Pulling Generic Detritus: You pull on the detritus. Nothing happens.

Getting Generic Detritus: You pick up the detritus. It's cold, possibly slimy depending on its age.

Dropping Generic Detritus: You drop the detritus.

Eating Generic Detritus: You eat the detritus. [if you are a toxic breed] This should be disgusting, but with the type of creature you are, it's quite tasty. [if not] That's disgusting. Stop it before you get sick.

 
Malkin

Malkin

Manager


 visit Malkin's website: Malkin's page at CWiki
  12/21/2016  1

C1 Carrot Variant: You see a patch of carrots growing in the ground. You pull one out and drop it. It bounces a few times like a ball. You pick it up and decide to eat it this time. Yum, rubbery!

My TCR Norns
 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/21/2016  1

Thank you! All of those are excellent! I just got back from getting some teeth pulled & have been up almost 24 hours. After I've gotten some sleep, I'll get these into the game. Thank you all again! [ngrin]
 
Harlow

Harlow



  12/21/2016  1

You see a small, striped ball. It looks bouncy.

(Pushing)- You pick up the ball and bounce it on the floor. It bounces in place a few times before coming to a stop. You feel oddly satisfied by this.
(or occasionally)- You try to bounce the ball, but it is bouncier than you expect. It bounces out of your paws, across the floor, and before you can catch up to it, into a small pool of water nearby. Oh well.

(Getting)-You pick up the ball. It feels smooth and bouncy. You are tempted to slam dunk it on ground to see how high it can go, but you decide against it.

 
the1whoscreams

the1whoscreams



  12/22/2016  3

Random event 1 (exclusive to desert-themed rooms with weather generators): The weather generator is malfunctioning. It's snowing in the middle of the desert...

Random event 2 (exclusive to cold rooms with weather generators): The weather generator is malfunctioning. There's a sudden heat wave.

Random event 3 (exclusive to the top level of C2toDS): A nearby cloud releases a dust devil. It whirls around, picking up objects close to it. Eventually, the dust devil disappears, scattering things everywhere.

Random event 4: A tumbleweed tumbles past you. You waste several seconds of your life staring at it. Strangely, the tumbleweed vanishes into thin air.

Random event 5: A small, white dog runs past you before you have a chance to interact with it.

 
mea
Chaotic Spriter

mea


 visit mea's website: Caos of the Creatures Realm
  12/25/2016

Merry Christmas everyone .....And.... here's a Christmas Update for everyone!

The Alpha version of the game is now ready to be shared!

The only problem is... I'm not sure how to share it on this site. It doesn't exactly fit in with any of the current download types.

Update details:
I've got quite a few of the descriptions you guys have shared into the game now. Some are in the game, but can't be found yet, but many of them can be found. The implementation of some of them may be very rough & will need improvement later on in a different update.
The meso itself is now able to be explored, as well as one added-on area. The rooms beyond the meso are currently locked & can't be reached until their descriptions are finished.

 
the1whoscreams

the1whoscreams



  1/17/2017

Those 'Looking at Snotrock' messages I put in are only supposed to be seen if you choose to just watch the snotrock.
 


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