[Comp2K] A smattering of reviews
Marc Valhara
Because I entered the comp, I could not officially judge. So, these are
simply my reactions written whilst playing some comp games. I've not
bothered with numerical scores; I just tried to write at least one thing I
liked and one thing I disliked about each game.
Also note: having quit smoking not too long before the comp games' release,
I currently have the attention span of a three year-old. There are a lot--a
LOT--of games I enjoyed but haven't finished, and I plan to go back and
complete them when I am more focused.
GUESS THE VERB
Great title. Can visualise the setting quite well. Hilarious, especially
the instructions. I was disappointed that more of the game didn't take
place at the fair. A slightly spooky fair, staffed by robots... I'd like to
see an entire game like that.
PUNK POINTS
Ah, the 80's. I like the *feel* of this game, reminds me a little of Class
of Nuke Em High or Saved By The Bell: The Evil Class or something. Good
concept, the game has bollocks.
Problems:
>shave head *I only understood you as far as wanting to shave.* >shave
*With what?*
>shave with shaver *I only understood you as far as wanting to shave.*
Etc, etc.
Annoying.
Boring prayer session, but no cool messages for PRAY and SLEEP; I hoped for
more interesting responses. Lots of objects mentioned in the room
descriptions, but that the author didn't actually code. Sid Vicious says,
"Here's three chords, now go make your own goddamn game."
MASQUE
Second game I've played which has an "game in X acts" structure. Some
rather good writing, some stiff, clunky writing. Nice atmosphere. I'm
curious to find out more.
ASENDENT
Laughing my heiney off. Ryebread has groupies. Ho ho, they left the debug
on. Purloin all. Drop all. All is right with the world. Etc. Etc. Naked
Alanis Morisette says, "Thank you, Sordough..."
MY ANGEL
Upon first few minutes, reminds me a bit of Plotkin's *Space Under The
Window*. Another game "in X parts." This is cool. PJ Harvey asks, "Is
this desire?" I say, Hell yes.
The NOVEL format takes some getting used to; I kept have to re-read
sections, figuring out where new text had been added. I would have
preferred if there was a paragraph break every time my actions caused new
text to be printed.
ENLISTED
All in all, an interesting concept, very Infocom-ish, I enjoy Infocom-ish.
This a game I do plan to play further... when I'm in a more patient mood:
Um, >ENLIST is not working as a verb... there are no forms on the desk...
'ask man for form' does not work... 'man, give me form' doesn't work... why
can't there just be forms on the desk...
Seriously, ASK MAN FOR FORM *should* work. Eventually, I thought to try
*ask man ABOUT form*, and that worked. The only reason I asked ABOUT is
because, as an Inform author myself, I understand the huge difference Inform
makes in asking FOR and ABOUT. If you ask someone FOR an object, and the
object isn't in scope, you get the default "You can't see any such thing"
message. However, there are programming tricks to get around this, and I
recommend using them.
WHAT IF
If this community ever held a non-interactive fiction comp, I still wouldn't
give this one terribly gracious marks, because while this game isn't
interactive, it doesn't tell a story either, so it isn't fiction. I don't
get it.
COMP00TR
This game is funny as hell.
This game is exactly what I'm in the mood for.
The brilliant thing about this game is, you know right off the bat that the
author is *deliberately* writing a bad game. Never once do you think it's
just some moron who can't code or spell. How, though... how do you know
that? Not sure.
Kurt Cobain says, "I don't really, I mean, I can't play guitar for crap, you
know that?", but I love him (er, his music) anyway.
STUPID KITTENS
This game is obviously a desperate cry for something, but I can't remember--
I remember. Nicotine.
GOT ID?
The game can be finished in two moves (I know this because Tyler Durden
knows this).
The author of the game got puzzle happy, very puzzle happy. "Hey, I just
figured out how to code a manhole. Must create a puzzle based on that.
Hey, I just learned how to make a flashlight that runs out of juice after X
moves. Must make another puzzle. Hey, I just figured out how to code an
ATM, by warping the crap out of that conversation menu-system from
Photopia." Etc. Etc. The moral of the story: interactive fiction is not
like raisin bran; two scoops more puzzles than all the other games is not a
selling point; and also, some people think it's really funny to write games
based on their colleges, some their apartments, and still others, their
*jobs*. Just because all your buddies at the Quick Stop think it's a scream
does not mean more mature adults will.
AMNOS
The writing is decent, fairly terse. The author can hold his mud,
literarylywise.
I have issues with the coding, though.
>GET CAGE
You can't reach the cage.
>OPEN CAGE
You open the cage...
Er... eh? I can't reach the cage, but I can open it?
There's a chalice filled with red liquid, but when I examine the liquid...
well, appparently there isn't really any liquid.
GET KEY WITH FOOT does not work; GET KEY does, and tells ya, "You get the
key with your foot."
Okay, I'm out of the chair... why did the wizard just let me go? Why did
the guards wander off and leave me unattended? Doesn't make much sense to
me, other than, those events were needed to carry the plot forward.
I'm in a room with a door. I try to open the door, but... apparently there
isn't really a door.
Etc.
ATWCTW
I like the color schemes. Thought they enhanced the game nicely. The
premise is brilliant, the setting interesting and well-described. The
cutscenes were good, too; they added in the backstory quite sublimely. I
enjoy this kind of IF, the kind that hooks you early in and makes you want
to read more.
Wasn't thrilled with the very first part of the game, being tied up in the
boat. A quite good way to open a game, I think, except... the
knife-hidden-in-my-boot solution annoyed me; since my character already knew
about the knife, then there should have been some hint to me, the player,
about it. Still, my character seems to have partial amnesia; perhaps that
has something to do with it. It's one of the dangers of giving the main
character a definite identity: there are things which the character will
know, things which the reader will not know, and somehow that knowledge gap
needs to be bridged. Flashbacks are one way of doing that, and this game
used flashbacks well. Once I found the knife, the puzzle was quite fair.
In the water, my boots weighed me down too much to swim, but when I tried
taking off my boots, I got, You can't see any such thing. I try getting
back in the lifeboat. Game tells me: You'd rather stay on the surface as
long as possible. Huh?
METAMORPH
I *love* the writing in this game. It's creepy; it's unsettling; I get the
feeling that something is very, very wrong here, and I'm anxious to learn
more about who my character is and what on earth is going on. It's like...
it's like listening to the soundtrack from *Psycho*: the music is dissonant,
it's deliberately out of tune, and it produces a visceral effect. Or like
one of those "Fractured Fairy Tales*, but evil.
One stumbling block: the occassional lack of printed exits-- that didn't
jibe fluidly with the story; that didn't enhance the narrative for me so
much as they just stalled progression of an otherwise quite interesting
tale.
DJINNI
I liked this game from the first sentence. The past-tense takes a bit of
getting used to, and once I did... wow. The game creates its own universe,
its own rules for that universe, a very believeable place, and it's quite
fun to explore. Granted wishes, in popular lore, rarely work out to benefit
the person who made the wish. I like the idea that Djinnis don't get all
wonky with the wishes because they *want* to; they do it cause they have to,
to achieve a sort-of karmic balance. I'm actually starting to care about
the characters, too; always a good thing.
BEING ANDREW PLOTKIN
I've been meaning to see the movie that this game is based on, and before I
play any more into the game, I'm gonna go rent the movie.
SHADE
"A broad mirror tries to make the place seem twice its size; it halfway
works." Doth say the game. Very enjoyable descriptions. Not much in the
way of action-filled wham-bang gameplay; I think that is the point, though.
I had no idea Plotkin wrote this. Then again, I was also quite surprised to
learn Ellen Degeneres is gay.
CRACKING THE CODE
Coward. If you're gonna enter this cripe, at least feign the stones to put
your real name on it.
ALL IN ALL, I'm overwhelmed, here, and I am glad there are still more good
games to look forward to. A great comp, and a great year for IF, this one.
MV
Gunther Schmidl
> taking off my boots, I got, You can't see any such thing.
Since I guess you're only wearing one boot at that time, try referring to it
as "BOOT". "INVENTORY" might also help.
> I try getting
> back in the lifeboat. Game tells me: You'd rather stay on the surface as
> long as possible. Huh?
It's what I like to call "a bug".
-- Gunther
Zimri
>
> Great title. Can visualise the setting quite well. Hilarious,
especially
> the instructions. I was disappointed that more of the game didn't
take
> place at the fair. A slightly spooky fair, staffed by robots... I'd
like to
> see an entire game like that.
Been done. Ballyhoo. Notso hotso.
-- Zimri
Marc Valhara
it
>as "BOOT". "INVENTORY" might also help.
Ah. You're quite correct. I was typing "take off boots" because the game
said, "Your boots impair your swimming movements," which implied I was
wearing more than one.
I want to play the game to its end. Are you planning to finish the whole
thing?
Gunther Schmidl
> thing?
Yes. It has progressed since the Competition release.
-- Gunther
Neil Cerutti
>> GUESS THE VERB
>>
>> Great title. Can visualise the setting quite well. Hilarious,
>especially
>> the instructions. I was disappointed that more of the game didn't
>take
>> place at the fair. A slightly spooky fair, staffed by robots... I'd
>like to
>> see an entire game like that.
>
There's one in _Dr. Dumont's Wild P.A.R.T.I._.
--
Neil Cerutti <cer...@together.net>
Linux on board. It is now safe to turn on your computer.
Fred M. Sloniker
<go...@mindless.com> wrote:
>Also note: having quit smoking not too long before the comp games'
>release,
Since I haven't seen anyone else comment on this...
Woo hoo! Way to go!
Marc Valhara
Fred M. Sloniker wrote in message
<2bcr1t0nn82pq06ha...@4ax.com>...