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Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

A mad idea that could actually work.

For creating a storygame with a highly interactive world, the instruments on this site are quite restrictive. At some point it becomes easier and faster to just code the entire game with JavaScript. It gives a game creator unlimited possibilities.

My quick study has shown that there is no good way to integrate a large JS-based game with editor-based pages, so it's easier to post the entire game somewhere else (for example, on GitHub).

Yet this site has the best community (you guys!) and it's the only place where readers can find their stories.

So the idea is to have a game here consisting of single page that links to a place hosting the actual game. When a player finishes the game, he returns to the main page to rate it.

Some problems arise:
1. Security - it can be used to lure users to advertisement or malware sites. So the source code of the game should be visible to anyone (that's why GitHub is a nice place to go) and it should be verified by trusted community members with a sufficient knowledge. Altrough, it's possible to post external links now and it seems to cause no problems.
2. The game length will be incorrectly calculated as 1.

Or a game can be hosted on the same server as this site.

It will allow creation of better heavy scripted text games with less effort. In particular, after a few days I already see that it's much easier for me to make the game this way.

So the question (addressed mostly to admins, but to everyone interested too): is it acceptable?

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

I don't mind. 

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

Well, if you really love the community that much...

I don't think it's a bad idea at all. I say go for it.

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago
Not to detract from CYS, but there are other platforms you can use to write these kinds of stories from.

Have you heard of Twine?

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

...my work here is done. XD

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

Consider CoG, where you can be called a bigot for not allowing the player to sexually identify as an omnipotent space-weasel. 

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

Thank you for the suggestion!

Twine looks interesting, but the community here is the best :)

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

No, not acceptable. You can't post a storygame here unless the full game is hosted here. Exceptions can be made for single page excerpts (a page with a link to auxiliary material, such as a map) but the game should start and end on this website. CYS doesn't exist so you can drive traffic to your storygame hosted elsewhere.

Go ahead and post a link to your Javascript game in the forums, but you can't publish it as a story.

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

Start and end on this website.

So can I do a crazy sort of "race through the Internet" story that takes you through multiple sites but ends on CYS?

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago
No.

Externally hosted games - is it an option?

10 years ago

You could still create a story that links to other stories on this site I suppose.

You could create an epic parallel dimension story in this way if you made all these linked stories yourself.

Not necessary externally hosted :)

10 years ago

"unless the full game is hosted here" - it can be actually hosted here (as a set of files in a separate directory). It will consume no more space than the same amount of text entered in the editor and it will not interfere with the rest of the site in any way (everything is client-side). The game will start on this site and in the end return a player back to the main game page. So there are no contradictions with the rules.

But I understand the reasons against it, compared to other stories it might look out-of-place and it's an additional trouble for the staff. So I'm not arguing about the decision.

UPD: I wonder how many authors would use this option if they could. It's probably not worth to do for a single newbie author. But if a few well-known good authors will use it too, then it's worth a shot, because readers will greatly benefit from it.

It will not require authors to create a new engine from scratch: I'd make a simple framework for managing pages, links and saved games which can be easily extended by JS to implement virtually anything. To be more specific, it will be based on "scenes" and "actions" which are more powerful concepts than pages and links. Or other tools such as twine can be used.

UPDATE 2: screw it :) It is possible to include external scripts, so the entire game can be played on a single editor page without ever leaving this site. It is easy to implement and it does not violate any rules, so I'll just do it (and post a JS framework for whoever might need it).