Kinder, gentler int-fiction...


20 Mar 1995 06:12:59 GMT

Hi, everybody! (Hi, Uncle Nick!)

Those of you with encyclopedic memories, or who routinely archive this
newsgroup, have probably noticed that I make the occasional post here.
Post, because I really like the concept of interactive fiction (which,
to me, is a way ordinary people can tell their tales without hiring
umpteen zillion people to draw pictures, score music, and put it in a
neat box. I have no philosophical objection to illustrated stuff-- in
fact, "The Secret of Monkey Island" is one of my all-time favorite
games. I just know I couldn't do that kind of game. But I
digress...) Occasionally, because up until now I haven't been able to
actually *play* any int-fiction (my lowly WB1.3 Amiga wouldn't run any
interpreters, and my Unix account is used for higher-priority things).
Well, I finally shelled out for WB3.1, so I can happily join the rest
of you guys... except for one problem. What to play?

A little background on my tastes in games...

* The important things for me are the plot, characterization, and
environment. I don't mind puzzles, as long as they're not too
braintwisting, but I expect to spend at least half my time playing a
game just looking around, talking to people, and trying strange
things.

* Dying is something of a turn-off for me; getting into an insoluble
position is a worse one, because I might save whilst stuck. One of
the main reasons I enjoyed "Monkey Island" so much is because I only
had to save when it was time to go to bed or eat or something; the
"Quest for Glory" series, which I also enjoyed, had frequent deaths
but warned when you were in danger (so I could save) and seldom, if
ever, reached an insoluble state.

* I enjoyed "Balances" because it was short, sweet, and fun (good ol'
frotz...) I never got into "Curses" because of how easy it was to get
into an insoluble state (and for another reason, listed below).
"Advent" (the Collossal Caves port) and "Adventureland" (the Scott
Adams one) were both too primitive for my tastes.

* Give me a simple task right off the bat and either let me fulfill it
right away or keep tossing incremental frustrations at me the whole
game (while still letting me see I'm making progress). "Curses"
doesn't give me enough sense of progress in finding that stupid map;
"Stationfall" hugely frustrated the initial task without supplying
enough direction for me to know what to do next.

...so, anyone have any suggestions for kind, gentle, fun int-fiction?
Or is all the stuff out there repeated deathtraps and puns on words?
(In which case I suppose I'll have to write something myself...)

---Fred M. Sloniker, stressed undergrad
L. Lazuli R'kamos, FurryMUCKer
lazuli@u.washington.edu

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