Moonbase 3 text adventure game now ported to Android

[Mark Eaton]

Some 25 years ago I loved playing text adventure games. There was something about them that got lost as the years went by.

For me it was the ability to actually stop and think about what I wanted to do. It wasn't a matter of just pressing buttons on a console, but I had to consider how to solve problems intelligently.

I enjoyed them so much that I started writing my own text adventure games on an Amstrad CPC464 using Basic and later my dad followed suit with some great games of his own.

A couple of years ago dad showed me some websites that proved people are still playing these games, which surprised me being in the age of 3D graphics.

I don't spend much recreational time on a computer these days, I'd rather use a smartphone or a tablet due to their convenience.

And that got me thinking.

I searched the Android market and I struggled to find even a handful of text adventure games. So, like some 25 years ago, I wrote one for Android: Moonbase 3.

My dad originally wrote this for the Amstrad CPC6128 back in 1991 and he sold a number in England at that time.

Hopefully now that it is on Android you might want to give it a try yourself.

There's a demo version which is about 20% of the full game but has all the features like:

Different font sizes
Text to speech so that the game can read the text aloud
Speech input to issue your commands
Gestures. You can use an arrowhead to indicate north or south, and swipe to indicate east or west
And, of course, classing text input
It's link is: https://market.android.com/details?id=Moonbase3.demo

If you enjoy that try the full version: https://market.android.com/details?id=M ... 3.Complete

Based on how these games go I'll consider creating more of these old classics.

Let me know what you think.

[Kherr]

Considering what you're linking to is A: Retro and B: Gaming I'm going to let it stay. Just know that solicitation is not normally allowed, usually you get banned for it.

On a lighter note, nice to see that text based games are still alive. Hope you get some money from it, lord knows I'd like to make some money from my music. :3

[Mark Eaton]

LOL, hope you make some money on your music one day.

Sorry though for going over the line here with my post. But thanks for letting me keep it here too.

A few people have downloaded the demo now, a couple have even offered some great suggestions which I am implementing. An autosave is the biggest one at the moment.

Time will tell how well it goes.


Kind regards

Mark Eaton

[Mark Eaton]

I just wanted to let people know that I have ported another one of my father's games, Mystery of the Dark Manor, to Android devices. This uses the same engine that was programmed for Moonbase 3 so should provide a consistent user experience.

Mystery of the Dark Manor was originally released in the UK in 1992.

Its features include:
* Different font sizes
* Text to speech
* Speech input
* Android gestures to swipe the screen when moving in the different compass directions

Based on feedback from people I have made some updates to Moonbase 3.

As such both games now include:
* more helpful information when starting
* training video (more for those not overly familiar with text adventure games)
* autosave
* save/load game lists are timestamped and sorted by most recent saved first
* bug fixes


The demo for both games link here:

https://market.android.com/details?id=Mystery.demo
https://market.android.com/details?id=Moonbase3.demo


The full versions link here:

https://market.android.com/details?id=Mystery.Complete
https://market.android.com/details?id=M ... 3.Complete


I appreciate the feedback people give to me on these games, it has helped make them better.


Kind regards

Mark Eaton

[Mark Eaton]

A third game written by my father, Barrie Eaton, has now been released to Android devices.

This text adventure game, The Ice Guardian, was originally released in 1991 in the U.K.

Like Moonbase 3 and Mystery of the Dark Manor, this uses the same engine to maintain a consistent user experience.

The demo links here: https://market.android.com/details?id=Guardian.demo

And, if you like it, the full release is here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... n.Complete

Hope people have as much fun playing it as I did converting it for Android

[Kherr]

Still going with this stuff I see? Giving any of the money to your father? :p

[Mark Eaton]

I'm still covering my expenses at this stage. I'll let you know if I ever make enough to quit my day job.; -)

[Mark Eaton]

Well I dropped the prices for my existing games down to half of their original cost. Maybe AUS$1.99 is asking too much. On Android Developer Market it seems the lowest I can go is AUS$0.99 so I have set them all for this price. This is for:

* Moonbase 3
* Mystery of the Dark Manor
* The Ice Guardian

In addition I have released the Time Traveller. This was a game I did with my dad on the Amstrad CPC464 using the Graphic Adventure Creator, or GAC as it was commonly known then. We did 3 games in total using the GAC.

This particular one was done in 1988.

Back then, due to memory constraints, we couldn't provide pictures for every location like what my dad could do with the 3 above games already released to Android (they were released later on the more powerful Amstrad CPC6128). As such about 66% of the images are unique.

A whole new generation of people are now playing text adventure games. As such people may find this one easier than the others already released.

Well if you get a chance the demo is here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=time.demo

The complete version for AUS$0.99 is here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... e.Complete

If you do get a chance to play, hope you enjoy it!


Mark Eaton