The 13th Quest

The 13th Quest (it's the 13th IF game I've written) is a text-only interactive fiction fantasy game, very much in retro style. It was written from the ground up for the PC using qB64, and has a comprehensive and powerful parser.  Included in the game are fairly detailed HELP instructions, and I have also added comprehensive hints, both implicit and explicit, which can be accessed using the command HINT.

Also inbuilt into the game you will find  a full scripting facility using the commands SCRIPT and UNSCRIPT, with the ability to view the script file in-game via the HISTORY command. If the file 'walkthrough.txt' is placed in the root folder this can also be viewed in-game by the command WALKTHRU. The script file can be deleted as an option with the command  DELETE.

I would class this game to be relatively easy and fairly linear, I have also provided a walkthrough and  maps, although they will give information which could spoil enjoyment.

There are a few decorative rooms and red herring items. Several MP3 files are included in the downloaded zip file to produce sound effects, but presence of these files is not essential for the game to run. Sound effects may play either automatically in certain locations or on the occurrence of certain events. Sound functionality can be toggled off and on by using the command SOUND.

I can't over-emphasise that new players should read the HELP instructions before starting play. Although a lot of the information given therein will already be completely familiar to most players, there are some important specifics such as the method of taking items from containers and supporters, and also the ability to define function keys to implement commonly-used commands without the need to type them in full.

There are an additional two pluses to this game...

1. There is no possibility of sudden unexpected death. 2. There is essentially no inventory limit.  (well, actually 3,000 weight units)

I did use ChatGPT to improve some of the text descriptions and responses, and found it both helpful and time-saving. This, however, was the entire extent of its use. and the game planning, structure and coding was done entirely by myself.

Although mazes are no longer fashionable (or indeed desirable) there is one area in the game where it might appear that I've included one. This was almost forced on me by the fact that the narrative for that location requires not all paths there are fixed, but can change. I've kept this to a minimum, however, and it's hardly of a complexity to merit the name 'maze'. There's also a clear map available.

There is no 'undo' command available in the game. I did actually consider writing one in, but as is not possible to die, to paint yourself into a corner or to get into an irretrievable situation, I felt that it was unnecessary.

Reaching an unwinnable position is, I believe, impossible.  Since your inventory is virtually limitless, it is advisable never to discard anything. You are also advised to save your position occasionally as a safeguard, just in case.

Although written for windows on the PC it could be run on Linux using WINE and also on MacOS using a Windows emulator such as CrossOver.

Some bugs may surface (it's almost inevitable) so If you come across any I'd be very grateful if you would let me know. The email address can be found by entering the command 'AUTHOR' in the game.

Many thanks go to Garry Francis (Warrigal) for his invaluable help in beta testing.