Whizzard's Guide to Text Adventure Authorship v1.1
                       by Kevin Wilson

          Originally published on CompuServe/Internet

         Supplied by both Graham Cluley and Richard Hunt

                         Part Two

@~Continued from last issue

2 ------- The Three Parts of a Game.  Part 1: The Beginning ------

IF can be split into three distinct sections, the beginning, the
middle, and the end.  The beginning should be fast moving, short,
and attention grabbing.  Here is where you will lose most of your
potential players.  If they get bored early on, then they'll
delete the game without ever giving it a chance.  I've been known
to do this myself.  Don't make the initial puzzles too difficult.
Don't worry if the beginning is fairly linear in nature, you'll
have plenty of time to branch it out in the middle.  Also, if your
game has no set main character, here is where you should have the
player decide on the character's sex.  The bathroom approach in
Leather Goddesses of Phobos was a good one, or the ticket in
Ballyhoo.  Try to avoid the generic method of just asking what
their sex is though, IF is all about atmosphere and mood.  Here is
a list of important things to do in the beginning of your game:

     1.)  Establish the setting.
     2.)  Grab the player's attention.
     3.)  Reveal the character's purpose and motivation.
     4.)  Establish the character's sex or identity.
     5.)  Introduce important characters for later use.

3 ----------------------- The Middle. ---------------------------

Now that you've done all that, you've got to start giving the
player some room to maneuver.  There should be several puzzles
available to them at any one time.  Not all of the puzzles should
be mandatory, and several should have multiple solutions that
work.  I prefer at least one difficult solution and one easier
solution.  This should be reflected through the points awarded.
Also, have some areas that are only available to the player if he
solves a puzzle one way, and a different area if he solves it
another way.  Here's an example:

There is corridor ending in a blank wall just ahead.  On the wall
is a lever.  Examining it further, you see a pair of wings above
it, and a fish below it.  The lever sticks out at a 90-degree
angle.

Path 1:

>PULL LEVER UP

The corridor begins to grind upwards.  As it does so, a beam of
light strikes the ground before you, gradually widening as the new
exit is exposed.  Finally, the grinding noises stop, and you are
left with a gorgeous view of the blue sky.

>UP

You climb up the tilted corridor and find yourself on top of a
mesa.  Clouds rush by above you in a manner reminiscent of
time-lapse photography.  They seem to flicker through a variety of
shapes familiar to you.  Giraffes, elephants, and horses all dance
before you in a vast kaleidoscope of the heavens.

      There is a pair of wings lying nearby.

> GET WINGS AND WEAR THEM

Ok.

> FLY
(Up.)

You fly up into the sky, revelling in the magnificent feeling of
freedom that comes over you.  As you climb in altitude, the wax on
your wings begins to melt in the desert sun.

> UP

You dip and bob on the gentle wind currents, climbing ever higher.
Suddenly, the feathers on your wings begin to flutter off as the
wax that holds them in place melts.  You flail your arms wildly as
you plunge screaming down to the ground, to no avail.

**  YOU HAVE DIED **

Path 2:

>PULL LEVER DOWN

The corridor begins to grind downwards.  As it does so, the
rippling effect of light reflecting off of water becomes visible
to you.  Finally, the grinding noises stop, and you are left with
a wonderful view of an underground beach and ocean.


>DOWN

You climb down the tilted corridor and find yourself on top a
deserted beach.  There is a beautiful ocean stretching out before
you in this sunless grotto.  Waves lap at the white sands, and
seashells litter the beach alongside clumps of seaweed and
driftwood.  Peering into the shallow water just offshore, you can
just make out the form of a pentagram.

>ENTER PENTAGRAM

Wading out into the shallows, you cautiously approach the
pentagram, aware of legends that demons or spells are sometimes
contained in them.  Reluctantly, you step into the center of it.
Your eyes are blinded by a bright flash of light.  When you can
see again, you realize that you have been transformed into an
octopus.



>SWIM

Confused at first by your numerous limbs, you gradually get into a
sort of motion that involves pulling yourself along.  You are
surrounded on all sides by a beautiful coral reef.  Your eyes seem
to be quite similar to what they were in human form, so you get
the colors as well.  Tiny fish dart around you, and a succulent
crab scuttles past.

>NORTH

You have entered a deeper part of the reef.  The coral is less
concealing here, and the fish are bigger.  Much bigger in fact,
for there's a shark swimming right at you!

>SOUTH

You try to make a break for the safety of the shallower part of
the reef, but your fear agitates the shark, and you end up as a
light dish of kalimari.

** YOU HAVE DIED **

From that point, the player would either be flying or swimming to
his destination.  Each path would have its own challenges and
rewards.  I tend to try to keep the paths at around the same
difficulty level though.  Once the player has chosen a pathway,
make them stick to it.  They can always restore an old game and
try the other path.  That's why you're putting in all these
alternate pathways and multiple solutions, replayability.  You
should design your game so that the player can go through two or
three times and see different puzzles and places each time.
Here's another list of important things:

     1.) Establish a series of sub-goals for the player.
     2.) Expand on the characters you introduced in the beginning.
     3.) Foreshadow what is to come in the end.
     4.) Branch the story out to allow the player more freedom.
     5.) Provide a unified theme to the setting and descriptions.
     6.) Provide numerous puzzles for the player's enjoyment.


4 ------------------------ The End. ------------------------------

Now it's time to close up all your loose ends, explain anything
that you already haven't explained, and send in your Big Nasty
(tm).  The Big Nasty (tm) is the final challenge, be it monster,
man, maze, or whatever.  This is where you want to ham up your
writing and get a sense of urgency going.  There needs to be a
time limit for this part of the game.  The bomb is ticking away
its last minute, or the evil Vorlung is about to pull the switch
that will transform beautiful Marie into a six-armed monster.

The last puzzle shouldn't be all that tough to figure out though.
Understand that the player has been through hell to get here.
He's flushed and excited, thrilled to be at the end of the game.
So you want to make him sweat a bit, but you want to deliver the
ending to him as well.  Here's an example of a decent ending:


>LOOK

You are in the control room of the alien ship headed for Earth.
Looking out its viewport, you can see an image of your planet
swelling in size as this runaway ship continues on its disastrous
collision course.  Looking around, you see a chair, or at least
you assume that it's a chair.  It appears to have been designed
with someone far thinner and taller than you in mind.  There is a
silver globe on the right armrest and a dull black cube in the
left.

>REMOVE CUBE FROM ARMREST

Ok.

The earth looms immensely in the viewport.  Fire begins to trail
off the nose of the ship as it begins to enter the atmosphere.



>LOOK AT DULL CUBE

The dull cube is exactly the same size and shape as the gold cube,
except that it seems to be burnt on the outside.

The tip of the spaceship is beginning to melt.  The flames lick
around the cockpit viewport.  A small midwestern town seems to be
in for a rude surprise in a minute or two.

>PUT GOLD CUBE IN LEFT ARMREST

The cube fits snugly into the recess left by the dull black cube.
Immediately the back of the chair lights up with strange scrolling
letters as the ship begins to level out for a more gentle landing
in Indiana.  You sink, exhausted, to the floor, and begin to
wonder how to convince the people gathering outside the ship that
you're not an alien invader...

*** YOU HAVE WON ***

So you see, the game above centers around finding a backup
navigation cube and getting into the control room to repair things
before the ship crashes into the Earth.  The last puzzle is
simple, but you have a short amount of time to work it out, as
shown by the re-entry flames.  Another good ending is used in
Trinity, where you have to cut the wires and prevent the atomic
test.  Use your imagination and make 'em sweat it out.  One more
list:

    1.) Use a time limit.
    2.) Create a sense of urgency.
    3.) Keep the last puzzles simple.

@~To be continued next issue





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