Empty Rooms problem


4 May 1995 05:17:41 GMT

After picking up a copy of TADS and searching through the
file documentation and examples I've started working on my first 'IF'
game in many, many, years, and I just had a quick question to run by
the group.
The main 'setting' of the game I'm creating is a vast, rather
barren plain. In trying to sketch out something of a quick room map
to build around, I found myself drawing lots of empty or relatively
empty rooms. I just couldn't think of enough little plots or pieces
of plots or interesting things to have lying around these spare rooms,
but as it's supposed to be a large plain, I felt the need to have
some sense of travel and some just plain scenery.
On the thought of ways to get around this I came up with :
1) Just having a description when you move from one of the plains rooms
to another of travelling a long distance to give it a bit more of a feel
of such a large landscape
2) Just having rooms that were descriptions that you'd just have to
put up with walking through when there really wouldn't be much there
to do
3) Although I really don't like this solution : try in some ways to
limit the scope of the rooms and have just lots of 'edges' of the map
be non-exits that return a message to the effect of 'You walk through
the deserted plains for some time, but soon give up all hope of finding
anything in that direction' or 'Scanning the horizon, you see no
discernible signs of life to the <direction name>, and decide you'd
better try another direction' or something to that effect. Like the
old King's Quest games where there'd be just repetive scenes of desert
or ocean that led no where, and when you travelled back one screen
you were right back where you started.
4) Try to direct the player into certain directions by having plots or
whatever come up that sort of 'lead' the player in the right direction
( anything from someone telling her/him that something needed/interesting
/whatever is in _that_ direction to chasing her/him in that direction
to making it obvious by some text clue where to go next
5) Have the good ol' impassable mountains around a section of barren
plains (blagh).
6) Etc. blah blah blah etc.

So, I was just wondering if anyone could help me out/offer
suggestions/tell me what they tried in their efforts/etc.
For the background world of the game, the open space really is
a bit necessary at least for a while (Basically, there are open plains
with settlements and creatures and such scattered across them, and also
the player will be able to soar into the sky where large 'floaters' the
size of cities slowly fly through the sky. These also can be entered).

Any ideas, or just 'Yeah, I've wondered that too. What do you
think of this :' 's would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Tom Ivey
tiv@mail.utexas.edu