I'm using a ghetto version I wrote simply to allow for greater room
ldesc without having the text run for pages. I thought it would make
for easier room description, but it actually changes the 'default' way
most authors write ldescs. Exits and items can all get confused. Item
descriptions have to become dynamic, able to move from ldesc to ldesc
(unless you just leave the default "There is a bottle of beer here.")
Are there any examples out there of someone using this in a game? I
need some reassurance that this is actually a good idea.
Mensch
> Are there any examples out there of someone using this in a game? I need
> some reassurance that this is actually a good idea.
Well, there's a maze in the 2002 comp game "Evacuate" that randomly
reorients you every time you go through an exit. Exits are listed in
terms of "ahead", "behind", "to the left", "to the right" and there's a
line that indicates which direction your compass is pointing.
From the reviews, I'd say that the players were less than thrilled with
it.
/====================================================================\
|| Quintin Stone O- > "You speak of necessary evil? One ||
|| Weapons Master & Coder < of those necessities is that if ||
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> On 13 Jan 2003, Zachary H. wrote:
> > Are there any examples out there of someone using this in a game? I need
> > some reassurance that this is actually a good idea.
> Well, there's a maze in the 2002 comp game "Evacuate" that randomly
> reorients you every time you go through an exit. Exits are listed in
> terms of "ahead", "behind", "to the left", "to the right" and there's a
> line that indicates which direction your compass is pointing.
> From the reviews, I'd say that the players were less than thrilled with
> it.
The problem with that one is that (a) it was a maze that would have
been annoying even without the gimmick (esp. as it occurs while a
hunger daemon's counting down), and (b) it was tedious even after you
found the "trick" of discovering/using the compass.
Jeff
On the other hand, people were fairly positive about it in
_Hunter, in Darkness_.
--
Dan Shiovitz :: d...@cs.wisc.edu :: http://www.drizzle.com/~dans
"He settled down to dictate a letter to the Consolidated Nailfile and
Eyebrow Tweezer Corporation of Scranton, Pa., which would make them
realize that life is stern and earnest and Nailfile and Eyebrow Tweezer
Corporations are not put in this world for pleasure alone." -PGW
> On the other hand, people were fairly positive about it in
> _Hunter, in Darkness_.
In _HiD_ you never reorient.
--Z
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
* Make your vote count. Get your vote counted.
>Here, Dan Shiovitz <d...@cs.wisc.edu> wrote:
>> In article <Pine.LNX.4.44.03011...@yes.rps.net>,
>> Quintin Stone <st...@rps.net> wrote:
>>>On 13 Jan 2003, Zachary H. wrote:
>>>
>>>> Are there any examples out there of someone using this in a game? I need
>>>> some reassurance that this is actually a good idea.
>>>
>>>Well, there's a maze in the 2002 comp game "Evacuate" that randomly
>>>reorients you every time you go through an exit. Exits are listed in
>>>terms of "ahead", "behind", "to the left", "to the right" and there's a
>>>line that indicates which direction your compass is pointing.
>>>
>>>From the reviews, I'd say that the players were less than thrilled with
>>>it.
>
>> On the other hand, people were fairly positive about it in
>> _Hunter, in Darkness_.
>
>In _HiD_ you never reorient.
Well, so far, my system is clunky...meaning if you pass through an
eastern door, you don't come out in the next room facing east...you
come out facing the same direction you were in the previous room. And
all things can be done facing in any direction that can be done in a
normal room. It's merely a ldesc thing. It could easily be
expanded...but what's the point really?
My only reason in using it is to break up long descriptions. Perhaps
there's a better way to do that, dunno. But I kinda feel that using it
as an overall structure to a game would be kinda redundant. Yes, rooms
could then get subdivided, but in most situations rooms aren't that
detailed.
Am I mistaken or are there "roomparts" in TADS3. Reading some of its
code a few days ago when I noticed the phrase while scrolling down.
Didn't pay much attention to it at the time.
Mensch