Whizzard's Guide to Text Adventure Authorship v1.1 - Part 7 by Kevin Wilson Originally published on CompuServe/Internet Supplied by both Graham Cluley and Richard Hunt @~Concluded from Issue 42 15 ----------------------- Betatesting -------------------------- I can't emphasize this part of game design enough. You really need a good sized troop of testers. You won't find every bug, not even after the game is released. But do try to get all the really nasty ones out first. Call for volunteers on r.a.i-f, you'll probably get from 10-30 eager beavers. Don't feel threatened. You'll be glad you had so many responses when mail starts bouncing back to you saying no such account, and people flake because of an unexpectedly heavy classload this semester. Take it in stride. Also corner a few of your local friends and tie them to a chair and make them play it for you. You'll get a faster response on bugs that way. I have found that my game will work perfectly unless I let someone else touch the keyboard while it's running. Then, pfft. The very first command one friend entered crashed the game, and he gave me a dirty look. This will happen. Gird your loins for the horrible, demeaning process of debugging. Betatesting is an experiment in publicly embarrassing yourself. It's got to be done, though, if you want to produce quality games. So cheer up, and keep your mind on the fact that you aren't paying your testers anything except maybe a small registration discount on the game they're testing. Muahahahaha. 16 --------- The gimmick and its place in your game ----------- Think of all the old Infocom games and consider how many of them had a gimmick built into the game. Trinity had its pop-up poetry, Seastalker its little radar map, Suspended its six robots, etc. You should put some serious consideration into a gimmick. They cause your game to stand out from the crowd. If anyone comes up with an intriguing gimmick they don't want, pass it along to me. I'm always glad to get ideas, and I give credit where credit is due. 17 ----- Packaging your game with an eye for registration ------ Now, what do most people remember about Infocom games? The neat little trinkets and books that came with them, usually. Bear this in mind as you plan your game. You should be planning the more physical aspects of it even as you write it. Find out what packaging will cost as soon as possible. Look at your budget (or lack of one) and decide what you can afford to include. For my first game, I'm planning on strictly printed props like diary pages and flyers. Later, if I get a good response, I may go out on a limb and have a Space Miner's Union Member card done up, or any of a zillion other things I could do. The trick is to keep your costs down and shop around until you find the VERY best buy for your buck. The one cent that you are paying more per copy adds up quickly to equal lost revenue and funds for your next game. Even something as mundane as a rock can become an exotic keepsake if you do things right. Another aspect of packaging is notification of contests and/or newsletters available from your company. I highly recommend contests open only to registered users. It's just one more thing to help convince them that their money would be best invested in your wallet. A newsletter will probably have no immediate benefits. However, you will accumulate a core group of steady customers that you can easily get input from. A company can survive just off a good hardcore user group if it's big enough. 18 -------- Marketing and distributing your game --------- Oh what a tangled web we weave. In the new world economy, you want to be able to gain access to as many dollars, pounds, yen, roubles, and marks as you can. This isn't easy to do. There is a distribution company that says they will send your game out to thousands of BBSes on a CD for just $100 a year (to cover membership). It's called ASP. I may try it later on and let you guys know how it works. They have some conditions which they slap on you for the privilege of you paying them to distribute your game. You have to include their various legalese files with your game. You cannot cripple it in any way. You may not use any obstrusive registration reminders in your game. Frankly, I don't think it's any of their business whether you cripple your game or not, but they're putting themselves out on a limb for your program, so I wouldn't worry about it. There are also the various credit card vendors that will take your credit card orders for a small part of your fee. This strikes me as an excellent strategy to attract impulse shoppers to our games. Get 'em while they're dying to get the free hint book and paper cup included with every copy of your game. Hell, let em order two copies. I'll include all these important info things at the end of this guide. By the way, you'll probably also need to get a P.O Box to serve as a registration sending point. Lastly, don't forget the IRS. Watch your taxes. Now, don't neglect your customers. Get orders out in a timely manner, and send a letter of apology to anyone whose order you take too long on. A letter should be enclosed in any event. This is one of the elite of the computer world, a registered user. Be courteous, but try not to kiss up too much. They should feel rewarded for their honesty, not like they're doing you a favor. If your program is good, then it deserves the registration. If you have future projects planned, then try to stick a 'catalog' in with your registered version describing them. Keep track of your registered users, and send out pamphlets when you have another game and some money to spend on them. Good god, what I wouldn't do for a roster of the Zork User's Group, or a list of those people who sent in the warranty cards from Lost Treasures of Infocom 1 and 2. Sadly, the former no longer exists, and Activision has the latter. Too bad they'll never use it in the manner in which it is meant to be used. See if your local computer stores are interested in carrying a few registered versions in stock, but don't hold your breath. I would suggest print advertising if it weren't for the tremendous expense involved. Now that you've jumped those hurdles, you're going to try for some FREE advertising, or nearly so. Contact every magazine listed at the bottom of this guide and offer to send them a registered version to review. Do this only after you have a product that stands up to betatesting and looks as good as you're willing to pay for. Enclose a short note notifying the magazine that they are not eligible for any contest you're running. You're giving them a free sample, it's not fair to let them win the goodies too. Anyway, keep in close contact with them, answer their questions, offer to write articles on the hardships of IF. If you're lucky and your game is good, it'll get some rave reviews. If you get poor reviews, try not to take it too hard. The magazine is just doing its job as it sees fit. Try harder next time, or, if they are violently opposed to text adventures, stop sending them sample copies to review. A text adventure should be judged on merit rather than lack of flashy graphics and sound. Well, if you've gotten this far, congratulations, you did well. You have released a new text adventure out into the hungry waters of the market. Cross your fingers and whisper a quiet prayer to the gods that blessed Zork. I really hope that the money starts flowing in, at least enough to make it worth your while. As I said, IF seems to have a small market, but I think if we have enough quality products out there that are well marketed, we might be able to edge our foot back in the door. Keep pushing your game every chance you get. Post it on flyers around your school, or the bulletin board at work. People are always interested in a small 'home-town' company. Work your way up to the point where you can afford trinkets for your packages, and glossy pictures on the box covers. Eventually you may have a respected company, able to leave the difficult whitewater shareware market and move on to the smoother retail market. My best wishes go with you. Afterword and Closing --------------------- Thank you for taking the time to read my guide to writing text adventures. I hope that you've profited from my work. I hope that you've found it somewhat witty and not too boring. I hope that you'll write a text adventure. If you do, send me a copy, would you? I enjoy these sort of things. What follows this is a list of useful places to contact as you are getting your game together. There are also some helpful hints interspersed in there. Finally, there will be a warning, and then a plug for my own company, Vertigo software. You needn't read it if you don't want to. Goodbye and remember: "Imagination sold and serviced here." A List of Useful Addresses -------------------------- Most useful addresses you can get from The Shareware Book. It is ftp'able from wuarchive.wustl.edu as /systems/ibmpc/msdos/info/sharebk1.zip. This is a fairly comprehensive guide. Actually, I believe that I will just refer you to it here because I can't hope to match the number of useful addresses he has in this book. Excellent book, but be warned, it will depress you. He takes the standpoint of a hardcore businessman that sells business software. The only mention of text adventures per se is a small blurb in the 'Not Hot' section advising you not to write them. I say write your game, but don't let your hopes get up too high. Also, in regards to the book, I would work my way up to some of the things he describes. Definitely try to find and use an uploading service though. You do want as much distribution as possible. And definitely rig an agreement with some company to handle credit card orders. That's really all I would worry about until you get a magazine review or two, and start to sell some copies. Maybe after awhile you could try and distribute overseas. I'm not too clear on what's involved, but it seems complicated. There are some registration services overseas that you might use, though. Well, that about covers it. All the addresses and phone numbers and such are in this book. Good book. Oops. Here's something I forgot in my original posting of this guide, the magazines I promised in Ch. 18. Without further ado...here are the addresses I have for them. Game Bytes- Ross Erickson - rwericks@ingr.com 129.135.252.121 205-730-4019 - voice 205-730-6445 - FAX READ GAME BYTES MAGAZINE! Found at: ftp.uml.edu - /msdos/Games/Game_Bytes wuarchive.wustl.edu - /systems/msdos/Games/Game_Bytes Intelligent Gamer- "Let's see... You might write that "Intelligent Gamer" is a monthly electronic magazine that will review games (shareware or commercial) that are sent to us. Our FTP site is BUSOP.CIT.WAYNE.EDU in the directory pub\pselect\intgmr, if people would like to see current and back issues. All issues are free. We also sell ads. Please also mention that people may write me (Joe Barlow) at jbarlow@sparc01.cc.ncsu.edu or Joe_Barlow@ncsu.edu if they have any further questions. Thanks!" Vidbits- mkruse@saunix.sau.edu (Matt Kruse) (This is the only address I have from them.) Computer Gaming World- This is the only printed magazine on the list. Definitely try for it. Printed reviews are great for publicity. They'll probably ask you for two copies of your game. Or at least that's what they want from me. 76703.622@compuserve.com - o -