Message-ID: <3D1B1D97.8040008@csi.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2002 10:13:43 -0400
From: John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com>
Organization: Organization?  Ha!
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Subject: Re: Acceptable Image Sizes
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L. Ross Raszewski wrote:

 >On Wed, 26 Jun 2002 00:07:45 GMT, The Despoiler
<despoiler@nowhere.com> wrote:
 >
 >>Unless you stick to simple monochrome text, anything you try in HTML
 >>Tads is doomed to look amateurish without a full screen setting. (In
 >>terms of a modern gamers expectations)
 >>

This is very probably wrong.  I've seen some quite nice things done with
HTML TADS.

However, I've seen some quite lousy ("amateurish," in your words) things
done, which were almost unilaterally a result of the author having
delusions of graphic artistry, complete with overstuffed graphics and
gaudy colors.

 >>But these are IF game development systems afterall! It's a credit to
 >>the new IF authoring tools that we can even contemplate using them to
 >>write pro games. They definately provide a new level of power and
 >>flexibility to the part-time game designer.
 >>
 >This is insane.
 >My web browser doesn't change the screen resolution or go fullscreen
 >-- and any page which opens a crippled browser window to pull this off
 >gets put on my "never go there again" list.
 >

I definitely agree.  I've seen more than one game/webpage/whatever that
doesn't understand user interface design in the least, and I had to
"seek and destroy" on my hard drive.

I like to believe that, in the general case, the user is perfectly
capable of determining which parts of the author's "vision" he wishes to
see.  That should include color schemes (at least on/off), sizes,
pictures, and pretty much anything else that you, the author, might
decide you want to exert control over.

The *option* of going full-screen might be nice, but it should not be
the prerogative of the game author to demand it.

 >'Modern gamers expectations' are totally irrelecvant when discussing
 >IF -- modern gamers expect 3d graphics. Text is different.
 >

Especially since the two styles of games require different things of the
player.  A "modern gamer" (whatever *that* means) needs to be a
continual part of the environment.  Text-gamers have more of a luxury
(and I certainly take advantage of it) to keep it on-screen so I can do
"real work" while thinking about the harder points of the game.  And
vice-versa, of course.

 >Your game claims total control of my screen, your game goes to my
 >recycle bin.
 >

I bypass the Recycle Bin for special things like this...


