I've heard about Interactive Fiction, but never knew what it was. After reading Moira's blog all about it, I decided to give Interactive Fiction a go.
After reading about how hooked Moira got, I considered not trying. I have a tiny problem with getting addicted to game; I can play Roller Coaster Tycoon for hours. I guess its my competive "Must Win" attitude coming out.
After giving in, I downloaded the Interactive Fiction (from here on refered to as IF) program and got started. I chose to play "Photopia", a game I knew nothing about. I didn't even know what to expect. I just thought I'd put in a few commands, go around this virtual world, and have some fun. I didn't know I would have to think!
To me IF is complicated and confusing. Certain commands only work sometimes, and often I couldn't find a way out of a situation. Also, I'm a very visual person, so imagining my character walking through this world wasn't very easy for me. I can do it when reading a book, but usually a lot more information is given.
I didn't enjoy Photopia at all. I was too many characters! The story starts off with a car accident then goes to Mars, and then to a house, back to Mars, back to the house, etc. I was a frat boy, an astronaut, a father, a bird, a girl, a mother, and a baby. I couldn't follow any of it. Why was I on Mars? Why at a house? Why did I constantly have to switch? What was the point?
I also had trouble with the commands. I would type something in and it wouldn't recognize the verb. I would go through dozens of combinations before I would find something real obvious and think, "You Idiot!". I hate that feeling.
I won't tell you how the story ends, because I don't exactly know. What I do know though is that IF is not for me.
That's too bad, Vanessa -- but I can identify with your reasons, because I encountered some of the same problems when I was playing through Photopia. The problem is, programmers of IF games can create their own verbs that WinFrotz (the interpreter) will recognize, so sometimes they think differently than the player would and a very obscure verb is the key to moving on in the story.
The best bet while playing IF is to see if there is a list of the commands used in the game somewhere online. If you know what commands you will and will not use, it's much easier to play through the game more quickly.
Posted by: ChrisU at October 6, 2004 12:39 PMTo be fair, reading on a computer screen is much different than in a book. The eyes drift more at vast amounts of text and such.
When it comes to games, some people just don't like to think. This isn't an attack on you at all, from working at a game store I know a lot of customers just enjoy more, "pick up and play," games than to sit through a long tutorial about instructions and combat and how to create things. There's something to be said about playability out of the box.
It could be much worse. The older IF games make Photopia look like Pick up the Phone Booth and Die. But IF games are really more of a detective story than anything else. It's picking up clues and environments, and especially asking the right questions. Well, since you can't ask questions, you just need to find the right clues, and doing that is a pain in itself.
Posted by: Tim Traini at October 15, 2004 02:49 AMI love Rollercoaster Tycoon!
Posted by: Firefighter Chica at October 20, 2004 09:12 PMCome on, who doesn't love Rollercoaster Tycoon? You can build your own amusement park- what is better than that? I think it satisfies the dictator in us all. You control the park in the people. If someone is not spending enough, just drown them. Not that I do that, of course....haha.
Posted by: Vanessa at October 21, 2004 01:17 PM