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Message from discussion Announcing: Fyleet, Crobe, Sangraal
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Peter Killworth  
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 More options Sep 6 1999, 3:00 am
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction, rec.games.int-fiction
From: Peter Killworth <P.Killwo...@soc.soton.ac.uk>
Date: 1999/09/06
Subject: Re: Announcing: Fyleet, Crobe, Sangraal
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As one of the authors potentially involved in some of the
re-releases which are being discussed, can I just make a loud
noise.
I HATE EXAMINE!
There, I feel better...
Far too many games involve "puzzles" whose solution is
"Oh, you didn't notice you could 'x minefield' or
'search countryside' because these were built into room
descriptions". I was brought up to believe that the computer
was your eyes and hands. Thus if the dial is set to 8, you
get told this, without having to say 'x dial' every time.

(Clearly 'read book' and the like are legitimate; just looking
at the book isn't going to tell you all about its contents.)
Even dear Anchorhead required, after the player has set dials
properly on the safe and it opens, that the player has to 'look
in safe'. I mean, he/she is standing there by the safe,
watching it open... surely (s)he notices the contents?? What is
wrong with "the safe slowly opens, revealing an x, a y and a z"?

I might also point out that the old games (which basically
didn't like statements such as 'insert a in b', etc.) had puzzles
which didn't depend on getting the right form of words. Thus the
subtlety was *solving* the puzzle, not figuring out the vocab.
(OK, there were some exceptions, at least one of which I
was responsible for, and I apologise...)
Peter Killworth
-----

David Thornley wrote:

> In article <634.908T164T12922685gh...@mistral.co.uk>,
> Adam Atkinson <gh...@mistral.co.uk> wrote:
> >On 27-Aug-99 15:05:14, J.D. Berry said:

> >>   While I like the idea behind Crobe and was psyched to play it, I
> >>just became too frustrated with the parser to continue playing after
> >>fifteen minutes.  Yes I know it's from the '80s.  Yes I appreciate the
> >>work that went into it.  Yes I know I'm spoiled.

> >The games were all written with the two-word parser in mind, so there
> >shouldn't be any NEED at all to say "go north and throw all but the
> >ancient key under the bed".

> I have no problems with two-word parsers, provided I know that's what
> I'm using, but I *really*, *really* miss using "x" for examine and
> "l" for look and all of those other newfangled abbreviations.
> (Disclaimer:  I only played Sangraal, and that for a short time.
> It is possible I missed something, or that the other games might have
> these, but I rather doubt it.)

> Pretty please, Graham, with four kinds of fluff on it?

> --
> David H. Thornley                        | If you want my opinion, ask.
> da...@thornley.net                       | If you don't, flee.
> http://www.thornley.net/~thornley/david/ | O-

--
Dr. Peter D. Killworth, James Rennell Division for Ocean Circulation
and Climate, Southampton Oceanography Centre, Empress Dock, Southampton
SO14 3ZH, England.
Tel: +44 (0)23-80596202
Fax: +44 (0)23-80596204
Email: P.Killwo...@soc.soton.ac.uk
Web: http://www.soc.soton.ac.uk/JRD/PROC/people/pki/pki.html
Ocean Modelling Newsletter: http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/omodol/

 
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