Original Post
Hi all,
I was watching a video the other day on www.hak5.org (work blocks the site so I can't link the exact URL atm) and it was basically a proof-of-concept of a framework that scraped the Google Voice page and was able to extract the number and message from an SMS text.
So basically the ability is there to write a "server" that monitors your google voice account where you could potentially automate the interaction with a user much like a text adventure game.
Now, the maximum number of characters on a single text message is what, 160 characters? Do you think it is feasible to write a compelling enough room description in that length? Obviously you could split up a room's description into multiple text messages, but the fewer the better, ideally down to a single message.
I think the prospect of playing a text adventure over SMS is very cool. I just wonder if you could maintain the "Fiction" portion of "Interactive Fiction" given the character limitation. It wouldn't be much fun if you text "north" and you get a message back saying "The room is dark and damp and smells of dust and mildew. There is a sword lying here. You hear the faint sound of footsteps coming from the north. Exits N, S, D" Actually now that I type that it's not too bad, you do have *some* room to work with, although what I typed is over the limit at 161 characters. It would probably be a pain in the butt when you know what you want to have in a room and have to mess around to keep it under 160 chars.
What do you guys think, is something like this feasible? Can compelling interactive fiction be written one text message at a time?
I was watching a video the other day on www.hak5.org (work blocks the site so I can't link the exact URL atm) and it was basically a proof-of-concept of a framework that scraped the Google Voice page and was able to extract the number and message from an SMS text.
So basically the ability is there to write a "server" that monitors your google voice account where you could potentially automate the interaction with a user much like a text adventure game.
Now, the maximum number of characters on a single text message is what, 160 characters? Do you think it is feasible to write a compelling enough room description in that length? Obviously you could split up a room's description into multiple text messages, but the fewer the better, ideally down to a single message.
I think the prospect of playing a text adventure over SMS is very cool. I just wonder if you could maintain the "Fiction" portion of "Interactive Fiction" given the character limitation. It wouldn't be much fun if you text "north" and you get a message back saying "The room is dark and damp and smells of dust and mildew. There is a sword lying here. You hear the faint sound of footsteps coming from the north. Exits N, S, D" Actually now that I type that it's not too bad, you do have *some* room to work with, although what I typed is over the limit at 161 characters. It would probably be a pain in the butt when you know what you want to have in a room and have to mess around to keep it under 160 chars.
What do you guys think, is something like this feasible? Can compelling interactive fiction be written one text message at a time?
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