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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: Free idea
Message-ID: <erkyrathDy1K20.CLu@netcom.com>
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Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 17:18:00 GMT
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Matthew Daly (daly@PPD.Kodak.COM) wrote:
> >This is a lot of work, of course. I would use it to implement a *small*
> >number of rooms that I wanted to present with unusually rich detail. 

> The potential problem with this is that the user would be struck by
> "The living room is a richly-detailed part of the universe, but the
> hallway isn't."  You would have to make it clear enough through the
> interface which is which, because leaving the user to guess would cause
> aggrivation, IMHO.  Not that it couldn't be done, but it would take
> caution.

Oh, quite right. I didn't meant a small number of rooms in a larger game: 
I meant a game with a small number of rooms. 

A sublocation is pretty much of constant size: it's "arm's reach", 
allowing you step move your feet a little. A small room with one 
sublocation isn't a problem. A long hallway with one sublocation would 
be; but splitting it into two or three would probably be pretty easy, 
because you would already have written the code to handle the general 
case. Players would tend to always use "ww" to go through the hall. But 
people *do* go through hallways quickly and with little attention. You 
could play off this by putting a subtle clue halfway down the hall, which 
is only noticeable if the player stops there.

> >Why? (Other than unusually rich detail.) Hiding. Standing unnoticed in a 
> >ballroom to eavesdrop. Strategic position in a fight scene (If you're far 
> >from the door, you have enough time to shoot a sudden intruder. You can't 
> >swordfight unless you're in the same sublocation.) Trap doors and hidden 
> >pits in the floor.

> How well does Suspect fulfill your thoughts here?  The ballroom is 
> divided into nine locations, so that you can see characters if they
> are in an adjacent location, but only hear their conversation if they
> are in the same location.  There is also the HIDE command in certain
> locations.

It's been years and years since I played Suspect. I don't remember this 
at all. I just recall running into characters sometimes.

--Z

-- 

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
