Re: Liquids (and Inform)


14 Mar 95 08:42:31 GMT

baf@max.tiac.net (Carl Muckenhoupt) writes:

>This sounds remarkably like the system that was used in GC. I've
>rejected this approach for my project, principally because it keeps
>liquid contents seperate from conventional contents. It is a nice
>elegant approach, though.

A year or so ago I wrote (well, hacked) an elaborate set of TADS
water routines that did some of what has been mentioned here. I then
rewrote it to use dynamic object creation and destruction, which was
pretty handy. I didn't bother trying to deal with mixing liquids
though. It's just too much work for too little return, as far as I'm
concerned. It's part of the basic problem of trying to emulate liquids
in a text adventure atomistic world of indivisible objects.

I just ended up generating error messages - "The bell jar already
contains some beer" - if you try to pour something into a container
that already has some liquid in it. I don't like it but the
alternative was a lot of work.

As for the dynamic object creation, I used that to deal with the
problem of players wanting to fill beer bottles with lake water and
such. I originally used a system whereby each water-containing item
had its own ghost water item so that the player could fill it if s/he
desired, but the introduction of TADS 2.2 with its dynamic objects
solved that rather clunky hack.

I also cobbled together wetness routines so that, for example,
pouring burgundy on a computer wrecks it. Or swimming makes your
clothes wet. Or if you take a dip in a lake while carrying an open
yoghurt container when you get out your container will be full of lake
water. But if you put a piece of paper into your yoghurt container and
close it you'll be able to swim safely without damaging the paper,
etc.

All very complicated... And that's part of the problem, really. You
can spend years writing nifty routines like this and end up with this
cool simulation with a boring narrative. Reasonably convincing
simulations can enhance good stories, but boring stories aren't really
enhanced by even flashy simulations. IMO.

- Neil K.

-- 
  49N 16' 123W 7'  /  Vancouver, BC, Canada  /  n_k_guy@sfu.ca