2013-09-29 04:49:30

Revelation
-------------

Armed with 36 items, match pairs together to create something new.  You begin with no knowledge of what to create or how to create it, but through

experimentation, intuition, and research, you will discover combinations that work.  There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of recipes and items

hidden within this game.  Unlock as many as you can, plus you can work out more efficient ways to reach pieces faster to improve your records.

I was working on something that wasn't meant to be a game, but as it grew it really started to lend itself to being an interesting puzzle.  I'm posting it to see whether the idea appeals to anyone.  It could be fun... it could be boring... I suppose it will depend on the type of stuff the player likes.  Unlike most puzzles, you are given very little direction.  Start out with simple guess and check until you've created a few new pieces.  Once you've figured out a few by accident, you will get the idea and should have an easier time solving more.

Discovering a new item unlocks an achievement, and the game contains literally hundreds of them.  There are also hundreds of recipes to figure out, so this isn't the sort of puzzle a person will sit down and totally finish in an evening.

I do encourage players to brag about the achievements they've unlocked, but please don't publicly post recipes.  A player who doesn't want the surprises spoiled could accidentally stumble upon them, and that's never fun.  Telling someone that you've just unlocked a forth piece in the "hunter collection" is totally fine, as is sharing a specific item you've just figured out how to make.  That sort of stuff encourages others to unlock the same thing, but doesn't ruin the run of trying to figure it out.

http://www.kaldobsky.com/audiogames/revelation.zip

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2013-09-29 05:02:54

Hi,
Am downloading this now. I'm not normally the puzzling type, but heck. Lets give something new a try.

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2013-09-29 05:06:29

YAAAAY!
Will try this in approximately five minutes, based on my predictions about some ninja plan involving water and the speed of my computer.

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2013-09-29 05:20:26 (edited by CAE_Jones 2013-09-29 05:21:47)

"The game appears to have been altered using a memory editor. Exiting the game."
I tried a few combinations that didn't work, then tried something that seems like it worked (but I'm not actually sure; the phrasing was a bit confusing), then the next combination I tried gave me this message.

Myy uncertainty regardIng communicating the particular groups that managed this ... has... ah... helped me forget the second part of the combination that broke it. sad.

[edit] Ah, yeah, do something with magic, then the next thing with magic will break it. [/edit]

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2013-09-29 05:21:42

Hmm, I guess the anti-hack code is a bit buggy.  I'll check it out, but if you happen to remember what combination you used, that would help.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2013-09-29 05:36:37

I spotted what I believe was the cause of that error.  If you use magic to clone an item, I forgot to update the security code so it believes you've cheated to "magically" duplicate an item.  Of course that's funny because that's what you DID do, just you did it legitimately within the game.  So I fixed that and another typo I saw.  The update is posted.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2013-09-29 05:53:00 (edited by keyIsFull 2013-09-29 05:54:48)

I think everytime you use magic with anything it thinks it was modifiede with a memory editor.
edit: just saw your post aprone, downloading the new one now.

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2013-09-29 06:56:12

magic seems to double whatever you have made, for example, if you do magic + rock and there's 3 rock, you'll make another 3 rock. Also, the new thing doesn't sort itself into the alphabetical list. It shows up right below the magic.

I like to sleep, Sleep is good,
This is how I do it: Lie on a nice warm cozy bed, and dream dreams about how to rule the world!
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2013-09-29 07:12:15

I have 7 recipe discovered but have hit a brick wall, hmm

I like to sleep, Sleep is good,
This is how I do it: Lie on a nice warm cozy bed, and dream dreams about how to rule the world!
Follow @TheGreatAthlon5 on twitter for humorous facts and game updates!
If you like my posts, thumb me up!

2013-09-29 07:37:53

I haven't been able to reproduce magic doubling the items.  If you use magic and rock, you should only gain 1 new rock above what you previously had.  So if you have 3 rocks and do a Magic+Rock, you should have 4 rocks at the end.

I've just posted an update so that the list alphabetizes itself after you use magic.

KeyIsFull, have you discovered fire yet?  It's pretty critical so my guess is, that's what you're missing to get further.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2013-09-29 07:54:54

no, I have not found fire. I was trying to think of ways to do it. Probably the pine cone, as fireood is often made of pine branches, or maybe the pine tree,  or perhaps you have to use sunshine because it produces heat. Am I close to something?

I like to sleep, Sleep is good,
This is how I do it: Lie on a nice warm cozy bed, and dream dreams about how to rule the world!
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2013-09-29 07:54:55 (edited by CAE_Jones 2013-09-29 07:55:36)

(Hint: (scroll to next paragraph if even this is too big a spoiler), ...  it's possible to combine two of the same item.)
It's easy to run out of resources, especially wind. I'm kinda surprised I didn't discover the axe sooner (I think I'd run out of something before I could try it then started over?).
The cave totally caught me by surprise, though. I have this weird expectation that something awesome will come out of it (besides the couple things I've already gotten out of it... I dunno, maybe it's because it feels like a dungeon in such a non dungeon-crawly game? tongue big_smile ).

看過來!
"If you want utopia but reality gives you Lovecraft, you don't give up, you carve your utopia out of the corpses of dead gods."
MaxAngor wrote:
    George... Don't do that.

2013-09-29 08:13:43

KeyIsFull, you'll feel silly when you finally figure fire out.  I had Hatred test the puzzle out before I posted it, and he was stuck trying to get fire.  When he finally figured it out it was funny, because he literally said "Duh" out loud, and he clearly felt as though he should have thought of it sooner.  big_smile

CAE, there are several interesting things in there.  Another plus is that the puzzle almost always has multiple ways to arrive at the mid and upper end items, if there are multiple real-life ways to accomplish something.  That means that someone may find a way to make an item, but you could accomplish it in half as many steps by taking an entirely different route.

Another fun side note is that while Hatred was testing he stumbled upon a rather odd combination that made something he didn't expect.  When he brought it up I said that in real life that actually works, he replied "Really?!" and it was off the the internet to check that claim.  When the search backed up the puzzle, he learned something new and interesting.  The educational side of this puzzle is that, minus certain adjustments I had to make in order to make this function as a puzzle, the underlying details are accurate.  That is a bit of a clue, because it means you can use online research to help you.  If someone began bragging about some particular item they had unlocked, an internet search of how that was made in ancient times will most certainly help you recreate the steps they made to arrive at that item in the puzzle.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2013-09-29 08:24:37

Hi,
I have only played this game for 2 turms due to the antihacking feature which was buggy. downloading the update.
a suggestion. a log would be nice to have as you play through the game. I.E when you make a item it gets recorded in the log. as soon as you start the game again,though.everything in the log gets deleted.
just like the chatlog.
Grryf.

Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.
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2013-09-29 09:16:11

hey, anyone found a use for the niter bed? I have not.

I like to sleep, Sleep is good,
This is how I do it: Lie on a nice warm cozy bed, and dream dreams about how to rule the world!
Follow @TheGreatAthlon5 on twitter for humorous facts and game updates!
If you like my posts, thumb me up!

2013-09-29 10:36:28

Just a few questions about how big this monster is. Because I think that's what you've created! Lol! BTW, what programming language is it in?

1. Is it possible to get locked out of any particular item by using it unwisely, such that you can never create that item again without starting over?

2. Does every item in the game have some use, or are there some useless items put in to send people down the wrong track following dead ends?

3. Someone, please give me the recipe to create an alien who, after he is given certain items, will expand my world so I can have more than thirty-six items, then offload some extra stuff from his home planet so I can play with it. Just kidding, lol!

2013-09-29 10:36:43

Hi!
The game is very nice.
It is possible to add more sounds for the items which you create?
I mean, when you create an item, a sound to be heard.

2013-09-29 11:25:36 (edited by Dark 2013-09-29 11:48:00)

Wow, interesting idea for a game.

well I've discovered fire, bacon and manure, which makes me a primmative, or at least a camper having a bbq big_smile.

It'd be nice to see some humans in the game as items, both because then you could potentially simulate progress, (after all who eats the bacon?), and more fundamentally, to actually represent human labour.

for example, the method for stick creation I found a little random, (indeed I found it at! random), since myself I'd assume a human would be involed with that. I won't say any more since I don't want to spoil recipes for people.

Lastly, is there a way to get more magic? that would be sort of amusing!

It's odd, I don't usually enjoy this sort of crafting system in some of the online games it's present in such as Kingdom of Loathing (which has extensive crafting), puppet nightmares or indeed core exiles. Even something like Psy pets, where the crafting is basically the entire game just doesn't appeal to me.

I think here though it's the ease of combinations. You don't need to choose whether to smith or cook or use other option when combining, you just slam stuff together and see what works (remember all those lovely guess the verb situations), also there are no schematics to follow.

lots of crafting systems I've seen in games like core exiles or puppet nightmares basically give you the plans before you start, (or have you perchice them), so you read the plans and know you need to go to area x to get so many of such and such an item, then area y to grind for other stuff, then combine them together, then add your made item together with yet more grindables from area Z etc, etc. To me, that has always felt far more like hard work than actually playing a game, just following a set of instructions as though you were reading a cookery book.

I like the spontanius combinations here, indeed I could imagine a crafting system like this in an rpg, with you getting items from game locations as you naturally explored, fought monsters etc, but then being able to slam them together to build other items.

Edit: Aaaagh! I'm out of water, rocks and wind and I have no idea how to make more, and yet I can't progress without them! (well I know how to create more wind but I don't have other basics for that).

I'm hoping at this point it's not possible to put the game into an unwinnable state by running out of basics after you've created more advanced materials, (I suspect it is if you can start with no magic), or if you restart a new game, do your achievements and discovered recipes stick?

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2013-09-29 16:02:20

This sounds awesome as always Aprone, giving it a try now.

"I've learned that this life's not just a game, just a line, between the pleasures and the pain." - Aaron Lewis

2013-09-29 16:27:44

Well I now seem definitely to have hit a wall where basic resources are concerned. Actually it's a little annoying, since I have mountain but no rocks and ocean but no water which seems a little strange.

I wouldn't mind if I could start a new game and keep the recipes I've discovered, but I'm not sure.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2013-09-29 17:03:14

Grryfindore, That's a great idea!

KeyIsFull, have you tried a google search yet?  Hehe  smile

Jaybird, I wrote it in Visual basic 6.  It is entirely possible to get locked out of an item based on previous choices.  I'll mention this again when I get to replying to Dark, but you can always restart without losing any of your unlocked achievements or recipes, so you get a fresh start and can probably get back to where you were without using as many materials or magic now that you know better what you were doing.  You can restart as many times as you wish, and you never lose your achievements.

There are 28 items in the game that have no "use", meaning they don't get used in any recipes to create other things.  Those represent the most complex items to unlock though, so don't worry about ever having an inventory filled with those.  big_smile  Jaybird you must first craft the Enterprise, and combine it with a Captain Picard.  LOL, kidding of course.  It's Kirk.

Stefan, more sounds would definitely be good, and replacing these with better ones would also be nice.  The problem is, I don't have a sound library and these were the only few I had available.

Dark, I almost did add people, but it didn't fit in with the original project this code was being used for.  I'll keep it in mind though, and may add it if there ends up being a convenient way to do so.  When it comes to stick creation, when those 2 things happen in real life, I always have to go out and pick up large sticks from my driveway the next day.

There may, or may not, be a way to get more Magic.  I wouldn't want to either give false hope, or discourage people from looking for it.

Dark I agree.  Most crafting games I've played just hand you a recipe list and it quickly starts to feel like work.  I wanted to force people to discover them on their own so that there is a sense of accomplishment when you unlock something new.  Since it was going to rely on people guessing, I had to stick with the most simply recipe system I could think of, which is just 2 items combined together.

Dark it is indeed possible to trap yourself in an unwinnable state.  If you restart you will keep your unlocked achievements and recipes though.  Restarting only has the drawback of setting you back to the basic starting materials.  When people start to unlock really complicated items, restarting will be a way for them to challenge their previous record.  Using the made up example I gave earlier with the Enterprise, lets assume you crafted one in a total of 36 moves.  You could brainstorm a faster way to get there, restart, and see if it is possible.  If you then reach the Enterprise in 30 moves, that becomes your new record for the current difficulty level you have it set on.  For some players that will be fun to try to beat their past records, or the records of their friends on certain items.

That reminds me.  If you unlock an achievement or set an item record, it will also update it for any difficulty level that is easier than the one you were using at the time.  The idea is that if you could unlock the Enterprise on Hard, then you could have done it on Normal and Easy modes as well.  It saves people the unnecessary trouble of going back to unlock things on an easier mode, because it has always bugged me when games make me do that.

Added:
Oh yeah Dark, you brought up the option of playing with no magic.  I was able to unlock 90 achievements in that mode while testing.  That doesn't mean only 90 are possible, it just means that's when I was done testing and stopped trying.  So if you work hard at it, you can do a lot even without having any magic.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2013-09-29 17:16:59

I've uploaded a version that creates a log.txt file as you play.  It isn't an important update, but if you feel that you'd like a log to review, the update is posted.

- Aprone
Please try out my games and programs:
Aprone's software

2013-09-29 17:46:51

Ah, fair enough on the unwinnable bit if achievements and recipes aren't lost, since at the moment I'm just trying out different combinations of items and seeing what sort of stuff I can make.

In terms of people, I didn't actually think people specifically in professional capacities like the butcher the baker and the candlestick maker big_smile. rather I just thought people as a representation of basically modifying an item rather than combining it with something else, for instance combining people and leather to form shoes, since the act of cobling doesn't require any other item but leather and the work of the cobler.

Now I know achievements and recipes aren't reset, I'll try again from the start and see what else I can build.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2013-09-29 17:47:41

Aprone,
This reminds me of visual game little alchemy, so thank you. Here's a review of that one:
http://www.edwinarceo.com/app-review-little-alchemy/

2013-09-29 18:15:36

hmm aprone, is there any way to create new water? Also is there any use for the bear? I've tried to give it honey among other things without result.

I like to sleep, Sleep is good,
This is how I do it: Lie on a nice warm cozy bed, and dream dreams about how to rule the world!
Follow @TheGreatAthlon5 on twitter for humorous facts and game updates!
If you like my posts, thumb me up!