Re: Gameplay theory: leaving object behind..


10 Sep 1995 00:03:53 GMT

In article <42rahq$s3q@nntp4.u.washington.edu> scythe@u.washington.edu (Dan Shiovitz) writes:
>Sam Hulick <shulick@guava.ucs.indiana.edu> wrote:
>>
>>Let's say you're playing a game, and you explore a place thoroughly (or
>>so you think). Then a few minutes later, you take a ship to another
>>country, but then realize that you needed something back in the other
>>country
>
>Obviously, the best sort of thing is to just not have any situations like
>this at all in a game

Absolutely. The thing which IMNSHO which made the original Zork such
a great game was that you ended up in the living room with a mountain
of stuff and a bunch of puzzles.

The alternative (all too common) is that you get a series of puzzles
like:

You enter a bank. There is a large combination vault at one
end. There is a sign on the vault, reading "Through me is the
path to the rest of the game."
There is a stethoscope here.
>

Solve it yet?

OK, so maybe the stethoscope is in the sick-bay adjacent to the vault,
but you get the idea. When you only have a handful of objects and one
puzzle, solving it is easy, no matter how clever the puzzle (unless
the solution just makes no sense at all, which does not make for a
good game. Example: moving the mechanical mouse inside of the maze in
curses (if you want the spoiler, get the cheatsheet)).

I think the puzzle I most enjoyed solving in interactive fiction was
in the original Adventure, killing the dragon (or is it the snake?
Not the one you use the bird on). I had been beating my head against
the problem for days. Finally, I actually answered "yes" to that
damned question and was through. If I only had 10 or so objects to
mess with, and a single puzzle to solve, I would have had the solution
in minutes. Much more fun the way it is.

Ronnie

--
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Ronnie B. Kon       | "You couldn't deny that, even if you used both hands"
ronnie@cisco.com    |
(408) 526-4592      |                   -- The Red Queen                
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