Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
From: zobbo@frootbat.demon.co.uk (Ian Cottee)
Path: gmd.de!xlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uunet!news.sprintlink.net!demon!frootbat.demon.co.uk!zobbo
Subject: Re: More rambling 
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References: <2caanp$dfc@agate.berkeley.edu>
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Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1993 16:42:09 +0000
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In article <2caanp$dfc@agate.berkeley.edu> whizzard@uclink.berkeley.edu writes:

>few good ones, but I doubt there are very many.  Size doesn't matter a bit.
>Quality is what you want.  And quality vs. size gradually becomes an inverse

Ah - quality - absolutely. I loath *large* games - the Ultimas spring to 
mind. I want a game where I don't wander around 700 locations - looking for 
the key I need back in location one. 

What I do want is a totally logical game. Lets take an example where 
you have to open a wooden box with a padlock on. The game wants you to
unlock the padlock with a key but I have an axe. I want to smash that sucker
with the axe but the game says 'Sorry, you can't do that'. Why not? This is
supposed to be emulating reality. Why can't I cut my opponents hand off and 
eat it. Why can't I break the knife in half and then scratch my initals
onto the wooden bench with my fingernails?

Yeah - I know - its all too much for the programmer to think of ... but 
its what the game player would like to do. Get teams of programmers going 
for it any maybe you'd have a game where you could do many more things
if they are logical and possible. Virtual Realitity promises to do the same 
thing graphically. Surely - before you can do that - you can do the whole
thing textually. 

Just think. You find a guy in the woods. He gives you the magic password
but instead of him falling into sullen silence you then sit and chat. Give 
him a cup of tea - stick pebbles up his nostrils. You could just play for
ages and do diffferent things. What a great *toy* to play with. A virtual
reality textual universe. How many CD roms would I need to cope with an 
infinite number of possibilities? :-)

Sure, I know its pie in the sky but its a good thing to aim for. 

Er - sorry. Getting carried away. CDRom isn't necessary to cater for a game 
which copes with many different possibilities. But I'd still like
that backing track :-)

>relationship towards the farther reaches of game size.  Besides, who wants to
>spend a year trying to beat one game?  Sorry, I just don't think that your
>'dream' is practical or even desirable.

I like my games small but perfectly formed :-). Its the density of the 
game universe that appeals to me. 

-- 
  Ian Cottee - 15, Gerards Close, Varcoe Road, S Bermondsey, London, SE16 3DF
    zobbo@frootbat.demon.co.uk  ***************  zobbo@cix.compulink.co.uk
* Don't go hanging onto rainbows, the colours just slip and you start to slide*
