Adventuron Christmas Jam (Illustrated Text Adventure Jam)

Hello,

I'm Chris, and I'm the creator of Adventuron and jam host. I'm British, 40-something, and I really like the golden-age of text adventure games, together with the golden age of computing education, which is why I created Adventuron.

This is the 5th jam in a series of jams, links provided below.If you want inspiration for games, feel free to change out the prior jams and the entries in those jams.

Adventuron Cavejam 2019 - Remix The Cave of Magic (August 2019).
Adventuron Halloween Jam - Make a Spooky Game (October 2019).
Treasure Hunt Jam - Make a text only 'treasure hunt' style game with limited word use (February 2020).
The Next Adventure Jam - Make a game with graphics using a bright vibrant palette (June 2020).
An Adventuron Christmas Jam - Make a text adventure game with a Christmas theme (November 2020).

The main support forum for this jam will be the https://intfiction.org/ forum, so do create an account there if you have technical questions about Adventuron.

This community section will be related to the jam community, introductions, or for people that do not wish to create an account on that forum.

If you are joining, I look forward to learning a little more about you, and have a good time!

Chris

Hi, I'm Garry and this is my 5th Adventuron game jam. I think this is a great theme and I've started mulling over a few ideas. But an idea does not make a game. What's the old saying? 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.

As I'm an Aussie, I've never experienced a white Christmas and most of those things that are taken for granted in the northern hemisphere are foreign to those of us in the southern hemisphere. For me, Christmas is stinking hot summer days, cold beer, beach and barbeques.

In order to get some inspiration, I've been delving into Christmas stories, Christmas icons and Christmas traditions. I must say that I'm enjoying the research. Hopefully, something good will come out of it. We shall see.

Dee CookeSubmitted4 years ago

Looking forward to seeing what you've got up your sleeve (as long as it's not a container).

Hi! I'm Dee and also back for a 5th Adventuron jam. I love Christmas and am looking forward to making a seasonal game.

Looking forward to seeing what you can come up with (please let it be set in the 80s).

auraes4 years ago (3 edits) (+1)

Hi, I’m Auraes and also back, or not.
“Beware naughty kids! While Santa Claus distributes gifts and candy to good children, the Bogeyman watches to correct those who are desobediant or lazy.”
Bogey man, bogeyman, boogeyman, boogyman…
I will think about that.

Love the new avatar.

I'm looking forward to seeing what your imagination has in store for us this dark Christmas.

auraes4 years ago(+1)

I will pass my turn this time for, perhaps, a future Adventuron jam. I’ll focus on correcting and improving Over Here! Have fun, and if there are games with not too much text in English, it will be a pleasure to test them.

I really wish you'd change your mind, as you write nice games. Maybe just a small game with a French perspective on Christmas? 'Over Here!' can wait until later.

auraes4 years ago

As Chris Ainsley says, it’s a lot of work, even for a small game, especially when it has graphics. There are a lot of experienced designers here, but I hope there will be a lot of beginners too.
And of course, Overe Here! can wait again and again in patience: « Tout vient à point à qui sait attendre. »

DethmunkSubmitted4 years ago

Also a huge fan of your game and it will be a huge loss not to have you in the jam but I understand it's a lot of work.

Have a great Christmas, and I look forward to your next (verb noun) game, whenever that may be.

Ok I'm in.... my second jam. Who wouldn't want to do a Christmas adventure? Woohoo. :D

Good to have you back John.

Looking forward to seeing what you have in mind.

If you have questions, I'm always around.

Richard PettigrewSubmitted4 years ago (1 edit)

I'm Richard and I've followed these adventure jams since they started. I've always promised myself that I'd have a go at one, this is my first one (but not my first Adventuron adventure)!

I have a map, and a plot already. I've decided to go hardcore and not start coding until the Jam actually starts. It's going to be a tough one for me on a graphics level, I struggle to draw a straight line!!! I'll get my apologies in now for the childlike images, even though Chris has already tried to set me on the vector graphics path (sorry Chris but I'm embracing my inner crayon holding child).

AdventuronHost4 years ago(+1)

Richard has escaped from dinosaur island !

Welcome to the land of Christmas.

Richard PettigrewSubmitted4 years ago (1 edit)

Thanks Chris, I was keeping Dinosaur Island a secret!

Although I have used Adventuron in the past, I am still a novice in the world of IF. Hopefully I've learnt from my creation of Dinosaur Island and can improve on it in my latest adventure 'A Christmas Quest'.
Watch this space... I may even get it finished and submitted!

Coding starts today for me.
- 12 locations in total.
- A defined Christmas mission.
- An odd 'Easter Egg' hidden away.
- Location graphics - mostly looking like they were drawn by a drunken, crayon holding muppet (me!)
- A cute baby reindeer!

Sounds good, especially the graphics.

Don't get your hopes up... They will be pretty terrible!

(I'm getting this out there now so I don't get judged to harshly on them!)

Verdant TomeSubmitted4 years ago(+2)

I skipped the last Adventuron jam because I was so inspired by the previous one (and another game jam) that I started making my own "full-sized" game in my spare time. I'm still working on that, slowly but surely, but I'm feeling the itch to make a text adventure again. So, after sitting on the fence, hemming and hawing about it, I've decided to jump in an make something. I have a concept inspired by one of the suggestions, although I'm not 100% sure of how well it will translate into an actual game. We'll see!

Natrium729Submitted4 years ago

Welcome back!

Try to aim for getting something done at least a week early so you can benefit from beta testers, and do lookup TSTART and TSTOP so that you can see what troubles your testers are having.

Good luck, it's a real treat to have another Christmas themed game on the way.

Hi! I'm French but live in Canada, and I've wanted to try Adventuron for some time now, so this jam is the perfect occasion! (Although to be totally honest, that sweet Raspberry Pi helped convincing me! :p)

My game won't be strictly speaking Christmas-themed since it's about saving a Winter Solstice celebration, but I hope it'll contain enough "Christmas spirit" to qualify. :)

I'm almost finished coding it. So far my opinion on Adventuron is mixed, there are things I like and others I like less, but globally it's quite pleasant to use. (I'm more an Inform 7 person myself, so I'm likely a little biased.)

The hard part will be the graphics (I'm not an artist), and I'm still thinking about what I will do.

Anyway. I'm looking forward to playing the other entries!

Natrium729Submitted4 years ago

Hello,

It's good to have you in the jam, and GREAT that the sweet Raspberry Pi (400) tempted you in - as was surely the intention :-)

I agree that Adventuron is not entirely friction free - there are many rough edges, and for pure text games, it's a lot less powerful due to its database-centric design. The editor too has its quirks.

If you can express your issues then that would be wonderful, in order to help with future development and future priorities. A lot of the existing problems are known, but it still helps to prioritise if I can hear what specifically troubles you the most.

The graphic design part is tricky, and it's good that you have time to work on it. Don't forget also to choose an appropriate font, see the documentation for a table of fonts designed by Damien Guard, and how to add them to your game, or choose any ttf font you like for your game.

Anyway, great to have you on board, and good-luck !

Chris

Thanks for the tips and the welcome!

As for the things I don't really like about Adventuron, I'll try to write them down and pass it to you, but not now, and not here; let's keep this place for presentations!

And in fact, while I was skeptical at first, Adventuron is surprisingly pleasant to use! And in some ways, it's refreshing not to have a big complex system like in Inform. (Even if Inform still has the first place in my heart at the moment. Sorry. ^^)

Natrium729Submitted4 years ago

Huzzah! Someone else from Canada! ^_^

Well, I'm still French. ^^ And likely not in the same place in Canada. But hey, if that's make you happy, then I'll be happy too!

Yay, two people from Canada! :)

Ha ha! Of course I'm happy! If anything, there's a good chance we're close to each other in time zone.

( My normal circles of interaction tend to be international, especially with COVID. :D )

I chose Adventuron as well because of how easy it was to insert graphics and export as an html ( as opposed to Inform ).

Hello! My name is Errol, and this may be my first jam ever. In my life!
I've been using Adventuron for my own projects for the last two months, and I've learned how to do pixel art because of that.
I wasn't originally going to join, but then a plot came into my head last night. Let's see if this will work.
Good luck, everyone! ^_^

Good to have you aboard!

QuizlockSubmitted4 years ago

Thank you! (And I just realized the Report button is right beside the Reply button! Good grief, that was a close call.)

Hi all, I'm Tim, and this is my second Adventuron jam. I had an absolute blast on the the first one, and very excited to get started with this one.

Hi Tim,

Welcome back!

Should be easier if you are not operating in 8-bit mode - especially the graphics.

If you have any questions, help is close at hand.

Chris

QuizlockSubmitted4 years ago(+1)

Yeah, I definitely am going to break out of the 8-bit world for this one and try my hand at some more advanced pixel art.

gunasekare4 years ago(+1)

Hi All, this is my first jam ever. Been mostly an IF player/enthusiast and I thought I'll give a shot at some original storytelling. I'm from Sri Lanka, and I'm pretty sure that there's an absolutely non-existent text adventure community over here. Anyways hope to see some interesting entries. Cheers and good luck!

Welcome aboard. Even though there hasn't been much activity in the community forum, rest assured that the Adventuron community is very helpful, so if you need any help with anything whatsoever, don't be afraid to ask, either here or in the https://intfiction.org/ forum for things that are a little more technical.

Welcome to the jam!

Looking forward to seeing what you have in store.

Chris

gunasekare4 years ago

Thanks! Looking forward to a great time.