I'd like to announce the project I'm currently working on: a new choose-your-own-adventure (CYOA) text game creation platform built on Hive.
With this platform you can easily create and share your own interactive stories, where every decision the player makes affects the outcome of the game.
It is aimed at non-programmers, with an easy way to write stories that guide players through mazes of choices and thrilling outcomes.
It will allow you to create a web of possibilities that will keep the player engaged and eager to explore each path.
The whole game is expressed as a markdown document. Here's how it looks like:
# Game title
## Start
Some text describing the situation.
- [choice A label](#choice-a-section)
- [choice B label](#choice-b-section)
## Choice A section
Some more text describing the effect user choice had on the world.
## Choice B section
Some other text describing some other effect user choice had on the world.
Heading contains the name of the game.
The sub-heading indicates the section of the game. Only one section is visible at a time.
Start is the first section of the game.
The choices are presented as a list of links to other sections. The choice label is what is presented to the user. The choice link is a slugified section label (this is a limitation of the markdown format - it cannot contain spaces). This basically means that all spaces are replaced by hyphens and the text is lowercased. The hash is optional and can be omitted. If the link is the same as the label, the link can be skipped and left blank. It's then automatically set to the slugified label.
That's it. You could probably start writing your first game straight away.
You can have as many choices as you like, though realistically you should limit it to 2-4 per section.
Currently the supported HTML tags are very limited. In particular, images, videos and audio are not available. External links are not supported either.
You can use any other markdown element you like, it doesn't have any special meaning.
There's no limit to the length of the game, but the standard Hive Blockchain rules apply.
# The Enchanted Forest
## Start
You find yourself at the entrance of a mysterious forest. The path splits in two directions.
- [Take the left path]()
- [Take the right path]()
## Take the left path
You choose the left path. It leads you to a clearing with a sparkling pond.
- [Drink from the pond](#drink)
- [Continue past the pond](#continue)
## Take the right path
You choose the right path. You come across an old, wooden cabin.
- [Knock on the cabin door](#knock)
- [Sneak around the cabin](#sneak)
## Drink
You drink the water and suddenly feel energized. You've gained magical powers!
**The End**
## Continue
As you walk past the pond, you discover a hidden treasure chest!
**The End**
## Knock
An old wizard opens the door and invites you in for tea and magic lessons.
**The End**
## Sneak
While sneaking, you trip on a root and fall into a portal, transporting you to another world!
**The End**
I hope this has sparked some interest. It's not available to the public yet. I have an initial version running locally on my machine, but it will take some time to get it ready for a wider audience.