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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: The White House
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Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 00:13:31 GMT
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Darin Johnson (darin@connectnet1.connectnet.com) wrote:
> >>I think the problem is that alot of people believe that the door with
> >>gothic lettering which is nailed shut leads to the outside of the house

> I think the problem is people that assume that if something isn't in
> the description, that it isn't there at all.  The upstairs bedrooms,
> being of no use to the story, would be irrelevant to add to the game.

> I always felt odd when designing buildings in games, because I felt
> obligated to add all the possible rooms, lest some player complain
> that there was no bathroom.  And I felt odd having an exit say in
> essence "there's nothing useful past here".

Well, it's exactly that. There is no reason to think that Zork ever fails
to mention an exit. (There are other, later games where the author can
sensibly ignore exits that are irrelevant to the game. But that's not how
Zork is written. For example, it says things like "You can't go that 
way.")

> >Perhaps in the GUE, "colonial" actually means "small two-room shack
> >with an attic and large, roomy basement."

> Well, "colonial" *does* mean, the style used in a colony.  It's recent
> usage that has turned this into meaning a particular style that
> attempts to mimic the houses of rich people during the late US
> colonial period.  It's about as silly a term as "continental breakfast".
> A real colonial building would likely be distinctly unelegant.

Heh. True. Nonetheless, I bet that Blank&Lebling were thinking of exactly 
that recent usage. And I have no idea how they justified a three-room 
house in that context.

Although I agree with the point that the sealed door in the living room 
is not the front door of the house.

--Z

-- 

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