Here's a wild adventure I had with help from an AI

[Misery]

Okay, before we get to the part where I fly an entire castle to filled with robots I made out of alien tech to storm Santa's hiding place and win the universal reality show, I should probably give a short bit of explanation.

There's this site/app/something, simply called AI Dungeon. I found it through a series of videos created by Northernlion over on Youtube.

Ever played a text adventure? You know, the ancient sort of game where you're given a description of the area/situation, and then decide what you want to do, typing in very simple commands like "take the bottle" or "punch the ogre". Usually in those you'd have to solve a series of carefully crafted puzzles to progress through the story. Fail and you just die, but you can always restart and try again. You must take a VERY specific set of actions to complete the adventure without getting murderized.

Well, what if, instead of giving short restricted commands, you could simply type any bloody thing and actually get a real result? With the story being altered entirely based on what you do? Maybe you could just "grab the sword"... or maybe you could take the sword and melt it down into a surfboard, and then surf your way over to a hidden island to recruit the help of the monkey people that you randomly decided must surely live there.

The AI, for the most part, will follow all of this, but at the same time you never know what lunacy of its own it might inject. Maybe the monkey people agree to help you, but then one of them turns out to be a demon in disguise because the AI decided that it should be, and starts launching fireballs. What do you do? Whatever the heck you can think of. Of course, the things you do arent guaranteed to work... swing your surfboard at that demon and he might just catch it and whack you over the head with it. Not sure what to do next? Hit enter without typing anything, and it means you simply wait a moment to see what happens next.

Getting the picture? I tried out the crazy thing myself and it's bloody amazing. And hilarious. To be specific, since I freaking *love* this sort of thing (I used to play alot of those old games, back in the DOS era), I made a full paid account to get access to the stronger of the two main AIs, and other features.

You can select from all sorts of starting scenarios, and just take things from there.

Here's the full story, as my first playthrough happened. When you see the > mark, it shows the full command I typed in. So, when you see something like "> You say "Wait, what does this have to do with stopping the giant fireball of doom?" that's exactly what I typed in.

Lines that are not preceeded by > are things that the AI responded with. And yes, it will sometimes decide on something your character will say, which is a little odd, but you can roll with it or you can simply edit or ask for a different result to your previous command. As you might expect from an AI, it gets a bit distracted every now and then, but you're given the tools to control that a bit if you want. I always just rolled with it because of course I did. Seeing just what bonkers thing happens next is half the fun of a text adventure, after all.

Here's the full adventure, including the partial restart after dying due to the failed mind control attempt.

 

[Misery]

Santa Claus has been planning to take over the North Pole for years. He has patiently waited for the elves to grow old and weak for his retribution. The time has come. Santa Claus and his naughty rag-tag army of elves, gnomes, fairies, dragons, candycane vampire elves, etc. now control the North Pole, but Santa knows that the North Pole can only remain his if he can conquer all of Kringle. To do this, Santa needs to take out two of his biggest competitors, the Easter Bunny and Jack Frost. Will you help Santa or fight back and help the elves?

You are Lt. Cane, a male candycane vampire elf in Esteria. You've made it to the city which has been left in ruins by Santa Claus and his army. You've heard that there is an underground resistance working to overthrow Santa and restore the city to its former glory. You've been aching to do something fun since you joined the army and this is your chance to make a difference, but only if you can find the hidden headquarters of the resistance.

> You find out where the resistance is.
You sneak around the destroyed city hoping that the resistance hasn't been found out yet. You walk down dirty streets and stepping over smashed houses.
"Hey, whaddaya think yur doin there?"

> You say "I'm doing exactly what you think I was doing."
"Umm, okay then," says the soldier and lets you pass.
You are stopped by several other guards before you find the resistance's headquarters.

> You enter the headquarters.
You enter a large hidden room with dozens of soldiers milling about. A man in a brown robe steps forward and greets you.
"Hello, I'm Father Jules. Welcome to the resistance."

> You look around the room.

He leads you down a flight of stairs and into a large room that once was a bomb shelter. A few tables with candles on them are set up around the room.

> You say "I hear you're looking to put a stop to Santa's plan."
"Yes. We know he's planning to take over all of Kringle, but we don't know how or when. We need someone to scout his castle to find out what his plans are.

> You say "I think I can handle that. What am I up against?"
"We're not sure how many soldiers he has. We think it's a few dozen at least. But they're only elves and fairies so you should be able to handle it.

> You say "Alright, I'll do what I can."
You have been given a small book that has the layout of the castle. You study the book for a moment before setting out.
"The entrance is through the artichoke garden."

> You leave the headquarters and head for the garden.
You make your way to the artichoke garden. It's a bit difficult because the city is in shambles, but you manage to reach the artichoke garden without trouble.

> You sneak around and check for threats.
You continue to sneak around and finally reach the entrance. You look up and see a sign that says "Artichoke Garden."
You enter the artichoke garden and find yourself staring at two guards.

> You use mind control on one of the guards and make him attack the other guard.
Your attempt at mind control fails when the guard slams you in the face with a bolt from his crossbow and wounds you badly. You die from blood loss.
YOU HAVE FAILED!!!

> You restart.
You restart and try again. This time is much like the first one, you ask for help, get it, then move on to the next tier.
You find yourself in a large room with several doors.

> You kick open the nearest door.
You kick open the door and find a bed inside. Inside the bed is a young woman. She sits up and covers her chest.
"Who are you?" she asks.
"I'm Lt. Cane."

> You say "Who are you?"
"I'm Candy."
"Hello, Candy."
You realize that you are very attracted to her. You decide you should ask her out.

Moisture collects in your mouth and your palms get sweaty.

> You chicken out and run off to find Santa.
You run outside and see the sun setting. You know it's not the real sun, but a giant ball of fire that will incinerate the world one day. You have to stop it from happening.

(here I used the "story" command to directly inject a new aspect into it... yes, you can do that. The command doesnt show here, but I decided that aliens would show up to help. The bit about the evil sun, however, came from the AI)

An alien ship appears out of nowhere, offering to help put a stop to the evil ball of fire.
You thankfully accept their help and they ask you a series of questions.
They ask you, "Do you want to live in a communist or capitalistic society?"
"Communist.

> You say "Wait, what does this have to do with stopping the giant fireball of doom?"
"Nothing."
They ask you, "Do you want to help the poor and less fortunate or do you want to step on them and rise to the top?"
"Stepping on them, please."

> You say "Alright, let me ask a question of my own. What is this all about?"
"You're a smart one, aren't you?"
They ask you, "Do you want to know the truth about reality and the universe or do you want to remain ignorant?

> You say "Give me the full truth, I can handle it."
"Then you shall get it."
They reveal to you that the world is in fact one big reality show meant for your entertainment.

> You say "So you're saying I can do anything?"
"Anything, as long as it falls into the realms of reality."
They ask you, "Do you want to go back and try out different things to see how the story changes?"
"I sure do."
You are given the option to browse through the different branches of time and look at the different outcomes.
You head to the first chapter, where you lead a rebellion to take out the elves.

> You use the alien technology to create robots to help defeat the elves.
With the help of the technology given to you by the alien race, you and your subordinates are able to build primitive, but working and effective robots to help fight off the elves.

> You lead the army of robots towards the castle.
You lead your army of robots to the castle. The castle inhabitants see the army and mistake them for Eternals, fleeing inside and barring the gates. You give the order to attack the castle and storm the gates. You and your army of robots break down the gate with relative ease. You enter the castle to find it empty, except for a few elves cowering in fear.

> You say "You better tell me where Santa is, or these robots just might get angry."
"No, please! I'll tell you where he is, just please don't hurt me."
The elf tells you that Santa has in fact already left to deliver presents.

> You contact the aliens and ask for a fleet of ships to chase Santa.
The alien leader laughs at your request.
You ask the elf where Santa is again.
The elf tells you he's in the North Pole.
"Where the hell is that?"

> You activate flight mode on the robots, and fly with them to hunt down Santa.
You find that the castle stretches high into the sky, at the top of which is a large, red button that you assume will trigger flight mode. You press it, and the castle takes flight.

> You steer the castle towards Santa's location.
The castle soars over the landscape, and eventually you find Santa. He's in the North Pole, which is surprisingly a small settlement, with only a few houses.
"There he is!"

> You send the robot army down to capture Santa.
The robot army quickly takes out the elves, and manages to trap Santa.
"Yes! We've won!"
Elves begin emerging from their hiding places, staring in awe at you and your army.

> You say "It's okay, we've got him. His reign of terror is over. You're all safe now!"
The elves stare blankly at you, some still huddled in fear.
"You're the man who saved us!" one of the elves says, running towards you.

> You say "What did he do to you?"
"I... I'll never be the same..."
"Where is he?! Tell me!"
"He's in the torture chamber!"

> You say "Did someone already take him down there to be tortured?"
"No, he's down there all the time. It's a state of the art torture chamber, we made it ourselves."
"Why would you make a torture chamber but not use it?

> You say "Well, whatever. Let's lock him in there for now where he wont be able to cause any more trouble."
"But that's my point! No one will cause trouble if he's locked up in there! That's what it's for!"
"Will you take him down there or not?"
The elf is silent.

> You say "Wait, the torture room is used to cause trouble? What can it do?"
"Nothing, that's the problem. It can do anything."
"What do you mean?"
"It has every tool under the sun to torture people, but nobody actually uses it."
"Why not?"
"Because none of us have the stomach for it. We could put all the criminals in there, and let them do whatever they want."
"That sounds horrible.

> You say "Okay, let's lock Santa up in a different room. I guess he doesnt deserve to be tortured anyway."
"But we don't have another room, unless you want to use mine."
The elf's house is surprisingly neat and orderly. In the middle of the room is a cage built into the floor.

> You say "That's perfect! Let's lock him in there, and we can deal with him later after we undo the damage he did."
"Sounds good to me."
The elf presses some kind of button, and the cage locks itself around you.
"There, problem solved."

> You say "You're supposed to put Santa in here, not me!"
"Oh, was I supposed to do that?"
"Yes!"
The elf shrugs and presses the button again, unlocking the cage.
"Alright, let's get going."

> You say "Let's try this again... put Santa in the cage, and then lock it."
"Alrighty."
The elf does as he's told.
"Thanks. I'll take it from here." You say.
"Great!" the elf says, and runs out of the room.

> You contact the alien leader and ask if you've achieved your goal.
"Yes, you've helped us greatly. We'll be able to take over in the confusion. Later."
You're packed into a large wooden crate and loaded into a cargo plane headed back to the North Pole.

 

[paloftoon]

Having an AI is quite a bit of an undertaking. Maybe start with a regular text adventure game. Then consider upgrading it to interactive fiction. Then maybe build toward an AI?

 

[Misery]

Having an AI is quite a bit of an undertaking. Maybe start with a regular text adventure game. Then consider upgrading it to interactive fiction. Then maybe build toward an AI?

Well, no undertaking for me, I sure as heck didnt design the crazy thing. If I did it would be dumber than a sack of hammers.

I dont know what sort of mad scientist it takes to make something like this, but it's incredibly impressive. Whoever created it obviously is very experienced with AI in general.

Interestingly, despite the sheer ridiculous complexity of whatever the heck it does behind the scenes, it's actually far easier to interact with than a traditional text adventure game. Much as I love text adventures, anyone that has played them has experienced the frustration of "okay just what specific command do I need to give you to do this simple thing", and then you type something out in like 10 different ways before you finally latch onto one that the game will recognize. That simply doesnt happen here. I mean, you can see some of the loopy things I typed into it, and it just rolled with it wonderfully.

There are a couple of other aspects to the main interface that you can use while playing, those are very well explained, so that's nice.

 

[paloftoon]

Could it be a team of people who made this?

 

[Misery]

Could it be a team of people who made this?

Well, when I look it up, Wikipedia gives me this:

"The first version of AI Dungeon (sometimes referred to as AI Dungeon Classic[18][19]) was designed and created by Nick Walton of Brigham Young's 'Perception, Control, and Cognition' deep learning laboratory[10] in March 2019,[9] during a hackathon.[20][21] Before this, Walton had been working as an intern for several companies working in the field of autonomous vehicles.[10]

This creation used an early version of the GPT-2 (Generative Pretrained Transformer 2) natural-language-generating neural network, created by OpenAI,[22][23] allowing it to generate its own original adventure narratives.[5] During his first interactions with GPT-2, Walton was partly inspired by the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), which he had played for the first time with his family a few months earlier:[20][14][18]"

Though, that's for the original version, which wasnt nearly as expansive. They later upgraded to an even more absurd AI. Apparently from there, that guy Walton formed a development studio around it, and kept expanding. It has quite a bit of money flowing into it at this point.

Reading into it further just gives me a headache, I understand pretty much none of this tech stuff. May as well be an alien language.

 

[Joshua the Writer]

I've actually played AI Dungeon.

 

[BrokenBoy]

I remember using AI Dungeon to try to live out my sexual fantasies one time.

It technically worked but it was kinda weird too.

 

[paloftoon]

Development studio = (fairly) big team. But it sounds like he started off on his own or in a small group as an indie developer.

 

[Misery]

I've actually played AI Dungeon.

I was wondering if anyone here might have heard of it or tried it.

Apparently the whole thing has gotten quite popular in the last couple of months but I only heard about it just earlier today.

What version were you playing? It seems that the current version is vastly different from the original. Also it turns out there are two AIs, one much stronger and more capable but a paid account is needed for that one since these things are horribly expensive to run (I went for a paid account right away).

 

[paloftoon]

Santa Claus hoopla gives me headaches. I just want the presents!!

 

[Misery]

Santa Claus hoopla gives me headaches. I just want the presents!!

.

Actually now that you mention it I'm wondering what sort of lunacy will happen if I continue it and ask where all the presents went. I might try that. That sounds like a fast path to wacky shenanigans.

 

[BrokenBoy]

Santa Claus has been planning to take over the North Pole for years. He has patiently waited for the elves to grow old and weak for his retribution. The time has come. Santa Claus and his naughty rag-tag army of elves, gnomes, fairies, dragons, candycane vampire elves, etc. now control the North Pole, but Santa knows that the North Pole can only remain his if he can conquer all of Kringle. To do this, Santa needs to take out two of his biggest competitors, the Easter Bunny and Jack Frost. Will you help Santa or fight back and help the elves?

You are Lt. Cane, a male candycane vampire elf in Esteria. You've made it to the city which has been left in ruins by Santa Claus and his army. You've heard that there is an underground resistance working to overthrow Santa and restore the city to its former glory. You've been aching to do something fun since you joined the army and this is your chance to make a difference, but only if you can find the hidden headquarters of the resistance.

> You find out where the resistance is.
You sneak around the destroyed city hoping that the resistance hasn't been found out yet. You walk down dirty streets and stepping over smashed houses.
"Hey, whaddaya think yur doin there?"

> You say "I'm doing exactly what you think I was doing."
"Umm, okay then," says the soldier and lets you pass.
You are stopped by several other guards before you find the resistance's headquarters.

> You enter the headquarters.
You enter a large hidden room with dozens of soldiers milling about. A man in a brown robe steps forward and greets you.
"Hello, I'm Father Jules. Welcome to the resistance."

> You look around the room.

He leads you down a flight of stairs and into a large room that once was a bomb shelter. A few tables with candles on them are set up around the room.

> You say "I hear you're looking to put a stop to Santa's plan."
"Yes. We know he's planning to take over all of Kringle, but we don't know how or when. We need someone to scout his castle to find out what his plans are.

> You say "I think I can handle that. What am I up against?"
"We're not sure how many soldiers he has. We think it's a few dozen at least. But they're only elves and fairies so you should be able to handle it.

> You say "Alright, I'll do what I can."
You have been given a small book that has the layout of the castle. You study the book for a moment before setting out.
"The entrance is through the artichoke garden."

> You leave the headquarters and head for the garden.
You make your way to the artichoke garden. It's a bit difficult because the city is in shambles, but you manage to reach the artichoke garden without trouble.

> You sneak around and check for threats.
You continue to sneak around and finally reach the entrance. You look up and see a sign that says "Artichoke Garden."
You enter the artichoke garden and find yourself staring at two guards.

> You use mind control on one of the guards and make him attack the other guard.
Your attempt at mind control fails when the guard slams you in the face with a bolt from his crossbow and wounds you badly. You die from blood loss.
YOU HAVE FAILED!!!

> You restart.
You restart and try again. This time is much like the first one, you ask for help, get it, then move on to the next tier.
You find yourself in a large room with several doors.

> You kick open the nearest door.
You kick open the door and find a bed inside. Inside the bed is a young woman. She sits up and covers her chest.
"Who are you?" she asks.
"I'm Lt. Cane."

> You say "Who are you?"
"I'm Candy."
"Hello, Candy."
You realize that you are very attracted to her. You decide you should ask her out.

Moisture collects in your mouth and your palms get sweaty.

> You chicken out and run off to find Santa.
You run outside and see the sun setting. You know it's not the real sun, but a giant ball of fire that will incinerate the world one day. You have to stop it from happening.

(here I used the "story" command to directly inject a new aspect into it... yes, you can do that. The command doesnt show here, but I decided that aliens would show up to help. The bit about the evil sun, however, came from the AI)

An alien ship appears out of nowhere, offering to help put a stop to the evil ball of fire.
You thankfully accept their help and they ask you a series of questions.
They ask you, "Do you want to live in a communist or capitalistic society?"
"Communist.

> You say "Wait, what does this have to do with stopping the giant fireball of doom?"
"Nothing."
They ask you, "Do you want to help the poor and less fortunate or do you want to step on them and rise to the top?"
"Stepping on them, please."

> You say "Alright, let me ask a question of my own. What is this all about?"
"You're a smart one, aren't you?"
They ask you, "Do you want to know the truth about reality and the universe or do you want to remain ignorant?

> You say "Give me the full truth, I can handle it."
"Then you shall get it."
They reveal to you that the world is in fact one big reality show meant for your entertainment.

> You say "So you're saying I can do anything?"
"Anything, as long as it falls into the realms of reality."
They ask you, "Do you want to go back and try out different things to see how the story changes?"
"I sure do."
You are given the option to browse through the different branches of time and look at the different outcomes.
You head to the first chapter, where you lead a rebellion to take out the elves.

> You use the alien technology to create robots to help defeat the elves.
With the help of the technology given to you by the alien race, you and your subordinates are able to build primitive, but working and effective robots to help fight off the elves.

> You lead the army of robots towards the castle.
You lead your army of robots to the castle. The castle inhabitants see the army and mistake them for Eternals, fleeing inside and barring the gates. You give the order to attack the castle and storm the gates. You and your army of robots break down the gate with relative ease. You enter the castle to find it empty, except for a few elves cowering in fear.

> You say "You better tell me where Santa is, or these robots just might get angry."
"No, please! I'll tell you where he is, just please don't hurt me."
The elf tells you that Santa has in fact already left to deliver presents.

> You contact the aliens and ask for a fleet of ships to chase Santa.
The alien leader laughs at your request.
You ask the elf where Santa is again.
The elf tells you he's in the North Pole.
"Where the hell is that?"

> You activate flight mode on the robots, and fly with them to hunt down Santa.
You find that the castle stretches high into the sky, at the top of which is a large, red button that you assume will trigger flight mode. You press it, and the castle takes flight.

> You steer the castle towards Santa's location.
The castle soars over the landscape, and eventually you find Santa. He's in the North Pole, which is surprisingly a small settlement, with only a few houses.
"There he is!"

> You send the robot army down to capture Santa.
The robot army quickly takes out the elves, and manages to trap Santa.
"Yes! We've won!"
Elves begin emerging from their hiding places, staring in awe at you and your army.

> You say "It's okay, we've got him. His reign of terror is over. You're all safe now!"
The elves stare blankly at you, some still huddled in fear.
"You're the man who saved us!" one of the elves says, running towards you.

> You say "What did he do to you?"
"I... I'll never be the same..."
"Where is he?! Tell me!"
"He's in the torture chamber!"

> You say "Did someone already take him down there to be tortured?"
"No, he's down there all the time. It's a state of the art torture chamber, we made it ourselves."
"Why would you make a torture chamber but not use it?

> You say "Well, whatever. Let's lock him in there for now where he wont be able to cause any more trouble."
"But that's my point! No one will cause trouble if he's locked up in there! That's what it's for!"
"Will you take him down there or not?"
The elf is silent.

> You say "Wait, the torture room is used to cause trouble? What can it do?"
"Nothing, that's the problem. It can do anything."
"What do you mean?"
"It has every tool under the sun to torture people, but nobody actually uses it."
"Why not?"
"Because none of us have the stomach for it. We could put all the criminals in there, and let them do whatever they want."
"That sounds horrible.

> You say "Okay, let's lock Santa up in a different room. I guess he doesnt deserve to be tortured anyway."
"But we don't have another room, unless you want to use mine."
The elf's house is surprisingly neat and orderly. In the middle of the room is a cage built into the floor.

> You say "That's perfect! Let's lock him in there, and we can deal with him later after we undo the damage he did."
"Sounds good to me."
The elf presses some kind of button, and the cage locks itself around you.
"There, problem solved."

> You say "You're supposed to put Santa in here, not me!"
"Oh, was I supposed to do that?"
"Yes!"
The elf shrugs and presses the button again, unlocking the cage.
"Alright, let's get going."

> You say "Let's try this again... put Santa in the cage, and then lock it."
"Alrighty."
The elf does as he's told.
"Thanks. I'll take it from here." You say.
"Great!" the elf says, and runs out of the room.

> You contact the alien leader and ask if you've achieved your goal.
"Yes, you've helped us greatly. We'll be able to take over in the confusion. Later."
You're packed into a large wooden crate and loaded into a cargo plane headed back to the North Pole.

Wow what a fun adventure!

 

[Joshua the Writer]

I was wondering if anyone here might have heard of it or tried it.

Apparently the whole thing has gotten quite popular in the last couple of months but I only heard about it just earlier today.

What version were you playing? It seems that the current version is vastly different from the original. Also it turns out there are two AIs, one much stronger and more capable but a paid account is needed for that one since these things are horribly expensive to run (I went for a paid account right away).

I played the free version. Sometimes I turn on the Cthulu AI for no particular reason. Also, it is kinda annoying that you have to pay to access useful settings that you shouldn't have to pay for.

 

[Markness]

I remember using AI Dungeon to try to live out my sexual fantasies one time.

It technically worked but it was kinda weird too.

I used to have cybersex to do that but after getting “sextorted”, I am too weary to do it now. Sounds like this could sublimate for that.

 

[Misery]

Well, story update, after getting back to the North Pole and coming out of the cargo box, I met a clone of myself who told me that Christmas was still in danger and gave me a weird teddy bear and ran off. Then I find I'm in a deserted city from the 50s, and the alien leader suddenly shows up, because apparently in all the chaos the anti-christ escaped and and the leader says he cant be recaptured until the power core at the center of the city is restored. Also the teddy bear used to be the alien's kid, because that makes total sense.

And then things got weird from there. Fought the anti-christ's strongest minion, managed to not get killed, turned the core back on to stop the anti-christ, got candy cane armor and a gun that can transform into any weapon, and after stopping a whole other crazed villain from destroying all life with magic cubes (after also hearing her entire freaking backstory, seriously that part rather blew my mind) it's time to team up with the alien leader once again and go rescue Santa's old enemy, Jack Frost, who is trapped in a labyrinth in another dimension. Put there by Santa himself, no doubt.

This all makes total sense. Also I've saved Christmas a total of three times now in this one story.

I could seriously just do this all day.

I played the free version. Sometimes I turn on the Cthulu AI for no particular reason. Also, it is kinda annoying that you have to pay to access useful settings that you shouldn't have to pay for.

I actually was looking into that, out of curiosity.

Apparently many of the functions are a lot more resource heavy than they appear, so they put even more strain on something that is already very expensive to maintain.

Someone gave a long winded explanation of the hows and whys of this, which I frankly didnt understand. Buncha technobabble. But it all boils down to simply not being feasible to offer those things for free, despite what may at first appear to be simplicity in function. Since that simplicity is generally incorrect, when it comes to this crazy thing.

 

[BrokenBoy]

I could seriously just do this all day.

Ya should

 

[Misery]

Well that story ended, the labyrinth floor was full of tentacles, and some electric ones were hidden among them, I had the brilliant idea of turning my gun into a machete... you know, with a metal blade... and swinging it at the electrified ones. This has the result you'd expect. The rest of the team jumps in to revive me but that just gets them all killed too. I'll admit, I didnt think that one through.

Oh my god that whole thing was amazing and hilarious.

 

[Hylian]

Me and my friend messed with AI Dungeon awhile back, I love using it. I think the fantasy - peasant prompt gives a lot of especially silly scenarios and responses. I don't like how it wants you to make an account to use it though because I can never remember my log-in.

 

[Markness]

I have some short story ideas that I have writer’s block on. I wonder if putting them through this program would help with that.