@aaronareed@mastodon.gamedev.place
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aaronareed

@aaronareed@mastodon.gamedev.place

Maker of books, games, games about books, and books about games. Social media content syndicated to multiple platforms: https://linktr.ee/aaronareed

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aaronareed, to JRPG
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This gorgeous looking game just dropped on Steam/Itch/GOG today. Shades of but all grown up and entering its mature artist phase. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1944310/Whispers_in_the_Moss/

aaronareed, to random
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In this time of LLMs it's nice to remember that some of us have been getting computers to tell bad stories for decades. Here's my entry for the very first in 2013, a novel called "Aggressive Passive" about a bunch of housemates bickering over who's going to do the chores. You can reload to get a brand new one. https://aaronareed.net/if/NaNoGenMo13/generate.html

aaronareed, to random
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NarraScope, one of the best conferences on interactive narrative craft, could use more attendees and sponsors this year! This is one of my favorite conferences, and I'd love to see it continue to thrive and grow. Consider a donation or supporting the conference by attending remotely, even if you can't go there in person. https://narrascope.org/

aaronareed, to retrogaming
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In case you missed it, I've released a companion book to "50 Years of Text Games!" Featuring chapters on fan favorite text games like Planetfall and A Dark Room, deep dives into neat microgenres like type-in books or one-room games, and a detailed timeline of history. I've just posted a quick video tour of the book if you're curious what's inside! https://youtu.be/PaeOVCCIFfg

aaronareed, to random
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I made a map of . Original mainframe Zork, which was so big they had to split it into three games for commercial release. I apologize. There's also a CYOA flowchart mug too. Deets: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aaronareed/50-years-of-text-games/posts/4041861

aaronareed, to random
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I just released my first style game in over a decade, "You Are Standing." It's written in Inform 6 and is a bit of a love letter to various eras of interactive fiction history. It can run on a modern computer or a Tandy 1000 (pictured running in DOSBox below), emulates six different styles of text game, and fits in a <90K file. More deets here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aaronareed/50-years-of-text-games/posts/3996645

aaronareed, to random
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I used Substack for my last newsletter in 2021, as the best of a set of bad options at the time (which is always what the decision boils down to). I agree their latest statement is fucking stupid and won't be using them again for my next project.

But please, when this shit happens? Don't take it out on indie creators. We are fucking exhausted and we are trying our best to find some way to make it in a sea of cancelled platforms and boneheaded owners. Each time something like this happens (1/2)

aaronareed,
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I get personally attacked by multiple people and it is tiring, man, very tiring. I did not use Twitter because I loved Elon, I used it because I found way more followers there interested in my work than on any other platform. I did not use Kickstarter because I love the blockchain, I used it because they're better at discovery than anyone else. I picked Substack because they promised to make it stupid easy to run a newsletter, and they did. I reevaluate these options when new info comes in (2/)

aaronareed,
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But you don't need to personally attack me to bring this shit to my attention. Trust me, I am already fucking aware, and in the process of once again trying to pick up the pieces and start over from scratch somewhere else.

aaronareed, to random
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Received my copy of Raph D'Amico's THE ZONE!! A beautiful game, beautifully produced: the artwork and production quality is just incredible all around. So honored I got to be a contributor to The Book of Twists and so glad to finally have this lovely box on my shelf. https://thezonerpg.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/

aaronareed, to random
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My talk from this year's @roguelike_con got posted: "Klingons, Hobbits, and the Oregon Trail: Procedural Generation in the First Decade of Text Games." Having this audience was a great excuse to get geeky and dive into the weeds of some early BASIC source code, and celebrate the long and rich history of getting computers to make up worlds to explore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE7o3GGif30

aaronareed, to random
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If you're planning a project that involves shipping a physical item and haven't done the math on the shipping, do it. If it's been 5+ years since you've shipped something, it'll probably be more than double what your intuition tells you it should be. Seeing a lot of Kickstarters lately that are radically undercharging for shipping and they're going to be very sad when it comes time to buy postage. I usually overpledge $20-25 these days & know it'll likely go toward shipping surprises.

aaronareed, to random
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New article on the strange 80s type-in adventure book "The Antagonists," which featured both in-game puzzles but also an unintentional meta-puzzle so challenging that no one in the 80s may have solved it.

https://if50.substack.com/p/the-antagonists

aaronareed, to fediverse
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question I'm confused by: I'm always seeing people talk about how frustrating it is to follow people on other servers, which apparently involves manual copy/pasting... except it has always just worked for me? I can just click on anyone, regardless of what server they're on, there's a follow button, I click it, and I'm following them? Is this a feature of my particular host gamedev.place, or its default web UI or something?

aaronareed, to random
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RT @jmstar: "The Broadcast is available! Super proud of this game."

Jason is one of my fav tabletop / live action roleplaying designers. His new game is a LARP about being a journalist in a totalitarian state, and I can't wait to read and play it.

https://sixofhounds.itch.io/the-broadcast

aaronareed, to Games
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Released today (finally): the digital edition of "50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to AI Dungeon," a 600+ page book exploring the many fascinating histories of interactive fiction. (And as a bonus, the physical edition started shipping in the UK/EU today too, with rest of world orders not far behind...)
https://aareed.itch.io/50-years-of-text-games

aaronareed,
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@amoroso Thanks! I'll add a compatibility note to the download page.

aaronareed,
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@juandesant I did not realize when I promised to credit folks that I would end up with 1600 names to credit! 😅😅😅 Thanks for being one of them, and hopefully I'm skating by just on the positive side of "insultingly small font..."

aaronareed, to random
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Extensive reflowable ebook testing for , trying to make sure the book renders great on as many devices, apps, font sizes, orientations, and screen readers as possible...

https://if50.textories.com/

genesisoflegend, to random
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    aaronareed,
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    @genesisoflegend I really enjoyed the ideas in the book but never got a chance to play... would definitely be curious to see how you revise the text!

    aaronareed, to random
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    Finally got a post-crowdfunding website up for "50 Years of Text Games," with all that fancy stuff like pictures, review quotes, sample chapters, and big juicy buttons. It's happening! https://if50.textories.com/

    aaronareed, to random
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    Exclusive reveal: the full Table of Contents page for "50 Years of Text Games," covering one game per year of interactive fiction history. (Not a surprise to long-time readers of the blog, but hey, pretty neat!) Old favorites, obscure gems, weird experiments & wordy blockbusters... a core sample through the many ways you can tell a story with interactive text. Each of these games has a fascinating story behind it and it's been an honor to tell them all. https://50-years-of-text-games.backerkit.com/preorders

    A fuller look at the table of contents page spread, which also lists the Acknowledgments, Glossary, Introduction, and chapters called Before the 70s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s, the 2000s, the 2010s, and an index.
    The cover of the hardback edition of 50 Years of Text Games shows the title stamped in foil on a textured faux-leather cover, with the large years 1971 and 2020 debossed into the surface.

    aaronareed, to random
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    I now have a limited number of review copies of "50 Years of Text Games" ready to send out. If anyone in my MastoNetwork has an audience interested in a 600+ page book about the history of interactive fiction, get in touch!

    aaronareed,
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    @ScaredyCat @neil You can definitely reserve a copy here, audience or not! https://50-years-of-text-games.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

    aaronareed,
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    @oblomov That's generally what's meant by "review copy," yes =) My toot may have been a little misleading: I'm specifically looking at this point for book reviewers whose audience might be interested in interactive fiction... if that's you, DM me your mailing address and I can send you a copy! Otherwise, you can check out the preorder page here: https://50-years-of-text-games.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

    aaronareed,
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    @miki Hi Mikołaj, thanks for the interest-- yes, the book will also be available in multiple digital versions, including PDF, plain text, and epub. The epub has been designed with accessibility in mind, and the folks building it have done some testing with blind and low-vision readers, so hopefully it will be a very solid digital release overall!

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