The main focus of the game must be some kind of creature. For example:
- the PC is an animal (as in "Ralf" (dog), "A Day For Soft Food" (cat), etc)
- a creature (or creatures) must be trapped and captured by the PC
- the PC has crashed in a remote location and there is Something Out There
Just testing the waters,
David Fisher
How about a game where the player *is* an unusual creature? It seems
that a vast majority of games (in general, not just IF) out there has
the player more-or-less playing a human/humanoid/human-like role. I've
always wondered about exploring the idea of playing a creature vastly
different from your conventional adventurer/hero(ine)/anti-hero(ine).
This would, most likely, require an unusual verbal inventory... it might
be interesting to see how people write this in a way that a prospective
player can learn the unusual verbs as part of the story without feeling
it's contrived.
QF
--
They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work. -- Russian saying
That would definitely fit inside this competition ...
Are you making a suggestion that this be a requirement ? (I kind of like the
idea of capturing a creature - lots of potential puzzles, and a logical
reason to re-try the same kind of thing over and over until you get it
right).
David Fisher
Well, if we want to make it compulsory that'd probably stop noobs like
me entering. I think it's a neat idea, but implementing so many new
verbs, stopping old behaviours, etc, would probably be too hard for me.
Well, I'm a noob too. :-) I've only started writing IF within the past
2 weeks or so, although I've known IF games for a long time. I haven't
even completed my first game yet. But I like to stretch the limits,
'cos that's how you really get to know the platform you're developing
on, its limitations, its advantages, etc..
But on second thoughts, maybe making this a requirement is a bit too
much. Let the authors decide for themselves, I guess.
QF
--
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I
understand. -- Benjamin Franklin
I'm guessing you have programmed before though =).
I agree. If we make it a general comp then people can do either.
Under some definitions, I'd qualify humans as critters. Sprites and
fairies might too, even if they look human but aren't.
Or are we just talking furry/scaly/feathery things?
Also, would the creature actually have to appear in-game as a thing to
interact with? Because I could definitely see plots that involved
animals wherein the animals aren't actually in the game, or are present
but aren't alive and, um, interactive.
You are free to interpret the requirements as you wish ... surprise us.
:-)
The spirit of the comp is for the game to be focused on a non-human(oid)
creature, though.
> Also, would the creature actually have to appear in-game as a thing to
> interact with? Because I could definitely see plots that involved
> animals wherein the animals aren't actually in the game, or are present
> but aren't alive and, um, interactive.
As long as the creature is central to the game somehow. I guess the PC could
be a palaeontologist ...
David Fisher
I'd be interested! Funnily enough I just wrote a game with an animal PC
in the Adrift Hourglass comp, and I've been working on an idea for a
larger game, so it's definitely something I've been giving a lot of
thought to.
Yeah, programming is both my hobby and my profession. That's probably
one of the things about TADS that appeals to me: it's object-oriented
programming done right (i.e., non-straitjacketed in the way Java or C++
is) -- even if it was only in the context of IF gaming. But I digress.
QF
--
To provoke is to call someone stupid; to argue is to call each other stupid.