Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
Path: gmd.de!xlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!sun4nl!spider.research.ptt.nl!sun034!wammes
From: wammes@sun034.research.ptt.nl (Albert Wammes)
Subject: Re: What I look for in int-fiction
Message-ID: <1993Jul21.074506.4436@spider.research.ptt.nl>
Sender: usenet@spider.research.ptt.nl (USEnet News)
Nntp-Posting-Host: sun034.research.ptt.nl
Organization: PTT Research, The Netherlands
References: <CAHLr5.ICv@freenet.carleton.ca>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1993 07:45:06 GMT
Lines: 47

In article <CAHLr5.ICv@freenet.carleton.ca> ag485@Freenet.carleton.ca (Stephane Racle) writes:
>
>Someone asked what we look for in interactive fiction.  Well.  Here's my
>point of view.
>
> <stuff deleted.

I totally agree with Stephane, but I would like to add Infocom's parser and
vocabulary as one of its major plus points over other adventures.
The most frustrating thing that can happen to you while adventuring is
that you are not able to enter the exact phrasing/words of the action
to perform and the system just answers with 'I don't understand you'.
Often you still don't know whether the adventure doesn't know one of the
words you entered or whether the command is not appropriate at that
particular spot or time. I remember solving one of the puzzles of Zork I
just because I learned at another spot in the game that the adventure
had 'that' verb in its vocabulary needed to solve the puzzle. Also I
remember another non-Infocom game where it took me several minutes
to figure out how to get rid of things in my inventory (drop didn't work).

Furthermore I like the way Infocom handles performing actions that are not
needed to solve a puzzle. Many adventures just reply by 'you accomplish
nothing' (written from the viewpoint of just solving the game), 
while the Infocom's authors seem to have written their adventures
in the most complete way, from the viewpoint of its players. 
Even if your action is not needed to solve a puzzle, (but it is a likely one
if you don't know the solution yet), Infocom's adventures will come up
with some funny remark. Instead of being frustated by the fact that you
have performed the wrong action, Infocom makes you smile.

To summarize it: Infocom's adventures are complete.

 
Happy adventuring, Albert

 
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|									     |
| Albert Wammes								     |
| PTT Research Tele-informatics		Listen I've got something to say:    |
| P.O Box 15.000			  it's better to burn out            |
| 9700 CD Groningen			          than to fade away!	     |
| The Netherlands							     |
| tel.:  +31 50 821118							     |
| email: a.t.wammes@research.ptt.nl					     |
|                                                                            |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
