This is a full re-write of Quest, an interactive fiction app, to pure JavaScript. An experimental game can be found here.
A Successor to Quest 5
Quest 5 is written in C#, with some Visual Basic, has its own scripting language, ASL, and also uses JavaScript for the UI. Players can either download a dedicated player/editor or use the web version, in the latter case the game runs on the textadventures.co.uk server. In contrast, Quest 6 is written entirely JavaScript, and runs in the player's browser. This means:
Better for players
- No lag between turns
- Game does not time-out
- Saved games will play in the latest version of the game
Better for authors
- Authors can upload games to their own web site
- Authors are learning/using JavaScript, the computer language of the internet, rather than ASL, which is exclusive to Quest 5
- Authors can change absolutely anything in the game system; everything is accessible
- Authors can create games on Linux and Mac, as well as Windows
Better for me
- No need to support legacy games in the app (the Quest 5 player/editor and the web player both have to support every version of Quest 5, and Quest 4 - and I think all the way back to Quest 1)
Alex had some experiments into this before he quit. QuestJS was hoped to convert a Quest .quest file to pure JavaScript. QuestKit was supposed to do pretty much the same as I am doing here. Arguably Squiffy is another attempt, being entirely JavaScript, though without a parser.
Is there an editor?
No, but it is under development. It is in another repository here, so go there to learn more on how that is going.
However, you do not need a dedicated editor to create games, and the Wiki includes a tutorial that will take you through how you can already create a game.
Will it be possible to convert existing Quest games?
Originally the answer was a definite no, however during developmenmt of the editor it became apparent that an XML file would be good to support blockly, so I have changed my position somewhat. The editor will now convert most things, but not ASL code currently.
What does QuestJS code look like?
This is what the code for QuestJS looks like. It creates a player, two rooms and a hat.
createItem("me", PLAYER(), {
loc:"lounge",
regex:/^(me|myself|player)$/,
examine:'Just a regular guy',
})
createRoom("lounge", {
desc:'A small room with an old settee and a tv.',
east:new Exit('kitchen'),
})
createRoom("kitchen", {
desc:"The kitchen looks clean and well-equipped.",
afterFirstEnter:function() {
msg("You can smell freshly baked bread!")
},
west:new Exit("lounge"),
})
createItem("hat", WEARABLE(), {
examine:"It is straw boater, somewhat the worse for wear.",
loc:"lounge",
})What do QuestJS games look like?
Here are some examples:
- There is a tutorial on how to play parser games here.
- There is a "Cloak of Darkness" sample game, more about that here.
- There is an example game where I test most of the features here.
Where do I learn more?
Take a look at the Wiki to see the full documentation.