Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
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From: rbryan@netcom.com (Russ Bryan)
Subject: Re: Gratuitous objects
Message-ID: <rbryanCxHIJ9.EK9@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <36ids8$gk0@dewey.cc.utexas.edu> <3750a3INNiks@life.ai.mit.edu> <cia30eG00gpIIWDeBj@andrew.cmu.edu> <CxF4JM.1uK@news.tcd.ie>
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 01:23:32 GMT
Lines: 54

My attitude about hints is well-known.  Recently, while playing Curses, I 
found myself stuck at a few places, so I asked for help.  I then spent 48 
hours (not straight, obviously) working further, solving many of my 
questions, and if any were left at that point I would check back with 
RGIF to get the answer.  This method worked well for me -- it meant that, 
in the end, I only failed to solve two puzzles on my own, and I didn't 
have to stress for days to solve those two (which, in perfect sour grapes 
style, I consider to be the only two puzzles in Curses which were poorly 
executed).

I also recently beta-tested a piece of I-F with a full hints system 
installed.  INSTANT GRATIFICATION!  I wouldn't say that I overused the 
system, but I did use it at a couple of points when it just wasn't 
necessary -- particularly, there was a riddle which I had all but figured 
out, but I got a little frustrated and BEHOLD! the answer was RIGHT THERE.

I probably used the on-line hints for this game six or seven times -- 
deplorable for me, but SO tempting! -- and for that reason, I didn't 
enjoy the game.  I don't even consider it that good, although it has all 
of the features I look for in IF.  My entire impression of the game was 
destroyed because the sense of accomplishment was gone.

The solution to this problem?  I think it was best implemented in 
Curses.  Most puzzles had a solution which the devil or the angel could 
help you with.  The hint was always quite small, but JUST big enough to 
help me move on.  Most hint systems, even those systems which gradually 
give narrower and narrower hints, always end with a hint like :"Get the 
tomato.  Throw it at the rabbit.  Eat the sodium capsule," step-by-steps 
instructions on how to win.  A hint system which gives ONE hint per 
puzzle is helpful, but doesn't ruin the game.

Nice thing about Shareware and Freeware is that you don't find yourself 
writing for the masses.  If someone is going to give up because one or 
two puzzles stump him, then I don't care if he ends up disliking interactive 
fiction, anymore than HE would care that I dislike arcade games.  The 
reason so many game manufacturers out there used to provide on-line hints 
was because they would sell more games that way.  Now, they've gone the 
other way -- making some puzzles so hard that people MUST buy the hint 
book to win (unless, of course, you've played IF like us -- does anyone 
else consider graphic  adventures to be pathetically easy?).

Anyway, enough babbling.  It's a matter of personal taste.  I'll continue 
to not make games that provide hints, and I'll continue to dislike games 
that provide hints.

I wouldn't buy a jigsaw puzzle with a solution, either.



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