Another method of talking to NPC's (Besides Monkey Island and Infocom)

[LFrench106]

I remember once thinking up a system that seemed at lot better then "Monky
Island;" the system was inspired by a look at Sam & Max (a later LucasArts
game); the conversation consited of a list of subjects; I thought why not
have something like the following:

>STANCE MEAK
Okay.
>TALK TO JOHN
What do you want to talk to John about?

1. That great big monster in the tunnel.
2. The key
3. Yourself
4. John
5. Sammy

Choose:>4
You say "Would you please tell me about yourself, oh great and noble
friend?"

John says: "Bug of, twerp."
>STANCE AGRESSIVE
Okay.
>TALK TO JOHN
What do you want to talk to John about?

1. That great big monster in the tunnel.
2. The key
3. Yourself
4. John
5. Sammy

Choose:>4
You say: "Tell me about yourself, punk."

John says: "Bug off, twerp."

etc.

See whatI mean? You could interact without the difficulty involved in
Multiple choise dialog.

I'm done.

[Adam Cadre]

LFrench106 wrote:
> I remember once thinking up a system that seemed at lot better then

> "Monkey Island;" the system was inspired by a look at Sam & Max (a

> later LucasArts game); the conversation consited of a list of
> subjects; I thought why not have something like the following:

[example snipped]

The idea of stances was also implemented in the STARFLIGHT series:
you could be "friendly," "hostile," or "obsequious," and could choose
between asking a question on one of five subjects or making a generic
statement. (The latter was useful only for getting into the good
graces of the aliens -- you didn't get to choose your statement, so
a statement in "friendly" mode could range anywhere from the rather
sedate "Greetings. We come in peace." to the embarrassingly effusive
"Perhaps one day our young shall romp together in the blissful light
of harmony and friendship.")

I would argue that there's no one "best" system for NPC interaction:
different models will be better suited for different games. (How's
that for playing it safe?)

-----
Adam Cadre, Durham, NC
obscure Captain America villain
http://www.duke.edu/~adamc

[Cardinal Teulbachs]

Adam Cadre <ad...@acpub.duke.edu> made so bold as to state:

>I would argue that there's no one "best" system for NPC interaction:
>different models will be better suited for different games.

This is my view as well. It is therefore the correct one.

--Cardinal T

I mean, what the hell kind of villain thwarts the hero's
progress with soup cans in the kitchen pantry?
--Russ Bryan

Are there any text games prominently featuring dinosaurs?
If not, does anyone besides me think it would be cool?
--Matthew Amster-Burton

"Hey! *I* wanted to be Envy!"
--joe dot mason

"Bathroom? Yeah. Go through that door, on the end
of the hall, on your left." "Pardon?" "South twice,
than east." "Ah."
--Clyde "Fred" Sloniker

[James Cole]

Adam Cadre <ad...@acpub.duke.edu> wrote:

[...]

>I would argue that there's no one "best" system for NPC interaction:

>different models will be better suited for different games. (How's
>that for playing it safe?)

But that doesn't mean that because a model exists it must be suitable for
something, or any good. Also, just because something is popular or widely
accepted doesn't imply that it's good.

---------------
James Cole
jrc...@ozemail.com.au

[LFrench106]

>The idea of stances was also implemented in the STARFLIGHT series:
>you could be "friendly," "hostile," or "obsequious," and could choose
>between asking a question on one of five subjects or making a generic
>statement. (The latter was useful only for getting into the good
>graces of the aliens -- you didn't get to choose your statement, so
>a statement in "friendly" mode could range anywhere from the rather
>sedate "Greetings. We come in peace." to the embarrassingly effusive
>"Perhaps one day our young shall romp together in the blissful light
>of harmony and friendship.")

So THAT'S where that idea came from. I could remember watching a game
where there was a system where your atitude effected how others reacted to
you, but I couldn't remember anything else; but this method is better,
IM(stupid)O, then Infocom simple.

But I'd like to know if
subject-selection/multiple-choice/Infocom(ask/say)/"Keyword" are the only
methods of NPC communication.

Also, try to remember that conversation effects the game itself, as well
as the game effecting the mode (Monkey Island and Deadline (I was about to
mention that campiest of all games ever made, Detective (shudder!)) come
to mind).

Open me. I'm done.

[Big Mad Drongo]

LFrench106 (lfren...@aol.com) wrote:
: So THAT'S where that idea came from. I could remember watching a game

: where there was a system where your atitude effected how others reacted to
: you, but I couldn't remember anything else; but this method is better,
: IM(stupid)O, then Infocom simple.

Bear in mind you can do that with pretty much any conversation system. If
you ASK/TELL people about things they don't want to be ASKED/TOLD about,
they might start to react more negatively. If you pick insulting options
from a menu they might get annoyed with you. If your actions in the game
in general go against what they want they might start to get angry.

Adrian