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From: crosby@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (Matthew Crosby)
Subject: Re: Planetfall criticism (*spoilers*)
Message-ID: <1993May7.195854.7987@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>
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References: <1993May7.173439.23535@infodev.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 7 May 1993 19:58:54 GMT
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In article <1993May7.173439.23535@infodev.cam.ac.uk> gdr11@phx.cam.ac.uk writes:
>PLANETFALL REVIEW *** major spoilers ***
>-----------------
...Press n now if you don't want to see 'em!


>
>This has to be the worst Infocom game I've played yet - but on the other hand
>it was Steve Meretsky's first game (written in 1983) and he was clearly 
>learning his trade (and future developments suggested that he needs a 
>collaborator to write his best games).

I completely disagree.  Planetfall was one of my favorite games of all time.

>
>Although the game has a consistent atmosphere and a couple of excellent
>set-piece scenes (in particular the first Bio-Room puzzle), the scenes 
>occur very late in the game and the early sections are distinctly
>lacking in those elements which turn a game into a story and which provide
>motivation for the player.  The lack of motivation is further exacerbated 
>because Meretsky substitutes tedium and confusion for inventive puzzles.
>
>I ought to point out that my dislike of Planetfall arises from a difference 
>of taste, rather than from any objective judgement, but I have a strong
>feeling that adventure games should be more than mere sliding-block
>puzzles, that they should combine inventive and fun puzzle-solving with 
>plot, character and storytelling.  Requiring the player to exercise 
>drudgery rather than thought in the solution of the game seems to me 
>to be a waste of an opportunity.
>
>OK, you want evidence?  Spoilers follow, please exercise care if you
>haven't played the game and don't want solutions to puzzles given away.
>
>Planetfall creates confusion by
>
>(1) a large number of red herrings.  A number of these are extremely
>    elaborate: for example there is a helicopter whose control panel
>    is locked; an information tape reveals that the key to the panel is
>    in the transportation storage room; but this room is dark and
>    you cannot find objects in it; however there is a lamp in the radiation
>    room but you cannot enter the radiation room and survive unless you
>    are wearing a radiation suit; however there is no radiation suit and all
>    of these rooms and objects are irrelevent to the game.
>
>    Yes, very clever.  But there's also a prologue section with five
>    locations and two characters all of which is irrelevent (the best
>    strategy is to type WAIT eight times, at which point the game starts);
>    there's a nuclear reactor with stairs (dark) and a lift (to which you
>    do not have the access card); a can of spam and eggs for which
>    there is no can-opener; a broken robot which you cannot repair 
>    (although it is hinted that you can); locked cupboards which cannot
>    be opened; a good number of useless objects (megafuses, scrubbing
>    brush, towel, id card, oil can, etc); and so on.

Well, I guess we differ in opinions here.  One of the reasons I loved Planetfall
was _because_ of its red herrings.  I thought all these where great, and added
atmosphere to the game.  Ditto with the opening moves.  Sure, it doesn't matter
that these things happen, but it just adds atmosphere.

Look at it this way: In real life, not everything can be solvable, or used to
solve something else.

>
>(2) providing a large number of portable objects (around 40).

So?  So did most other Infocoms.

>
...
>(4) imposing a small limit on the amount that can be carried (about 6
>    objects, depending on weight), forcing the player to go back and forth
>    a lot transporting objects around - and the prescence of the red
>    herring objects makes it very unclear which objects are likely to be 
>    needed at which point.

Ok, I'll admit that this was annoying.
>
>(5) making the transportation systems available to the player operate
>    by access card (so that you have to type 'SLIDE THE UPPER ELEVATOR
>    ACCESS CARD THROUGH THE SLOT. PRESS THE UP BUTTON' every time you want 
>    to use the upper elevator (oh! for a macro facility).  A more
>    considerate game would, assuming you has solved the elevator problem 
>    at least once before, allow you to enter the elevator and type 'UP'
>    whereupon the game would say: '(I assume you mean: press the up
>    button) (sliding the upper elevator access card through the slot first)'
>    The elevator gratuitously takes five turns to reach its destination.

Ditto...

>(6) having two large sections of the game which are separated by about 
>    40 moves with corresponding annoyance if you have left important 
>    objects behind in the other section.

I take it you never found the teleportation access card?  This makes it fairly
easy to get between the two complexes.

>
...
>
>(9) failing to include a variety of puzzle types.  Almost all the puzzles are
>    of the experimentation type: they present the player with an array of
>    coloured buttons or similar controls, and require the player to 
>    experiment with the controls to find out what they do.  This makes the
>    game rather bland for my taste.
>
>Comments, anyone?
>
Once again, I disagree.  Ok, sure there where many of these, but the puzzles
can be characterised as, but many where well done:  The gas mask/mutants, or
the getting floyd to get the card.  Speaking of which, what about Floyd?
imho, Floyd was by far the best character seen in any computer game.

Personally, I think that Planetfall succeeded very well in creating the right
atmosphere, on a weird foreign planet, where you gradually find out what is
going on, and what to do.  It had a fairly well integrated story.  

Oh well, your milage may vary.


