Legend's lessons for IF


Sun, 26 Mar 1995 04:18:35 EST

I won't go into a full-fledged review of Legend here; this is just
what I thought were the high points that could be added to the IF Canon.
Spoilers for Legend and for Planetfall (oddly enough) ahead.

First of all, Legend points the way towards a more literary form of
IF, simply with its longer descriptions and occasional "cinematic
sequences." The natural problem with long descriptions is that the
vital clue to any random puzzle might be hidden in plain view --
right there in your Akmi Survihval Pod, but buried underneath paragraphs
about the computer and matter mover and whatnot. There are two good
solutions for this used in Legend. First, the longest description only
appears the first time you go somewhere or see something; afterwards,
it's pared down more to the essentials. Second, a hints system included
will prevent people from getting too frustrated. I mostly used it
to indicate where there were puzzles that needed solving, not for
actual advice on solving them.

And second: toys. All the really good/popular Interactive Fiction tends to
have toys in it. I define toys as objects that do a variety of
interesting, unexpected, and possibly quite elaborate things: for example,
the transmogrifier, the EVs, the crane game, and all the little
bits and pieces of Akmi merchandise rattling around in Legend. Even
though most of that junk was irrelevant to the major purpose of the
game, it still added enjoyment to the game by being fun to play with.
(This stands in opposition to the more traditional find object/use
object on puzzle/throw away object that we've all gotten sick of by
now.) More toys make the world seem more real, full of people who
have other thoughts in mind besides your petty little quest. And
Legend had plenty to choose from -- my
personal favorites were the Akmi Sez and the Akmi Cheez Blaster.
(You get the Cheez Blaster by shooting the EZ Tech Blaser with the
ary ung. Try eating the Cheez Blaster, by the way...)

Whether the toys concept should extend from objects to actual large
areas of the game, though, is debatable in my mind. There are
parts of Legend that are big, important-looking, and serve no purpose --
the barracks and surveillance room on Frost, for instance. It felt
like it was left over from a previous version of the game; the mysteries
you see in there (a homicidal guard from an unidentified organization,
surveillance screens looking out on alien planets, a military barracks
on a planet that's supposedly just a big college dormitory, a huge
sealed door, and a guest appearance by a time traveler) are never
resolved and thus mar the sense of completion one wants to have at
the end of an adventure. The absence of Ada Man and the unfortunate
disappearance of Reb Khaz into the future, not to mention the question
of what the Watchmen might do with the super-AI technology, are also
unresolved.

Thus, I think we can add Lesson 3: any mystery that's been treated
as big and important throughout the game should be resolved at the
end. Even "Planetfall," with its infamous reactor/helicopter red
herrings, does this by having Floyd turn up with the reactor access
card and the helicopter key at the end of the game. My own upcoming
game, "A Day in the Life," has been revised to accomodate this view.
Originally, the historical tragedy that kicked off the society the
game takes place in was left a mystery; now, if the player is
sufficiently determined, she can learn it all, even though the
knowledge is of no real use in completing the game. To sum up,
every Big Question should get its Big Answer (unless a sequel is
explicitly promised in which the Big Answers will be delivered.)

Hmm, that about covers it, I think. Wow, it reads pompous. Oh well.

Okay, okay, I'll review Legend a _little_: Prose was great. Puzzles were
nifty -- I especially liked flagging down the Barfee spaceship --
although some of them, such as the bit with the ary ung, struck
discordant notes with the allegedly science-based reality. The ending
was violently abrupt -- I found the whole Plast sequence to be the
least impressive part of the whole game. You shoulda beamed into
an Akmi starship, connived your way into the Cheez Death Star, and
then had an exciting time rescuing JC from security programs and
being rescued by JC from traps. Instead, wander down a hall, solve
one puzzle, and that's it.

On the other hand, the locations were magnificent -- Foon was
the most incredibly pleasant location I've ever "visited" in IF, and
Terminal Velocity the unquestioned coolest. Given the chance I'd live on
Foon and hang out at Terminal Velocity. :-) Overall, (other than the
ending) I liked it, it was much better than "Cats," I'm going to see
it again and again.

--

<*> mbs110@psuvm.psu.edu: Mark Sachs, Itinerant Graphicist and Webmaster <*> I've gone to build the Supercollider. "Fraid so infinity!" "Fraid not infinity plus one!" "D'oh!"