Message-ID: <3AD5EAAE.FEF7ACA0@csi.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 13:49:35 -0400
From: John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com>
Organization: No Conspiracy Here...
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Subject: Re: [INFORM] Menu-driven conversation, take 2
References: <9aujp6$96d$1@news.lth.se> <3AD45AD2.FFD59408@csi.com> <9b1mp9$3ch$2@news.lth.se> <GBnI5I.LAq@world.std.com> <9b2v24$bue$1@news.panix.com>
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emshort@mindspring.com wrote:

> Sean T Barrett <buzzard@world.std.com> wrote:
> > In article <9b1mp9$3ch$2@news.lth.se>, Magnus Olsson <mol@pobox.com> wrote:
> > Now, imagine that instead of typing 0, you can just type any
> > old command you please.  (In other words, you get a real prompt,
> > but you have the option of typing in the number of a conversation
> > choice instead.)
> ...
> > Now move the conversation choices off to the status line so
> > you can leave them up all the time without filling the screen
> > and scrollback with them.
> > At this point, you're not at all modal between conversations
> > and everything else, although you are modal in terms of which
> > NPC you're talking to--unless you want to start showing all
> > of the conversation options for every character present at
> > all times.
> This is, in fact, exactly how Pytho's Mask works, with the additional
> point that you can change the menu you see if you want to talk about a
> new topic.
> The further advantage of this (in my opinion, at least) is that it
> allows the player to do NPC-interactive things in the midst of a
> conversation -- react to something that has been said either with a
> snappy remark or with a kiss or slap in the face or by storming out of
> the room -- which is a kind of flow that is difficult if not impossible
> to attain if you slip into another mode to handle conversations.

Not just your opinion.  That is one thing that is almost a necessity for
smoothly-flowing conversation.  Without it, body language of any sort becomes
entirely impossible (except where prespecified by a menu, perhaps, but that's
similarly unpleasant, because there are only so many listable choices).

I found "Pytho's Mask" to be the best compromise so far.  About the only major
improvement I might suggest would be to link some of the usual conversation verbs
(ask, tell, and show, probably) to the "topic" verb.  Then one could type, "show
the rotted banana peel to the cleaning lady," and be given more precise options
as to exactly what the player wants to say.  Ideally, the verb used in that
context might even affect the comments available--that is, "ask woman about the
thermonuclear device" would supply questions, whereas, "tell woman about the
thermonuclear device" would supply a list of comments.

That last bit might be needlessly excessive for most purposes, however.


> ES

