The game
-- Intro --
For a long time, I wanted to develop a multiplayer game...
I've finally done it. Yeay.
It's a text-based maze/dungeon fake-multiplayer game.

-- How to participate?! --
In case we have tons of people interested, we won't, the game will accept a maximum of 40 players.
Only "active" and not too recent accounts can register.
Just answer this post with your player name/account, I will send you the game information by private message.

-- When? --
The game will start: today? on 2020-oct-12? It will start as soon as I consider we have enough players, if we ever have (10~20).

-- Winners --
Some prizes will be added into the game, during the event

The winner will be the first one to beat the big BOSS of the game.
She / He will get a 30 USD (or currency equivalent) game.

Details
-- Fake-multiplayer --
I say Fake-multiplayer because there is just a few interaction with the other players.
Still you are in competition with the others.

-- Copyrights --
1) You will find some ASCII arts. There are not mine, I've found them on open websites, but I didn't find the artist names. I'm sorry about that.
2) I used a big part of the public code available on https://github.com/scipython/scipython-maths/tree/master/maze
3) The remaining 1350 lines of code are from me.

-- Client to connect to the game --
As using an executable file from a stranger isn't popular, I made the game to be accessible from any telnet client
In resume, a telnet client allow you to connect to any server on the Internet in order to exchange messages.
You can choose any Telnet client in RAW mode (Putty, telnet client from Windows, nc/netcat on MacOS/Linux...).
The downside of using Telnet is that the traffic that goes between your host and the server won't be encrypted.
I don't think it is a problem here, as I won t ask for any personal information.
If it is for you, wait for the next version of my game.

-- Bugs --
It is not version alpha, nor beta, but version crappy.
I'm not a pro developer, I did the game during some nights from 10pm to 1am.
There will be bugs. Let me know if you find one or if you can't connect to the server.
It might not be corrected immediately.

If a bug is discovered, it will be corrected and the server restarted.
At that time, you should keep your inventory but the map will change.

-- Abuse & co --
Abuse in any way is not accepted. If required, I will remove you from the game.

-- Comments --
I'm sorry if I sound weird, English is not my native language.
I tried my best to make that simple game non-boring, but I know it isn't awesome neither.
I might upgrade the game later.
You are welcome to comment it.

Fascinating project, however I'm still not sure, how it works, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to participate within my tight schedule :D

Could you explain more how interactions player-game and player-player work? Perhaps it'll also help others to decide and step in :)
a) is it real-time? kind of turn-based?
b) is it possible to leave and come back to the game later?
c) what is expected time-to-beat for the game? :)

Hello,
That's good questions. Here are the answer:
a) it is real-time
b) yes, it is
c) I'm really not sure. Once you understand the mechanics of the game, I would say 1 hour max in total. If I see it takes too long, I will help to the players somewhat.

I'm in, tentatively.

To raise interest, you might want to add a few screenshots from your game to allow people to get a feel for it.

A few more questions:
1) What perspective is it? First-person? Top-down?
2) Is it primarily a shooter, a puzzler, a platformer, etc.?
3) What happens when you die? Have to restart from scratch? Spawn at a checkpoint? Load the latest save?
4) What is the save scheme? Save anywhere? Checkpoints? Autosave? Save on exit?
5) Is it a game suitable for old people with poor reflexes?
6) Could you explain what interactions are possible with other players, except it being a race?

I wanted to avoid it to not spoil the game, but it completely make sense... I'm adding a screenshot of the game : https://imgur.com/a/k2Zo1lZ 1) It is a 90% text game, 10% remaining are ASCII drawing for the rooms with an event
2) I'm not sure what would be the best definition : a text adventure?
3) I would like to avoid giving too much information in order to not spoil the game. I would just say don't be afraid to lose your Health Points...
4) "Save" is done automatically.
5) Yes, it is suitable, the game react to the actions of the players
6) In this first version of the game:
at some point, you can chat with the other players
you "share" the same enemies, but not the loots

As it is a text game, without a client, the actions are very limited.

Sounds good. I'm in, assuming it doesn't happen when I'm asleep.

P.S. I don't think I've ever heard of a real-time text adventure...

Very nice ascii rat! Count me in, please!
It looks it's gonna be fun and I'll gonna die quickly (:

If we should play at the same time, I believe it'd be good idea to suggest a specific date and time – and then look for the players. I'm not sure if I'd be able to participate during a workweek.

I'm interested in seeing how this "fake multiplayer" game plays out.

I'm in.

Hopefully when this starts I won't be working but I'll see what I can do to clear some time.

I'm in!

I'm really curious to see what this game is like. But I don't know anything about Telnet and RAW mode, so I hope it will be easy to make it work.

I will check later today at 4pm EST timezone. If we have 10+ players, the game will be started. If we don't I will check 1 hour later...
Then, it will stay up until someone beat the game.

I'm in for the curiosity.

Sounds interesting, I'll be in!

Not in, but I hope it'll be a great success, and that there'll be some kind of real-time action report as the game is happening! :) You never played any MUDs? You must've had so much free time in the mid to late 90s (and/or be younger than my mental image of you)! :)

I've never played any multi-player video games. This will be my first.