USH'S STAR WARS GAME- Christmas Thread 2009

If you are on the mid-level with only one key, you are in trouble. There is a way back down but time will be against you.

On reflection, it is feasible to build such a route as an Adept... it's just not worth it. Aside from anyhting else, better to get the save after you've wrapped the lower parts up.

As for losing to Pax with an Adept- it's never happened to me.

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Yes, there are a lot of threats the Marauder gets a break with using a gun. As I mentioned, he is actually generally safer. But it is some of the IMPORTANT bits he has a slightly harder time with, the bits you HAVE to do, whilst the other classes can plot a path around the stuff that would cause them trouble. This is always the fate of all-rounders.

I learned the game with a Marauder. Based on his work, I knew exactly where to go with an Adept as soon as I saw his ability, as I went to the bits that had bugged me as a Marauder. Then you just walk through nearly everything as a Brute.

...damn, now I can't remember how I got to the gold key. Ahhhh.

Damm, how could I miss the islands as the Adept!

Sorry Ush, i was missing the additional options with Pax since there was just plain option of using the force.

A-ha! Careful there...

I've been using the Marauder but I keep dawdling around and getting caught by the lava.

Did get into a bowcaster duel with the sniper in the canyon, though.

I was trying to play it on my phone, but it seems the interpreters available only support z1 - z8 file format, not zblorb. Do you perhaps know what the difference is between them, Ush?

Just killed Zeng with my Adept! Got score of 9. I killed only Pax of other competitors. I will propably play again as Brute.

Is there only one black key to be found? And I think I found five places where the codeword Malphas could be used.

Even more interesting is that you can apparently fight Sith Lord in this game...

Ah, sadly, that iphone issue is currently insoluble. I mentioned the file size issue above; as part of various sophisticated programme strings in it and in beating the file size limit, this is a 'glulx' game rather than a straight out Frotz game (and it is worth noting, the frotz technology dates from the early 1980s, hence the file size limit being about 256k I think).

But Glulx is an entirely amateur, community-created platform and the people involved don't have the resources for an iphone development of it.

The latest version of Inform- the powerful tool used to create text adventures- has pretty much gone all glulx which is a problem for the iphone frotz version. Still, a heck of a lot of classics to be played on that.

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Yes, there is only one black key.

I asked because the black key fight was rather hard even though I could use the force, unless I misssed the codeword option again...

This game is almost impossible to win without several replays, so it is definately more challenging than previous one. I like the fact that it is non-linear (in particular the final fight seems well done) and that play is very different for various templates. I quess having multiple paths is something I really enjoy in gamebooks. Though more social interaction in your next gamebook would be cool.

By the way, my favourite gamebook so far is this one: http://www.ffproject.com/outsider.htm which is free to play online. It has interesting story and there are multiple possible endings. But this one is also excellent, Ush!

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Ah, sadly, that iphone issue is currently insoluble. I mentioned the file size issue above; as part of various sophisticated programme strings in it and in beating the file size limit, this is a 'glulx' game rather than a straight out Frotz game (and it is worth noting, the frotz technology dates from the early 1980s, hence the file size limit being about 256k I think).

But Glulx is an entirely amateur, community-created platform and the people involved don't have the resources for an iphone development of it.

The latest version of Inform- the powerful tool used to create text adventures- has pretty much gone all glulx which is a problem for the iphone frotz version. Still, a heck of a lot of classics to be played on that.

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Yes, there is only one black key.

How are those games written btw? Are there creators for that?

[edit] And do you have any suggestions for z games I could try, I have never really played text based adventures...just HHGTTG I think.

You missed the codeword option again I am afraid!

Oh indeed, I just replayed this part. It indeed seems that playing as Marauder is the greatest challenge as there is no obvious path in certain crucial moments.

By the way, how many traps can you make for Zeng in final fight and how many times can you beat him without full conclusion? And I cannot find a use for certain item that you can find and should work with communication array...

There are three traps possible for Zeng but one of them is class specific. There are only two places to duel Zeng to the death, so all the other places have different showdowns.

As a Marauder, I've trapped Zeng twice and beaten him in skirmishes four times, leaving him on -12 stamina and me with +2 bonuses to all rolls for the final fight. That's the way to do it...

I have just won the game as Brute. 8 points as I spied an Akura, which I killed, as well as Terek.

I didn`t like the plant fight with Zeng, though. I lost that both as Adept and Brute.

And I cannot fight the third trap besides array and plant.

Well, I just beat the game third time as the Marauder. I think I got all possible advantages against Zeng though he was at only -3 Stamina at final combat, so he had to miss one of my traps.

Actually, Marauder is not that hard to me, as he has only slightly weaker in Force than Adept (I still passed most Force rolls) but 2 point difference in Skill is significant.

That is rather not the point of what makes the Marauder more awkward, as I explained in detail above. Having better stats does not really make the game easier once you are playing it right- it makes him more survivable, but that's irrelevant as you can just learn to pick your dangers. What he lacks are easy win moves like the Adept and Brute have. He has the hardest time of all three finding safe ways to get the silver card, the gold card and a route up to the plateau. He has to absolutely chance it to fight either Pax or Akura, and he is the weakest by far against the mutant.

The best path for each class involves using no medi-kits, though in the case of the Brute this likely relies on his regeneration.

Originally posted by Bardock42
I was trying to play it on my phone, but it seems the interpreters available only support z1 - z8 file format, not zblorb. Do you perhaps know what the difference is between them, Ush?

A zblorb file is just a the game with a) cover art and b) a 'library card' classifying the game, so that it is easy to file with all the other games on the big Z-Machine file servers (if I ever submitted it for filing). I can build a Z8 version of the game. Ush is right about Glulx being the new standard but Island of Fire is actually a Z8 game at heart. It caused me no end of problems though (code re-write and I had to cut a couple of things from the game too) so for the next one I was going to make it Glulx. But if lots of people want to play on an iPhone or similar device I can aim for Z8 again. Post here or just let Ush know.

Oh, I use Frotz to play text games on my iTouch. It says it can play zblorb files (but oddly, not z8) though I haven't tried to run Island of Fire with it. In any case there should be a z8 version around soon.

I use an app called Twisty on Android. It says it can play z1 to z8, but not zblorb. though the developer page claims that it will be able to with the next revision. It would be pretty cool to just play wherever. I was just curious though whether I could play the game on the phone, I would probably just play your game on a PC anyways, so if no one else wants that, you don't have to make yourself any trouble just for me.