I am a couple hours into this game, and have a question about the functionality of the “reset” feature that I haven’t really found an in-depth answer to anywhere else. I haven’t used it yet, although it is available to me as I went into a void near the very beginning. Can someone explain, in detail, how this function works, what exactly it does, and suggest a strategy for its use? Is it best to wait to reset until I just can’t get anywhere else, thus minimizing the number of those resets, or should I just go ahead and reset whenever I need to replenish an item needed to create a new ritual, or whatever? What strategy did you use?
I’m especially interested in understanding what happens to inventory acquired prior to a reset. Although I probably don’t need to with this game (due to the “recall” function), I’m the type of IF adventurer that likes to gather up all available items and keep them in one central location so I don’t have to try to remember what rooms had what items, or even what those items are/were. I take it that resetting the game will put them back in their original locations. Will using the “recall” function after a reset remember where all those items originally were, or will I have to go “find” them again?
Any other generic nuggets of info regarding the use of this feature would be appreciated!
…except that you retain any knowledge you had before. So any rituals and formulas you’ve learned, you start afresh with that information. You’ll find that makes all the difference.
Reset at will. Personally, I only did my first reset after thorough exploration, and after not being able to go any further. By the midgame, I was resetting all the time. This game is unlike others - let it grow on you. It does a superb job of feeling natural.
As for tracking inventory items, the game does that for you. It really does. Let it do its stuff, and enjoy. Hadean Lands is a brilliant design, that lets you stop worrying about the small stuff to start puzzling out the bigger stuff as you go along. Take it as it comes.
Okay, I tried it (reset). You’re right…it really is a cool concept and puzzle design. Just let it happen, let it grow…I really like that! Apparently I was looking in the wrong places for info on this game before…I actually found a thread someplace where a player indicated they used reset in excess of 150 times in one playthrough!
On another note, is there any way to shorten up a command that is used a multitude of times? Specifically, I’m thinking of “look through oculus” for whenever you enter a new room. We already have l=look, g=again, d-down, etc. How about “lto” for “look through oculus”? Wasn’t there an IF game from ages ago that let you define commands? Or is the haze from that spliff rolled with Panama Red still clouding what’s left of my mind?
Beyond Zork let you define macros for function keys. (As an interpreter feature rather than a game feature, I think.)
I put this feature in my early Z-code interpreters (for Mac OS Classic, e.g.) But I’m pretty sure almost nobody used it. It hasn’t been picked up in modern interpreters.
Without thinking, I went ahead and clicked on the link you provided. Please tell me I didn’t just infect my computer with a ransom ware virus (heh heh)! Anyway, you must do programming or something, eh? Reading through the extension you’ve created (for me anyway) is like reading a very foreign language that I am unfamiliar with. I take it I could use it to create shortcut commands within the game somehow, but how that’s done is WAAAAY beyond me. If I were wanting to use the extension, what would I do with it?
Unfortunately this extension isn’t likely to be much use to you at the moment. It’s a block of Inform 7 code which authors can use to add support for this feature into their games, but this isn’t something that can really be done by the player. (Zarf mentioned interpreters possibly supporting this also, which would let you use macros like this in existing games, but off the top of my head I can’t think of any modern ones that do.)