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REVIEWS OF THE IF-COMP 2001 GAMES

A few preliminary notes: at first, I've been trying to come up with an elaborate
rating system (namely, rate the games' plot, puzzles, writing, etc. separately
and then making the average their final rating). However, due to the number of
the games and their wide variety I found it difficult to follow this pattern
consistently. Therefore, I'd finally given it up, and switched over to a much
more simple system  I just rated the games according to how well I liked them.
Basically, the ratings mean the following:

1  I couldn't find anything good to say about the game;
2 to 4  (far) below average;
5  average;
6  solid work but nothing special (or, on the contrary, a badly implemented
good game);
7 to 9  an excellent game (here, the differences were rather subtle; e. g., a
game I rated 7 might get a 9 if I was in a different mood when playing it);
and (the one and only) 10  my favourite.

I didn't download the RESOURCES-part of the competition archive, and played the
games in text form only (unless the graphics were included with the game
itself).

The games are sorted according to the rank I've given them (from the lowest to
the highest one). In the review headers, the following special marks are used: *
means I didn't finish the game; ! means the review contains mild spoilers; !!
means the review contains explicit spoilers.

A short note of the game I didn't rate/review:
Mystery Manor, Stranded, Carma, and "2112", because they were in the
RESOURCES-part of the archive, which I didn't download;
Lovesong, for its author hadn't provided either an interpreter for his game or
information where to get it;
and A Night Guest - since I'd written it myself.

And now, the reviews.

RANK: 46
The Last Just Cause
Author: Noob
Rating: 1
*
..And this is the story:
I woke up in a not too remarkable place, with a strange voice in my head, which
pretended it was telling me something useful but was just babbling for the most
part. Since there was nothing else to do (the parser wouldn't let me anyway), I
started randomly roaming through a confusing series of more not too remarkable
rooms, fighting Double J monsters as I did so (the fights merely consisted of
pressing a key several times till the monster died). To my dismay, there was no
way to turn the fighting off. Eventually, the strange voice in my head would
return to babble some more. Then, a monster came and ate me without warning.
Since I hadn't got a backup copy of the current game session (mainly because of
the complicated save/restore procedure, which required activities on the
operating system level; poor "plain old DOS" users, I wonder how they were
supposed to perform it!) I imagined what redoing it from the very start would
mean... thought of another series of boring encounters with a vast number of
Double J monsters... and let's admit it - I got the wind up, and couldn't bring
myself up to play the awful thing once more. Sorry!
P. S. You know, people are egoistic by nature. Most of them (with very, VERY few
exceptions) play a game to enjoy themselves, not to admire the game's "battle
engine"...

RANK: 45
You Were Doomed from the Start
Author: Noob
Rating: 1
There is no reason to play this "game". Its only advantage is its shortness. The
accompanying readme file said it had been meant as a programming example, yet it
failed even as such. Sample code should at least include lucid and extensive
comments, you know... And there is still the question, why would someone enter a
programming example into a competition. Spelling mistakes didn't help, either.
The entry itself was doomed from the start, it seemed.

RANK: 44
The Test
Authors: Matt, Dark Baron
Rating: 2
*!
Quotation from the blurb for the game: "Less than 3 minutes before the most
important test of your life involving english and maths together, you are thrown
into somewhere else (it doesn't really matter)."
Less than 3 minutes after I had started playing this entry, I felt it wouldn't
really matter to me whether I completed it, or not. A puzzle-oriented game,
without any effort to make the game world more realistic. Poor implementation of
synonyms; only a small set of verbs was recognized. Because of that, the
auto-fill feature of Adrift became especially annoying. Spelling mistakes
abound.
As to the puzzles... Well, the first one was ripped off from The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy. The second one more or less required trying everything to
solve it (while solving was quite possible due to the small number of objects
implemented and actions those objects would react to, it wasn't very
satisfying). The third one was OK. The fourth one I couldn't solve even using
the hints. Since, against the authors' promises, there was no walkthrough
available, I gave up. And I hadn't got the feeling I missed much.

RANK: 43
Schroedinger's Cat
Author: James Willson
Rating: 2
*
The game claims the player's goal is to understand how the game's world works.
That's fine with me; however, I could see no reason why I'd want to find it out.
Still, I've got to admit the game was rather polished and competently done.

RANK: 42
The Newcomer
Author: Jason Love
Rating: 3
*
It looks like the game wasn't finished. I mean, if you have VERBOSE room
descriptions like "The link between", or "$$$", it can't possibly be a completed
game, can it? Other than those amazing descriptions, the game features three
other rooms with almost no objects you could manipulate, and two NPCs you barely
could interact with. Since there were neither hints nor a walkthrough available,
I spent about 15 minutes trying to find out what this all was about, but failed.
Sorry.

RANK: 41
Surreal
Author: Matthew Lowe
Rating: 4
*
The author of this game says he's been trying to make the game world seem as
realistic as possible. Maybe it is realistic; but the problem is, it's boring. I
just hadn't got any motivation to go on playing. Yes, the game clued at some
clever story behind it  but it failed to arouse any interest in it on my part.
Now, I don't want to discourage the author  it's been his first attempt to
write IF, after all. And he seems to have potential  there certainly are worse
games than Surreal. But here are a couple of things I'd like to niggle about:
a) although most people (and probably the GAGS/AGT authors themselves) have a
different opinion, I don't think GAGS/AGT is a suitable tool for beginners. Yes,
it lets you produce a game easily  but it's a cheesy game. I heard it's
possible to write a good game in AGT/GAGS (though I never played one), but to do
so, you'd need to be quite experienced in overcoming the design system's
limitations. Thus, it might be a good idea to take a little more time to learn a
more advanced design system like Inform or TADS, which lets you produce a better
game with less work.
b) proof-read, proof-read, proof-read. Spelling mistakes (and Surreal has one in
approx. every second room description) make a game look amateurish at best.

RANK: 40
Volcano Isle
Author: Paul DeWitt
Rating: 4
First of all, I found it tiresome to navigate in this game, because the room
descriptions didn't mention all possible exits in most cases. (It was very much
like the forest maze in Zork I, but with a larger number of rooms, and less
vivid descriptions). Since I wasn't in the mood for mapping the area out, I
quickly resorted to the walkthrough.
The game was your standard treasure hunt. At some point, it tried to persuade me
that there was some clever story behind it, but unfortunately, the story didn't
affect the gameplay in any way. The implementation was minimalistic, and rather
sloppy at many points (e. g., action responses weren't set apart from the room
descriptions, etc.) Since those mishaps occurred even in the transcript serving
as the walkthrough, the author was almost certainly aware of them; thus, he
either lacked the TADS knowledge needed to avoid such undesired effects, or
didn't care about the quality of his work. (Sorry if I'm wrong). The only NPC
was a clone of the thief from Zork I, but devoid of any witty characteristics
and reactions, which made its prototype seem alive; what remained was a dummy
walking around and picking up things. None of the puzzles in the game seemed
original or clever, with one exception: the tape recorder puzzle had got
potential, but again, was implemented too badly.
There were two features in the game I liked: the background colour changing
according to the location you were in (you've got to play on HTML TADS to see
this); and the possibility to just sail away at the very beginning of the game,
leaving the volcano isle for good.

RANK: 39
Fine Tuned
Author: Dionysius Porcupine
Rating: 4
*
The game wasn't completely without potential, and it kind of featured a story,
but... it was just too bug-ridden. I resorted to the walkthrough rather soon,
but in some cases, even the walkthrough wasn't helpful - mainly because of bugs.
Yes, there was quite a collection of them - occasional typos, inappropriate
responses, spots where actions unexpected by the game author got you stuck, and
even fatal errors, which caused the program to crush altogether. Even worse, the
walkthrough itself seemed not to be complete; therefore, I couldn't make it to
the optimal ending, much less find out what all the trouble was for. The
puzzles... Some of them were just stupid, while others probably would be OK - if
only they were implemented better. The setting was rather minimalistic, which
probably was a good thing - if it wasn't, the bugs might make the game totally
unplayable. The narration tone was that of false cheerfulness - another aspect
that didn't particularly excite me. Nevertheless, I liked a few characters in
the game - in particular, the main villain (Salomonder), and the farmer
MacDougal with his stupid jokes. Still, they weren't sufficient to make me like
this game.

RANK: 38
Invasion of the Angora-fetish Transvestites from the Graveyards of Jupiter
Author: Morten Rasmussen
Rating: 4
*
The game was quite solidly made; I'm sorry I couldn't get the feeling for it. It
seemed a bit too random - it consisted mostly of just walking around without any
particular aim, and the surroundings, though acceptably carefully done, didn't
exactly make up for it. The characters moving around on their own didn't excite
me too much, either.
I'm not sure what purpose the sudden weather, season, and daytime changes in
some parts of the landscape served; anyway, it seemed a bit... uhm... strange
(you know, a lightning bolt that just stays there and is mentioned in the room
description each time you type "LOOK" appears unnatural at best).
As I read the walkthrough I realized that what seemed to me like a flow of
unrelated events had some plan behind it; however, it didn't motivate me to make
another attempt to solve the game.
The parser was OK; I had got only two minor complaints about it - first, the
ability to save only one game position is below today's standards; and second,
the way items in a container were manipulated (you needed to explicitely TAKE
ITEM FROM CONTAINER (just TAKE ITEM wouldn't work), and even couldn't examine
the ITEM while it was inside the CONTAINER) was a bit awkward. Still, I think
it's quite possible to write a good game using this engine.

RANK: 37
To Otherwere and Back
Author: Gregory Ewing
Rating: 5
From the accompanying readme file I learned the game was initially written for
the Walkthrough (aka Telegram) Comp, in which the participants had got to write
a game that would match a given walkthrough. The walkthrough seemed rather
random (at least, to me); I had got the feeling it'd be a very hard job to write
a good, consistent game based on it.
Unfortunately, I didn't play any of the original entries for the Walkthrough
Comp, and can't judge how others succeeded in converting the haphazard number of
actions provided in the walkthrough to a text adventure; the author of TOAB,
however, did not very good.
The game consists of several different scenes, essentially unrelated to each
other, which exist for the sole purpose of forcing the player through a
prescribed set of actions. In many cases, progress is impossible without the
underlying walkthrough. Etc., etc.
And there is another issue: look, the Walkthrough Comp ended some time in
spring, I think. Since then, there was PLENTY of time to give the game (at
least) some depth. Why the author didn't use the chance, is a mystery to me. The
result is, among many other things: a sword you can't use to attack anybody,
including the player character; lots of characters you can't ask/tell about
things, give/show something to, etc.; standard responses to almost any action
not required by the walkthrough... The list can be continued, but I think you
got the basic idea. The only plus for this game seemed to be the fact that the
descriptions were free of spelling mistakes.
To sum up: this entry represented the most straightforward approach to writing
an IF-work from a walkthrough. And it hasn't been done very carefully.

RANK: 36
The Cruise
Author: Norman Perlmutter
Rating: 5
*
The game reminded me of early graphic adventures - in particular, of Leisure
Suit Larry 1; a couple of areas seemed to be directly ripped off from there,
though I might be wrong. It had got some enjoyable moments, and characters
(while the latter weren't especially deep); unfortunately, it also had got
plenty of minor bugs, inappropriate responses, and the like.
To the puzzles: while they weren't hard, some of them could be solved by trying
everything (respectively, looking everywhere) only; one of them was of a
guess-the-verb nature. Luckily, a hint system was available. However, at least
one puzzle was good. Having to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and to go to
bed every day became plenty annoying in the long run.
About getting the Last Lousy Point: I did get it - but in a way the game author
clearly hadn't thought of. However, I couldn't find the "proper" way to solve it
 and the hint system seemed to have a bug at that point.

RANK: 35
The Cave of Morpheus
Author: Mark Silcox
Rating: 5
The idea behind this game has got potential, but needs a much better
implementation to get it working. The game had got an amateurish feel, partly
because of the occasional typos (there weren't many of them, but a couple even
appeared in the intros for both parts of the game, and that didn't make a good
impression), partly because it was done rather poorly, and had several annoying
bugs. Some of them probably can be attributed to the restrictions of the
development system (although I've never programmed in Adrift, and thus don't
know what its restrictions are), but others (like room descriptions unaware of
game state changes) clearly are an "achievement" of the author himself. More
careful design might make the plot of the game, essentially a mix of Freudism,
Colossal Cave references, college life, and  psychology, shine; currently,
however, it appears pretentious rather than fancy. I'm sorry.

RANK: 34
Goofy
Author: Ricardo Dague
Rating: 5
*
Unfortunately, I didn't get past the maze-with-the-mouse puzzle. I had got the
feeling it might be better clued on, but maybe I'm just stupid. Anyway, I think
a walkthrough wouldn't harm.
All in all, it was your average puzzle-oriented game, with descriptions limited
to the "bare essentials". If it was written in TADS or Inform, you wouldn't give
it a second glance. However, it features its own parser; thus, a few more words
have to be said.
I don't share the bias against home-brewed parsers most people seem to have. In
fact, I think that asking "Why would someone write his own parser with Inform
and TADS available?" is like asking "Why would someone write IF with the games
by Infocom available?"
In this game, the parser was adequate. Maybe it didn't understand a lot of
words, but I hadn't got any problems with those it understood. The only thing I
can fault the parser for is its inability to save/restore the game, since the
game can be rendered unwinnable. Since I got stuck on a relatively early stage
of the game, it wasn't an issue for me to redo the game from the very start;
however, if I made better progress in the game, and had to redo it, it might
have bothered me a lot worse. All in all, I'd say keep working on the parser, it
has potential. Who knows? Maybe in a couple of years, we'll have another IF
development system...

RANK: 33
Timeout
Author: Stephen Hilderbrand
Rating: 5
The game had got a rather promising, albeit a bit generic, dystopian setting.
The problem was, the author didn't seem to know what to do with the world he
created. As I completed the game, I told myself, "It can't be the intended
ending, it's just too stupid!" Yet, as I looked up in the walkthrough, it seemed
that it actually WAS the intended ending (at least, the walkthrough hadn't got
any clues about other possible endings). The optional puzzles described in the
walkthrough seemed rather pointless (for they didn't seem to lead anywhere).
Plus, there were several bugs (one of them caused the game to terminate). Though
there were a few entertaining moments in the game, it was a disappointment.

RANK: 32
You Are Here
Author: Roy Fisher
Rating: 5
*
Essentially, this was your standard treasure hunt with RPG elements, like Zork I
(but with less treasures, and more fighting). That's pretty much sums it up,
with one exception: since this work is a promotion for an online multi-player
game, it's packed with references to this game, as well as to multi-player games
in general. Therefore, I expected the NPCs representing the actual players more
alive than they were. Also, the entry kind of parodies the genre itself, which
is funny at some points.
While the game was fairly well done, there were a few bugs in it. None of them
was very serious; however, the following response amused me boundlessly for some
reason:

>examine Ruby of Chaos
I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the Ruby of Chaos.

The puzzles (as the author of the game stated) were kept rather easy; still, I
managed to get stuck. Maybe I was just stupid; it'd be nice, though, if I could
perform a proof of my stupidity by consulting the walkthrough (which, as you
might have guessed, was missing). (An observation: I've noticed that in most
cases, I haven't got much problems completing games with hints/walkthroughs
available without using the latter; on the contrary, games lacking such aids
inevitably get me stuck, no matter how easy the game claims to be. Sigh.)

RANK: 31
Shattered Memories
Author: Akbarr
Rating: 5
*
I got stuck rather early in this game; otherwise, the rating would be higher.
(Well, I did finish it a few days after, after I learned the author had released
a hint file for it, but decided not to change the initial rating nevertheless).
Though the descriptions were rather minimalistic, the author succeeded in
getting me hooked: I really felt troubled in this place, and wanted to find out
what was going on (though I, as a player, had got my own suspicions the PC
hadn't got). It was a pity no hints were available!
There were several things to complain about (e. g., the writing and overall
implementation seemed to be a bit sloppily done; the NPCs were rather limited;
also, the author clearly had tampered with the parser, which resulted in strange
behaviour at some points), but all in all, it was a worthy effort. It's
definitely worth playing at least one time, especially now, as the hints are
available!

RANK: 30
Crusade
Author: John Gorenfeld
Rating: 5
*
I liked the humour of this game; the story seemed to be OK, as well - the
problem was, I didn't see most of it because I got stuck, and there were no
hints/walkthrough available. The implementation was rather minimalistic, and
there were a few minor bugs. The puzzles I saw were partly quite interesting and
fun to solve... with the exception of the one I got stuck on. That's a pity; I'm
sure that, if the author released an accompanying walkthrough for his game, I'd
rate it much higher.

RANK: 29
The Chasing
Author: Anssi Raisanen
Rating: 5
!
This is your standard treasure hunt a la Colossal Cave or ZORK 1, with horses in
place of the treasures and a stable in place of the trophy case. The Chasing's
advantages over the classical adventures mentioned above: the player can't be
killed, the game can't be put in an unwinnable state, and you don't have to
manage lots of inventory. Its main disadvantage: the puzzles, which should be
the focus of the game, are too easy, a lot of them boiling down to paying
careful attention to objects in the room descriptions. (Normally, I don't have
anything against such puzzles - as long as it isn't overdone). Not all of them
are logical, too: sometimes, you'd just complete a task that didn't seem
relevant to your primary objective, and would be rewarded with a horse. Due to a
bug, you can complete the game by solving one of the puzzles several times. The
writing was even and free of mistakes, but not very exciting. All in all (I'm
sorry to say that), a completely unremarkable game.

RANK: 28
Bane of the Builders
Author: Bogdan Baliuc
Rating: 5
!!
When I read the intro for this game... well, by no means am I a know-all, but I
swear that my first thought was "Hey, what a wonderfully generic SciFi opening!
It could result just in anything, from a flop to an excellent work".
However, it turned out to be none of the above: it remained equally generic for
the rest of the game; by the end, the player "managed to save the Professor, the
Earth and help uncover part of the Builders' mystery. Not bad for a day's work."
Maybe it wasn't bad, but not especially satisfying for the player, either. The
plot consisted of exploring an abandoned extraterrestrial city in search for the
lost Professor, and fiddling with "priceless pieces of alien technology". The
descriptions were free of typos for the most part, but without any trace of
emotion, as if telling the player: "Yes, this is your usual puzzle feast! Don't
even expect something else from it!"
And sure, the puzzles were the strongest part of the game. I can't deny that
some of them had got potential; still, there weren't a single puzzle in which
this potential was fully developed. To make my point more clear, I included a
more detailed overview of the major puzzles (spoilers ahead!).
The maze: I almost liked it. However, it seemed to me not to be clued on well
enough; I wasn't aware of the way a rat would go through a labyrinth; thus, I
wasn't able to solve it without resorting to the on-line hints.
The elevator: shame on me - I didn't hit on opening the panel. Again, I had got
the feeling it might be better clued about, but thinking back of it I admit I'm
probably not quite fair - after all, there WAS a button which wouldn't function
on the panel, and trying fixing it by opening the panel seemed quite logical.
Fiddling with the panel circuitry seemed to be OK as a puzzle (though I used the
walkthrough to solve it).
The box with the lever: here, I found out the solution but wasn't able to phrase
it in a way understandable to the parser. After a few tries I just looked it up
in the walkthrough. See, if you allow WRAP HAND IN CLOTH, you should allow WRAP
CLOTH AROUND HAND, and WRAP CLOTH AROUND LEVER, and WRAP LEVER IN CLOTH as well.
Also, you should provide the hand as an object in the game (in Bane of the
Builders, WRAP HAND is implemented as a single verb).
The final puzzle: here, dying two or three times seems almost unavoidable for
the player to find out what he needs to solve the game; also, I thought that the
modes the blaster could be set to should be listed in the description of the
blaster.
...The following question bothers me most of all, however: if the place was
abandoned, then how did the Professor get locked in? And why did the Bane wait
so long before taking over his body? Unfortunately, those thoughts seem to never
have crossed the author's mind.

RANK: 27
Kallisti
Author: James A. Mitchelhill
Rating: 5
!
The sexual content did not offend me; however, mechanical characters did. The
opening part, where you had got to seduce a girl, was especially boring, with
dull conversations leading nowhere, and predictable actions according to the
principle, a girl is a marionette - pull a few strings, and she moves where you
want her to. To top it off, you could undress BEFORE you started seducing the
girl, she wouldn't mind at all. The middle part with the actual offending
content wasn't very special, either. The descriptions had got some typos; they
weren't many, but they couldn't be ignored. There was an interesting twist of
the plot at the end of the game, but it also left me a bit confused - I couldn't
get what it was about; maybe I was just stupid. And it surely didn't make up for
the faults of the game.

RANK: 26
an apple from nowhere
Author: steven carbone
Rating: 5
The game clearly wasn't the gibberish it pretended to be. Somehow, it even was
atmospheric. But still, it left me confused. I've never played a game by
Ryebread Celsius (well... except for Asendent in last year's Comp, which was a
parody of Ryebread's works), but I think that's what his games feel like. (Only
that the spelling here was OK). It reminded me of a drug-caused hallucination. I
agree it is something, but I can't quite follow what. Also, it wasn't very
interactive.

RANK: 25
Jump
Author: Chris Mudd
Rating: 6
The story had got potential, but was a bit too... ehm... vague to my taste.
(Someone else might find this very feature of the game great, though). No
puzzles to speak about. The writing was good, but there were games with better
descriptions in this Comp. Minimalistic implementation. Some default responses
(like the response to the SCORE command) should be replaced. While a certain
amount of atmosphere was present, the game's impact on me wasn't as strong as
the author undoubtedly had intended.

RANK: 24
Colours
Author: Anonymous
Rating: 6
*
The game was based on interesting ideas, but those ideas were overdeveloped to
absurdity. First of all, I think it wouldn't be possible for me to solve this
game without the walkthrough. Then, once I understood how the game was supposed
to work, I had got to run around lots of rather monotonous rooms, carrying out
lots of rather monotonous actions, being careful about not putting the game into
an unwinnable state (as far as I can tell, this was quite possible, though maybe
I'm wrong) while doing so. At this point, my patience ended, and I gave up.
The implementation of the game seemed a bit uneven to me: on one hand, I didn't
encounter any typos; the characters were animated with care (though sometimes
they had a rather limited set of random messages to display); and everything
seemed to work smooth. On the other hand, however, the NPCs weren't very
interactive, and, though there were several female characters, they all had got
to be referred to with "he"; the only "person" in the game I could address with
"she" was, ironically, a donkey. Also, there were some minor bugs (at one
location, the game would tell me there were an exit to the north, but I wouldn't
be able to move north nevertheless).
It might sound funny, but I think I'd enjoy this game much more if it was
somewhat smaller... say, a third of its actual size.

RANK: 23
The Evil Sorcerer
Author: Gren Remoz
Rating: 6
!
This entry reminded me of the classical Enchanter game by Infocom very much, so
I thought it might be interesting to compare them.
In Evil Sorcerer, you'd got to solve the standard "save the world by killing the
villain" problem. In this respect (and in many others), it was very similar to
Enchanter, but with weaker puzzles (however, at least one of them was original
and really good). The game world was more detailed than in Enchanter;
unfortunately, the descriptions weren't even remotely as vivid. The plot was
rather straightforward; though the romantic by-plot looked promising, its
promises remained unfulfilled. The characters... Uh-oh. They were fairly limited
in both games, but Enchanter was much better at working around the limitations,
and managed to make the NPCs seeming more alive by animating them with a few
well-chosen actions/messages, and providing them with catchy descriptions. In
The Evil Sorcerer, the characters were complete dummies. One example: the PC
takes it upon himself to kill the evil sorcerer because the woman who's supposed
to be in love with him asks him for it ("Darlin', do me a little favour... oh,
come on, it's kid's stuff for you!"). I won't discuss here whether there could
be a man stupid enough to let oneself in for such an affair; but once he does,
it is his right to expect his beloved to be helpful, to assist him, to do her
best in aiding him in completing his mission (after all, it is in her own
interest!). Instead, she just sits down, reading her novel, effectively doing
nothing. She hardly is of any use even as a source of  hints! To be honest, I'd
never lift a finger for a person acting like this.
As for the technical aspect, the game seemed to be OK - I didn't encounter any
bugs.
All in all, I can't say playing this game was a complete waste of time. Still, I
think I'd prefer playing Enchanter once more instead.

RANK: 22
Stick it to the man
Author: H. Joshua Field
Rating: 6
*
A good opening; I also liked the way the room, object and character descriptions
were based on the PC's emotions. Then, however, it rapidly went downhill.
The first disappointment was the menu-based conversations. Seemingly, there were
a lot of characters to talk to, but the conversations weren't particularly
exciting, mostly revolving about "Hi!" and "How things are going?". Neither were
the dialogs very sensitive to the current state of the game: you could greet a
character after you had exchanged several phrases with him, or go on talking
about a particular character even if he/she came into the room during the
conversation.
Then, we went to a rally... the rest of the game seemed to be just a political
demonstration simulation, without anything particularly interesting to do.
(Maybe I'm wrong about it, and there was something more to this game; but there
wasn't neither a walkthrough nor hints available, and I couldn't find out
myself). Well, there were a few more characters to meet (it'd be strange if
there weren't any, considering it was a rally), but you'd have just the same
stupid talk with them; a few objects to gather, but they didn't seem
particularly useful. Eventually, the game would just lock up, so that I had got
to restart it; I'm not sure whether it was a bug or a configuration problem on
my part. Since participating in rallies isn't my favourite pastime, I found it
difficult to be excited about this game; it got its rather high rating solely
for the opening scene, and the approach to describing things.

RANK: 21
The Isolato Incident
Author: Alan DeNiro
Rating: 6
While the game was very tiny, it featured a fancy plot, and was stylistically
consistent. The descriptions were very good, too. The problem with them was -
they didn't react to changes in the game state. It looked like the author had
got only one possible way to complete the game in mind, and wasn't aware of the
fact the player could perform the actions in a different order. Also, the author
clearly didn't consider the possibility of repeated using of the LOOK command
several times in the same location. The vocabulary of the game, as well as the
range of implemented scenery objects, left much to be desired. And the main
complaint: I couldn't see a way to complete the game without resorting to the
walkthrough - firstly, because of the fact the game objectives didn't stand out
at all, especially in the early stages; and secondly, because the game required
illogical actions, or didn't mention some crucial objects in the description.
The rating of 6 may seem a bit too high for this game; yet, I couldn't bring
myself up to rate it lower - it DOES represent a noteworthy effort, after all -
and be it solely for its grotesque atmosphere of royal turgidity!

RANK: 20
Begegnung am Fluss
Author: Florian Edlbauer
Rating: 6
!
This game is in German; thus, the review will be in German, too...

Ich mochte das Spiel. Es ist vielleicht nicht sehr originell, aber solide
gemacht und logisch. Vielleicht koennten die Gestalten etwas ausgepraegter sein;
obwohl das Spiel behauptet, "...du seist alles andere als ein namenloser
Abenteurer", fuehlte ich mich gerade als ein solcher behandelt. Gut, ich bin aus
dem Gefaengnis ausgerissen  aber warum bin ich dort ueberhaupt hingeraten?
Kurzum, die Gestalten hatten zu wenig Hintergrund fuer mich. (Andererseits wird
hier vielleicht auch nicht soviel Hintergrund benoetigt, denn, wie es sich
herausstellt, die Hauptgestalt des Spieles ist Robin Hood, von dem wohl jeder
eine eigene Vorstellung hat und somit die Details selbst ausfuellen kann;
trotzdem schaute das Ganze ein bisschen zu schematisch aus.)
Der Parser scheint OK zu sein; in meisten Faellen versteht er, was der Spieler
sagen will. An einigen Stellen fordert das Spiel weniger gaengige
Wortkombinationen, doch man kann diese eigentlich aus dem Kontext ganz gut
herausfinden. Das einzige, was mich etwas gestoert hat am Parser, war das Fehlen
eines "AGAIN"-Befehls. Bei der Ausseinandersetzung am Fluss war es naemlich
ziemlich muesam, immerwieder "SCHLAG MANN MIT STAB" oder "REDE MIT DEM MANN"
eingeben zu muessen.
Einen zusaetzlichen Punkt verdient der Austausch von Beschimpfungen zwischen
Little John und Robin Hood, den der Spieler ausloesen kann. Da habe ich mich
koestlich amuesiert!
Eigentlich wuerde ich das Spiel mit 5,5 bewerten; da in der Competition jedoch
nur Ganzzahlberwertungen zugelassen sind, habe ich noch einen halben Punkt
zugelegt.

RANK: 19
Silicon Castles
Author: Jack Maet
Rating: 6
!
This was a chess game ported to Inform. Since it hardly was interactive fiction,
not rating this entry at all probably would be the most proper thing to do, but
considering how much work the author had invested into it, I just couldn't bring
myself up to do it. The chess simulation worked quite smooth, and I liked the
historical review of the chess game very much. However, there were several
technical issues as well: castling didn't seem to work at all; not all the
shortcuts for moves suggested in the game worked - namely, you couldn't move
your pieces by giving their abbreviated name and the field you wanted to move
them to (like Qd4 for Queen to field d4); the "B" vertical seemed to be magical:
moves like b2b4 wouldn't work there at all; and at some occasions, the game
would just act weird - forbid a move which was valid, executing a move without
actually moving the piece, and at one point, it just terminated without warning.
The AI of the opponent seemed to work strange, too: I played two games, one time
with the genie's skill set to 1 and another time - to 4, and though it took him
longer to make a move in the latter case as he clearly analysed more
possibilities, I hadn't got the impression he was playing any better. Still, all
in all it was a worthy effort.

RANK: 18
Prized Possession
Author: Kathleen M. Fischer
Rating: 6
!
The game was implemented very competently. It did have a few minor bugs, but I
won't talk about them here, because the main problem with this game weren't the
bugs.
So, let's see. Medieval setting... a glimpse of memories from the heroine's
childhood, involving a fire and the death of her mother... her imprisonment-like
life at her guardian's... a dangerous journey, on which the heroine is saved
several times by a noble knight... prospects of wedding a man she doesn't
love... and finally, the heroine marrying the noble knight who saved her
(surprised?)... Haven't I seen dozens of tear-jerking movies telling exactly the
same story? Aren't there hundreds upon hundreds of maudlin books presenting you
the same tale, with only slight variations? Even the ubiquitous scene where the
heroine looks into her rescuer's eyes deeply, and is about to, but doesn't
quite, kiss him, is present! If it was a book, I'd say it was your standard,
mawkish, melodramatic reading matter. Since it's a work of IF, I can't say it's
standard (there aren't many text adventures like this), but other epithets still
are valid.
To sum up... if you're fond of sentimental stories, this game is a must for you.
If you aren't, be warned.

RANK: 17
Elements
Author: John Evans
Rating: 6
*
I couldn't complete the game within the two hours limit (and I doubt anyone
could). It seemed rather fancy to me, but I also got the impression the author
didn't know what to do with the story he invented himself. Starting with section
two of the game, things got very obscure. From this stage on, the use of hints
seemed almost inevitable for solving the game; also, hunting down a sizeable
number of stones and gems became rather tedious after a while. And the worst of
it was - when I had completed the game (this happened well after the two hours),
the story still didn't make much sense to me!
To the game world: while the implementation wasn't quite up to the ambitions of
the game (missing objects, default/inappropriate responses, rooms with mixed up
exits, a not-quite-working menu conversation system), it was acceptable. You
also could sort of define your player character, though it didn't affect the
plot/gameplay in any notable way. All in all, I'd say it is worth a try - the
first section of it, definitely!

RANK: 16
The Beetmonger's Journal
Author: Aubrey Foil
Rating: 6
!
A good plot (which is branching), solid implementation, and nifty effects
characterise this game. The puzzles were adequate, though not always logical
(one puzzle, for instance, required waiting around a few turns for not too
obvious reasons). I played both possible paths, and enjoyed them.
However, the gameplay was somehow too emotionless. The NPCs, while certainly
carefully done, made no secret of  their purpose in the game - namely, provision
of puzzles, or hints for puzzles. Also, the development of the plot left me a
bit confused: look, the player character was a member of the beetmonger order;
and the ruler of the country, Prince Radiant, "has marked beetmongers as enemies
of the church and state." The main subject of the game was the fight of the
beetmongers against this oppression.
However, the oppressive power showed surprisingly little determination in
persecuting the dissidents. In fact, it seemed to confine itself to idle talk,
even after the beetmongers openly declared war to the state. (A single guard
looking for trouble clearly seemed somewhat too meagre for an extensive crusade
against beetmongers.) Well, the beetmongers even could go on selling their beets
in the markets, and no one tried to trouble them! No rowdy gangs of drunken
soldiers were straying through the market, topping over the beetmongers' carts,
trampling their precious beets to dust, robbing them of their money, and
knocking those trying to protect their goods down. (Uhm, well, my aggressive
instincts played a joke on me here, but I think you got the idea). Truly, that's
an oppression one can live with!
Besides, there were some technical bugs, like the background not being restored
to its previous colour after undoing an action, misformatting, and room
descriptions not aware of game changes. Also, the "path of peace" in the game
seemed to be more polished than the "path of war".

RANK: 15
The Coast House
Authors: Stephen Newton and Dan Newton
Rating: 6
The game had a reasonably good plot, and a fairly rich setting. The only NPC was
implemented well enough. The puzzles, while not especially challenging (hmmm...
thinking back, maybe I was just lucky to make the right things on the right
places), were passable. The ending was adequately climatic...
I think you've got my point by now: nothing extraordinary, but solidly made.

RANK: 14
Journey from an Islet
Author: Mario Becroft
Rating: 6
!
This entry impressed by a carefully implemented game world, lovely
illustrations, and clever effects. The puzzles (as the author himself admitted
in the accompanying README file) weren't very challenging, but some of them were
beautiful, too. Some of the puzzles required searching items for no apparent
reason. This certainly is a drawback; personally for me, however, it wasn't an
issue at all, for I was lucky enough to do the right things on the right places.
And yet - some people could get frustrated by this.
What the game lacked was a good plot, and a memorable player character; still,
it was an enjoyable experience, and worked off every single point of its rather
high rating.

RANK: 13
Grayscale
Author: Daniel Freas
Rating: 6
This game left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, I liked the (very detailed)
game world, parts of it just were beautiful; I always liked games where the
objective wasn't obvious from the very start, and the player was encouraged to
explore the game world to find it out. There was a lot of optional material in
the game - another feature I liked.
The puzzles weren't very hard for the most part; if not for the two hours limit,
I think I'd be able to solve the entire game without using the hints. Minor
complaints: the descriptions, while really good, weren't always very exciting;
to my taste, there were too many rooms that were just connections between other
locations, without anything interesting to do; and there were several minor bugs
- inappropriate responses for the most part.
On the other hand, I didn't like the ending. It didn't give me the feeling of
everything sliding in place, all loose ends being tied up, etc. - in short, it
wasn't the kind of ending I felt such a game needed; it was like a beautifully
built house without a roof. I'd been thrown into a rather strange place (not
even knowing why), had had to perform lots of actions to escape it - only to
find out I'd been beta-testing something (this very game, as it seemed)... It
was just anticlimatic. That's too bad: a better ending would gain this work a
rating of at least 7.

RANK: 12
Film at Eleven
Author: Bowen Greenwood
Rating: 6
!
...It started so good - with a great player character, and a wonderfully cynical
atmosphere (my only concern at this stage was, it reminded me of INTERSTATE ZERO
so much I doubted it was pure coincidence). The characters probably weren't the
most versatile ones, but thanks to the vivid descriptions, well-chosen and
characteristic actions and responses, they seemed alive. The puzzles as such
weren't very challenging or original, but they fitted into the plot so well, and
were implemented so witty I enjoyed them a lot (e. g., the game featured, among
others, your classical "bribe the guard to get past him" puzzle, but presented
it with so much charm that, instead of feeling annoyed, I just laughed, and
added another plus for the game). All in all, it really got me hooked, and I
started seeing Pleasantville like a real place...
Then, at some point, it went downhill.
The characters began behaving like complete dummies. At one occasion, it was
because of a puzzle you had got to solve by applying adventure game logic,
rather than common sense, to it; on several other occasions, it just seemed like
a lack of beta-testing. One way or another, the spell was broken, Cinderella's
coach turned into a pumpkin, Plesantville - into a number of locations with not
too rich settings, and its inhabitants - into plot advancing devices.
Half-heartedly, I made it to the (rather predictable) end of the story.
(Admitted, I exaggerated a bit - just to make my point more clear).
...An after-thought: never mind Tracy Valencia from I-0, but why was Betty
running around barefoot?

RANK: 11
Best of Three
Author: Emily Short
Rating: 6
I'm aware that I've probably rated this game lower than it deserves.
Technically, it was done almost flawless, and very elaborate and elegant it was,
too, and featured a player character one really could sympathize with. The
writing met the highest standards. And yet... I had got to brood quite a while
on why I didn't get too excited about this game, and I think I've found the
answer.
The problem was, the game pretended to be what it wasn't: a conversation. Yes,
there were lots of topics to choose from, and they were branching, and the
reactions of the person you were talking to would be sensitive (well... at
least, in most cases) to what you were saying... and yet, it felt somehow
mechanical. One time, for instance, I kept being silent through the whole game,
but my interlocutor didn't seem to mind - he just went on talking, never making
a comment like "Have you grown mute, or what?" you'd expect from a real person.
Also, sometimes I'd change the conversation topic rather abruptly, and the guy I
was speaking with just switched to the new topic, never showing surprise about
the sudden change. Eventually, inappropriate conversation options would show up
(e. g., at one point, the PC could tell her interlocutor that she had twin
brothers, although she had already told him so before). All in all, it felt more
like a list of answers and reactions you had got to work through, rather than
like a real conversation.
A technical complaint: I had got the impression that the THINK command shouldn't
"cost" the player a turn; often, I found myself thinking about a thing that came
up in the conversation - just to get some information the PC had but I hadn't
got, and to make my choice in the conv menu based on this information; and when
I was ready to talk about it, the conversation option this thing was relevant to
would no longer be available.

RANK: 10
Earth & Sky
Lee Kirby
Rating: 6
I was very impressed by this game. Solid implementation, featuring many optional
actions and responses to almost anything the player could think of, as well as a
good story (well... to be more precise, good beginning of a story). Someone
might say it was too much of a standard comic strip, but it didn't bother me at
all.
What really bothered me, was the fact that this was just a trailer, not the full
game; and of course, it ended abruptly at the point where things started
becoming really interesting, in a most annoying way (but that's pretty much what
trailers are for, isn't it?) If it was a Comp for trailers, I'd rate it higher;
under existing circumstances, I only can rate it 6. But: I'm looking forward to
playing the full game!

RANK: 9
Moments Out of Time
L. Ross Raszewski
Rating: 6
!!
First of all, I admired the quality and the level of detail of the background
material, and of the equipment the PC needed for his mission - a "dive" to the
past. (The rest of the setting, while adequately rich, wasn't as detailed - with
several "You see nothing special about ..." descriptions, objects mentioned in
the room descriptions you couldn't refer to, etc. Of course, implementing
EVERYTHING as detailed would make the game AWFULLY big, considering there was
rather much space to explore... thus, take the above said just as an
observation, not as a complaint). The story was good, too, though the PC
experienced it as a bystander, not as a direct participant. And yet, I didn't
enjoy the game as much as I might have - because it reminded me of ... an exam!
Yes, as it turned out, I had been sent to my mission, and had done all the
exploring only to answer a few questions (some of which really seemed stupid to
me, since my interrogator clearly knew the answers when she asked me) at the
end. Even worse, I didn't think it was possible to pass this exam after only one
"dive" - in the first place, because I didn't know what information I was
expected to look for (ANY isn't a particularly useful answer, is it? And that's
pretty much what my mission description suggested). However, within the two
hours limit, there hardly was time to perform another "dive" (not to mention the
fact it was against the game logic). Though I was excited enough to do a few
more "dives" in the past-judging period (and was rewarded with an interesting
story), it didn't change my attitude towards this game in general.
Here are several more complaints (including those from the post-judging period):
1. In some cases, the room descriptions aren't sensitive to game state changes
(in particular, to information gained by the PC) when they should.
2. I don't think it's possible to complete the game with a success rating of 100
%, not even using the walkthrough. This is because there is an inventory limit
(well... sort of), so that you can't take all the equipment you'd need to gain
ALL the information available.
3. When the player performs his first "dive", chances are high he takes the
wrong equipment. That's probably not so much of an issue from the gamer's point
of view, for you can repeat your "dives" with different equipment, but it harms
the logic of the game a bit. It might fit better if, after you went through the
interrogation at the end of your mission, you were sent to the same place again
to explore some more.
Also, it's possible to render the game unwinnable (the exam impassable) by
choosing the wrong equipment at the very beginning.
4. Without the autokey, I think it's impossible to pass the final "exam",
because there are several locked doors all over the place you explore. The keys
to them are hidden at many various locations, so that "the player must tediously
look behind and under every object in the game" (quotation from Mike Roberts'
TADS manual). I've been lucky enough to take the autokey on my first mission; if
I hadn't I would become frustrated quickly, and would rate the game much lower -
even with the aid of the walkthrough, looking for the keys seemed like a very
boring and tiresome occupation to me.
5. The use of some equipment pieces also seemed a bit tedious to me; say, I
needed to SCAN every room in order not to miss something important. While that's
probably how explorers act in real life, and this problem clearly can't be
solved easily, it harms the gameplay a bit. (More interesting (and varying!)
responses than "The scanner reveals nothing of interest" even for unsuccessful
scans might help, but I'm not sure).
6. A large section of the place you're exploring becomes inaccessible somewhere
at the beginning of the mission, and I can't remember you even get a warning.
7. There seems to be one loose end in the story (namely, the attempt to alter
the history); maybe I've missed something, but it seems you never find out who
has done it, or why. I'm aware not everybody will think its a drawback; for me,
however, it is.
8. And the final exam-like section. I really hated it! Not only because it was
like an exam; even worse, the examiner was so dummy-like. She had a list of
questions to ask me, and worked through this list pedantically, not caring that
sometimes, answering one of the questions would make the other one unnecessary.
She required a very strict wording for answering the questions; she asked me
about things she knew already. Also, she seemed to be too stupid to make the
simplest analysis of  connections between facts. Yes, this was the part that
spoiled my game experience most!
In short: a very interesting concept, but not without flaws.

RANK: 8
Stiffy Makane: The Undiscovered Country
Author: One of the Bruces
Rating: 6
I haven't played the original Stiffy Makane game, nor its MSTK version, but I
agree that this one was an excellently done parody, though I can't say I've been
laughing all the way while playing it. To my taste, it was a bit too
self-advertising, and the opening section with answering a long sequence of
questions, while amusing for the first time, annoyed me slightly when I
restarted the game; it'd be nice if there was a way to turn it off. Also, I'm
not sure whether it really WAS necessary to write such a parody after the game
had already had its MSTK treatment...

RANK: 7
The Gostak
Author: Carl Muckenhoupt
Rating: 6
!
Technically, the game was excellent. I can imagine what terrible amount of work
it must have been to practically invent a new language, and to maintain
consistency throughout the game. The puzzles mostly boiled down to finding the
correct phrasing for an action; nevertheless, they were good. The hint system
was very good, too - with some general introduction on how to play IF using the
language the game author created.
However, the game depended on its main gimmick, the new language, too much. Once
I got used to it, there wasn't much more to it. And I couldn't identify with the
player character very well, because I still have got no idea what a gostak is.
That's why I didn't rate the game higher.
Since I'm from Russia, one thing was especially entertaining: namely, the use of
"BAL" and "DA" instead of  yes/no; in the Russian language, "BALDA" has two
meanings: 1. blockhead, and 2. a word game. I wonder whether it was pure
coincidence.
...And some nitpicking: when the user saves a game state, and is about to
overwrite an existing file while doing so, the game requires the traditional
yes/no confirmation, rather than bal/da. I'm only pointing this out because in
every other respect regarding consistence, the game (or should I say "halpock"?)
seemed to be perfect.

RANK: 6
Triune
Author: Papillon
Rating: 6
This entry had got most of the stuff for an excellent game. The plot, while it
had a few stretching points, and sometimes required random "exploring for the
sake of exploring", was solid and consistent, non-linear and with multiple
endings. Maybe it was predictable for the most part, but still, it managed to
get me hooked, and I could sympathize with the player character. But most of
all, I liked the writing. Gosh, I wished I'd be able to write this way myself!
It was sheer pleasure just to read the descriptions; they alone made the game
worth playing for me.
However, the game doesn't quite make the distance between a good game and a
GREAT game. The reason? Well, look at the following descriptions, and responses:

Forest
These trees must have stood for centuries. Their trunks are so thick around that
you could carve out a comfortable home inside them and not cause the whole to
topple. Thick, strong roots form natural seats above the ground before vanishing
into the earth. A latticework of leaves and branches filter sunlight from above,
casting gently dappled patterns on the ground below.
The forest is passable to the north and east, and a shining lake lies to the
southwest.

>x trees
I don't see any trees here.
...
A Damp Cave
This area is not so much a cave as a tiny alcove in the rock face. There is
enough room to stand or sit on the water-slicked stone, but it would not be
comfortable for long. Falling water obscures your view to the south.

>drink water
The falling water doesn't appear appetizing.

And so on, and so on. I had the impression the author just went through the list
of the objects, only filling in the (admitted, wonderful) descriptions, and the
absolute minimum of actions needed to complete the game. Other responses didn't
seem to be implemented at all. I can't think of a single time an object in the
game reacted in a entertaining or ... ehm... "non-standard" way. The same (with
only a few minor exceptions) goes for the NPCs. I don't know why the author did
it this way; but I'm almost sure that's not because she wasn't good enough at
programming, because the game featured a couple of effects only quite a skilled
programmer could have implemented. And that's a pity, because the game as such
is really just a stone's throw away from being a brilliant work, and deserves a
higher rating. Too bad the author didn't make this last  effort to "throw the
stone".

RANK: 5
Heroes
Author: Sean Barrett
Rating: 7
Yes, I noticed the flaws of this game: the game world wasn't too detailed, NPCs
weren't anything special, doing things unexpected by the game author often broke
the mimesis, and due to a bug, one episode could be solved in a way the author
clearly hadn't thought of. Nevertheless, it was a great game. The idea of
several characters experiencing the same things and story in different ways was
very appealing. The plot was adequate, too. I won't say anything else in order
not to give away too much; let's just repeat - it's a wonderful game.

RANK: 4
Fusillade
Author: Mike Duncan
Rating: 7
!
This game felt much like a mosaic, since it consisted of a large number of short
stories, essentially unrelated to each other. Luckily, the author found a way to
more or less tie them together, which worked (at least, for me). The single
episodes making up the game were very well-written and atmospheric; the whole
reminded me somewhat of Jigsaw, but with a wider range of settings, including
both historical and fictional ones, and without a "central place". Also, there
were practically no puzzles - the player was told what to do next for the most
part, so that it was more like reading a book than like playing traditional IF.
This might be an advantage for some people and a drawback for others; for me, it
was just a feature of the game. There were some other improvements I could think
of - e. g., it might have been better to include some kind of intro for the
game, rather than to throw the player directly into a bizarre set of worlds; the
cutscenes the author intended to include (according to his own words) might have
given the game a tighter feel; and there were several minor technical flaws. All
in all, this work wasn't perfect; but it was great.

RANK: 3
No Time to Squeal
Authors: Mike Sousa, Robb Sherwin
Rating: 8
This one was just great! I liked the idea of several episodes with different PCs
combined in one game, and the story itself appealed to me, too. There were some
minor bugs (like being able to lie down on the ground without leaving the chair
you're sitting on, etc.), but honestly, I'd be a nitpicker if I focused on them!
The plot, atmosphere, and the increase of tension towards the end of the game
made me play it at one draught, I found myself unable to leave the computer till
I finished it. There weren't any puzzles worth speaking of (except for the last
episode), but it didn't concern me in the slightest way.
Then, why didn't I rate it a ten? Well, let me explain myself. (I'm aware that
I'm getting pretty subjective here, and a person with different preferences
might find my argumentation ridiculous, but there we go).
Complaint 1: Mimesis
If you have a game where the player is more or less supposed to follow the plot
without major deviations, there are basically two ways to make him doing so:
a) excite the players to such an extent they don't even think of taking any
actions which would lead to deviations from the plot. (This is how Being Andrew
Plotkin in the last year's competition worked (at least, for me): I just
followed the author with widely opened eyes, pretty much like a child being led
through a park of miracles.)
b) provide an acceptable excuse for every action the player should be able, but
is not, to perform. (An example from the last year's competition: Rameses).
Both ways are tricky in their own respects. NTTS uses approach (b) for the most
part, so let's speak about it. This approach requires a very detailed game
world; if the game just acts according to the principles of the convoys in
Russian prisoners' camps in Siberia ("A step to the left or to the right is
considered an escape attempt, a jump on the spot - a provocation. Offenders will
be shot without further warning") it quickly becomes frustrating. Luckily, NTTS
doesn't exactly act this way; still, there are too many places where the player
can break the flow of the game just by choosing a "wrong" action. An example: at
one point in the game, you 're in a room with a closed door, and someone starts
to knock on the door; if you just open the door instead of coming out of the
room, the guy will go on knocking on the open door.
(However, the above considerations don't apply to the last episode of NTTS: it
clearly uses approach (a), and does it brilliantly! The Alice in Nightmareland
tale is beyond any description; everybody should try it him/herself!)
Complaint 2: Loose ends in the plot
The story behind the game hinted at at least two plot branches, which, however,
turned out to be completely irrelevant to the main plot, and ended nowhere.
Moreover, they resulted in rather extensive interludes that essentially were
garbage - neither did they provide any background, nor where they especially
entertaining. In particular, the large opening section could be removed easily,
and it wouldn't harm the game at all. It looked like the authors either didn't
have the time to implement those plot branches properly, or (which seems even
more likely) implemented them as placeholders in the hope they'd have a clever
idea about what to do with them some time, but this idea never came up. One way
or another, to me, it didn't look good in the game.
Complaint 3: Technical issues
The game just refused to start under HTML TADS. No error message, nothing; just
a prompt saying "Press any key to exit", and then it was over. Thus, I'd got to
play it from under the DOS window. (By the way, the status line in DOS mode kept
showing  Me.display instead of (presumingly) the name of the current player
character in all episodes). Maybe I just had got a configuration problem on my
computer (though I don't think so), but anyway, it WAS an issue.
Still, in spite of this (rather minor) complaints, NTTS (and I'm glad to say
that again!) remains a really great game.

RANK: 2
All Roads
Author: Jon Ingold
Rating: 9
The game was wonderful in each and every respect. A breathtaking plot, as twisty
as the alleys of Venice, which was the scene of action in this entry; a setting,
which was both rich and described carefully, yet not overloaded with details -
important items stood out clearly enough, so that the player wouldn't miss them;
realistic NPCs - in short, it was a masterpiece. I'd reveal too much if I said
more now; however, I'd like to point out another feature of the game that
delighted me - it wasn't too strict about the phrasing of the commands, so that
there always were many ways to formulate your request, and mimesis wasn't an
issue. Really, the game didn't seem to have any faults at all!

RANK: 1
Vicious Cycles
Author: Simon Mark
Rating: 10
!
This game hadn't got the best plot in the Comp; it didn't feature the best
descriptions; and the game with the best puzzles it wasn't either. Still, it was
the game that won my heart in this Comp. Let me explain, why.
The plot: the coolest thing about the plot was the way it has been presented to
the player: namely, little by little, as the game progressed. In other words,
the further the player advanced in the game, the better he knew what was going
on. This way, the game kept me excited all the time I was playing it.
The setting: at first glance, it didn't seem too rich. And yet, as I played, I
found out there was a response for every object present in the descriptions, and
pretty much for every action I could think of. What thrilled me even more, were
the details in the descriptions: they weren't hurled at the player immediately,
but once you paid attention to them, they could add quite a bit to the
atmosphere in the game (for instance, I'm thinking of the logos on the hands of
the children in the train...) Exactly the way I like!
The puzzles: that's been the aspect where the game was really innovative (at
least, I'd never seen something like this before). It's difficult to discuss
them without giving away too much; let's just say - the author managed to create
a "die to find out the solution" puzzle in such a way no one would ever blame
him for  bad puzzle-designing style.
...And finally, a few words about the ending: there weren't any "You have won"
messages, nothing; in some other game, I'd say it was anticlimatic; here,
however, it only seemed to me as a proof of the author's excellent taste and
sense for the game: ANY words would seem out of place there; they'd just devoid
the player of thoughts and conclusions he had got to do himself.


