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Why is the title '...for narrative games'? The library's front page itself doesn't say anything about 'narrative' games. For that matter, what is a "narrative

Why is the title '...for narrative games'? The library's front page itself doesn't say anything about 'narrative' games. For that matter, what is a "narrative game". None of the sample games would fit the definition in my head of "narrative game". If I google for "narrative game", the sample games certainly don't seem to fit. And, assuming there is a common definition of "narrative game", what does this library do special to facility making "narrative games" that other game engines do not?

SamBam 1y ago
Indeed, I was assuming it was a text adventure engine.
achtaitaipai 1y ago
You're right, there are only two more "narrative" examples accessible via the French version of the site. I used the term because the turn-based structure and focus on messages, prompts, and dialogues felt suited to narrative or text-driven games, but maybe that’s not the best label. Happy to rethink it!
- WorldMaker 1y ago
  "ZZT-like" would be the adjective/genre descriptor I'd use for this. It's a slowly forgotten genre these years (unlike "Rogue-like" and "Rogue-lite" you see being thrown around everywhere), but a classic genre of the early PC nonetheless. https://museumofzzt.com/ https://museumofzzt.com/
  - achtaitaipai 1y ago
    I didn’t know about ZZT, but that makes a lot of sense now that I’ve looked into it. The format, simplicity, and screen-by-screen feel do seem closely related. Thanks for the reference. That museum is a great find!
    - WorldMaker 1y ago
      I recall Anna Anthropy's book on ZZT doing a great job of capturing the feel of the early PC ZZT scene and some of its AOL/CompuServe/Prodigy communities in the early 90s. Might serve as other bits of inspiration, if you like short history books: https://www.amazon.com/Boss-Fight-Books-Anna-Anthropy/dp/1940535026 https://www.amazon.com/Boss-Fight-Books-Anna-Anthropy/dp/194...
- socalgal2 1y ago
  Was just curious if I was missing something that facilitated "narrative games" more than other engines. It's a cool project. I like that your examples use ASCII maps. So simple to prototype. No need to break out a map editor.
90s_dev 1y ago
I was kind of hoping it would be for text based adventures, since last night I had the idea for one, where you're an adult and you have to do adult things like file taxes and go to work and dust your house and the less you do these things the harder life gets, but the more you do them, the easier it gets, and the goal of the game is to die with no debt.
- hombre_fatal 1y ago
  You've got an idea. Now for the hard part: make it fun. :D Especially in a text-only medium.
  - 90s_dev 1y ago
    My only plan for that was to add shadertoys effects to the text. Not great hence I hadn't started.
    - hombre_fatal 1y ago
      Speaking of, check out this shader ascii text game I saw on Steam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfe3VK7H6uI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfe3VK7H6uI I kind of love the look. Maybe with a new set of ansi escapes we can get Zork to look like that. :D
      - 90s_dev 1y ago
        That is really cool and inspires me and makes me want to play it and make stuff like it, thanks for showing it to me. I really do live under a rock it seems.
      - nihiven 1y ago
        That is cool! I like the look of this one too: https://andreifomin.itch.io/effulgence https://andreifomin.itch.io/effulgence
        hombre_fatal 1y ago
hombre_fatal 1y ago
I think the idea is that it gives you a declarative way to build simple adventure games with text and dialogue. Its selling point isn't for building mechanics-first games like a more general engine (e.g. Pico-8). But what you can do is easily make maps, a character that walks between maps, NPCs, and triggers for dialogue/text. Consider other engines aimed at non-programmers like RPGMaker: the main games people make with it are "narrative games" where you walk around and read text/dialogue, usually with zero additional mechanics outside of the built-in map + trigger system. It's probably 90% of games built with it! So I'd reckon they're saying "you can build those games with this tool too".
- RodgerTheGreat 1y ago
  A closer comparison than Pico-8 might Bitsy or PuzzleScript, but with all the power (and complexity) of arbitrary JavaScript code underneath.
dicytea 1y ago
From the intro[^1]: > Odyc.js is a tiny JavaScript library designed to create narrative games by combining pixels, sounds, text, and a bit of logic. [^1]: https://odyc.dev/doc/getting-started/intro https://odyc.dev/doc/getting-started/intro

SamBam 1y ago

Indeed, I was assuming it was a text adventure engine.

achtaitaipai 1y ago

You're right, there are only two more "narrative" examples accessible via the French version of the site. I used the term because the turn-based structure and focus on messages, prompts, and dialogues felt suited to narrative or text-driven games, but maybe that’s not the best label. Happy to rethink it!

WorldMaker 1y ago
"ZZT-like" would be the adjective/genre descriptor I'd use for this. It's a slowly forgotten genre these years (unlike "Rogue-like" and "Rogue-lite" you see being thrown around everywhere), but a classic genre of the early PC nonetheless. https://museumofzzt.com/ https://museumofzzt.com/
- achtaitaipai 1y ago
  I didn’t know about ZZT, but that makes a lot of sense now that I’ve looked into it. The format, simplicity, and screen-by-screen feel do seem closely related. Thanks for the reference. That museum is a great find!
  - WorldMaker 1y ago
    I recall Anna Anthropy's book on ZZT doing a great job of capturing the feel of the early PC ZZT scene and some of its AOL/CompuServe/Prodigy communities in the early 90s. Might serve as other bits of inspiration, if you like short history books: https://www.amazon.com/Boss-Fight-Books-Anna-Anthropy/dp/1940535026 https://www.amazon.com/Boss-Fight-Books-Anna-Anthropy/dp/194...
socalgal2 1y ago
Was just curious if I was missing something that facilitated "narrative games" more than other engines. It's a cool project. I like that your examples use ASCII maps. So simple to prototype. No need to break out a map editor.

90s_dev 1y ago

I was kind of hoping it would be for text based adventures, since last night I had the idea for one, where you're an adult and you have to do adult things like file taxes and go to work and dust your house and the less you do these things the harder life gets, but the more you do them, the easier it gets, and the goal of the game is to die with no debt.

hombre_fatal 1y ago
You've got an idea. Now for the hard part: make it fun. :D Especially in a text-only medium.
- 90s_dev 1y ago
  My only plan for that was to add shadertoys effects to the text. Not great hence I hadn't started.
  - hombre_fatal 1y ago
    Speaking of, check out this shader ascii text game I saw on Steam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfe3VK7H6uI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfe3VK7H6uI I kind of love the look. Maybe with a new set of ansi escapes we can get Zork to look like that. :D
    - 90s_dev 1y ago
      That is really cool and inspires me and makes me want to play it and make stuff like it, thanks for showing it to me. I really do live under a rock it seems.
    - nihiven 1y ago
      That is cool! I like the look of this one too: https://andreifomin.itch.io/effulgence https://andreifomin.itch.io/effulgence
      - hombre_fatal 1y ago

hombre_fatal 1y ago

I think the idea is that it gives you a declarative way to build simple adventure games with text and dialogue. Its selling point isn't for building mechanics-first games like a more general engine (e.g. Pico-8). But what you can do is easily make maps, a character that walks between maps, NPCs, and triggers for dialogue/text. Consider other engines aimed at non-programmers like RPGMaker: the main games people make with it are "narrative games" where you walk around and read text/dialogue, usually with zero additional mechanics outside of the built-in map + trigger system. It's probably 90% of games built with it! So I'd reckon they're saying "you can build those games with this tool too".

RodgerTheGreat 1y ago
A closer comparison than Pico-8 might Bitsy or PuzzleScript, but with all the power (and complexity) of arbitrary JavaScript code underneath.

dicytea 1y ago

From the intro[^1]: > Odyc.js is a tiny JavaScript library designed to create narrative games by combining pixels, sounds, text, and a bit of logic. [^1]: https://odyc.dev/doc/getting-started/intro https://odyc.dev/doc/getting-started/intro