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From: Matthew Murray <i9717029@wsunix.wsu.edu>
Subject: Re: Suspended-- Infocom's greatest disappointment?
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Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 19:03:25 GMT
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On 16 May 1996, Fred Michael Sloniker wrote:

> Larry Franklin <larryf@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
> >I liked the game a lot more than you evidently did.  But I do think that
> >this is the one infocom game that would be greatly improved by using a
> >modern interface.
>
> Agreed.  But not necessarily a graphical one; I bet you (the generic
> 'you', not Larry Franklin) could do a better job using Inform or TADS.
> Just a matter of making things more accessible...

	That would be interesting, but I still don't agree with your
opinions of the game.  I think Suspended is pretty accessible as is.  It
still is a hell of a lot better than some of the adventure games we have
today.  Sierra's one-icon interface?  Their multi-icon interface?  Heck,
even their parser... Infocom, as far as I am concerned, got it right in
1982.
	I do see your point, however... One thing that Infocom probably
should have done was to shelve the game until the technology was more apt
to telling the story in the game.  AMFV used a semi-innovative type of
interface--several different kinds of elements working together.  And, of
course, the result was the finest computer adventure game ever.  But,
Suspended might have been helped out by a better interface.  Infocom was
too young and too inexperienced to try out a new interface so early in
their career.  Sad, indeed, because who's to say what else they may have
done?  But, I still think they succeeded, and I like Suspended.  Whether
or not its interface is the same or different than other Infocom games,
the game itself is different, and the concept unique.

================================================================================
                               Matthew A. Murray
				mmurray@wsu.edu
                       http://www.wsu.edu:8000/~i9717029
   Actor - Singer - German Speaker - Computer Game Player - Babylon 5 Fanatic

                   I'm not annoying, you're just projecting.
================================================================================

