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?

Given how much trouble I had fitting my Text RPG poll turns into the space on the front page (on the old site)? I'd say it would be extremely difficult.

Given how much trouble I had fitting my Text RPG poll turns into the space on the front page (on the old site)? I'd say it would be extremely difficult.

Hah, yeah that's pretty much what gave me the idea in the first place, I really enjoyed taking part in it! The upside compared to that is that SMS based IF could accept a lot more commands than a poll, I guess. I'm not a very creative writer whatsoever, maybe a talented writer could still make 160 characters work.

Maybe I should just get to writing the system and not even think about the quality of the story. It's gotta be worth something to be the creator of the first real TEXT adventure, amirite?

I was tempted to do the same thing with IRC after getting a bot white-listed (so it could flood and thus talk to tons of people at a time without getting kicked). I think that approach would be more sane than abusing SMS. Then again as I was told when I asked if anyone would be interested in an SSH MMO (custom font and the client runs like bash capturing key strokes) making games in things they weren't designed for will only get you fame for a day.

Hah, yeah that's pretty much what gave me the idea in the first place, I really enjoyed taking part in it!

It's actually still happening as a poll here in the Lounge. I don't want to pin it yet because there are other topics I that need to stay pinned a while longer but I'm thinking next week I'll unpin stuff and pin the poll.