Re: Yes, another monologue˙˙˙


23 Feb 1995 14:14:54 GMT

[SNIP]

[Very minor "Shade's of Grey" spoilers]

: The thing that really fascinates me about this whole I-F thing is the
: theoretical possibilities of something more panoramic though. I wonder if I
: am capable of write an I-F adventure that it's not the puzzles that draw you
: along but the plot, and the story, and the characters. And for this to
: happen I then wonder if too much superfluous detail isn't in the end doing a
: disservice to the story and distracting the reader/adventurer from what as a
: writer the author wants to direct them to. Perhaps this is slightly more of
: a deterministic vision than I-F should be (if anyone can say what it
: `should' be), but the question remains as how effective a vehicle for a
: LITERARY endeavour (at least experimental) it could be.

I agree. A prime example of this is "Shades of Grey." The puzzles in this
game aren't too extensive or mind-boggling, but the detail and originality
in the writing still keeps me interested a year after solving it.

Think of "A Mind Forever Voyaging," the landscape of Rockville was HUGE!! And
most of it might have seemed superfluous, but to remove it would remove a
vital aspect of the game.If it wasn't written well, it just would have been
plain annoying to play. But it's interesting to explore this world as it moves
forward in time; to see how it changes. AMFV could have been made a heck of a
lot smaller, but the game just wouldn't have been too interesting, and the
player wouldn't have gotten the full impact of what the author was trying to
say. There aren't any read "puzzles" until the third part or so, and even
those aren't too mind-bending to solve (at least, compared to others I've
seen), but it's the plotline that keeps this game going, not the puzzles.

I finished both of these games with a feeling of being told a good story. And
the good thing about the so-called "superfluous" details just give you more
things to look out for the next time you play. I can play AMVF a hundred
times and still find something different. Nothing's WRONG with that, at least
in my opinion. I enjoyed solving SOG and
AMVF just as much as I enjoyed the mental puzzles of "Curses" and
"Zork."
And in the end, it's just as satisfying.

Only from the warped mind of,

David L. Gilbert