A JavaScript REPL-style text-based adventure game engine. Small (~200 lines) and easy to use with no dependencies.
To create your own adventure, use game-disks/unlimited-adventure.js
as a template.
Include your 'game disk' (JSON data) in index.html
and load it with loadDisk(myGameData)
.
The end product will be your very own text adventure game, similar to this one.
You're right. Here are some more in-depth instructions...
text-engine
uses a disk metaphor for the data which represents your game, like the floppy disks of yore. Including index.js
from this repository in your index.html
<script>
s adds a single function to the global namespace: loadDisk
. loadDisk
accepts a single argument, which is your disk -- a standard JavaScript object (JSON).
A disk is a JavaScript object which describes your game. It has three top-level properties:
-
roomId
(String) - This is a reference to the room the player currently occupies. Set this to the ID of theroom
the player should start in. -
inventory
(Array) - List ofitem
s in the player's inventory.item
s will be discussed in more detail below. -
rooms
(Array) - List ofroom
s in the game.
Note that you can also add any custom properties you want anywhere on this object. You will be able to access and modify them via the use
functions on your items, which will be passed a reference to your disk. More on the use
functions later...
A room is an object with the following properties:
-
name
(String) - The name of the room will be displayed each time it is entered. -
id
(String) - Unique identifier for this room. Can be anything. -
img
(String) - Graphic to be displayed each time the room is entered. (This is intended to be ASCII art.) -
desc
(String) - Description of the room, displayed when it is first entered, and also when the player issues thelook
command. -
items
(Array) - List ofitem
s in this room.item
s can be interacted with by the player. -
exits
(Array) - List of paths from this room.
An exit is an object with the following properties:
-
dir
(String) - The direction the player must go to leave via this exit. -
id
(String) - The ID of the room this exit leads to.
An item is an object with the following properties:
-
name
(String) - How the item is referred to by the game and the player. -
desc
(String) - Text displayed when the playerlook
s at the item. -
isTakeable
(Boolean) - Optional - Whether the player can pick up this item (if it's in a room). Defaults to false. -
use
(Function) - Optional - Function to be called when the player uses the item.
Use functions accept a game
object, which is a JavaScript object with the following properties:
disk
(Object) - A reference to your game disk. Can be used to add or change properties. For instance, to make an item which previously could not be picked up takeable.
println
(Function) - The function which prints output for the player to see. Accepts a string.
getRoom
(Function) - Convenience function for retrieving a reference to a room on the disk. Accepts roomId
as a String.
enterRoom
(Function) - The function which moves a player to a room. Accepts roomId
as a String.
Use functions are just JavaScript functions, with the full power of the language. You can make an item do whatever you want when a player uses it. Knock yourself out.
That's everything! If you've made a JSON object with all these properties -- that is, a disk -- you've got a playable game!
Just pass a reference to your disk to the loadDisk function. Take a look at index.html
to see an example. I've saved my disk to a const
variable called unlimitedAdventure
in game-disks/unlimited-adventure.js
. I've included that file and index.js
in my HTML file, and added a script tag with a single line to call loadDisk(unlimitedAdventure)
. The game boots when index.html
is loaded in a browser.
You can use the included index.html
file in your own project, or you can create your own. If you make your own, note that you will need to add two elements:
- A
div
with IDoutput
. This is where the game text will appear.
<div id="output"></div>
- An
input
with IDinput
. This is where the user will enter commands.
<input id="input" autofocus>
- ASCII Paint - Makes creating ASCII art super easy.
- ASCII-Code.com - Convenient for copying and pasting ASCII characters.
- Engine inspired in part by TextAdventure.js.
- Demo inspired by Forgotten by Sophia Park, Arielle Grimes, and Emilie Sovis and also this screenshot, whatever it is.
- Apple ][ font by Zeb downloaded from dafont.com.