So I'm in the process of creating this new RPG and I need people to test it out and give advice for further development. Oh, and it's also availible on my website: labyrinthianbeta.webs.com. If any of you wanna check it out it'd be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
-itarechi

With all due respect, the game could do with some proofreading, but all in all I think the final result could be quite interesting. For aesthetics, I suggest choosing a different font; bolded words (like room titles) are not easily readable. In terms of content, try adding some descriptions of, say, the rug in the entry hall or the barrels in Room 3.

(SPOILER) I'm not sure what to do regarding the large stone door in Room 1. I think the combination I want is 1739, but I don't know what verb/command to use. (END OF SPOILER)

Hi, I've played the game and came across a few things that I personally think need to be addressed. I understand that it's still very much under construction and some of what I say you may have already been planning to deal with, but I'll give my opinions as if the parts I played were in a final release.

For those intending to play, this post will contain some spoilers!

1. The Intro
The first words on the opening screen are a lengthy discussion about the specifics of the games command mechanics and some general IF commands. This should really be placed in a different help screen (you tell the player at the end of the prologue that they should type HELP to access it). On the subject, the wording of that intro has quite an aggressive tone that implies "this is what you can do, this is what you can't do, and if you don't like it then you can go to hell." It's confronting to the player and puts them on the back foot rather than drawing them into this world you have created. And people who've been put on the back foot are more likely to notice and be annoyed by flaws and omissions, when I suspect the purpose of the text was to achieve the opposite and brush them away light-heartedly.

2. Prologue And Motivation
After the list of commands, they player is simply thrown into a labyrinth/dungeon with no explanation as to why. Who am I? Where am I, when is this, and why am I here? What should I be trying to do? On your site you do address some of these things, but it really needs to be put front and center when you start the game.

3. Visual Style
The visual presentation is actually quite good at evoking the atmosphere of this world. I do agree with Connor Wade though that the font needs to be changed slightly to make it easier to read. It seems like the whole thing is bold and it can be hard to focus on certain words.

4. Scenery And Object Implementation
There are practically no scenery objects in any of the rooms. In each room description you use multiple nouns, but if you try to examine any of them and you get "you can't see that." This is very jarring for most IF players as you clearly can see it- it was in the room description. Same goes for using objects. In room 1 for instance, I couldn't "pull lever" or even "use lever." I couldn't examine the wheels or numbers and had no idea what to do with any of them. There was a door that I couldn't "unlock" or "unlock with key" but walking south unlocked it automatically. The automatic thing is fine, but not including the verb "unlock" for it as well creates an asymmetry that can cause people to get stuck on something for no reason.

5. Verb Implementation
All possible actions should take into account the most common verb and all reasonable synonyms for that action. So using the orc as an example, I couldn't kill orc, fight orc, attack orc, kill orc with dagger, throw dagger at orc, etc. I could only "use dagger on orc," which if someone is aware of how the Quest GUI is set up they can guess quite easily, but it's not the most intuitive sentence.

6. Getting Killed
Dying in a game for a reason that you couldn't have foreseen can be very frustrating. When it happens in Quest games it is 10x more annoying because you cannot enter the commands "undo," or "restore." So even if you've saved the game, which many people will forget to, you still have to leave the game and re-open it to load your save. Here it wasn't a problem because it's near the beginning of the game, but further through many people just wouldn't bother with re-opening the game. If you're going to have unanticipated comedic deaths like in the shop, you really need to code something that will let the player undo their turn rather than lock the player out and finish the game.

On the subject of comedic deaths, there is a bit of a tonal inconsistency in the game. Most of it is a kind of brooding dungeon atmosphere, but then there are these manic bursts of almost childlike "haha sucked in" comedy that don't quite fit in with the rest of the game. Add that to the random death and hassle of reloading, the player is more likely to just go "what the hell? well screw this..."

7. Object Weights
This is a really good system for controlling the inventory and possibly for aspects of puzzles also. However, I would suggest that the weight of objects not show up every time when you examine it, as it starts to feel rather pointless. I think a better system would be to show the weight either when the player picks it up, or the first time it is examined, and then if they want to check it again you can allow the play to weigh the object themselves using "weigh [object]."

8. Miscellaneous
Just a few things that are more specific:
- If you have multiple objects (like torches) you should stack them up so your inventory has "2 torches" instead of "a torch, a torch." Having them separate also make it harder to use because every time you use it, Quest asks you "did you mean 1. torch or 2. torch?"
- Syntax when you try to buy a third torch - "you don't have enough an emerald with you."
- After you've unlocked the door to the shop it still says "to the south you can see a locked door." Why would you lock the door again after leaving?
- open pouch and examine pouch when it's open doesn't list it's children. i.e. you don't know you have a strap without typing inventory.
- Intersection 1: Description says you can go east but you can't. (I assume it's under construction.)
- The chappel doesn't tell you you can leave to the west. Which although it is obvious because that's the way you came from, if you don't have the compass or an exit list you it's still a good idea to include it in the description.
- In the intro you say you must use "eat" instead of drink, but it's quite quick and easy to create a "drink" command that works exactly the same way as eat that you could apply to liquids. If you want help doing this (or anything else for that matter) I'd be willing to lend a hand.


So they're my initial opinions and pieces of advice, it seems like a bit list but I hope you take it in the spirit it is intended.

Wow. Thanks guys. Your advice really helped me improve the game. Although, I assume you played it either on Saturday or early Sunday, because I actually fixed many of the problems you pointed out and updated it later that day. I just uploaded another update a few seconds ago, also.

Anyway, I'd really love it if you gave me more advice on later editions as I continue to develop them. Yep... and if you there's anything specific you'd like to see in the game, like certain items, or places, characters, e.t.c. I'd be happy to add them for you, (within reason, of course.)