The Experiment
A downloadable game
English is not my native language, so I apologize for any mistakes I may have made. Although I have received the generous help of some friends, translating an adventure is such a complex task that there are likely things that have escaped their correction. If you find any errors or anything you think could be improved, I apologize again and kindly ask you to let me know. Thank you in advance.
The game
The Experiment is a text adventure for the Zx Spectrum 128K. It follows the traditional mechanics of this kind of games and it has a medium duration and difficulty.
To play The Experiment, you need a real 128k Spectrum or an emulator program like Retro Virtual Machine.
The history
"You have woken up chained in a dark cell, with no idea how you got there. A monstrous jailer is your only company. Your goal is to escape alive."
Tips
The game follows the classic structure of text adventures. If you have never played one, you should keep in mind:
The main directions are N, S, E, and W, and they will be shown on the screen in the “exits” box. Other directions such as ENTER, EXIT, UP, or DOWN may or may not appear in that box, marked with red arrows (GET IN, UP) or blue ones (GET OUT, DOWN).
The most common verbs are TAKE, DROP, TALK, HIT, BREAK, etc. If less common verbs are needed, they will be indicated in the game text.
Commands usually follow the structure “TAKE STICK,” but sometimes they may require more detail, such as “TAKE STICK WITH GLOVE.”
You can type MAP at any moment to view the map.
Also, by typing HELP, you can see this information again.
Credits and acknowledgements
Game developed for the Spectrum 128k using Tim Gilberts’ PAWS parser.
Script, code and graphics by Eduardo José Villalobos Galindo (EJVG)
Testing: Ricardo Oyón Rodríguez.
Help with the translation: Waldroid and Peter J. from Spectrum Computing forum.
El Experimento en español
Listen on Spotify the playlist of songs selected for this game
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Commands updated and bug fixed.7 hours ago
Comments
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So great to see new text adventures on zx! I'm enjoying it so far and, even though I'm stuck a bit (I've returned to initial location and now can remember) and hoping that perhaps i think of something or some zx-friend on discord will find something else, some minor notes/issues I've seen:
- it'd be great if HELP would mention EX as a shortcut for EXAMINE, as X and EXAM didn't work: it was only on your screenshot that I saw the use of EX,
- the same help mentions the USE as not working, it's a bit misleading, as it was with USE P**** that I could turn the *** on (later I thought about the TURN ON/OFF syntax),
- the examination of friend mentions "TALKING ABOUT xxx", while the correct syntax is "TALK ABOUT xxx",
- ENTER CAR didn't work while "GET IN CAR" worked, and that feels like a bug, there's no reason they'd not be synonims.
The game has wonderful room pictures, this is a very solid work!Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed message and playing my game.
Your notes are extremely helpful, Because I know I’ve probably made a lot of mistakes.
-You’re right about EX not being mentioned properly in HELP. That’s clearly something I should clarify.
-You’re right about the USE command. In Spanish it was actually more limited, and when translating it into English I thought it might feel more natural in some cases. I’ll update it and mention that it ‘almost never works’.
-I thought I’d fixed the ‘talking about’ already, but apparently not — well spotted.
-I wasn’t sure about the correct way to phrase getting into the car, but thanks — I’ll add it.
-Thanks again. There’s a Spanish solution on itch.io, and I’ll try to translate it quickly and link it as soon as I can.
Happy New Year, and thanks again!
update:
Thanks to you, I’ve discovered a bug: if you turn the p*** on with
USE P***, you need to turn it off and then turn it back on withTURN ON, becauseUSEdidn’t allow objects to be examined.