Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: nntp.gmd.de!Dortmund.Germany.EU.net!Germany.EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!shulick@mango.ucs.indiana.edu
From: "Sam Hulick" <shulick@mango.ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Inform: Is 'undo' cheating?
Message-ID: <1995Sep1.110354.19482@news.cs.indiana.edu>
Organization: Vallen Software
References: <1995Sep1.070020.12868@news.cs.indiana.edu>
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 1995 11:03:48 -0500
Lines: 28


I want to know your folks' opinions.  Do you think the "undo" feature is
considered cheating?  Personally, I do.  What is the point if they can
just undo a silly move--say they get killed by some creature because
they stole his food unknowingly.  They can just say "oops!" and type
"undo" and this, IMO, eliminates the whole point of the puzzles of
interactive fiction.  Part of the "being stumped" is getting killed and
having to restore a game that would require a few minutes of work to get
back to where they were when they died.  "Undo" was never available in
the earlier Infocom games (Sorcerer, Zork I, Wishbringer, etc.) and no
one complained about it.  They were very fun, addictive, and involving.
On my game, I plan to block the "undo".  I don't want people getting out
of sticky situations that easily.

So will blocking "undo" in my game attract fewer people?  Will people
say "Oh, then I'm not going to play THAT game."?  What are your opinions
on this matter?  If one removes "undo" from their game, should they
remove "restore" as well?  Are they similar?  If enough people think
games should have "undo", I will probably leave it in.  I am only
slightly inclined to remove it. 

 Thanks for your input.. :)

-- 
--- Sam Hulick ------------- shulick@indiana.edu ---------------------
Systems Consultant        | Homepage:
Indiana College Placement |    http://copper.ucs.indiana.edu/~shulick/
  and Assessment Center   | PGP public key available on request
