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From: rbryan@netcom.com (The Essential Addition)
Subject: Re: Design methods for IF
Message-ID: <rbryanCy8MIo.F5o@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <JAMIE.94Oct25161952@akeake.its.vuw.ac.nz>
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 16:44:48 GMT
Lines: 27

There is really no rhyme or reason to how I design games, but that's not 
necessarily a positive thing.  In general, I'll make a blank map which 
represents the structure I'm working on at the time.  Then I fill out the 
rooms of the structure, finding the best places for the obstructions 
which I've imagined, and cutting out extraneous rooms which would serve 
no true purpose in the story.  I'm fairly careful with the structures, 
because I like to have a sense of realism in the design.  Houses, 
temples, mansions, etc. are usually symmetrical while caverns, outdoor 
areas and cities are generally more sprawling.

I try not to write down too much because I find it stifles the creative 
process.  Characters are all individuals, in appearance, dress and style 
of speech.  I do write down a list of what characters' responses would be 
to various questions, however, simply because the sixty-year-old man in 
front of the country store will doubtless know all sorts of facts about 
the immediate area, and therefore "He doesn't know anything about that" 
becomes ludicrous.

But as far as serious down-and-dirty design work, that's not for me.  I'm 
not an outline, draft and polish writer, so I've never felt the need to 
be that meticulous a programmer, either.


-- 
 / I said you wouldn't understand --                 The Essential Addition \
|                       You kill what you fear                               |
 \ rbryan@netcom.com              -- And you fear what you don't understand /
