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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 13:18:54 -0500
From: John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com>
Organization: No Conspiracy Here...
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Subject: Re: resolving ambiguity
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jpowerbalt@my-deja.com wrote:

> Personal preference: describe all three keys.

I might take this a small step further, if the extra programming overhead isn't too much:  Try to eliminate as many keys as possible before describing them.


> As I play more I-F, I find myself wishing Strunk & White had applied
> themselves to this genre.  "Does requiring the player to answer such a
> question advance the narrative?  Does it serve any other purpose?"

> Something that always breaks mimesis for me is:
>
> >open door
> > It is locked
> > Unlock door
> > What should I unlock the door with?
> At this point I think to myself, "Let's see, I have a fish, a flaming
> sword and a key... decisions, decisions...

And many of those games would have been improved by the allowance of using the fish...

But, this is what I was talking about earlier.  Ideally, I'd like a game (and I try to do this whenever I program) to minimize the number of things it needs clarification about.

"Hitchhiker's Guide" used the more annoying version of that, with respect to the plotter and generator, and the plugs.  Many times, I found myself screaming something to the effect of, "why on Earth would I try plugging the small plug into the large outlet!?"


> If I have three keys, I want the piece to be sensible about it.  In real
> life, I have a quick look, take a guess, try another, until I get it.  I
> hardly need to dwell on this simple and automatic task.

Yep.  Try to discard, and if the player didn't specify, allow the option of "all the keys that look right," maybe.


> Another, mimesis breaking point: In most games, when I open a door, I
> can't see what is in there without entering the room.  It seems
> incongruous when you open a door, presumably look through it, but have no
> comments on the shocking horrow soon to be revealed.

At one point, I decided that the "intermediary" who is your PC is too worried about explosives and such, and so backs away from the door when he opens it.

It was a funny enough image (especially for games set in relatively suburban backdrops) that it's stuck with me.  It doesn't really hold up for the situations where you walk into a room where there are several people shouting at each other, though...


> In the above, I would much prefer:
> >Open door
> >  You fumble with the keys in your pocket.  The tiny key is obviously too small, so you quickly try the others.  The second snaps the padlock  open.  Removing it from the hasp, you press your ear against the door but cannot hear anything from within.  You brace yourself, then decisevly swing it open only to reveal - ANDREW PLOTKIN'S BRAIN!!!

That would probably be a very nice way of handling it, although it might take the fun out, for some people, by revealing the horrors of the next room.  For most purposes, it should work, though.  At least give a vague impression of what can be found in the room.


