We are looking for content on our site (MyAdventureGame.com) and  
figured, who better than the talented writers and researches at GA to  
help us with this task! MyAdventureGame.com is the source for playing,  
creating, and sharing "choose-your-own-adventure"-style games.  For  
more information on the web-site, please read the Frequently Asked  
Questions.  
   
Answering this question should be fun and challenging.  Before you  
begin, please make sure that you are up for the task ... this question  
certainly is not for everyone.  If making a game on our website sounds  
is something you’d WOULDN'T do in your spare time, then this question  
may NOT be for you.  
    
The Question:    
Go to our website (http://MyAdventureGame.com), create an account (or  
use your existing account), and make a game which that is both  
interesting and educational.  The main idea behind this game is that  
you have fun playing it and walk away learning something.  
    
The game needs to deal with history, mythology, or the 
paranormal/supernatural.  This game also must have at least 30 pages 
with at least 10 different pictures spread throughout the game.  These 
pictures should have some relevance to the page they are on and can be 
photographs, illustrations, or animated GIFs -- whatever you deem 
appropriate.  Remember, the system allows only one picture per page. 
Also, more pictures add to the game, and good games  get great tips!  
    
Most good games have most pages with 100-150 words, but that’s just a  
rule of thumb.  Pages too short don't get the player in the story,  
pages too long remove interactivity.  This game must feel interactive.  
    
The history, mythology, or paranormal/supernatural references need to 
be accurate.  Your game shouldn't read like a textbook (remember, it 
should be fun) but at the same time shouldn't contain inaccuracies 
(such as Thor being one of the Greek Gods, for example).  The 
paranormal/supernatural "evidence" should not be something you made 
up, but something that could be found on the Art Bell website or in a 
book. 
   
Here are a few examples of games that would certainly meet the 
requirements.  Please feel free to use or base your game off of these 
ideas or use your own. 
 
"Stepping Into Hermes Shoes"  
This game tells the story of a common man, Demetrius of Athens, coming 
across the legendary Shoes of Hermes.  It would begin by describing 
Demetrius and his day-to-day life (which would be historically 
accurate) and go on to explain (using accurate Greek god names and 
personalities) how Hermes lost his shoes.  The plot of the game could 
be the to return to shoes, or perhaps how to outsmart the gods, or to 
use them to get an advantage in a (historically accurate) war. 
  
"Conspiracy Theory"  
This game would be about a conspiracy that is NOT mainstream (eg. JFK 
or Moon Landing) and NOT a joke (eg. Santa as a communist icon or 
toilet paper with microchips), but more middle of the road (Gulf War 
Illness, AIDS as a weapon, Freemasonry, etc).  Perhaps the plot could 
be that the player uncovers a conspiracy by mistake and has to avoid 
getting killed by the conspirators, or perhaps the player has to 
orchestrate the conspiracy.  Again, the conspiracy should contain 
accurate facts (well, at least what the conspiracy theorists propose), 
and should leave the player with "oh, now I know about that 
conspiracy, perhaps it happened." 
  
"Surviving the American Civil War"  
The player in this game would experience life as a person in a troupe 
of soldiers in the American civil war. Perhaps the troupe gets caught 
and is sent to a (historically accurate) POW camp; perhaps the troupe 
fights in a (historically accurate) battle.  Again, the player should 
come out of the game entertained and informed. 
 
The talented researcher easterangel-ga answered a similar question  
and received a $10.00 tip.  You can see his answer here: 
http://myadventuregame.com/preview.asp?g=327
    
Unfortunately, there very limited, if any, instructions available.  We  
have, however, tried to make the game editor as easy to use as  
possible.  Assuming you have an up-to-date internet browser (IE4+,  
NS4+), there will be Pop-Up help on many of the buttons on the  
website.  If you have any specific questions about it, we would be  
more than happy to answer them for you.  
   
**** IMPORTANT GAME TIP ****   
Also note, it is important to have a good idea of the Start and End of  
your game before creating it on the website.  Planning before hand  
will not only save time but will create a much better end product.   
You will thank yourself later if you do this.  
    
We apologize for the novella of a question here, but we wanted to make  
things clear.  Please do not hesitate to ask for clarification or to  
emai.  We can be reached by emailing info(at)MyAdventureGame.com.   
We really look forward to experiencing your game!!! 
    
Don't forget, the game will be eligible for the $100 contest (see the  
website) and we tip (fairly well) for a job well done.  
    
Again thanks in advance.

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Clarification of Question by myadventuregame-ga on 15 Nov 2002 23:09 PST

Also, see for an excellent answer to an identical question posted on GA:
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=105275

Ha ha! I have made a game. :)  It is 29 pages long and is titled
"Dressing the Part." It's about costume/social history.  Here's the
link to it:
http://www.myadventuregame.com/preview.asp?g=347

As my reference I used the book "Collector's Guide To Vintage
Fashions" by Kristina Harris. (See the Amazon listing at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1574320963/qid=1037440608/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-1431017-6710318?v=glance&s=books
)

Other helpful references include the Costumer's Manifesto, which is
mega site on fashion:
http://www.costumes.org

And The Vintage Connection:
www.geocities.com/vintageconnection

The game was fun to create; I hope it's fun to play and learn from. :)

If there are problems with it that I haven't already spotted, please
let me know, and I'll be happy to clarify.

May I assume you'd also like some feedback on your web site? I found
it generally very easy to use, although I did get a few error messages
("site not responding" and "no page to display"). It took me a while
to understand that I couldn't highlight text in the body of the game
and create links. So that was a little frustrating, and I ended up
having to edit the game several times because of this.

It also took me some time to figure out how on earth I was supposed to
end the game.

One feature that would make the whole thing more user-friendly would
be a spell checker. It also would have been handy to be able to
rearrange the links...so I could "scramble up" the possible answers on
whim. (I found it difficult to not put the correct answer in the same
spot for each trivia question, so an ability to move those links
around would have been helpful.)

I would have liked to have seen more publishing categories. When I
initially looked at the categories (before I even started making my
own game), I wasn't impressed by the category titles. They just didn't
"speak" to me...they didn't necessarily tell me what the games therein
were REALLY about.

Some tips on just how the games are put together, given before a
person plunges in, would be helpful. For example, you might offer up
an idea of how the average game is organized. (Introduction, body of
text, then separate links for "answers," etc.)

But overall, I found it quite user-friendly. The pics uploaded quickly
and without problems, and I like the preview and "add to website"
features. I also enjoyed the level of humor used throughout the site.
Very nice job!

I hope this helps,
kriswrite

---

Clarification of Answer by kriswrite-ga on 16 Nov 2002 10:15 PST

Just a couple of extra notes:

It might be very helpful to have clip art on the site, or at least
links and recommendations for where to find clip art online. Folks
without scanners and access to copyright-free art may not otherwise be
able to use one of your site's neatest functions: the ability to use
graphics.

You might also want to stress how your site is different from the many
Internet quizzes that can be made for free; this might especially lure
website owners to your service. Chief among these, in my opinion, are
the ability to insert graphics, the ability to make the game more than
just a quiz if desired, the ability to have links to jump from page to
page, and the ability to revamp the game and republish it as desired.

Hoping this helps further,
kriswrite

---

Request for Answer Clarification by myadventuregame-ga on 17 Nov 2002 20:37 PST

Hello Kriswrite!

We have found your game very edutaining!  Who would have thought they
had to put that much clothes on? Sheesh!

Your comments are also wonderful -- you seem to have answered many of
the questions that we would have asked in this clarification.  You
offered some great tips that we will certainly work towards
implementing whenever we get a chance too.  It's a shame we can't
figure out a way to make a lot of money on this website so we could
quit our jobs and have fun all day! :-)

In anycase, there were a few questions we'd like to ask you.  Your
game has already earned a 5-star rating, and these are entirely
optional, but we'll throw in an extra $4.00 for you.

It appears that you used the "Advanced Game Editor" to create all or
part of your game.  At what point in the process did you choose this
editor (in the New Game Wizard or with the Convert feature)?  Why did
you decide to make an Advanced game?

As there is little to no documentation on this editor, did it take a
lot of playing around with to get it to work?  What parts did you find
self-explanitory? What parts were completely confusing?

Because of the complexity of the Advanced Editor, i.e. many can't
figure it out, we were thinking of requiring that all users start off
with a Classic game which they may later convert.  What do you think
of this idea?

Can you offer any additional suggestiosn about the Advanced Game
editor?

Did you play any of the games before attempting to write one?

What made you choose the topic that you chose?

Can you offer any additional suggestiosn about the site in general?

That's all the questions I can think of off hand ... plus it's getting
late.  We really look forward to your response!

Regards,
Alex and the MyAdventureGame.com crew

---

Clarification of Answer by kriswrite-ga on 18 Nov 2002 10:25 PST

Hi Alex~

I wish you could make lots of money at this, too :)  It's a neat idea,
and I'm sure it will be popular once you get the word out.

Now, to answer your questions:

I chose to use the Advanced Game Editor when I first began making my
game. I was thinking along the lines of a quiz, and couldn't figure
out how to have multiple choices and points without going into the
AGE. So, when creating my first question, I switched over, using the
convert feature. I didn't have too much trouble figuring out how to
use the AGE, although, as I already noted, I didn't realize till I had
my first draft of the game that the links were not connected to the
body of text, but would show up in the preview of the game in a
separate box. Also, as I said earlier, I had trouble figuring out how
to end the game. I did choose the link option for ending the game at
one point, but when I went to preview the game, I discovered this just
created an empty page. That was easy enough to remedy, however. Other
than these two things, I found the AGE simple to use and pretty much
self-explanatory.

I'm not sure I like the idea of being required to start out with a
classic game first. As I said, when I was starting out, I couldn't
figure out how to make multiple choices and points in that feature.
Perhaps if I had fiddled around a bit I could have figured out the
first, but the latter (I believe) is not available in the more simple
editor. Perhaps a *suggestion* that folks start out with a classic
game is appropriate, however.

I did attempt to play a few games before I created my own, just so I
could get an idea of what choices I'd have when I was creating. I had
trouble finding one that was on a topic I knew anything about,
however.

I chose the topic I did because I know a lot about it, and because I
had available clip art to accompany it. Originally I'd thought a game
about absurdities in fashion history would have been best, but I
didn't have any readily available clip art that could accompany it.
Then I considered doing fashion firsts...but once again, no
copyright-free clip art was readily available to me. This is one
reason I think that having clip art on the site (or links to clip art
online) would be an excellent addition to your site.

Overall, I think the site is very straight forward and easy to
understand, and that the game editors are, in general, pretty easy to
follow. Now, if I were more of a novice to computers and the Internet,
I probably could NOT have created a game without a tutorial. (I'm
trying to imagine my mother creating a game...I don't think she could
do it without aid!) If you can swing it, a video tutorial, as well as
a written tutorial, would be helpful, as I think a lot of people learn
best from visuals, not reading.

Also, I can see where this site would be of great use to educators.
You might want to market it to teachers, therefore, and even have a
special section set aside for their games. Just a thought.

One other little thought: This may not fit in with your plan of the
site, but if you could make a downloadable version of the game
creation tool, that might be helpful. Then a person could create their
game at leisure offline, and simply upload it to your site.

Good luck, and keep up the nice work!

kriswrite

Absolutely Wonderful!  Gave quite an excellent answer!  Thanks Kriswrite!