Re: Arbitrary death


Tue, 14 Mar 1995 11:38:06 -0500

(Fire Witch spoilers)

Excerpts from netnews.rec.arts.int-fiction: 13-Mar-95 Arbitrary death;
TADS graphic Dave Allen@hex.viewlogic (2167)

> > 3. Fire Witch: Here I must protest! You're really being unfair - because
> > you've misunderstood the entire thing! This is *not* an "Instant death",
> > this is a *puzzle*. You have an entire move to get out of the trap, and
> > I can give you this much of a spoiler: unless you've dropped it, you
> > were carrying the means of survival when you get caught, you just failed to
> > use it. Blaming the author for that isn't quite fair, is it? Furthermore,
> > in fact you can't win the game without setting of the trap (though
> > under slightly different circumstances).

> I've never played Fire Witch, so possibly I misunderstood, but it seems like
> this is a one-turn deathtrap puzzle: you have one attempt to enter the
> right command, and if you don't get it right the first time you die.

> While this is clearly better than rooms that kill you off without warning,
> this doesn't seem like a reasonable deathtrap. If you don't remember the
> name of the object, even though you know it and realize it can be used to
> solve the puzzle, you have to use your one command to "inventory".

Having now actually played through Fire Witch, I have decided that this
area is reasonable. It is nasty, but it's part of the plot -- it's the
deathtrap that snared your buddy John, and he was, well, ok, he was sort
of stupid. But never mind that :-) And the manner of death is
interesting, you think about it, and later in the game it becomes very
relevant that you have thought about it.

I agree that players can't really be expected to survive it the first
time; even though they have a turn to work, they'll almost certainly not
do the right thing. (Unless they save right away... not a bad response.)
But the point is not to "survive the puzzle", the point is to find out
how the mechanism works. The warning on the archway, ambiguous though it
is, should be enough to cause the player to save the game just in case.

I like the idea of a death (and stuckability) rating system. The game
banner says "If you are new to interactive fiction, type 'instructions'.
If you are familiar with IF, type 'about' for information about this
game." Then the "about" message says something like:
"This is a kind game. You cannot die, get stuck, or make a mistake."
"This is a pleasant game. You should save every so often, but you will
not die or make a serious mistake unless you do something blatantly
stupid."
"This is a nasty game. You should save copiously, particularly when you
see an unusual situation."
"This is a cruel game. You should save copiously, and keep all your old
save files. Any choice may have consequences much later in the game."

--Z

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