AI adventure game creating

[catventure]

What do folks think about them?

Today I very quickly generated a text game by giving prompts to the ai like this:

Can you make a text adventure about Dracula's castle with ten rooms and five objects. parser input only. no options. game ends when player kills count dracula. create a few puzzles for player to solve along the way.

* Stay in character

* Story responses should be relatively short—we want a tight feedback loop between you and the user.

* Play as a text adventure where user has to input commands at a random input prompt and then parse the commands

* do not show numbered buttons or lists of four things

* show input prompts on a newline

* Be concise, witty, and funny.

* Ensure the game story aligns with the provided game description and tagline.

* Continue this game interactively with the user.

* Keep track of any important metrics for this game.

* Make the game enjoyable but not too easy.

After that single input the program provided me this within seconds...

Welcome to "Dracula's Castle"!

You find yourself standing in the foyer of an ancient castle, its stone walls adorned with eerie portraits. Moonlight seeps through the cracked windows, casting a haunting glow. Torches flicker, providing a dim illumination. Your mission is to find and confront Count Dracula, the master of this castle, and end his reign of terror.

To navigate and interact with the environment, simply type your commands. Here are a few examples:

- "Look" or "Examine" to inspect your surroundings.
- "Go [direction]" to move to a different room (north, south, east, west).
- "Take [object]" to pick up an item.
- "Use [object]" to use an item from your inventory.
- "Inventory" to check the items you're carrying.

Now, let's begin your treacherous journey through the castle.

look around
You carefully survey your surroundings. The foyer is dimly lit, adorned with eerie portraits hanging on the walls. The moonlight casts an eerie glow, and flickering torches add an ominous atmosphere. There are four exits: north, south, east, and west.

What would you like to do next?
inventory
You check your inventory. It seems that you don't have any items yet. Keep exploring the castle to find useful objects that may aid you in your quest to defeat Count Dracula.

What would you like to do next?
look
You look around the foyer once again. The dimly lit room is filled with eerie portraits hanging on the walls. Moonlight seeps through the cracked windows, casting a haunting glow. Flickering torches provide a dim illumination.

What would you like to do next?
examine the portraits
You examine the portraits hanging on the walls. Each portrait depicts a different individual, their features shrouded in a mysterious aura. As you inspect them closer, you notice something peculiar about one of the portraits. The eyes of the figure seem to follow your every move, as if it's watching you.

What would you like to do next?
look behind portraits
You carefully move the portraits aside, revealing hidden passages behind them. As you peer into the secret passages, you feel a chill run down your spine. These hidden pathways seem to lead deeper into the castle, where Count Dracula may be hiding.

What would you like to do next?
go into passage
You enter the hidden passage, cautiously making your way through the dark corridors. The air grows colder as you delve deeper into the heart of the castle. Every step echoes with an eerie silence, heightening your senses.

After what seems like an eternity, you arrive in a candlelit chamber. In the center stands an ornate pedestal with a golden chalice resting upon it. The chalice emits a faint, ethereal glow.

What would you like to do next?
examine chalice
You examine the golden chalice atop the pedestal. It is intricately crafted with delicate engravings and adorned with precious gemstones. The chalice seems to radiate a mysterious energy, drawing you in with its enchanting allure. It is a truly magnificent object.

What would you like to do next?
get chalice
You carefully pick up the golden chalice from the pedestal, feeling its weight in your hands. As you do, a ripple of energy courses through your body, invigorating you. You have acquired the Golden Chalice!

What would you like to do next?
score
I'm sorry, but this game does not have a scoring system. The focus here is on your adventure and the challenges you face while exploring Dracula's Castle.

What would you like to do next?
listen
You strain your ears to listen, but all you can hear is the faint echo of your own footsteps and the distant fluttering of bat wings. The castle is strangely silent, save for the occasional creaking of the old structure.

What would you like to do next?
explore
You decide to explore further, venturing deeper into the castle's mysterious halls. As you move, you notice an intricately designed stained glass window depicting a scene of bats soaring through a moonlit sky. The window seems to emit a soft glow, beckoning you closer.

What would you like to do next?
examine window
You examine the stained glass window with fascination. The intricate design depicts a swarm of bats gracefully flying under the pale light of the moon. The vibrant colors of the glass create an enchanting display, and as you gaze at it, you sense a mysterious energy emanating from the window.

What would you like to do next?
open window
You reach out to open the stained glass window, expecting it to swing open like a regular window. However, to your surprise, the window is fixed in place, immovable. It seems there's something more to this window than meets the eye.

What would you like to do next?
break window
You muster your strength and deliver a solid blow to the stained glass window, hoping to shatter it and reveal any secrets hidden within. However, the glass remains unyielding, unharmed by your attempt. It appears that breaking the window is not the solution here.

What would you like to do next?
pray
You bow your head and offer a prayer, hoping for guidance and assistance in your quest to defeat Count Dracula. As you do, a faint whisper seems to fill the air, almost as if the castle itself is responding to your plea.

Suddenly, a hidden compartment behind the stained glass window clicks open, revealing a small wooden cross. You instinctively reach out and take it into your hands.

What would you like to do next?
examine cross
You carefully examine the small wooden cross you discovered. It is intricately carved with delicate details, and you can feel a calming energy emanating from it. This cross may hold special significance in your battle against Count Dracula, offering protection or perhaps even more.

What would you like to do next?
wear cross
You put on the wooden cross, feeling its weight hanging around your neck. As you do, you sense a surge of confidence and an aura of protection enveloping you. The cross may prove to be a valuable tool in the fight against Count Dracula.

What would you like to do next?
go back to entrance hall
You make your way back through the castle's corridors, retracing your steps until you find yourself back in the entrance hall. The flickering torches cast their eerie glow, and the portraits on the walls seem to watch your every move.

What would you like to do next?
look
You look around the entrance hall once again. The dimly lit room is adorned with eerie portraits hanging on the walls. The moonlight seeps through the cracked windows, casting a haunting glow. Flickering torches provide a dim illumination.

What would you like to do next?
get a torch
You search the entrance hall and find a torch mounted on the wall. Carefully, you remove it from its holder, taking hold of the wooden handle and gripping it tightly. The flame dances, casting a warm glow that illuminates your path through the dark corridors.

What would you like to do next?
go north
You head north, following the torchlight as it guides your way through the castle's corridors. The air grows colder as you advance, and a sense of foreboding fills the atmosphere.

After some time, you reach a grand chamber with a towering staircase leading to an upper level. The sound of faint footsteps can be heard echoing from above.

What would you like to do next?
go up
You ascend the grand staircase, each step echoing with anticipation. As you reach the top, you find yourself in a dimly lit hallway lined with closed doors. The footsteps you heard earlier seem to be coming from behind one of the doors.

What would you like to do next?
open door
You cautiously approach the door from which the footsteps emanate. With a steady hand, you turn the doorknob and slowly push the door open, revealing Count Dracula himself standing in the room. His eyes glow with a menacing intensity as he locks his gaze onto you.

The final battle begins.

What would you like to do next?
wave cross
You hold up the wooden cross, its presence causing Count Dracula to hesitate for a moment. The power of the cross seems to weaken his menacing aura, giving you a slight advantage in this critical moment.

What would you like to do next?
drink chalice
You quickly take a sip from the golden chalice, hoping that its mysterious powers can aid you in your battle against Count Dracula. As the liquid touches your lips, a surge of strength and clarity rushes through your veins, empowering you for the fight ahead.

What would you like to do next?
kill dracula
With renewed strength and the power of the cross, you dive into a fierce battle with Count Dracula. Each swing and strike is met with his supernatural agility and ferocity. It is a fight between darkness and light, where every move determines the outcome.

After a grueling battle, you finally land a fatal blow on Count Dracula, driving a stake through his heart. With a howl of defeat, he crumbles to dust, his reign of terror at an end.

Congratulations! You have slain Count Dracula and brought peace to the castle.

Thank you for playing "Dracula's Castle"! If you would like to embark on another adventure, simply let me know.

play again please
Welcome back to "Dracula's Castle"! Prepare yourself for another thrilling adventure.

You find yourself standing in the foyer of an ancient castle, its stone walls adorned with eerie portraits. Moonlight seeps through the cracked windows, casting a haunting glow. Torches flicker, providing a dim illumination. Your mission is to find and confront Count Dracula, the master of this castle, and end his reign of terror.

To navigate and interact with the environment, use simple parser commands. Here are a few examples:

- "Look" or "Examine" to inspect your surroundings.
- "Go [direction]" to move to a different room (north, south, east, west).
- "Take [object]" to pick up an item.
- "Use [object]" to use an item from your inventory.
- "Inventory" to check the items you're carrying.

Now, let us begin your new treacherous journey through the castle.

> Look around.
run away and go home
Oh, dear adventurer, it seems you have decided to abandon your quest and leave the castle. The haunting echoes of Dracula's laughter follow you as you run away, escaping the horrors of the castle. Though you may have evaded danger, the curse of Dracula's presence still looms in the back of your mind, reminding you of the unfinished battle.

If you ever muster up the courage to embrace the challenge once more, return to the castle and resume your quest. Until then, safe travels!

Thank you for playing "Dracula's Castle"! If you have any other requests or if there's anything else I can assist you with, feel free to let me know.

,-----------------

OK that is just a very short example to get the flavour and possibilities - but very impressive nonetheless!
Another great thing about this, and quite useful really for game authors who experience writer's block, is to ask it dream up atmospheric and descriptive themed locations for you to enter into your traditional text adventures made with the conventional creators too. Neat!

Here is a quick one I made with the same creator. A Twin Peaks /X files crossover cyoa:
https://infinityarcade.com/dark-dissona ... les-mashup

Regards,
catventure.

[Exemptus]

You realise that the system is improvising the answers instead of attaching a logic model to the player's actions and responding in kind, don't you? The conversation is something that *resembles* an adventure game playthrough from a grammatical (and even semantic) standpoint, as long as you don't look at it closely. There is no conceptualization of a *game* as an adversarial challenge anywhere, just elaborate prose that mimics interaction.

That said, there is room for improvement. I have no doubt that a true IF generative system could be developed, given the right set of parameters, with finished code as a result.

[catventure]

Hi Exemptus,

I very much agree with your comments. It's quite fun and I like the way it's different each time you play, but in no way does it have a core logic or provide the exact same challenges that an author might want to create in such a game or respond in ways the author might have wished or expected either.
However, like you said, maybe in time the prompts and game rules could be expanded and, with the right set of parameters, made more specific to the author's intentions so that he/she has more creative control over the game mechanics and progression of the story/quest.
I have always preferred playing parser text adventures over choose your own adventures that have a number of limiting fixed predefined options to select.
It certainly will be interesting to see what the future will bring in this regard. In the meantime, I'm quite happy playing traditional text adventures or interactive fiction games such as those constructed with INFORM, ADRIFT, PAW, DAAD, ADVENTURON and some others. Adventure scenarios that people actually invested time, creativity and imagination to produce.
The ai does seems good for text suggestions, presentations, information and whatnot and could serve as a useful tool to provide inspiration when building an adventure.

[Exemptus]

It certainly writes better copy than 90% of humans. That's something not to be dismissed. I hope we will see cooler developments in times not long from now.

[Garry]

My own experience with AI (specifically ChatGPT) has been pretty dismal. I used it to get some ideas for the interior of a submarine in 'Submarine Sabotage'. I won't say that the responses were completely useless, as they gave me enough ideas to do further research using normal Google searches. In some cases, it was just the terms I needed so that I knew what to look for. (I did a lot of research on that game.)

With 'The King's Ball', I used Gareth Pitchford's seed as a starting point (this was for SeedComp 2023) and used ChatGPT to get ideas on how to get past a guard. It initially told me that it couldn't tell me how to do something illegal, so I told it that it was for a game and it gave me lots of ideas. Each time I prompted it, I asked for ten ideas and it kept repeating variations of the same general ideas, none of which were very useful. However, I was able to categorise the ideas as distraction, disguise, decoy, stealth, drug, hypnotism, deception, detour and diversion. From this, I eventually worked out how to get past the guard. Mind you, the vast majority of the game was 100% original, as I gave up on ChatGPT after the initial disappointment.

I have since had a few interesting conversations with ChatGPT where it downright lies to you. When you correct it, it apologises, then repeats the same lies. The bottom line is that it doesn't have any intelligence at all, as it is not able to learn. However, it is a lot of fun to play with and I'm sure it will get better in time. The future prospects are quite scary.