Re: Gareth's competition comments


Fri, 20 Oct 1995 18:55:52 GMT

(If this gets addressed to the wrong person, sorry, but I'm not sure
how this newsreader works quite yet)

You have to remember, that these games are not books. If you want a
novel, go out and read one. IF are games, and you have to remember
that.

I'm not saying the writing in these games has to, or even does, come
across as poor. The power is certainly there to make for very
interesting prose. But if the prose is too much, then the I in IF is
gone, and you might as well go pick up a paperback book.

I just downloaded the entries now, so I cannot comment on them yet,
but from the games I have played in the past, and the authoring I have
been dabbling with lately, you have to remember something.

This genre is Interactive Fiction. BOTH of them. Not Interactive. Not
Fiction, but Interactive Fiction. And while all this may seem obvious,
we all have to remember that there is an in-between.

It's kind of like the newer CD games with all of their cool-looking
cinemas. After while, you're like, 'well, this looks really nifty and
all, but are you going to let me PLAY sometime soon?' And then, of
course, once you DO get to play, you're like, 'Ok, give me the cinemas
back, this sucks.'

IF can get like that, too, only these cinemas are in the mind.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm blabbering, but I felt I had to comment.

Jason