IF Object Focus: The Notebook
William McDuff
useful in IF games, one at a time, to get the community's opinion on
what would be the ideal. A new one every...indeterminate time period
or so.
The first object that's come to mind is the notebook. I'm, alas, not
a IF historian, so I don't know what examples there have been in the
past, though I remember Deadline mentioning a notebook for the
detective, though there wasn't really a useful object.
I was thinking an actual object that records clues or notes as you
progress through a game. A detective game is the most obvious use for
this. (See: Lt. Frank Columbo.) The problem is what to include, how
to link things up, and how much information to put in the notebook.
The easiest way, I suppose, would be to institute a 'note' command, so
that 'note red hair found at scene' would add the line 'red hair found
at scene' into the book. But that's not all that useful, really.
It's nice for people who prefer to write their notes and full screen
the window, but really, a notepad window open beside the main window
or a physical notepad would work just as well.
How about a notebook that automatically made notes? So that if a
player looks at something, a note is made. ("You hmm and scribble a
note down.") There are a few problems here though; the first is
organization. If the red hair is found and the scene, and John
Tolliver and Linda O'Leary both have red hair, that's information that
the player might want together. Would it be better to group that sort
of information in the notebook or to keep things more realistic and
chronological.
The second problem is how much information to give. Obviously, in a
mystery story, if you saw Linda O'Leary had red hair and a note wasn't
made, you'd have to think that either Linda was unimportant or perhaps
there was a guess-the-action to get that noted. Furthermore, a very
poorly implemented notebook would just note the 'correct' clues, which
becomes a mimesis-breaking hint. Noting too much information is a
problem too, however. Pages of notes could be a problem if you note
every red hair-ing. (Yes, I was waiting a few paragraphs for that
one.) Perhaps everyone that a player looked at? No matter which way
it was done, there's still the risk that it could overwhelm a player.
This ties into organization above as well.
A third problem is what to do about deleting information. If it's
automatic, again there's the risk of breaking mimesis; if the player
hasn't noticed the alibi puts Linda O'Leary in the clear, the notebook
probably shouldn't delete her details. However, there should be a way
to delete extraneous information, or at least reduce it's importance.
A strikethrough might be useful here, to allow a player to undelete;
complete deletion risks the possibility that a key fact is removed, or
an alibi that seems solid doesn't check out later. There has to be a
way to move facts onn and off the focus list, but how to best control
it is difficult.
A couple of interesting puzzles involving such an object present
themselves, though. Imagine a notebook that the player could make
notes in (from a list, perhaps), and these things would be made true.
Obviously not useful in a detective style game, but imagine a magic
realism game where writing "the red door is open" in the notebook
would open the red door! Another variation would be a detective game
where a player is trapped and needs to keep warm, but the notebook is
the only source of fuel. A game could either make things unprovable
without the correct facts, or even change the state of the world to
signify the detective mis-remembering, since a player with a notepad
who meta-games is unfallible. Reset random facts, for instance, so
that Linda's hair becomes brown instead of red if you burn the clue
that says her hair is red.
So, what kind of object would be best? My opinion would be to note
things that are examined, add notes to the bottom of a list, allow
switching any two lines, and allow deletion via strikethough, and
undelete as well, though no permanent deletion. Also, struckthrough
facts wouldn't appear on the notelist, but an option would be
available to go through eliminated facts. (Perhaps a "reexamine
evidence" command.)
But what do you think? What else is needed in a good IF in-game
notebook? Where else would it be useful? How would you implement
it? What story could you make involving such an object?
I hope to hear all your opinions!
Jim Aikin
window would work just as well for most purposes.
It seems to me, as you suggested, that an in-game notebook (carried by the
player character) would be a useful adjunct mainly if it had some in-game
functionality -- for instance, if you have to write down phone numbers
because your memory is foggy (due to having been hit on the head by the bad
guy) but if the notebook is stolen the bad guy will get the numbers and bad
things will happen. But almost anything of that sort could probably be set
up with a simple command ("write phone number in notebook" would do nicely).
If more complex data needs to be stored in an in-game notebook, the author
could simply do it by fiat:
You haul out your notebook and jot down John's information: "Met Wendy at
Bruno's, 8 pm."
That may seem crude, but it would probably move the game forward in a
smoother and more reliable manner than expecting the player to understand
what sort of complex system the author is expecting her to use.
I had an idea at one time of equipping the player character with a sound
recorder, which could transcribe the speech of other characters and allow it
to be replayed. This would be complex to code, though not impossible, and I
was never entirely sure what I wanted to do with it in the context of the
game (which, in any case, was never finished).
Myst V has, I believe, an innovation -- a mouse-operated drawing tablet. The
idea is, there are these primitive creatures in the scenario, and they can't
talk, but you can give them a variety of commands by drawing the correct
hieroglyphs on the tablet. I didn't have the patience to actually play the
game, so I can't say how well it worked, but I expect it would frustrate not
only players who are using sip-and-puff controllers but anyone who is clumsy
and/or graphically challenged. (I include myself in the latter category.)
This raises the possibility that you need the notebook in order to
communicate with ... oh, perhaps a computer that has a tablet input but no
audio input. There are lots of possibilities. The challenge, I think, would
be to make your choices seem natural in the context of the game and also
natural to the player.
Them's mah 2 cents, and I'm stickin' to 'em.
--JA
"William McDuff" <wmc...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1177650378....@n15g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
JDC
> But what do you think? What else is needed in a good IF in-game
> notebook? Where else would it be useful? How would you implement
> it? What story could you make involving such an object?
>
> I hope to hear all your opinions!
If you haven't already done so, you should look at "Delightful
Wallpaper" by Andrew Plotkin.
Jeff Nyman
news:1177650378....@n15g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> But what do you think? What else is needed in a good IF in-game
> notebook? Where else would it be useful? How would you implement
> it? What story could you make involving such an object?
There was a notepad extension written for Inform 6 awhile back:
http://ifarchive.flavorplex.com/if-archive/infocom/compilers/inform6/library/contributions/notepad.h
I never used it, but it might give you some ideas. My own personal opinion
is that I don't know how much I would use this sort of thing during a game
to write notes, but I agree with Jim that it might be handy if the game
automatically recorded salient events in a notebook that you can carry.
The trick it seems is making the notebook and its actions an actual part of
the gameplay rather than just an adjunct to it with no real purpose. It can
easily become a burden for the player. I think of the "journal" entries from
the game "The Longest Journey" (not text-based IF, granted). The game would
automatically have the character write in her journal which I could read.
This, to me, got old after awhile ... but ... with the relatively complex
plot, there were some helpful reminders jotted down about who was who and
what was going on.
- Jeff
Emily Short
I seem to recall that "Dangerous Curves" has a notebook you can write
in pretty freely. I didn't play the game to the end, though, so I
don't know how necessary it would have turned out to be.
Emily Short
> Myst V has, I believe, an innovation -- a mouse-operated drawing tablet. The
> idea is, there are these primitive creatures in the scenario, and they can't
> talk, but you can give them a variety of commands by drawing the correct
> hieroglyphs on the tablet. I didn't have the patience to actually play the
> game, so I can't say how well it worked, but I expect it would frustrate not
> only players who are using sip-and-puff controllers but anyone who is clumsy
> and/or graphically challenged. (I include myself in the latter category.)
It was... mixed. There were times when this felt very cool and freeing
(especially after a game-ful of just pointing and clicking); there
were other times when we couldn't get the game to recognize our
drawings, or where it "recognized" things that weren't legitimate
symbols at all. At one point when we were frustrated with non-progress
we just sat around scribbling on the board to see whether we would
stumble on something the game thought was a real glyph.
So I'd say it was pretty flawed, but still one of the better things
about that game.
William McDuff
> On Apr 27, 12:23 am, "Jim Aikin" <edi...@musicwords.net> wrote:
>
> > Myst V has, I believe, an innovation -- a mouse-operated drawing tablet. The
>>
> It was... mixed. There were times when this felt very cool and freeing
>
> So I'd say it was pretty flawed, but still one of the better things
> about that game.
This is becoming more and more common, really. See Black & White (PC)
(with a mouse), Okami (PS2) (d-pad drawing), and well, the entire Wii
library, pretty much (WiiMote).
On Apr 27, 12:24 am, JDC <j...@psu.edu> wrote:
> If you haven't already done so, you should look at "Delightful
> Wallpaper" by Andrew Plotkin.
I've looked at it now; this is the sort of thing I had in mind, yes.
(Though I wish it would have said I could put intentions on places and
people in that game...) Though in that case, it's direct. It tells
you exactly what you need to know in the first part, and not really
much that your need to know in the second, acting more of a binary
light.
I was thinking more of a detective's notepad, with more notes than was
necessary, with things scratched out, reorganized, connections made,
that sort of thing, though it might just be an extension of what Zarf
did here.
Greg Boettcher
> The first object that's come to mind is the notebook. I'm, alas, not
> a IF historian, so I don't know what examples there have been in the
> past, though I remember Deadline mentioning a notebook for the
> detective, though there wasn't really a useful object.
>
> I was thinking an actual object that records clues or notes as you
> progress through a game. A detective game is the most obvious use for
> this. (See: Lt. Frank Columbo.) The problem is what to include, how
> to link things up, and how much information to put in the notebook.
Gateway 2: Homeworld contains a slip of paper that the main character
writes things down on automatically. He doesn't write down just
anything that might possibly be of use, but specific facts that you
might otherwise forget, such as the meanings of certain alien
hieroglyphics. By the end of the game you haven't even accumulated
more than about 6 or so facts, if I remember right. This note-writing
feature wasn't necessary (I tend to take my own notes), but it was a
nice touch.
Greg
John Francis
You might want to take a look at some of the (commercial) games
from "The Adventure Company". They have a lot of games that are
loosely described as detective-style, and these do indeed have a
notebook that automatically records salient plot points.
Conrad
>
> But what do you think? What else is needed in a good IF in-game
> notebook? Where else would it be useful? How would you implement
> it? What story could you make involving such an object?
>
> I hope to hear all your opinions!
As has been said, there's not a lot of advantage in having a notebook
which is, basically, a text editor, since on most platforms we can
open a text file separately (or indeed, as I prefer, write on paper).
But your other idea, which is to have a notebook which would somehow
automatically collect clues as the player character goes through the
adventure, could be quite useful for some game-making styles:
specifically, it gives an avenue into the PC's voice, and allows
another channel for the narration.
For example, after talking to the Strange Old Man, the following entry
appears in your notebook (journal):
"Went to the house on Chestnut -- found only a strange old man. Not
clear if he's mentally unbalanced or just been living alone too long.
Is he hiding something?
"Aren't we all?
"He mentioned a daughter named Jessica -- probably not important. He
brings the big dog inside at night."
On the other hand, a notebook the user would write in might be useful
as a means of communication with NPCs, to send them messages ("Help!
I'm trapped in a work of interactive fiction!" -- handle as
conversation) or to get messages from them (you find a note written in
the hand of the Treacherous Blonde, who vanished several scenes ago:
"combo 27-42-3").
Could be a lot of fun.
Also, might not need to go so far as a text editor, since notebooks
generally don't do that: something as simple as, the user writes a
line and it is entered into the notebook (until crossed or torn out?)
might be engaging in itself.
A nifty idea.
Conrad.
Andrew Plotkin
That was my feeling too.
The designers obviously agreed that the recognition was somewhat
frustrating; they set the UI up so that once you'd made a symbol
correctly, you got a one-click shortcut thereafter.
(Maybe that was only the location glyphs, not the environmental ones.
Been a while.)
Myst 5 also presented the save system as a "notebook". You recorded
previous situations as notebook entries that you could flip back to.
It wasn't mechanically different from the usual save-game folder, but
it was a nice nod to the theme.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
When Bush says "Stay the course," what he means is "I don't know what to
do next." He's been saying this for years now.
Adam Thornton
>notebook? Where else would it be useful? How would you implement
>it? What story could you make involving such an object?
Have you looked at "Delightful Wallpaper" ?
Adam