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Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 12:12:19 -0400
From: John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com>
Organization: No Conspiracy Here...
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Subject: Re: [design] Good Idea Or Bad Idea?
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James Wyatt wrote:

> I came up with this idea for a puzzle some time ago. Another twist on a maze,
> but this one is pretty different.
> The maze isn't just eight rooms which teleport you between them: it is
> actually
> mappable on paper: so a sample maze room would look like:
> You are in a twisty little maze of passages, all alike. You can go east,
> south, or north.
> There is possibly a hint that the player needs to map it; but because the maze
> is
> geographically consistent, this is fast. It turns out to be a 4*4 grid which
> wraps
> at the edges.
> Upon mapping it, the player notices that one of the squares in the grid is
> blocked off, and uses "examine east/south/north/west wall" in an adjacent room
>
> to open a secret passage and get in.
>
> Bad Idea? Good Idea? (Bear in mind that the game is designed for first-time IF
>
> players.. although this would come at the end, so they'd not be completely
> inexperienced.

My rule of thumb for puzzles (mine and those of other people) is that tedium
shouldn't ever be used as a substitute for cleverness, except as an "alternate
solution."  For example, as you state it, with a subtle clue near the "critical"
juncture, would make a fine "quick" puzzle.

Much larger, though, or missing a clue so that the area MUST be mapped (probably
with a large inventory of garbage to keep the room descriptions different), and
it becomes a test of my patience, more than anything else, and that's really not
much fun.

However, as I mentioned above, the tedious solution should a perfectly viable
alternate solution, for those players who miss the more subtle clues.  It allows
both levels of players to pass, but rewards the more clever or more observant
player by giving him an easier way through.


