We are experimenting with creating a large game as a group project. This was started on the forum, and has now moved to Github, where the basic ideas are being thrashed out.

The basic idea is that the player starts at a hub location, and can travel from there to numerous dimensions, with each author creating their own dimension (or two?). We have a framework to handle this, which allows each author to work on their game starting from a simple template, and when we are ready to go live, each game will be sent in, converted to a library and added to the master version. This means people can join the project at any time (even after it has been released potentially), and it can keep going if one person drops out – and in fact it would be quite easy to convert your game to a standalone game, if the whole thing ends up going nowhere.

The project wiki is here:
https://github.com/rheadkid/Quest-Group_Project/wiki

And there is a forum thread here:
http://textadventures.co.uk/forum/design/topic/3usjedp8bkcgxdbfsd-jza/were-starting-up-a-group-project-who-wants-to-collaborate-the-pixie-has-a-temp

It looks like it will be a science-fiction/fantasy romp across time and space in a classic, old school style. If you want to get involved and to have a say in how the game will develop, now is the time to join, before it all gets set in stone!

At long last, Quest 5.7 is officially out. It has been on the web server for a couple of days, and beta-testers have had access to the desktop version for some time, but as of now it is officially here!

Alex has been developing Quest since 1998, and this is the first release since he handed over the reins, so firstly I want to wish Alex well, and to thank him for bringing Quest to this point. I would also like to thank him for help over the last few months with getting Quest 5.7 ready.

I would also like to thank Luis for his work on the server; I know this has been a learning experience for him, as it has me, and I appreciate the effort.

I have tried to achieve a number of objectives in this version, and as a result there are a lot of difference. That said, it is just Quest, so all existing games should run fine, and any game you are currently creating can be opened in the new version – you will just find there are new options available.

One thing I wanted to do is make it easier to customise the user interface. Up to now that has required some technical expertise, and for users on the web version has been very limited. Now there are numerous extra options in the GUI, new functions (JS.setCss, JS.setCommands, JS.setCustomStatus and JS.setPanes) for the more adventurous, and for the expert the inituserinterface script can be accessed by both web and desktop users

There is now a comprehensive system for handling clothing. Money has been implemented similar to health and score, but with options for how to display it. Objects can be given a price, facilitating an economy in games. Text can be added to an exit; this will get printed when the exit is used, so now you can easily describe the player’s trip from one location to another.

Many more changes are described here:

http://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/quest5_7.html

If you have looked at the Quest documentation recently, you may have noticed changed there too. This is a work in progress, driven in part by the types of questions people ask on the forum. There is a huge amount you can do with Quest, which is one of its great strengths, but does mean a huge amount of documentation to cover it, and that then leads to issues with how to find it! Hopefully we are getting there.

The Pixie