Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction
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From: ceforma@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Christopher E. Forman)
Subject: Re: Least favourite puzzles.
Message-ID: <1995Oct24.192956.204582@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu>
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 1995 19:29:56 GMT
References: <46ibm4$n9@mercury.kingston.ac.uk> <46incf$kbn@decaxp.harvard.edu>
Organization: Illinois State University
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: : My most loathed puzzle of all time is the Trinity puzzle whereby you change
: : the threading on the gnomon. And because I did not re-read a location
: : description ONCE, I was stuck on it for FIVE YEARS.

IMHO, the Trinity puzzle isn't unfair -- careful attention to detail is
part of playing I-F.  If forcing players to be observant constitutes a
flaw, then "Curses," for example, would be a horrible, horrible game (which
is obviously not true).

:     Mine was the infamous baseball diamond puzzle in Zork -- I was
: stuck on it for *years* too before getting fed up and looked at the solution.
: I didn't (and STILL don't) know ANYTHING about baseball, let alone what
: its playing field looks like!

This is quite a bit different, though.  The puzzle is not really connected
to the game, and there are only a very few, very obscure clues to the
solution.  I ended up looking this one up, too.

The trouble with rating puzzles as "good" or "bad" is that it often seems to
depend on the context (i.e. the game itself).  I don't want to avoid specific
spoilers, but many puzzles make sense in one game, while they wouldn't in
another.  The riddle in my own PTF (the beta version will be sent to testers
tomorrow, I promise!!!) is this way.  It's very strange and obscure, and
the clues to solving it can be easily overlooked.  Nonetheless, it's an
important part of the story (it comes into play much later in the series),
so it's necessary to include it, however unfair it may seem.  (Believe me,
some of you will HATE us for making you solve it, but that's a risk I'm
willing to take.)  Unlike the Zork II baseball puzzle, though, PTF's riddle
is connected to the game -- it plays an important part later on, although
it's not immediately obvious.  In such instances, an obscure or slightly
unfair puzzle can be acceptable.
-- 
C.E. Forman                                      ceforma@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu
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