Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
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From: adam@owlnet.rice.edu (Adam Justin Thornton)
Subject: Re: FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Message-ID: <C152v6.L99@rice.edu>
Sender: news@rice.edu (News)
Organization: Milo's Meadow
References: <3150124@hpsemc.cup.hp.com> <BENH.93Jan19172359@gradient.cis.upenn.edu>
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 06:18:42 GMT
Lines: 29

It's a fascinating problem.  I know ALAN supports multiple actors, and though
it recommends that only one be interactive this may not be a strict require-
ment.  I don't know how TADS works internally or how much of a fix it would
take to have several BasicMe objects around.

It would obviously be stupid to put all these on the same console.  But for
under $1000 you can have a 386sx running Linux with four old DEC VT220s hooked
to its serial ports; this would be more than adequate to run an interactive
adventure.

The other problem is that storylines--indeed, the very concept of a plot--would
need to be reworked if there are two players competing for the same goals.
One could really hose the other if puzzles are not carefully designed.

This would also seem to be a natural for a naive physics implementation.  For
instance, how loud something the other player does will vary with how far
away the first is and what is between them.

The problem is, though, that without certain well-defined puzzles, what you
will end up with is a MUD like structure.  With certain well-defined puzzles,
you have a situation where the players have managed to each put the other in
a no-win situation.

Adam
-- 
"And in the heartbreak years that lie ahead, |++| adam@rice.edu |++| Cthulhu
 Be true to yourself and the Grateful Dead." --Joan Baez  | 64,928 | fthagn!
"Very often, a common stone, thrown away and despised, is worth more than
 a cow." -- Paracelsus | If these were Rice's opinions I'd shoot myself.
