intfiction.org

As soon as I see that my Uncle's name is Floyd, I think I am dealing with an Infocom fan. The about text verifies this. And the 1984 version of me understands, and doesn't mind at all.

Although the premise is a bit silly (your uncle letting his assistant put your mind in the body of a robot) I found the game to be pretty fun. There's an area to explore and puzzles to solve. Things are described and implemented in an understandable way. There's even a giant machine which you can figure out how to use just by being logical! (As in, no millions of mind-boggling buttons and dials.) And if you get stuck, there are some invisiclue-style hints to (maybe) help you out.

The game went pretty quickly, and I was able to win with 70 points (how do I get the other 20? Does it have something to do with the mysterious property tage, or is that like the fromitz board I never found a use for in Stationfall?) Overall I liked the game and its author's nostalgia for old text adventures. Now that he's achieved the vision his 14-year-old self wanted, I would like to see what else he can do.

To get the full score, you have to get into the front yard through the front door instead of the garage. Also, I'm pretty sure "property tage" is a typo for "property tags" (they're mentioned in the room description).

That's interesting, because I did use the front door and not the garage. Property tage or property tags, I'm still not sure what it's/they're doing there.

Then I don't know how you managed to avoid getting full score. Maybe there are more alternative puzzle solutions than I realise.

You get, I believe, another 5 points for opening the garage door. And it's impossible, as far as I can tell, to get the full score because leaving the driveway gives you 15 points and ends the game.

These two games have already merged in my memory. They both have you exploring a cave and trying to find your way out, with a lot of unhelpful descriptions (you see nothing special about the whatever) along the way.

Spelunker's Quest may be slightly better, although it had a lot of annoying (to me) sudden death moves. But zork, buried chaos had more typos, and I got stuck halfway down a slide by an obstruction which I could not further examine for the life of me.

The fact that people are still writing games like these tells me there must be some audience for them. But it's not me, sorry.

Starting out in a cat burglar outfit and night vision goggles made me really excited about this game. Then I got really frustrated. I played around for a while. I tried using the hints. I looked at the map. (It's a nice map, by the way.) I checked out the walkthrough. In the end I finished without quite knowing how I had done it and feeling like I had missed something big.

So I gave it a break and came back to it. This time I printed the map, which was more helpful. I didn't feel quite so stupid playing the second time. But I still got frustrated.

While the game sets you up with the objective of stealing a chalice from a museum, the obstacles you might think you'd encounter along the way don't really happen. You have already gotten in through a skylight, the security guys have left a note lying around with the code for the vault, there are no laser beams to dance through and no police alarms to avoid. Instead, the big problem is figuring out where you really are and why you can suddenly walk through walls.

I suppose enjoyment of the game then depends on if you can figure this out or not. While it's not exactly a one-puzzle game, the whole thing does hinge on you learning how to use your goggles. I know, the friend I borrowed them from is a bit sketchy, but why didn't this "friend" explain how to use the goggles? Why didn't I notice a button on them earlier and ask about it? Why do I have the note that explains this in my pocket? And why would anyone want goggles that NEVER show where you currently are? (That's the big thing I missed the first time around, while you can shift your perspective, it never shows what's right in front of you, so I had kept clicking to try and make this happen, which got very disorienting.)

Perhaps I'm too impatient (or just too dumb) for this game. The setup was neat (although the premise is as iffy as my friend with the goggles), the writing and coding were good (although some inconsistent line spacing could be tweaked), the main puzzle was unusual (but for me kind of annoying). Overall, a good effort that I could see some people really enjoying a lot more than I did.

This one starts with a hangover and a cave. Double bleh.

In his about text, the author explains his motivation for entering the competition: he's pretty sure his game is better than the junk most people have been turning in over the years. Hmm. Is that a good enough reason to participate? Maybe, and maybe that's the motivation for others as well, but I can't recall anyone ever saying it that way quite so bluntly. For some reason, I found myself irritated by this reasoning. I'm not saying you should only enter a game you think can win the comp, or that you shouldn't bother with the spell-checking and beta-testing and all that. But the lack of enthusiasm here kinda bothers me. Enter the comp because you want people to play your game, or to get feedback to improve, or because you love old text adventures and have always wanted to write your own, or because you have an interesting story to tell, or because you want to win or place as high as you can, or even because you want to raise the bar for the comp and show others how it can be done. But thanking the authors of terrible games while aiming to end up just above them? Well, if those reasons for entering a game satisfy you, then good for you, I guess.

Aside from the author's comments, the game itself is a decent escape-from-a-catastrophe dealio. You quickly figure out that you must leave an island before a volcano erupts, and you solve a few little puzzles along the way. Although I did not like the you-can't-go-back-the-way-you-came map, the hints provided are good, there's even a puzzle with two solutions allowed for, and all in all the game seems free of bugs and typos. Yes, this game is technically better than some others in the comp. So, I guess the author did what he set out to do. I just wish his sights were set higher, the passion for writing his game greater.

At first I was feeling really unsure of this game since I needed to mess around with a lot of mechanical stuff to make things happen, and that is not usually my strong suit in IF. But then I found myself suddenly off the ship and in some camp, and realized I had actually managed to get the transporter thingie working (even though I didn't know what it was!)

Did some exploring but got hung up in the bazaar trying to figure out what to trade for. (This game seriously needs to provide some more hints and/or motivation!) I traded for a tape but apparently picked the wrong one, as I was unable to get down to the next planet I ended up at. This killed my momentum and I decided to stop there. I thought I would just come back to this game later, but then a glance at the walkthrough told me there was a LOT more to do, so I don't know if I'll be able to finish this one before the comp is out.

I did like the nods to various sci-fi stuff (although I think it's self-sealing stembolts, not stealing) and I enjoyed being able to figure out the ship and transporter controls without much trouble. I also liked seeing my score go up (always makes me feel good to know I'm on the right track.) On the other hand, I did not like the lack of direction, and I'm afraid the process of getting around could become pretty boring through repetition. I think this would have held my interest better if it was more fun just exploring and/or if the ultimate goal was made clearer.

If I have to gleam the verb, shouldn't gleam be a recognized verb?

This is a short little word puzzler game that, depending on how you feel about word puzzlers, could be fun or not. Basically it's got one thing to figure out: how to turn a fairly nonsensical phrase into a verb for interacting with a cube. (Not that you really interact with the cube, you just say "whatever cube" and there you are, next clue.)

I got the first two words, not the next two, and then the final two. So I didn't feel as dumb playing it as I did the other figure-one-thing-out game I played. I enjoyed the game as a short diversion within the comp, it was kinda neat for a change, but I don't know how well it would stand if you were playing it alone instead of in a group of other games.

And why was I naked?