intfiction.org

I dont quite know how to start. I think my concerns might sound silly to some of you, nevertheless, I am interested in IF too much to let it go without attempts to try to solve its puzzles.

When I first heard of IF, I fell in love with the idea of exploring stories by making options.
But when I started playing games - even simplest ones- the process of Searching for a right verb - that is supposed help me to move through - would take so much time and effort that I did not even care where I move as long as I move.

I mean the whole fun of making choices was taken away. My only choice was to find at least one choice.

At the end, I realise that I am not even reading what I get, I am not even enjoying the text, I am interested in it as long as I feel it might contain hints for further movement. So, I am becoming a slave of a keyword search, not of story.

What is it?
Is it just me? Am I looking for wrong things in IF? Or other beginners feel the same?
Is it that I simply need more practice to be getting a feeling of "right" things to input without making too much effort and so not losing track of the story?
Or is it indeed the salt of these games - looking for action movers, but not the returning story blocks themselves?

Any opinion of yours or tips of dealing with frustration would be so much appreciated!
What were your first playing experiences?

No, I don't think you're looking for the wrong things. I think the reality is that many IF games are pretty bad. Of course this isn't a characteristic exclusive to the IF genre, but you could make the point that in a 'bad' shoot-em-up game at least you have some buzzing lights and sounds to distract your brain from the badness of it all.

There are many games I start playing and just abandon because I don't like them. However there are some very good games too, and it's worth seeking them out.

I think the best games are worth reading just like you would read any story. Don't be discouraged by the bad games.

I don't think your concerns sound silly, tsiqa. In fact, I think that's the number one concern of any IF author - will people know what to do?

I don't think you're looking for the wrong things in IF, but it is a diverse genre/medium. There are games that are about exploring a story, which seems to be what you're looking for, but there are also (probably a greater number of) games about solving puzzles to progress through a story. If you're finding it hard to play IF, one option is to simply focus on the easier games. Photopia, Galatea and Vespers are all simple, story-focused IFs. Photopia is linear, but Galatea and Vespers both allow you to easily make profound choices.

My own first experiences playing IF were positive. One of the first IF games I played was Graham Nelson's Jigsaw, which has ludicrously hard puzzles. I played it with a walkthrough, though, and got to enjoy the writing and learn a lot of the common IF actions in the process.

Fact: Most games are riddled with flaws and problems.

Fact: IF is just as prone, if not worse, due to the generally independent nature of development. One of the flaws of small amounts of people being involved in the testing process, though the benefits can often outweigh that.

Fact: Quite frankly it's not easy to learn to take the sideways step needed to learn to interface with your average IF game correctly.

Opinion: Keep trying, there's so many types out there, I'm sure you'll find something you like. And try not to fret about not liking a lot of games, tastes differ and stuff like that.

my first experience with IF was Thy Dungeonman on Homestarrunner.com. It was not a difficult game so searching for the correct verb didn't diminish the enjoyment of it. The high level of humor and absurdity made it a pleasure to play even if it was awkward playing a 'typing game' at first.
http://www.homestarrunner.com/dman3.html

My first experience with IF was on an old greenscreen computer my grandparents had. There was Sid Miers Pirates and this wierd text adventure where you landed on an alien desert, went south or died, then got eaten by a monster in a tunnel... My more recent (and much mroe positive) experience with IF has been Photopia, which I found an excellent story, although I played it through several times trying to find differences.
Actually I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to make the text be selectable in Photopia, I wanted to send an excerpt to a friend?

I think it depends on the interpreter you're using -- some don't have cut and paste built in. Most, though, allow you to save or log a transcript of the game you're playing, and you can open those up in any text editing program to obtain an excerpt.

And welcome to the forums Antinumeric .

As George said, it depends what interpreter you're using. Gargoyle doesn't allow you to select text. If you're using Windows Frotz, Windows Glulxe or Windows Git, pressing Ctrl+L will bring up the "scrollback" and let you select and copy text from it. If you're playing Photopia 2.01, the one with the decorative borders, which comes bundled with its own interpreter, it will be running on Windows Glulxe, so try pressing Ctrl+L.

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Emily Boegheim

my first experience with IF was Zork, lol

but the first game that showed me what the medium can really achieve was Photopia, and this one has not been surpassed so far

what I really hate is when you get stuck and you have to go from room to room again and again to see if something has changed or to pay attention to some miniscule detail you would never notice by yourself (Anchorhead is a prime example for both of these flaws) and there is no different solution to the puzzle, such things can ruin even the best writing

also fairy tales

My first experience with IF was "the Hobbit" on a trusty 48K Spectrum, and at that time most of the adventuring was "guess the verb" Today, however, I feel that even amateurs like us has come a long way. Yes, there are some bad games out there, but I don't think you can blame it all on the author.
The first thing I look for if I find a game that looks interesting is if there's a walkthrough, or some kind of hint sheet to go along with it. If there's no walkthrough the next thing is checking if the author has provided an e-mail address so I can ask for help in case I get stuck. If none of the above excists I'm reluctant to start the game. There's nothing more frustrating than getting stuck, knowing what you have to do, but not being able to find the right command.
This is why beta testing games is so important, but unfortunately finding a beta tester is not that easy, and if you want a beta tester who sticks with you it's even harder.

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Work in progress: D-Day (Adrift V.5)