Jon HancockFeb 20

> LOOK

You are in a room. There are exits to the north and west. There is an armchair.

> SIT

You are sitting in an armchair in a room. There are exits to the north and west. A small black cat enters the room.

> TAKE CAT

You cannot take the cat.

> PET CAT

You pet the cat. It starts to purr.

> PET CAT

You pet the cat. It jumps onto the chair, purrs, and settles on your lap.

> N

You cannot go north. You are immobilised by a cat.

> STAND UP

You cannot stand up. You are immobilised by a cat.

> W

You cannot go west. You are immobilised by a cat.

> PET CAT

The cat purrs.

#Cats

Show threadBrian Lavelle

@BigJackBrass

When is this text adventure going to be available? I’ll take two copies please.

Feb 20 at 5:10pmWeb
Show threadJon HancockFeb 20

@brian I think that's pretty much it. You can probably code it yourself.

(When I was at school we had a new computer room equipped with LINK 480Z machines. I wrote a fake text adventure game—it basically responded to prompts for a few actions and vaguely hinted that some actions could not be performed at the current time, or location, or without a particular item—which I was delighted to later learn remained semi-hidden on the network for several years, frustrating anyone who found it immensely 😁 Called it Ultramulch, for reasons I cannot recall)

Show threadBrian LavelleFeb 20

@BigJackBrass

Wonderful! Curious to think how many of these decades-old programs are lurking on networks all over the country.

Show threadJon HancockFeb 20

@brian Probably a lot, judging by some of the hidden Easter eggs that have turned up in programs like Excel over the years. The main limiting factor in a situation like mine would be that the computer network was closed (machines in a single room) and I don't imagine it lasted terribly long before they were forced to replace the hardware with something actually functional, eliminating anything left behind by people like me.

The only other useful thing we did with that network was play Lost Worlds combat books on it without the teachers noticing.

Show threadMan aging with madnessFeb 21

Oh, they very likely noticed that.

@BigJackBrass @brian

Show threaddrweissbrotFeb 26
@BigJackBrass @brian ended up coding it myself, ty for inspo :D https://drweissbrot.net/curios/text-catventure
text catventure · drweissbrot

Show threadJon HancockFeb 26
@drweissbrot @brian Magnificent! I feel so proud 😁
Show threadBrian LavelleFeb 27

@drweissbrot @BigJackBrass

This is brilliant - thank you!

I really enjoyed that, although both doors are locked, “A small black cat enters the room.” Could not be more cat.

Show threaddrweissbrotFeb 27
@brian @BigJackBrass > ASK THE CAT HOW IT ENTERED THE ROOM EVEN THOUGH BOTH DOORS ARE LOCKED

The cat meows as if to say, "The laws of physics and logic don't apply to cats."

> PET CAT

The cat purrs.