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Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 05:36:30 -0700
From: "J. Fatula" <fatula3@attglobal.net>
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Subject: Re: Modeling Outdoors
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Not bad ideas, but I'm using a different one.
My code generates new locations as you travel about in the region.  It's
not a forest, but it could just as easily be one.  There are rules that
prevent it from going too far in any one direction, and several
different types of locations.

Joe Fatula

--

Sam Kabo Ashwell wrote:
>
> in article T9fY6.302179$eK2.61439370@news4.rdc1.on.home.com, James at
> jlloyd0283@home.com wrote on 6/21/01 5:58 AM:
>
> > Well stated. Point taken. Although doesn't that make it impossible to do
> > something like you were trying to do (making something difficult to find
> > without having knowledge of where it is)? How could I have a cabbin hidden
> > in the middle of a big forest which is only 5 or 6 rooms large?
>
> See the forest stuff in Anchorhead. Directional movement doesn't necessarily
> have to always have the same result if you move in direction X from place Y.
>
> You can also make the forest seem larger by simulating movement with
> modified no-exit messages that go something like, "You stumble through the
> undergrowth for a while." (and getting rid of objects that were lying on the
> floor, etc). This'll only work with the right sort of room description, of
> course; not every room in the forest has a gurgling waterfall, three oak
> trees with lichen on the north side, and a small primitive shrine to the
> forest deity.
> You could also, if you want to conceal things within the forest, make a
> single room and modify its directional properties so that they alter two
> coordinate values, so, for example, going west returns a "You stroll through
> the woods" message, clears all dropped objects, maybe changes some random
> elements in the room desc, and adds one to the X coordinate of the room;
> when the X and Y coordinates reach certain target values, you can put the
> player into special rooms.
> SKA
>
> > I see what
> > your saying about the fun part. That's what worries me. I don't want to make
> > the game realistic at the expense of it being fun to play, but at the same
> > time I want I'd like to realize my idea. Catch 22(?)
> >
> > Also if I were to make a forest type area made up of 100 different rooms,
> > and possibly other areas in the game of a similar size I'd include probably
> > include some type of automapping feature, probably with graphics instead of
> > text. That way you could always see where you were on the map, instead of
> > wandering around aimlessly through a bunch of similar room descriptions.
> >
> > "Stuart Allen" <stuart@jacl.animats.net> wrote in message
> > news:b2ce9981.0106202026.61c03ef3@posting.google.com...
> >> "James" <jlloyd0283@home.com> wrote in message
> > news:<3RbY6.299863$eK2.60985512@news4.rdc1.on.home.com>...
> >>> Anyone have any thoughts on modeling a large area such as a big open
> > field,
> >>> or a forest? I'm thinking about making a really large forest like maybe
> > like
> >>> 10 separate locations by 10 separate locations. By separate locations I
> > mean
> >>> if the player was at one end of the forest the player would have to type
> >>> north 10 times to reach the other end. The problem is how many times can
> > you
> >>> describe essentially the same thing in a different, and interesting way.
> > I
> >>> don't want the forest to become a bunch of repetitive descriptions, even
> >>> though that's essentially what a forest is to begin with, but at the
> > same
> >>> time I want the player to be able to travel through the forest, and
> > realize
> >>> it's vastness. There will be npc wandering around at the same time to
> > keep
> >>> the world alive. Any suggestions on how to go about doing something like
> >>> this?
> >>>
> >>> James
> >>
> >> Whatever you do, don't make the same mistake I did. In The Unholy
> >> Grail I had a large ocean. I decided to make it large to reduce the
> >> chance of the player finding a particular part of it without knowing
> >> where they were going. The thing I forgot to take into account is that
> >> people play games to have fun, not as an excercise in tedium. These
> >> days I assess every design desision for entertainment value. In other
> >> words, making your forest 10 x 10 locations might be a good way to
> >> give the impression of it being vast, but it might be a very annoying
> >> way to convey that fact. In reality, a four location forest with
> >> well-written descriptions would probably be a much better way to
> >> achieve the same effect.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Stuart
> >
> >

