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From: sxl6400@hertz.njit.edu (Mike Threepoint)
Subject: Re: Randomness in Games (spoilers)
Message-ID: <1994Sep25.143540.10481@njitgw.njit.edu>
Summary: Two "forced" restarts, aren't.
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Date: Sun, 25 Sep 1994 14:35:40 GMT
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The Harvey wrote:
=> My biggest HHG gripe was the miserable little dog and sandwich puzzle.  
=> It wasn't the element of randomness, but the 
=> if-you-miss-your-chance-the-game-cannot-be-won element that I so strongly 
=> object to.  I haven't played HHG in years, but this still tugs at the 
=> back of my mind.  I remember how infuriated I was when I was literally 
=> FORCED to restart the game from square one.  Lame.

If Arthur didn't feed the dog, Ford can do have done it later.

The Plotkin writes!
> To some extent this sort of thing is necessary for really interesting
> branching plotlines. Do you spend your gold coin on the amusement park
> or the toll booth? (Sorcerer.) You can play for a while either way, but
> if you make the wrong choice, you'll have to back up and start over. 

Not necessarily, but recovering takes patience.  The slot machine has
a 3/64 chance of paying off 1 zorkmid.  It also has 1/64 chance of
burying you with the jackpot, but with the gaspar spell, you can
survive that.

There are many other valid examples of unrecoverable mistakes where
you later realize you must go back and start over, but these two are
not among them.
