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Do people still play text based games?


electrode

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Over the years people have drawn more into graphics and images rather than reading texts I think,  I have checked Reddit and here too and some other sites developers are really working hard to get their games out and everybody wants to develop a game too, but when I check the  stats of the launched ones they don't even have up to 1k registered users.

I have a couple of ideas too and after setting up my dev environment to start and so the question came to me that what if nobody gives a damn about my game because nobody plays browser texts games anymore.

Or is there something I'm not seeing maybe some statistics I'm missing.

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I think if the gameplay is immersive, you can draw a player base by simply attracting the right attention. The best way to get your game out is word of mouth as far as text based RPGs go, and it always will be. That's what most games fail to realize, their not giving their players enough reason to bring all of their friends. The problem with text based RPG's is they are ALL the same, the only thing that changes is the genre, and maybe a few modifications here and there. I have also begun a project with a different thought process, bring gamers what they want, don't be out looking for the paycheck right away, as it will never happen. You need to establish the game first, then it's time for some bust ass advertising.

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26 minutes ago, electrode said:

Over the years people have drawn more into graphics and images rather than reading texts I think,  I have checked Reddit and here too and some other sites developers are really working hard to get their games out and everybody wants to develop a game too, but when I check the  stats of the launched ones they don't even have up to 1k registered users.

I have a couple of ideas too and after setting up my dev environment to start and so the question came to me that what if nobody gives a damn about my game because nobody plays browser texts games anymore.

Or is there something I'm not seeing maybe some statistics I'm missing.

I personally play torn.com and it's pretty fun, they have a huge player base and seem to be doing rather well. So I believe people do definitely play them, there's just a lot of competition with all the other genres of games.

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4 minutes ago, Dave said:

I personally play torn.com and it's pretty fun, they have a huge player base and seem to be doing rather well. So I believe people do definitely play them, there's just a lot of competition with all the other genres of games.

Hehehe I was expecting someone to mention torn, that game is crazy

22 minutes ago, InverTed said:

I think if the gameplay is immersive, you can draw a player base by simply attracting the right attention. The best way to get your game out is word of mouth as far as text based RPGs go, and it always will be. That's what most games fail to realize, their not giving their players enough reason to bring all of their friends. The problem with text based RPG's is they are ALL the same, the only thing that changes is the genre, and maybe a few modifications here and there. I have also begun a project with a different thought process, bring gamers what they want, don't be out looking for the paycheck right away, as it will never happen. You need to establish the game first, then it's time for some bust ass advertising.

Very good point here, especially the mafia genre ,

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Well it also depends what you mean by text-based games. We can assume that something like ZombieWars is indeed text-based, but what about Tribal Wars or indeed Ikariam? Each of these are text-based with the additional of some professionally made graphics; Torn is again text based with some rather good CSS though little graphics from what I remember.

Certainly I know many games that are in reality text-based however they are made to look like a graphical game. Sure, they are not No Man's Sky or Gran Turismo, but they are nevertheless presented in such a way as to appear graphically orientated.

For personal developers or very small teams it would be almost impossible to break into the full graphics market as the standard is set extremely high; consider the amount of work that goes into making a game that run on multiple platforms; with 4K graphics, and Dolby Surround  music .

I know I certainly play a number of text-based games (in its loosest sense of the phrase) and occasionally fire up the PS4 if I fancy a quick drive around Brands Hatch. For simplicity however a good text-based game, with pleasing graphics is ideal - you can login, play a few screens and logout without all the hassle of games consoles.

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35 minutes ago, InverTed said:

If you ever want a second opinion, or just an extra set of hands, let me know. Like I said I too have started my own project, maybe we could work together to bring in a game that players will enjoy.

I like that and sure id love to collaborate on something like that.

What web technology do you use to develop games?

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21 minutes ago, InverTed said:

I solely use XAMPP to test locally on my PC, as most of my work starts with PHP, it's very friendly to me lol.

If you won't mind you can push the project to private repo and let me have a look at it,

I write PHP / Laravel too and also can do stuff with JavaScript if need be.

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I'm running Ubuntu, so after installing a LAMP stack, I'm also testing localhost.
If it's design work (rare), I'll spin up my Android VM and make sure it looks as good on mobile as it does on desktop

Edit: I realised this is off-topic straight after posting. Will remove if requested

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1 minute ago, Magictallguy said:

I'm running Ubuntu, so after installing a LAMP stack, I'm also testing localhost.
If it's design work (rare), I'll spin up my Android VM and make sure it looks as good on mobile as it does on desktop

Edit: I realised this is off-topic straight after posting. Will remove if requested

You do not need that though you might as well use this browser to test for mobile screens 

https://blisk.io/

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The comparison I always make is between movies and books.  Sure, the Harry Potter films are fantastic but there will always be a group of people who prefer to read even when there is a compelling and flashier alternative to watch with all kinds of crazy CGI.

Board games are another comparison.  Call of Duty is great, but so is chess.

Text-based games will always have a market.  That's evident enough by the traction both here in MWG and pbbg.com.  I'm becoming more and more convinced that we're on the cusp of a second era, we just need the right coordination as devs to elevate ourselves and our projects to meet modern user expectations for web/app UI.

The market is there, it's the offerings we provide that need to catch up.

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1 minute ago, FoohonPie said:

The comparison I always make is between movies and books.  Sure, the Harry Potter films are fantastic but there will always be a group of people who prefer to read even when there is a compelling and flashier alternative to watch with all kinds of crazy CGI. [...]

Then there's people like me. I like both equally

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3 minutes ago, FoohonPie said:

The comparison I always make is between movies and books.  Sure, the Harry Potter films are fantastic but there will always be a group of people who prefer to read even when there is a compelling and flashier alternative to watch with all kinds of crazy CGI.

Board games are another comparison.  Call of Duty is great, but so is chess.

Text-based games will always have a market.  That's evident enough by the traction both here in MWG and pbbg.com.  I'm becoming more and more convinced that we're on the cusp of a second era, we just need the right coordination as devs to elevate ourselves and our projects to meet modern user expectations for web/app UI.

The market is there, it's the offerings we provide that need to catch up.

Thanks so much for this, Inspiring.

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No problem!  I've been pouring myself into my own game for nearly 3 years now, so the question of "what if nobody gives a damn" is very familiar to me.

On another note, I do believe there is something about our medium specifically, or at least with persistent text-based worlds, that provide an experience that simply cannot exist in any other way.  I wrote about this a bit here:

Quote

[...] the medium itself makes a persistent universe somehow feel more real and consequential for the long term. I don’t get this from persistent games on other platforms, and definitely not on browser games that aren’t persistent.

There’s something about this exact mix that feels like an extension of other things that I’m doing online, and therefore inherently more immersive as if the experiences in my online life and my online game life overlap.

In other words, the line between "game" and "real life" becomes much fuzzier when the communication mechanism (reading and typing) for both is exactly the same.  That is 100% unique to persistent browser offerings, in a way that console or pc games will never be able to capture.

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24 minutes ago, InverTed said:

Electrode, if you'd like, I have a skype account you can contact me on and I'll share files via there. Much simpler for me to keep anything all in one place at this stage.

It's cool, You can send your skype ID to my inbox I'll send you a request right away.

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48 minutes ago, InverTed said:

Electrode, if you'd like, I have a skype account you can contact me on and I'll share files via there. Much simpler for me to keep anything all in one place at this stage.

 

22 minutes ago, electrode said:

It's cool, You can send your skype ID to my inbox I'll send you a request right away.

We also have a discord you guys are welcome to use!

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On 3/5/2019 at 1:08 PM, Nickson said:

I like browser based games and it's almost all I play. I do prefer a bit more than pure text, the eyes need something too. A little graphics didn't hurt anyone yet ?

.

Edited by Aveneia
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