About TEDAgame and this blog

This blog is where:

1. I tell you what's new in TEDAgame
2. You tell me what to add

TEDAgame will be updated constantly. Hopefully every day, or at the very least every week. All the news will be here! And as you play the game, you will often find a page that's a dead end, waiting for somebody to tell me what to do. This blog is where you tell me! And where others can say "that's a good idea" or "what about changing it so..?"

The idea behind TEDAgame

I love books, But I hate it when a good book ends: I want to stay in that world and go further. And sometimes I want to stop half way through the book and go in a different direction. And that, in a nutshell, is TEDAgame.

How TEDAgame evolved

Years ago I started making adventure games based on books. But it didn't really work how I hoped. First, even the best technology is very restrictive: you can't really do "anything", you can only do what the programming allows. Second, I spent most of my time designing and programming, so there was less time available for the story. Third, and worst, it takes so long to make a game that you can't be responsive. If a player wants a change then tough luck. And if the player wants more of the same they can just hope for a sequel a year or two later. Even if it happens it might not be what they want.

So I thought, what if a game was so simple that it could update every day? And if a player wanted something different they could ask for it, and a couple of days later it's there! A nice side effect is that the game would get bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until after a few years it would be a huge, rich place where you could get lost for hours! And so, The Endless Do Anything game was born.

At first I was worried that the game is so simple that people will get bored. But people can get bored in cutting edge games too. (Endless forests, endless grinding to level up, or games that all try to be the same). What matters is the story. And that's where you come in.

Tell me what to do!

If you're playing this game and think it should be different, tell me on the blog! If the change is easy to make then I'll make it! And all those changes will add up. It might not become the best written game in the world, but at least SOMEBODY should like every part of it. And it will certainly be unusual.

After a few months I hope to add between five and twenty pages every day. Most of those will be adapting books that I find interesting, or that others have asked for, But some will be extra pages suggested by users. This is YOUR game. it's only as good as the enjoyment YOU get out of it. And if it isn't enjoyable, tell me what to change!

My long term plan

I expect to do this for at least another 20 years, whether other people like it or not. I've been planning this for 20 years already, and I want to leave something substantial behind when I die. (I first began thinking about how I would code a "do anything" game in 1997, and it took 20 years to realise it should have no coding at all.)

I hope to add the equivalent of  a short book - maybe 50 to 100 finished pages - every week or two. I want this game to include all 54 of Jules Verne's "Extraordinary Voyages" books, many of the 1001 Arabian Knights, all of Shakespeare's plays and much more. Plus Jane Austen, some non-fiction, and more. If there is anything that stimulates the mind, I want it here. And when I'm too old or tired to add more I hope others will be making their own stories that I can add.

These are still early days. I think it will be a couple of years before the game is good enough and big enough and I am experienced enough and my art improves. But we have to start somewhere!

Thanks for reading. And if the game does become a big hit one day, remember that you were here from the start and I couldn't do it without you!