Message-ID: <3c8b28f9_3@corp-news.newsgroups.com>
From: CardinalT <cardinalt@helpmejebus.com>
Subject: Re: Making a parser - what are the minimal requirements?
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 01:34:23 -0800
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Mark W wrote:

> This parser would have to recognize speach in a manner that's
> exponentially more complex than the current breed of parsers. They'd be
> cutting edge in terms of language recognition, and not just in IF in the
> world of AI as well.
>
> Perhaps regular expression is rich enough to solve this problem (or create
> the illusion of solving this problem), but you'd be opening the door for
> more and more complex player input in unanticipated ways. "Examine the pot
> that I found around the time that I lost the key to the front gate." "Pick
> up the locket that Aunta Freida said she was given by a German officer
> during World War II and put it to the left of the urn that contains the
> ashes of Uncle Frank on the mantle piece."
>
> Authors will have to ancipate every possible association the player might
> make to an object games would become a complex web of objects and
> relationships.

I'm not sure I completely follow you, but you seem to be thinking that
Kodrik's parser actually understands all the extra verbage that's being
thrown at it. It doesn't, however. It simply ignores it as if it was never
said. The player is totally free to type whatever he wants so long as
somewhere along the line he matches all the necessary tokens. Thus, "put
blue pot stove" is equivalent in every way to "put blue pot <insert entire
text of Rime of the Ancient Mariner here> stove."

There are several problems with this, one of which hasn't been mentioned
yet: to wit, if the parser doesn't understand and ignores *true* extraneous
assertions, it will do the same for false ones. Thus, there's no reason the
parser wouldn't accept "put the pot that I found in the blue room right
after I assassinated JFK on the stove" as valid, "successful" input even if
the player never, in fact, assassinated JFK.

--
--CardinalT
  Archbishop of Frith and Funeral Barker to the Stars
