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From: tim@handel.Princeton.EDU (Tim Hollebeek)
Subject: Re: Randomness in Games
Message-ID: <1994Sep25.230233.17500@Princeton.EDU>
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Date: Sun, 25 Sep 1994 23:02:33 GMT
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In article <35nerb$leq@zip.eecs.umich.edu> rjones@buzzard.eecs.umich.edu (Randolph M. Jones) writes:
>In article <35n8jq$jgf@newsbf01.news.aol.com>,
>TEAddition <teaddition@aol.com> wrote:
>>My problem is that I am actually designing a puzzle similar to this, and
>>it is quite possible that a player might try a combination before the
>>combination has been set (i.e. the player hasn't solved the puzzle,
>>therefore all combinations fail), but that same combination actually turns
>>up with the random number generator, and will therefore work, after all.
>
>I think the usual thing done here is to make the puzzle simply unsolvable
>until the player has done whatever is necessary to discover the solution
>to the puzzle.  Using your example, the player would not be able to open
>the safe initially, no matter what the player tries.  However, when the
>player finds a piece of paper with the combination on it (or whatever), the
>combination gets created at random and becomes "fixed" for the rest of the
>game.  The "tool" puzzle at the end of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is
>done like this.

On the other hand, this sequence is kind of odd-looking:

> turn dial to 765
Ok.

> open safe
It doesn't open.

> read paper
The scrap of paper has '765' scrawled on it.

> turn dial to 765
Ok.

> open safe
The safe opens, revealing ...

etc.  The problem is there is a basic unrealizism (yes, it's a word :)
) in being able to save/restore etc.  Why is it unacceptable to deal
with this by asserting that small details are different each time you
play?
