Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Player : "Protagonist," "Push," and "Mat"
Game : "Space below mat," "Key," and "Donut"
Player : "Protagonist," "Take," and "Key"
Game : "Key" and "Inventory"
Player : "Protagonist," "Use," "Key," and [on] "Door"
Game : "Door" and "Unlocked"
As you see, the game plays the role of a narrator that knows everything about the
current situation in contrast to the player who only makes hypotheses. The player
needs to explore the game world by touching things and figuratively asking the
game, "May I use this one? Does it work for now?" Thus, the objective is to find the
right words. If, for example, the player would take Donut instead of Key and tried to
use it on Door, the game would answer that the attempt was Ridiculous because the
words are pretty incompatible. The action sentence can be compared to the follow-
ing equation in one unknown where X is the sought-after word:
X "Use"[on a] "Known Object" = "Success"
It is quite easy to find the right word when a sentence is short and the second noun
is obvious such as Door. But it becomes trickier if the definition is more vague. For
instance, it may look like Unknown Device and the game, in addition, says that it is
Broken. How can it be fixed? What spare parts are needed? The equation becomes
more complicated with more unknowns:
X "Use"[on a] Y = "Success"
where Y= "Unknown device"
To help a player solve such a logical dilemma, the game should display some hints.
These hints may be presented in a graphic form; special images can be used for
indirect alludes. Another option is that of a dialogue where an NPC talks about the
nature of Y . This is extremely important when compound action sentences are used
in the game. Such equations reckon with a specific number of preparatory phases
to get the final result. Practically, this means that to solve the puzzle, a player would
Search WWH ::




Custom Search