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comp03 reviews (1/3)

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Andrew Krywaniuk

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Nov 16, 2003, 8:32:33 AM11/16/03
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Here's my reviews for the comp03 games (in the order I played them). Since I
wasn't elligible to judge, I didn't bother to include scores. (I suppose I
could make some up now, but they would be severely affected by hindsight.)

I remember not being entirely happy with the results of last years comp;
some of my favorite games got slammed for being too old school. But hey,
someone's got to write for us traditionalists who prize interactivity over
fiction and don't mind wandering through caves (as long as there are no
mazes :-)).

My personal taste is for light-hearted games with smart alec remarks and
silly puzzles that require some inspiration. I guess my own game (A Paper
Moon) reflects that taste. Some other games in this genre that I really
enjoyed were Gourmet, Cerulean Stowaway, and Risorgimento Represso.

The above games weren't necessarily the most polished ones, but they were
the games that I most enjoyed playing. For technical merit, I would also
recommend Temple of Kaos and Baluthar (both of which I enjoyed). For
writing, I recommend Atomic Heart, even though the gameplay has issues.

---
"Hercules' First Labour"

First impression: I don't really expect too much from an HTML game. A
crappy, 2 word parser and a non-descript interface.

This game is rendered almost unplayable by bugs an omissions. I can't
take/examine many items that are in scope, and guess the verb puzzles
abound. But the real problem is simply that the game is boring. Basically
you wander around a maze until you find a lion. Then there's a guess the
verb puzzle for how to kill it.

Zzzzzz.

---
"Slouching Towards Bedlam"

First impression: Vivid, descriptive text. Nice, although it make the story
a bit difficult to follow. A bit tedious to listen to all those discs one by
one.

This game is intelligent and highly polished. The title comes from a
powerful Yeats poem that I still remember fairly well (15 years after
studying it in high school). But this game is not exactly my thing...
there's a fair number of mechanical puzzles (which I don't particularly
enjoy), and I don't have the patience for sci fi games with lots of dense
text.

For some reason, the layout of this game reminds me a bit of The Case of
Samuel Gregor from last years comp -- an entry that didn't do very well, but
was one of my favorites. That was another cerebral mystery, but I enjoyed
playing it a lot more.

Still, a commendable effort.

---
Caffeination

First impression: This again? Wasn't there a Coffee Quest last year?

Just another game with poor descriptions, lack of detail, and puzzles that
are too random to figure out. From the walkthrough, it looks like there are
some interesting bits, but I got fed up long before then.

I can't play this game. I quit.

---
Fat Lardo and the Rubber Ducky

First impression: Brash and politically incorrect -- I like it... okay, 30
seconds later and I like it a lot less.

I sometimes wonder why people bother to enter games such as these. Is this
two-object entry intended to prove a point? (about how today's players
demand an unrealistic standard of interactivity where you have to anticipate
every possible reaction to an inconsequential object) There's a couple of
smart remarks (e.g. rub duck), but not much else.

Since you can't win, is this game really "winnable" in 2 hours?

---
No Room

First impression: Yet another one-room concept game. What's the point?

> pray
Your prayer is answered in hat form

That's about the only good laugh I had from this game. Making a flashlight
is hardly my idea of fun.

Yawn.

---
Sweet Dreams

First impression: Nice interface, nice sounds. So what if it's graphical...
it can still be good IF.

Some frustrations. Why can I only take that one pillow? And if you can't get
the moving algorithm right, why force the player to get close to an object
before using it? I like the game though, even if there were some critical
bugs. (The first time I played, I did something wierd and ended up in the
basement ahead of schedule.) After restarting the game and doing the actions
in the correct order, it was okay.

Tons of fun. Wish it had some more polish.

---
Amnesia

First impression: It's one of them meta-stories... that can be good or it
can be bad. (I'm betting on bad.)

Okay, so you're a high school student. Big whoop. Did you study English? And
what's with the annoying spirit guide? Is he good for anything?

> ask guide about amnesia
I don't know the word amnesia

This game is just completely random. Why is it pitch black in the town? And
why doesn't my flaming branch help? Plus, the author commits the cardinal
sin of including a walkthrough that doesn't work. As far as I know, this
game isn't even winnable.

Amateur.

---
The Erudition Chamber

(Erudite... a word I expect the previous author has never heard of.)

First impression: Looks like a personality test disguised as an adventure
game... figures

The pitfall in designing a game with multiple solutions to puzzles is to
make them of balanced difficulty. Since the first thing any adventure player
worth his salt does it to examine anything, I'd be surprised if most players
don't just stumble onto the seer solutions.

First try: seer 3, alchemist 1
Second try: warrior 2, alchemist 1, artisan 1

I tried to find a different solution to every puzzle the second time
through, but I never did find an alternate solution to the second puzzle
(besides pulling the chain). I'm definitely not a big fan of complex
mechanical puzzles (at least not in text adventure form), so the low artisan
score reflects that.

Overall, a nice 30 minute diversion.

---
Bio

Starting room:
"There is a dresser along the west wall."
> x dresser
I don't know the word "dresser".

First impression: Not looking promising. (apparently it was an armoire --
figured it out with "open all").

This is just another one of those mundane games where you wander around
collecting items (which are all marked by "you see an X here" and then use
them for very obvious purposes. There is no creative spark and no effort to
polish the game. Furthermore, the author committed the cardinal sin of
including a walkthrough that didn't work. After I got stuck, I had to
restart the whole game and follow the walkthrough, only to discover that it
was missing some steps.

Nothing to see here. Move on.

---
Gourmet

First impression: running a restaurant -- not exactly a tired old premise.
And "Right-o" instead of done... nice touch.

This game is fun, but frustrating. I want to serve the tea, but I can't find
a cup. I can't find it in the cupboards or on the tables. Oh wait, I have to
approach the table first. Later, I need a bowl, which I can't find anywhere.
But apparently I can "serve soup" without finding a bowl!

There were a fair number of bugs, but as the game went on it didn't really
matter because as the plot unfolded, I was hooked. This is one of those
games that really captures your imagination. You build up a mental picture
of this crazy restaurant (though I have to say mine was different from J.
Robinson Wheeler's drawing), and I never thought I would have so much fun
engaging in a battle of wits with a runaway lobster.

Tough, but fun.

---
Curse of Manorland

First impression: Frustrating... I can't seem to get out of the bedroom.
Shouldn't there at least be a door? (and a reason why I can't use it)

All sorts of words in the room descriptions aren't recognized. I can't use
singular forms of plural nouns. I had to consult the walkthrough just to get
out of the first room. Curses... you have to throw the mattress out the
window. (Grrr... I bet if it wasn't for this game, no one would have found
the bug that happens when you try that on my game.)

Huh? Now there's a bully who beats up my friend when I try to go East but
has no problem with letting him go West. What up with that? I can't play
this game. The things you have to do are too arbitrary. I'd just be
following the walkthrough the whole way through.

Well, enough time spent on that!

---
Sardoria

First impression: I like it, but I'm stuck in the first room. The cellar is
very sparse, but I still have no idea how to escape.

This is a very linear game. Every room has a single puzzle and the puzzles
are hard! Some of them are complicated by guess the verb/noun problems. E.g.
"look behind painting" doesn't work, but "get painting" does. The wizard
room is nice, but a lot of the other puzzles are mundane. And what's with
that corridor maze? Not only did I not understand the puzzle, but the hint
command didn't work either.

I suppose the linear format makes the game easier to program. You can't take
objects to other rooms, so there are less responses to program. But somehow
it's less fun that way. (Ironic how the code to put one of the objects back
where I found it caused a critical bug that initially prevented me from
winning the game.)

Not really a standout.

Joe Mason

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Nov 16, 2003, 6:37:39 PM11/16/03
to
In article <R%Ktb.405374$9l5.280037@pd7tw2no>, Andrew Krywaniuk wrote:
> No Room

>
>> pray
> Your prayer is answered in hat form

Hooray! I lost my notes, so I had completely forgotten that moment.
Thanks for the reminder.

Joe

Richard Bos

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Nov 17, 2003, 5:45:00 AM11/17/03
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"Andrew Krywaniuk" <askr...@hotmail.com> wrote:

> The Erudition Chamber

> The pitfall in designing a game with multiple solutions to puzzles is to
> make them of balanced difficulty. Since the first thing any adventure player
> worth his salt does it to examine anything, I'd be surprised if most players
> don't just stumble onto the seer solutions.

Not exactly. The first solution I thought of for the first puzzle was
the Warrior one. The solution I actually used, because it seemed right
to me, was the Seer one. Ditto for some of the others.

Richard

Andrew Krywaniuk

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Nov 18, 2003, 12:30:43 AM11/18/03
to

Same here, actually, but for a different reason. I don't remember exactly,
but I don't think when I first played the game that I realized that the
first room was the entirety of the puzzle. I considered chopping down the
door, but I figured I might as well check out what was behind the curtain
first. After all, I could always come back...

Andrew


Magnus Olsson

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Nov 19, 2003, 10:04:50 AM11/19/03
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In article <slrnbrg0s...@gate.notcharles.ca>,

Joe Mason <j...@notcharles.ca> wrote:
>In article <R%Ktb.405374$9l5.280037@pd7tw2no>, Andrew Krywaniuk wrote:
>> No Room
>>
>>> pray
>> Your prayer is answered in hat form
>
>Hooray! I lost my notes, so I had completely forgotten that moment.

I might be a bit dense right now, but I don't get the joke - anyone
care to explain?

--
Magnus Olsson (m...@df.lth.se)
PGP Public Key available at http://www.df.lth.se/~mol

Joe Mason

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Nov 19, 2003, 4:15:47 PM11/19/03
to
In article <bpg0qi$1n86kb$1...@ID-178465.news.uni-berlin.de>, Magnus Olsson wrote:
> In article <slrnbrg0s...@gate.notcharles.ca>,
> Joe Mason <j...@notcharles.ca> wrote:
>>In article <R%Ktb.405374$9l5.280037@pd7tw2no>, Andrew Krywaniuk wrote:
>>> No Room
>>>
>>>> pray
>>> Your prayer is answered in hat form
>>
>>Hooray! I lost my notes, so I had completely forgotten that moment.
>
> I might be a bit dense right now, but I don't get the joke - anyone
> care to explain?

It's not really a joke, just an absurd non-sequitor. If you pray, you
get a hat.

Joe

Magnus Olsson

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Nov 21, 2003, 5:08:18 AM11/21/03
to
In article <slrnbrnlm...@gate.notcharles.ca>,

Joe Mason <j...@notcharles.ca> wrote:
>In article <bpg0qi$1n86kb$1...@ID-178465.news.uni-berlin.de>, Magnus Olsson wrote:
>> In article <slrnbrg0s...@gate.notcharles.ca>,
>> Joe Mason <j...@notcharles.ca> wrote:
>>>In article <R%Ktb.405374$9l5.280037@pd7tw2no>, Andrew Krywaniuk wrote:
>>>> No Room
>>>>
>>>>> pray
>>>> Your prayer is answered in hat form
>>>
>>>Hooray! I lost my notes, so I had completely forgotten that moment.
>>
>> I might be a bit dense right now, but I don't get the joke - anyone
>> care to explain?
>
>It's not really a joke, just an absurd non-sequitor. If you pray, you
>get a hat.

OK, thanks. I still don't see why people are so excited about it,
but nevermind...

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