Hi Dark, Well, I was pretty much considering a limited parser system anyway. For one thing I don't like the complexity of the parser systems in the Inform based interactive fiction games, and hate guessing the verb myself. I'd prefer just having a very basic list of commands like get, drop, open, close, wear, equip, etc and then listing them in the game's manual or help screens. Plus if a game doesn't have a need for a certain command I won't use it.
For instance, if there is nothing to smell in the game I don't see adding a smell command to the parser as being worth my time. There is no sense in typing a command like "smell door" only to get back a response like "you don't smell anything unusual." That's a waste of my time and everyone else's. Of course, I understand why games written in Inform, AGT, etc have so many commands and the reason is that the parsers were written to attempt to cover every and all possibilities. The commands are not customized for one specific game, nor were they necessarily designed for ease of use. As you yourself said a lot of interactive fiction was puzzle based so the author's would inevitably come up with some wording that kept you guessing rather than something obvious. I frequently get frustrated with interactive fiction for those reasons, and hopefully plan to write my own with a bit more logic and simplicity involved. For example, in traditional interactive fiction games often times doing something as taking a empty glass and filling it with water can end up being more complicated than it needs to be. You can be standing there at the kitchen sink typing commands like "get water" or "fill glass" or "use faucet" all you want but the parser will give you the typical "you can't use that" or "fill is not a command." In my text adventure system I am hoping to design something almost everyone should be able to figure out without too much guesswork involved such as "use faucet" to fill a glass of water. Cheers! On 4/16/14, dark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tom. > Fair enough, though i do remember you discussing writing an rpg previously > which is why I mentioned it. > > I personally have no overbaring preference between text or sapi as output > method, though regarding the parza I myself would be in favour of a limited > > parza like the on Eamon has, where the player is told exactly what verbs > he/she has to play with at the start of the game. > > That way if you say had found a guitar string and a guitar with no strings, > > you wouldn't have to worry if the developer wanted you to use "string > guitar with string", "fix guitar with string", "tune guitar with string" > etc, and could just use "use string with guitar" or "put string on guitar" > > This goes directly against standard zork style convention, but to be honest > > I'd always myself rather have an explorable world with objects who's uses I > > can identify than running around constantly seeing "I don't know how to put" > > or similar. > > this is why I pretty much don't play interactive fiction anymore. > > Beware the grue! > > Dark. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
