I tried a quest game last year as part of the interactive fiction competition, and with no offense to the author, I was...not particularly impressed with the system. It has some really neat looking features, and is a wonderful idea. I was also impressed with the default sapi support the game contains; this is a big help to users of all screen readers, not just jaws. However, it needs work. First off, all the features in the world can't make up for problems with the parser, the part of the program that understands your text commands. I found that the quest parser can't compare to that of inform or tads, the leading systems in text adventure games; it's not even as good as the adrift parser. The object "me" can't be used for the player (so no "look at me", etc). Standard abbreviations in text adventures are missing (z for wait, g for again, etc). The oops verb, to correct a mistake in your last command, is missing. I couldn't get command strings to work (go up then look then go up). The undo command is completely missing, an oversight I have never seen in any other adventure system I've played with. I, also, had problems with the stability of the program (though I was using an older version). I found reviewing previous game output bulky, buttons in the player improperly labeled, program response could lag at times, and the sapi support could have used a little more control (a way to replay the last text output, and a way to stop reading in the middle without entering another command). Also, unlike tads/inform games, quest games can only be played on windows (as far as I understand it), strongly limiting the audience for quest games. However, Quest *does* show promise; multiplayer interactive fiction is really interesting, and the single player features in quest that are available are done right. I would strongly encourage the author to keep up the work he's started. The system is immature now, but with time and further releases, it could become something on a level with hugo or Alan. Liam Erven wrote: > I'm not sure how many people have tried this program. It shows promise, but > I've been having isues with the editor being unstable and terminating. I > also downloaded a few games off the website, and they all seemed to crash. > I've been getting automation runtime errors across the board. it's a really > cool concept and seems to offer a lot of excelent features. I really like > the concept of scripting and net play, but the stability is a big concern. > Has anyone else tried this out, and what do you all think? > > Liam > > >
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