Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
From:
[email protected] (David Librik)
Subject: Scott Adams: How to write Adventure games
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 1995 04:25:36 GMT
A few weeks ago, someone here mentioned the fact that Scott Adams,
the creator of personal computer Adventures, wrote a column for
Softside magazine in 1980 and 1981. He did: it was called SAY YOHO,
for reasons that any player of Pirate's Adventure will immediately
know.
Most of the columns in the series were fairly technical or dealt
with immediate problems in the industry. Two of them, however,
contained very insightful material on how he writes and judges
interactive fiction. I've excerpted the interesting bits below
for your reading and discussion pleasure. Share and enjoy.
- David Librik
[email protected]
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SAY YOHO by Scott Adams 1/81
This month let's look at the rules I use to write what I consider a good
compunovel. I feel that any compunovel will need to follow these rules
fairly closely to become a success, though like any rules there are always
exceptions.
1) LOGICAL CONSISTENCY
Is the compunovel logical? This is of course a very basic point that
any compunovel writer needs to adhere to very closely or the results can be
really disastrous.
Simple things like whether when exiting a room to the easy you can get
back by then going west are important and can completely ruin the feel of
an otherwise fun program! (Unless of course it is in a logical place such
as a maze or maybe lost in a desert and so on.)
Also very important: Do the responses fit the actions? If you drink
a flask of water it would be extremely illogical to then develop a case of
sunstroke and die. If a particular response doesn't fit the requested action,
then there should be some sort of logical reason why not. An example might
be the reason you developed sunstroke in the above because the water had a
specific drug in it.
Whatever the reason is, though, it should become obvious to the player
and not remain a secret with the author, or the believability of the game
will suffer!
2) EXOTIC KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE UNNECESSARY
Knowledge that is not common or readily available should not be required
to complete a game (though it might be required for special scoring). The main
purpose of playing a compunovel is more to overcome obstacles and problems by
using intelligence than by knowing something someone else doesn't.
Example: Needing to know the Russian word for cow before milking said
beastie.
There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. If a compunovel was
designed to educate in a particular field, then it would be acceptable to
force the player to learn what is needed. Also, if a piece of knowledge
is widespread and easy to find out, it would be acceptable, such as knowing
Morse Code.
3) ITEMS AND LOCATIONS SHOULD FIT THE PLOT
A dragon and magic words are quite appropriate in a fantasy adventure,
but would be greatly out of place in a nuclear reactor!
4) MULTI LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY
All problems and obstacles to overcome should not be of the same degree
of difficulty or the player will become extremely bored or extremely
frustrated. One obvious exception to this rule is when the program is written
for a specific age group.
5) MORE WAYS TO SKIN THE CAT
Whenever it is possible (usually memory is a constraint here), try to have
more than one way to reach a desired goal as not all people think alike! Also
along this line, it is a good idea to provide responses to all the different
things a player might enter. (This is probably one of the easiest rules to lay
down and one of the hardest to follow!)
6) NO SUDDEN DEATH SYNDROME
Unless the plot is specifically written to need it (like DEATH
DREADNAUGHT), is it not a good idea to capriciously kill off players
without giving them some sort of warning ahead of time. This allows the
clever player a chance to escape the doom the author has envisioned for
them!
So that sums it up for this month. If anyone out in the real world
has any additional rules they think are valid, drop me a line!
And oh yes, Adventure 10 is now out!
Now, I'll just 'til next month, SAY YOHO ......... (BYE)!
ONE LINE ADVENTURE
by Phillip Case
0 CLS:PRINT"ADVENTURE
VISIBLE ITEMS: TREES
OBVIOUS EXITS: EAST WEST
";STRING$(30,"-"):INPUT"TELL ME";A$:IFA$<>"E",0ELSEPRINT@0,"I'M
IN A CAVE.";:PRINT@79,"NOTHING";:PRINT@143,"NONE",;:PRINT@263,""
;:INPUTA$:IFASC(A$)=72ANDMID$(A$,4)="P",PRINT"YOU WIN!!"ELSE0
ONE LINE REVIEW
by Scott Adams
(See Say Yoho column this month.) RULE 1, usually; RULE 2, yes; RULE 3,
yes, RULE 4, well maybe; RULE 5, hardly; RULE 6, yes; RATING 5/6 = 84% (not
bad for one line!); SAY YOHO, and we gone .....
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SAY YOHO by Scott Adams 3/81
[discussion of save-game bug on the Apple 2 deleted]
I have been asked many times how I develop an Adventure. Well, my
usual procedure is as follows:
1) First I pick a topic that I want to cover, such as Dracula or the Old West.
2) Then I decide whether I want to do a treasure expedition or have some
sort of specific mission to perform. (The treasure-finding type of
Adventure is usually easier to write, but not by a lot.)
3) Next I lay out some terrain to cover and put in a simple skeleton of
problems and obstacles to overcome. Also I dot the landscape with obvious
items and objects which belong there, such as coconuts in palm trees, etc.
4) By this time, I usually have some interesting problems laid out which I
then incorporate into the structure.
5) At this point I'm usually ready to enter the structure into the computer
and start play-testing. The Adventure is probably about 50 percent of its
final size at this time.
6) Finally, the play-testing by myself and other gives me numerous ideas of
how to fill in the holes in the final structure and an Adventure is born!
How long this process takes ranges from one year, in the case of
"Adventureland", to only one week for "Mystery Fun House". On the average,
an Adventure will take about a month to finish, and anywhere from three hours
to three months to play!
I hope this has given you some insight into Adventure creating. Until
next month, may all your adventures be fun and safe.
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Other articles included: an enthusiastic cheer for Infocom's just-released
"Zork" (which Adams had played back in his mainframe days, as DUNGEON),
a description of his new adventure system "Odyssey" -- apparently intented
to move into Infocom's arena with heavy use of the new microcomputer
floppy disk technology, it never saw the light of day -- and a reference to
Adams' rule of software pricing: how much would movie tickets cost for the
same number of hours of enjoyment?
- David Librik
[email protected]
