Fiction in IF
Phil Goetz
>The Hook - Whap! Something happens. His best friend comes running in to
> ask him to hide him from the police, his spaceship blows up, a murder
> occurs, etc. Hollywood Hijinx did a really crappy job of this. The hook
> is important to the game, vitally so. Make it dramatic, sudden, and
> give it the promise of exciting adventure. Tantalize them, draw them into
> the game. Trinity does a great job of this.
Take this seriously! I believe that what killed my adventure _Inmate_
was that the first puzzle was to figure out what was going on. It was
obvious that something strange was going on, but the beginning was very
slow. This "figure out what's happening" just doesn't work well in
adventures. (Another example is Thomas Disch's _Amnesia_.)
Of course, I don't know if that was the problem, since only 2 of my
damn playtesters ever wrote back...
Phil
Michael Kinyon
>In article <2eep9q$b...@agate.berkeley.edu> whiz...@uclink.berkeley.edu (Gerry Kevin Wilson) writes:
>
>Take this seriously! I believe that what killed my adventure _Inmate_
>was that the first puzzle was to figure out what was going on.
>Of course, I don't know if that was the problem, since only 2 of my
>damn playtesters ever wrote back...
Ah ha! So I should add the following to my infamous advertisement:
"*Sigh* I didn't ask Michael Kinyon to playtest Inmate. I wish I had.
At least he would have stayed in contact with me to keep me updated
on his progress. He also would have helped to realize that it didn't
have enough of a hook at the beginning to capture a player's interest.
Yes, if I had used Michael as playtester, I could now be pointing to
Inmate as one of my big successes instead of constantly whining about it
on my posts to r.a.i-f."
-- Phil Goetz
(Smileys deleted, as they were in the original ad.)
Michael Kinyon
Dept of Mathematics & Comp. Sci. phone: (219)-237-4240
Indiana University South Bend fax: (219)-237-4538
South Bend, IN 46634 USA mki...@peabody.iusb.indiana.edu
'"Bonvolu alsendi la pordiston - lausajne estas rano en mia bideo", and
I think we all know what that means.' - Rimmer
Jonathan R. Ferro
> ask him to hide him from the police, his spaceship blows up, a murder
> occurs, etc. Hollywood Hijinx did a really crappy job of this. The hook
> is important to the game, vitally so. Make it dramatic, sudden, and
> give it the promise of exciting adventure. Tantalize them, draw them into
> the game. Trinity does a great job of this.
Does the continuing trend towards having an overarching plot mean that
_Zork II_ will effectively never be made again? As I think back to when
I solved this a decade ago, I can no longer figure out for myself
whether my memories about how cool the intro and first couple of puzzles
were are because I hadn't seen anything like it at that time or because
it would still prove to be a competitor in today's mindset. It doesn't
quite fit into whizzard's plot summary because, although it has a nice
big, meaty, black "hook" which rattles the walls a bit to demonstrate
its power, that "hook" scene doesn't occur until halfway to two-thirds
of the way through the game. With an eye towards the description of
_Inmate_ seen in this thread, is there some identifiable quality to the
atmosphere of the Zorks besides sheer reputation that makes it
reasonable to go so long before figuring out what the hell is going on?
(And is it possible for me to cram just one more enticingly verbose
compound-complex sentence into this post?)
-- Jon Ferro Einsprachigkeit ist heilbar
Gerry Kevin Wilson
blazing a path, after all. There wasn't a lot to compare it to. The Zork
games were good, but I'd be hardpressed to say whether I think they would
make it now, or even in the heyday of Infocom without that history behind
them. Probably. I dunno.
--
<~~~~~E~~~G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~>
< V R I O Software. We don't make games, we create worlds! | ~~\ >
< T | /~\ | >
<_WATCH for Avalon in early '94!____wh...@uclink.berkeley.edu_|_\__/__>
Keith Lim
> With an eye towards the description of
>_Inmate_ seen in this thread, is there some identifiable quality to the
>atmosphere of the Zorks besides sheer reputation that makes it
>reasonable to go so long before figuring out what the hell is going on?
Their novelty when they first appeared, and their reputation subsequently.
Neither the Zorks nor Adventure would be considered good games if they
appeared today. (Some credit might be given for clever game responses,
or creative puzzles, but those Moments wouldn't save the game.) Consider,
for example, Hollywood Hijinx, basically just a find-the-treasures game.
It's a big stretch to consider it any kind of "classic".
--
Keith Lim Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., V5A 1S6 Canada.
SFU does not have opinions of its own; therefore any found above must be mine.
Gerry Kevin Wilson
plot in IF when he picks up the phone saying as he does so, "Are you online?"
GF^*R^RUR^U NO CARRIER. Quick someone, hand me an axe....
I'll try to recreate it here, but I was sparkling, so the world may have
lost another "Kublai Khan". ;) (Heheh, suurrree..)
Anyways, I found a good description of the elements of plot in, of all
places, Vampire RPG. Here are the parts of plot that they mention:
Setting the Scene
The Hook
The Buildup
Cliffhangers
Plot Twists
Climax
Resolution
I'll look at each of them in turn as they relate to IF.
Setting the Scene - Give the player a few moments to get used to his
character before you start throwing things at him. Allow him to 'look at
myself' if you want, I find it makes a nice touch to give a physical
description there. (If you have a pre-arranged character that is.) Here's
a good point, if you have a long intro, allow the player the option to
restore a saved game before you make him sit through it. I try to put the
intro a bit into the game, with a relaxed setting for the first scene.
The Hook - Whap! Something happens. His best friend comes running in to
ask him to hide him from the police, his spaceship blows up, a murder
occurs, etc. Hollywood Hijinx did a really crappy job of this. The hook
is important to the game, vitally so. Make it dramatic, sudden, and
give it the promise of exciting adventure. Tantalize them, draw them into
the game. Trinity does a great job of this.
Buildup - Give the player some challenges to overcome that in some way relate
to the plot. Don't let the player get bogged down in one spot, multiple
solutions are great for avoiding this. Get the suspense building up as
soon as possible. Give the player a sense of accomplishment as he nears
his goal, but keep drawing him into the game. Don't let up at all. As
Vampire RPG says, "Do not falter."
Cliffhanger - A cliffhanger is pretty much a teaser. Something that makes
the player suck in his breath, and then let it out on the next turn. A
decent, but not great, example is Trent's deaths in LGOP. How about a
lever that, when pulled, does something, but only after a turn has passed.
Just as the player is about to scream in frustration, the world is okay
again, and life is wonderful.
Plot Twist - By all means throw in plot twists. They keep life interesting.
Maybe the bad guy is just a puppet controlled by an even greater threat.
A friend could betray the player. Or maybe the player really DID commit
the murder! Switch gears so fast you strip them. The player will sit
there with his mouth open for a moment, then he'll be hooked on your game
forever.
Climax - Ok, enough dilly-dallying, cries the player. I've furled the magic
fumongerabob, and bummoxed the mighty spiffywhacker, where's the big nasty?
Give it to them. Both barrels. Make their blood run cold as time ticks
away until the end of the world unless they stop it. If the player isn't
breathing hard, you're not doing your job. Then, if you like, just as the
big nasty kicks up the white flag, he pulls a fast one, and the player
has to take him down again. This is your moment to ham it up, don't waste
it!
Resolution - The One Ring is molten slag, the damsel is rescued, the
government is overturned. Let the player enjoy it with a spectacular
ending. (The Rube Goldberg ending in LGOP is classic) This is the last
impression your game will leave on the player, make it just as jarring as
the Hook so he'll come back for the next one. I've played too many games
with a crappy ending in reward for solving fiendish puzzles. It's an
unbelievable downer when you finish one of them. Ruins the whole game,
But on the other hand, keep it fairly short. Unwind the player, let
them relax with a job well done. And, if you want, as a final teaser,
throw in some foreshadowing... (A shot of an unnoticed Alien egg.)
Well, there you have it. Some fun tips thanks to White Wolf's Vampire RPG.
Personally, after writing this article, I'll be looking over Avalon with an
eye for improvement. Anyways, until next time, true believers.