<snip>
>I'll try not to whine too much. Let's just say that if this is the
>general opinion (not just the effect of Gareth's having had a bad day
>just when playing Zebulon or something like that), I'll have to do
>some serious re-thinking of my life and my future.
>
<snip>
Ahhh, Magnus, don't bother whining at all. Frankly, I found Gareth's
comments about the writing in Zebulon and the other games to be pretentious
claptrap. It's not exactly clear what he considers good writing, but, from
what he wrote, I suspect that I would be bored to tears. For example, many
people consider Steinbeck to be a great writer. Sorry, but a 25-page
description of a wheat field just puts me to sleep, no matter how vivid.
Everybody has different ideas about what makes a good IF game. For me, it's
the combination of puzzles + plot. If either one is missing, then I lose
interest. But good puzzles can make up for a weak plot, and vice versa. For
example, the plot of John's Firewitch is weak. But the puzzles are fabulous.
They're logical, and the combination of puzzles and rooms fits together in
a tight, crisp way. All in all, a terrific IF game. Both Theatre and
Christminster have great plots. I love the way things are revealed little
by little. And they both have good puzzles, making them really memorable
games.
Note that I haven't mentioned the writing. I don't play IF games for the
writing. Mind you, the writing is not unimportant. In some cases, it's
absolutely crucial, like when you want to create a certain mood (e.g.
Toonesia and Weather). And if there's no writing at all (like Scott Adams'
Adventureland or Magic Toyshop), it's just boring. On the other hand, many
IF authors tend to get carried away with screenfuls and screenfuls of
flowery prose ... <yawn>.
Of course, it's not black and white. For example, it's difficult to separate
the plot from the writing. And the writing is important if you want to flesh
out NPC's, or indeed the main character. But those games which concentrate
more on writing than anything else (e.g. The One) leave me cold. That's not
why I play IF games.
For the record, I thought Zebulon was a lovely little game. The writing was
just fine.
David London