No time for real responses right now (I use that phrase so often I ought to abbreviate
it -- Ntfrrrn, sort of a nasal growl), but I wanted to say one quick thing: Len, I
love the phrase "the denouement button." I now want to put a big red button in
whatever VRML fiction I end up doing, labeled "Press for denouement."
>Here's a talking point to debate: the user
>should not perceive the non-linearity. The program
>should smooth over the decisions in the transitions.
Okay, one *more* thing (I feel like Columbo): Anyone here ever play the old
(mid-'80s) arcade game "Dragonslayer"? (Or maybe it was "Dragon's Lair" -- I always
forget.) A large set of animated video clips; as the end of a clip approaches, a
blinking arrow indicates the action you need to take. If you take it in time, you
move on to another video clip. The two most serious flaws in the game were (1) the
delay between clips, as the video disk did a slow seek to the next segment, and (2)
the randomness of the ordering, which meant that you might have to repeat the same
segment two or three times in a game. (I *think* -- I should note that I never
actually played it, just watched, as it was also an ultra-pricey (for the time) game.)
--jed, in a rush
PS on an unrelated topic: I'm reluctant to post public welcomes to new listmembers who
haven't yet posted anything, in case they want to maintain lurker privacy. So, if
you've joined the list recently but haven't posted, I encourage you to post a quick
note saying hi, giving your background if you want to, and letting folks know you're
here.
