Sorceror of CLaymorgue Castle
I feel a bit like a sore loser asking this, but am I alone in thinking that this adventure, whilst it looks very pretty (for its time), is relentlessly unfair in its puzzles?
Just as an example, in the kitchen "examine kitchen" says something like, "It has the usual kitchen things", but if you try examining the sink or the oven you see nothing specific. If you are in the pool of water in the kitchen and you examine the cabinet you see nothing specific. But if you "open cabinet" you are given a spell.
I was playing "Adventureland" yesterday and the puzzles seem much fairer. If something is in the room description you usually cant do anything with it. If it is listed in the objects section then you can do something with it. If it's just in the picture then it is just window-dressing. There is an exception to this with the chasm which I found a bit irritating.
It's just the inconsistency across these games that I find unfair, and cant quite believe that anybody genuinely solved them (except I must remember that in those days I probably had hours to spare when playing a game and would try many different things - these days time is more precious!)
Just as an example, in the kitchen "examine kitchen" says something like, "It has the usual kitchen things", but if you try examining the sink or the oven you see nothing specific. If you are in the pool of water in the kitchen and you examine the cabinet you see nothing specific. But if you "open cabinet" you are given a spell.
I was playing "Adventureland" yesterday and the puzzles seem much fairer. If something is in the room description you usually cant do anything with it. If it is listed in the objects section then you can do something with it. If it's just in the picture then it is just window-dressing. There is an exception to this with the chasm which I found a bit irritating.
It's just the inconsistency across these games that I find unfair, and cant quite believe that anybody genuinely solved them (except I must remember that in those days I probably had hours to spare when playing a game and would try many different things - these days time is more precious!)
Post edited by fahrenheit1987 on
Comments
The examine/open cabinet seems pretty fair to me. Examine started out as a basic synonym for "look at", especially in earlier games.
Crash used to mark games based on logic as much as anything else; puzzles need to make some kind of sense without being too obvious, and the parser needs to recognise similar verbs - 'take axe' should elicit the same response as 'get axe'.
Also there can be a great deal of difference in the sophistication of the parse; a good one (eg The Hobbit) would not only allow for variable verbs, but would also let the user chain a string of commands together. Another plus point of good adventures is that the parser will attempt to understand and carry out your instructions rather than reply with the annoying "sorry I don't understand". A lot of the earlier games (even some of the good ones) allowed only for simple verb/noun combinations (eg 'open door , 'eat food') while others would allow for more detailed input 'creep quietly through the door'.
Another feature of older adventures was that many only understood the first three or four letters of the word; for instance (if memory serves) in Kentilla typing 'BREAK WINDOW' reset the game as the parser assumed you were typing 'BREA(K) WIND'.
Then again, there are some text adventures with fantastic parsers, but where the game is pretty dull (see most Magnetic Scrolls games).
There are plenty of lists of decent text adventures on this forum , but a few of my favourites
Urban Upstart
Hampstead (my favourite)
Mindshadow
The Hobbit
Most Level 9 games are a pretty safe bet too
Ground Zero has something similar. There's a vital ietm - a torch - in the cupboard in the hallway of your house. Unfortunately there is no mention of a cupboard in the description, so no way for the game to be completed without 'cheating'. Still a brilliantly atmospheric game, mind.
I know 'Robin of Sherlock' did this. Maybe it was spoofing Kentilla?
I never minded the simple verb noun combinations in games, in fact I was happier with these. Nobody really wanted to play a game where you typed complicated instructions surely? I was disappointed with Sorceror because of the inconsistency of having something in the pictures which isn't referred to in the text. They other example, apart from the cabinet, is the room with plain walls (or possibly it is described as the plain room) there's really nothing to suggest that you have to push the walls, or nothing that I've found in the description so far. Maybe I'm missing something.
Thing is, I'm trying to get into the mindset of the games and hoped that there might be some consistency between them. There just doesn't seem to be.
Level 9 games on the other hand are much more consistent but got too formulaic as there parser got more sophisticated. I love Level 9 games. Except for the gnome ranger games which I can't seem to get into.