Wounded: an MLP Text Adventure

Version 1.0 has now been released! Get it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8xaWrLVzIYZdHNpMXRCaDgwd1k/edit?usp=sharing

There is a form for testers which can be found here:

Hello all!
I’m currently testing a beta version of a text adventure, a fan game for the new My Little Pony.
So, for the past year and a half I’ve been working off and on on a little text adventure (by little I mean about 6700 lines of code, though a lot of that is string literals) and I’m at the point where I could really use some testers.

You can find the latest version here:
http://www.java-gaming.org/user-generated-content/members/254501/wounded-preview.jar

Note: This version should be functional at screen resolutions ranging from
Low 1024X768
to
High 1920X1200

I have not yet tested it at every resolution between.

This version’s save files are early prototypes, but they have gone through some limited testing.

If you are interested in checking out an earlier build in-browser, you can find an early version in applet form here:

http://firstprinceproductions.heliohost.org/Wounded.html

Note: In applet form it is deployed with the usual angry security notices that seem to plague applets without certificates, really sorry about that, but I’m not sure how to fix it without spending lots of money. I also know that there is at least one way to reach the end message: Thanks for playing! But the adventure was built with multiple paths and I haven’t had a chance to test out all of them (I never respected game testers more than when I tried it for myself).

And now a little background into this game’s creation:

MLP is kind of a weird phenomenon. I got into it because I was stuck in an internship and wanted something to read and there were a bunch of people watching it who were into writing stories. The show is surprisingly good for inspiration in that sense as, like other impressive cartoons of this era including Adventure Time and Gravity Falls, it has a pile of mysteries at its core and a lot of background that needs filling in.

The background piece I’m trying work on? Well, one of the characters of the show is basically an immortal goddess. She has this jerk nephew who she still gives some privileges in spite of her generally rational and decent decision making… The nephew is not a member of her divine sub-species or anything so it brings up a question. Why does she keep him around?

The answer I came up with was that a long time ago, someone who wasn’t related to her by blood must have done something to impress her, something so incredible that she still thinks of that person as family… And as someone who has lived for thousands of years and lost some actual biological family (but that’s another story) she must really, really cling to whatever she has left, even if it’s just some incredibly diluted descendent… Which is why she keeps that little jerk so close to her.

The idea was too interesting. I had to see where it went. So I made a story, and now a game to go along with it. I know it won’t appeal to everyone, but I think it’s worth a look.

I’d really be happy to hear any comments from the community at all, I know the game probably has more than a few bugs in it in this build and there’s a little more I want to add to it in terms of story as well… In short, it’s playable, but far from complete.

Oh, and for those of you who are massive completionists, you can find the story this little game is based on here: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/07/story-first-prince_31.html
Thanks for checking it out!

UPDATE: The current version now has all of the “First Draft” story content I wanted to add to it (which means it may be subject to heavy revision). Bug fixes, UI patches, save files and more are still to come!

UPDATE2: The new version now supports multiple screen resolutions and previous issues with the background have been resolved!

UPDATE3: New background courtesy of our contest winner AJxKS35 and screen adjustments!