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Converting Twine Project to an Iphone App

Hi all-

I'm interested in converting my Twine game/story/CYOA into a downloadable app for the iPhone. I'm not a programmer, so assuming it's not super simple (i.e. there isn't a step by step tutorial), this is something I'm looking to work on with someone (flat payment or a percentage...probably the former).

If you have experience with this, or know someone that does, or know of a site that can help explain better, please point me that way.

Here is my story:
http://www.thedeadoutnumbertheliving.com/

Thank you

Comments

  • novalin, my feeling is that the best option is likely what greyelf recommends here, to use PhoneGap.

    I don't know how useful a starting place this TwineGap repository might be, but it's an interesting idea.

    That said, I suspect you will definitely need to enlist the help of a programmer. (I'd be willing to have a chat about that, if you want to message me directly.)

    But I have to ask, what's your goal? Is it to distribute your story in the Apple App Store, to have an icon on your home screen that you can use to directly launch the game, to be able to have savegames, that sort of thing? Is this for everyone, for a class, etc?
  • nicolem wrote:

    novalin, my feeling is that the best option is likely what greyelf recommends here, to use PhoneGap.

    I don't know how useful a starting place this TwineGap repository might be, but it's an interesting idea.

    That said, I suspect you will definitely need to enlist the help of a programmer. (I'd be willing to have a chat about that, if you want to message me directly.)

    But I have to ask, what's your goal? Is it to distribute your story in the Apple App Store, to have an icon on your home screen that you can use to directly launch the game, to be able to have savegames, that sort of thing? Is this for everyone, for a class, etc?


    Hi - Thank you for the information (and for the post above too). My primary goal is to reach a wider audience, and if my story can gain some momentum, I want to write additional episodes (this is episode 1). No class, this is something I made after work hours/weekends, so it's really for everyone. The save game element would be a nice bonus, but it's not fully necessary because the paths aren't that long (for a future project that would be nice, but not this).

    That being said, it could be something as simple as you download the app, and it essentially just mimics the website (it doesn't need to be anymore elaborate).
  • node-webkit can make a nicely packaged Windows, OS X, or Linux app, but I think for iOS or Android you'd want to look at Phonegap as already mentioned.
  • Hi all

    I'm a professional app developer fluent on native iOS and Android. I discovered Lifeline and got hooked. This is a new game style I did not know before and really like. Lifeline has some properties that make it a perfect fit for the modern fast lifestyle like small sized story pieces and a story unfolding in real time. It's a formula that get you hooked for days. Because of that I searched the web for sources about games like it and found this page.

    I really think that a native app which can be feeded by awesome stories you guys create could be a winner. It all depends on the little details: Should it be a general app that anyone can use? One app per story? Should it be an app that offers multiple stories? How would one monetize something like this?

    I would like to start a discussion here with people that are interested in that field.

    Looking forward
  • I would think that something in the field of casual gaming fits nicely here (things like a low barrier of entry in learning time and commitment, playing while waiting in line, etc.). Lifeline offers that.

    While at e3 this year (last week) we pitched this around a bit and the reception was decent I would say. I can relate SOME of our project here. Some of it, I can't obviously.

    The 2 top things they liked were the instant-on (probably because standing in line at e3 for new gameplays was a pain in the ass) that casual gaming offered..... so playing whenever you had a minute was an attraction. That was one thing. It had a decent response.

    But the other thing they liked (and more specifically related to branching fiction), we are having the choices that the reader makes actually affect OTHER characters.

    Our audience really got amped-up for that one.

    Part of the reason they liked it is because of one part that I haven't yet mentioned: our branching fiction game is playable by any one of four different characters who are all working the same storyline.

    It's a monumental task because each character has true agency. This actually sucks as a writer because the reader can really take all the steam out of a good story.

    So putting those last two pieces together you have a story playable by multiple characters but then on top of that your choices can affect the other playable characters in subsequent playthoughts (and also in your current playthrough) instead of just affecting your own outcome in your current playthrough. Make sense? If not, just read it again. I'll wait. :)

    But seriously, that's why the writing is such a bitch. There is a TON of writing even with just a few choices.

    Note: these last two pieces are for our big project, the casual one I mentioned earlier is a different project. I only mention them all to tell you what they liked in our experience at the show. Not to say they are concepts in the same project.

    Why do I make that distinction? Because I don't know if you can consider an in-depth, involved story as a work of casual gaming. It's certainly no "Angry Birds."

    Hope that helps.
    —Sage.
  • Sounds good, if damn'd complicated to write - and fairly tricky for the player to salvage if they've made a couple of odd choices with different characters that have derailed it. Multiple play throughs to open up the options so each character can make a better choice.
  • edited July 2015
    Sounds something like some of the early ARGs I played, but they had paid writers ready to create more content as needed at a moments notice. lol
  • Whoa. @GreyElf , They created it "on-the-fly" so to speak? As someone made a choice? No... I misunderstood, right?
  • AHH - you said ARGs.... yes... quite. It's literally my favorite genre.
  • Nobody interested in the app proposition? No suggested content or writer who is interested in the field of smartphone apps?
  • @greenGem You probably missed what I wrote. Just scroll up, it's there.
  • greenGem wrote: »
    Nobody interested in the app proposition? No suggested content or writer who is interested in the field of smartphone apps?
    I think, like you, that that has enormous potential. I sent you a message also :)

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