Compass directions and dorm rooms
nigelthezebra
it's in everyone's favourite genre, the college hijinks style, and no,
it's not going to be snobby and/or in-jokey. But that's all beside
the point. Basically, I'm creating each dorm room as two separate
game rooms--one for each roommate's side of the room. What would you
consider an acceptable way of getting from one room to the other? I
don't want to do a "Autumn's side of the room is to the west" type of
thing--although it is a convention of the genre, I don't think it'd be
appropriate, and I'm not sure how I'd phrase a "GO _____" syntax...I
mean, "GO AUTUMN'S ROOM" sounds kinda...crappy. Since there's really
not a door between the two sides, I can't use "ENTER AUTUMN'S ROOM"
either. What do you suggest?
Dennis G. Jerz
the other, such as a refrigerator, bunkbeds, or a window opposite the door?
I realize that doesn't answer your question, but I don't have a clear
answer.
You might implement a room as a single object, but put into the room two
objects called "sides", which you can think of as throw rugs... if, upon
entering, the player examines or otherwise interacts with an object on one
"side" of the room, then you could move the player "on Autum's side" of the
room. The mimetic benefit to the player would be that the objects on the
other side of the room would stay in scope, but the parser could prefer
local objects if you type "examine bed" or whatever. Shared items (like the
door) would be in the same room as the two "sides".
I think it would be tedious to type "go north" four times to get to the part
of the hall that has room 7 to the east and room 8 to the west. If you put
all the doors in scope whenever you were in the hallway, players would
probably appreciate it.
--
Dennis G. Jerz, Ph.D.; (715)836-2431
Dept. of English; U Wisc.-Eau Claire
419 Hibbard, Eau Claire, WI 54702
------------------------------------
Literacy Weblog: www.uwec.edu/jerzdg
"nigelthezebra" <nigelt...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c424e9bf.02011...@posting.google.com...
Robotboy8
How about a mimesis-breaking "side" command:
Your room is really messy <snip> Amber's side of the room is neat and lies to
the west.
> WEST
Try using the phrase "switch".
> SWITCH
You walk west into Amber's half of the room, hoping she doesn't catch you.
--
Sanity is a sure sign of a lazy mind.
Magnus Olsson
nigelthezebra <nigelt...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Basically, I'm creating each dorm room as two separate
>game rooms--one for each roommate's side of the room. What would you
>consider an acceptable way of getting from one room to the other? I
>don't want to do a "Autumn's side of the room is to the west" type of
>thing--although it is a convention of the genre, I don't think it'd be
>appropriate,
Actually, I don't think this would disturb me as a player very much,
at least not if you changed the wording a little: instead of
"Autumn's side of the room is to the west," try something
like "The west side of the room is Autumn's". OK, that sounded a bit
clumsy, but my point is that if you consistently refer to
"the west half of the room" and "the east half of the room," then it
becomes very natural to move between them. So you'd get room
descriptions like
Room 309 (east half)
This is where your sister Carolyn spends her college days - or nights,
rather, since she basically uses the room to sleep in and nothing
else. Her roommate Autumn occupies the west half of the room.
>w
Room 309 (west half)
(Description of Autumn's belongings)
I'd be perfectly happy to play a game like this, and I think it would
be more transparent than having to type "go to autumn's room" when
all I wanted was to cross to the other half of the room I'm already
in.
Oh, and when you're outside, in the corridor, with lots and lots
of doors, I think the most convenient syntax would be
"enter room 309"; the corridor would be a single location and you
could "enter" any door you could see.
--
Magnus Olsson (m...@df.lth.se, m...@pobox.com)
------ http://www.pobox.com/~mol ------
Robb Sherwin
I am of the opinion that putting an "awkward" type of near
meta-command in for moving the player is perfectly okay. Note it in
the game's help file or "about" routine and you're all right. I don't
think, for instance, that "go autumn's room" is worse than using
"north" or "south" or anything.
However, my opinion may be in the minority. In the last game I did I
allowed "enter door" and "exit door" to work for door navigation -- I
thought it simplified things, but I get the sense that instead it
added a level of caveman banter (or an unintended trip down QUESTPROBE
FEATURING THE HULK lane) to the thing. So having multiple ways to move
about is probably recommended. In your case, though, I agree with the
other posters: "switch" or "switch sides" would seem to be the easiest
way.
Robb
=-=-=-=-=-
Robb Sherwin, Fort Collins CO
Home Page: http://www.joltcountry.com
Anonymously Troll Ben Parrish's PWC2 Forum: http://www.voy.com/47897/
Sam Dennis
> Basically, I'm creating each dorm room as two separate
> game rooms--one for each roommate's side of the room. What would you
> consider an acceptable way of getting from one room to the other?
Well, obviously you should implement as many reasonable synonymous expressions
as you can think of but I think that players might react well to a physical
divider. (Besides, it's a good excuse to type CROSS THE LINE.)
nigelthezebra
room" solution...thanks much to both of you who suggested those.
Don't worry about having a long hallway to go through...as of right
now, the game's divided into sections with each section devoted to one
conversation or puzzle or whatever, and there's not much movement
throughout the game. Like, the section where you're in Autumn and
Carolyn's room telling Autumn about your night last night is basically
going to be confined to Autumn and Carolyn's room--your immediate goal
of the conversation isn't going to take place anywhere else. So far
there isn't a major need to be wandering from place to place--I
originally wanted there to be a section involving a frantic search
from friend to friend to find a condom, but it doesn't seem like it's
fitting into my storyline as nicely as Id like it to, so it's probably
being scrapped--but if the need to change rooms is in order, I'll
either do a "go to room 304" type thing, or possibly have only one
important room per floor, and involve an elevator, or something like
that, and this post is terribly rambling as it's 4:00 in the morning
and I never sleep any more. Thanks for the help.