@~Though this article deals with 8-bit adventures, the points
@~raised in it are equally valid for 16-bit games.

          W h a t ' s   t h e   U s e ,   P a p s ?

                    By William McCole

I'm sure my Grandad is very fond of me! "Why?", you ask. Well he
keeps giving the old adventures that he has failed to finish and
asks me to complete them.

As time has gone on, I have started to see a connection between
the failure to complete certain adventures and the fixed knowledge
of Grandad's life and education. That sounds a bit heavy, so I
will explain using a typical example.

Paps has got a copy of 'Mines of Saturn', a very simple 18
location text adventure, marketed by Mikrogen 1982, as part of a
two adventure tape (with Return to Earth). Having failed to
complete this one, in the early days, he now decided it was time
to complete it ... With my assistance (volunteered or not!!). We
started from scratch and soon had 14 locations duly mapped and
searched and reached a position of being stuck, in two locations,
by failing to resolve the input form required to move on.

1.  To the north, the way is blocked by rocks. You have dynamite
but no means to detonate it. Here my Grandad's superior specialist
knowledge, as a Mining Engineer, came into play. He explained the
various methods of detonation for various types of explosives.

    Nitroglycerine                -    Impact (hammer etc.)
    Black Powder (Gunpowder)      -    Light, Fuse, Strum etc.
    Gelignite                     -    Electrical Detonator

We tried all kinds of combinations of the above (including trying
to hit the explosive with the hammer - a game, as I pointed out,
not recommended to anyone (even adventurers).

2. The other sticking point was at the canal bank. I had the boat
and oars and was trying to get to the next location. Again,
Grandad has had three boats (for fishing and pleasure) and still
sails for sea and loch fishing.  He was able to advise me on the
correct input to cover this situation.  'PUT BOAT IN WATER', 'PUT
OARS IN BOAT','GET INTO BOAT', 'SAIL BOAT' - 'ROW BOAT' - 'BOARD
BOAT' - 'EMBARK BOAT' - 'SAIL CANAL', etc.  We tried everything
but failed.  We even disassembled the database to obtain the
verb/noun list (verbs first then nouns). An examination of the
verb list did not give any suitable input to suit Grandad's
suggestions.  Requests for outside help were non-productive and
the exercise came to a stop.

I was looking at the verb/noun list one evening and noticed the
verb 'USE' was in the middle of the nouns.  I decided to try this
('USE DYNAMITE') to detonate the dynamite at the rocks. This
worked and cleared my way north but two moves north and I was
killed by ants in a cave. Oh Well! One down and one to go!! When I
came home from school next day, Paps was waving a letter from
Barbara Gibb (Editor of Probe Magazine). The letter explained that
Barbara had given the adventure a 'run through' while watching the
'Bowls Final' and enclosed details.

At this stage, all I required was one input - How to use the boat?
..... That WAS the answer - USE BOAT - Many thanks, Barbara.

You see, we had discussed the 'USE DYNAMITE' the night before and
while Grandad, grudgingly, admitted that it had worked in the case
of the dynamite, there was no way that it could be used for the
launching and sailing of a boat and we had left it there for the
day. Grandad could not argue with the additional evidence from
Barbara and the adventure was quickly finished.

The moral of this exercise is not to slate Grandad. He is O.K. but
he had "too much" knowledge in these particular cases and he could
not, due to this specialist knowledge, think it possible to "make
use" of an artifact or article by a simple "USE ARTICLE". Perhaps
other adventurers could benefit from using this approach.

Although this was a rather primitive adventure, it can not be
decried if the input required was smothered by the player's
specialist knowledge.

                 Keep it Simple - Keep it Fun

Do not let your specialist knowledge kill the pleasure. After all,
as a qualified Scuba Diver, I know that a goldfish bowl, a piece
of pipe and an oxygen tank from an oxyacetylene set will never
make a set of diving gear to operate underwater nor could you go
diving without a companion (your Buddy) or a Shore Marshal but
surely my specialist knowledge should not stop me using my
imagination in creating my underwater gear (for the adventure)
from the goldfish bowl, tube and tank. Not everyone knows the
regulations and examinations (not to mention medical examinations)
which are required in order to qualify as a Scuba Diver - But why
should this be needed to play an adventure - No more than you need
a degree in law to play 'Jack the Ripper' or any detective
adventure or a medical/chemistry qualification to play 'Dr. Jeckle
and Mr. Hyde'
                  Keep it Simple - Keep it Fun

                     We all want to play!!

Footnote (for protection of my future) :-
Sorry Paps, I listen to your advice in all things but sometimes
you lack one thing - A Young Mind. I still would not change you.
Wills.

@~This article first appeared in Red Herring and 'Paps' is Jim
@~Johnson.











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