PJ
2004-12-15 18:07:03 UTC
This is a one-week-after review of The Dreamhold (by Andrew Plotkin,
released Dec 7th), so I believe most of the major puzzles/endings are
covered. There may be some Easter eggs yet to be uncovered; if there
are, hopefully the discoverers will fill in the blank spots.
Zarf's new game purports to be used as a tutorial game for
introducing "newbies" to IF. Consequently, he calls it a tutorial
game, includes unprompted hints in the tutorial mode as well as many
"voice over" style interrupts by the narrator. He includes the
mechanics in the tutorial mode - intrusive hints, interruptions by
the narrators, random voices relaying key information -that might be
useful in getting newbies going on an "Adventure!" But I think his
real point is to not-so-gently mock the conventions of IF-and many of
its authors--by delivering a meta-commentary on how to design and
execute an IF game. His real tutorial is for those of us stuck in the
tired conventions of IF -- amnesiac PC, wandering through rooms picking
up treasures, opening locked doors, etc.-by showing how a game of
that sort can have a significantly larger meaning. In fact, Dreamhold
may be the apotheosis of the traditional, Zork-led approach to IF. All
"adventure" games with less intricate semiotics will be a step back
after this one. My analysis/review continues below ....
{Note: Potential spoilers begin immediately after the spoiler space
below, so if you haven't played it yet and desire to do so, go no
further.}
headache and no memory. The game then inserts an unasked-for
interrupt, instructing the player to type help if they don't know how
to get started. Typing help gives the newbie the three most basic IF
commands (look, inventory, examine) plus the normal movement commands
needed to begin the game. The intro text is standard amnesia stuff -
"agony," "raw lightning," "you can't remember anything."
Fortunately, this is not a "locked room" puzzle, so the first time
adventurer can proceed East. Zarf's narrator then intrudes with
congrats for figuring out the game play. He then introduces himself
and describes his narrative role. After two moves, the PC is in the
crowded study of a wizard:
"You do not know where you are, but you know what this place is: a
dreamhold. A wizard's high house.
You do not find yourself afraid. A dreamhold is more than merely
dangerous."
The game really starts here, as you contemplate what the crowded study
is all about and what a dreamhold might therefore be. From my
perspective, as an experienced game player, the intro didn't give
much for a newbie to go on. But what Zarf is really doing is setting
up the main theme of the game, as well as the major focus of the game
play. Game play will involve (a) exploring the dreamhold; (b) getting
your memories back in the process, and (c) finding out what "more"
there is to the dreamhold. The "more" has meaning not just to the
PC, but to the player as a fan/author/participant in IF. "You do not
find yourself afraid," but maybe you should be.
Game Theme: The term "dreamhold" is Zarf's synonym of the
classic (though not widely known) concept of a "memory palace."
For those unfamiliar with the term, you can go back as far as Cicero to
see reports of ancients using the technique to master the "science of
memory," or memorization as an engineered construct. Essentially, a
memory palace is a method of association. Either using a real
structure or one designed in your mind, associating something you want
to memorize with objects in the rooms of the memory palace or house can
bring the items to memory. Thus, if memorizing a poem, you put the
first stanza in your favorite chair in the living room, the second
stanza by the stove in the kitchen, etc. To recall the poem in a
word-perfect fashion, you merely "walk" through the memory palace,
looking at the objects.
A line of the intro, if referred back to, reinforces this: "You
clutch at memory, and there's nothing but empty air." The PC has
amnesia and is in an empty, featureless cell. He needs to get up, move
around the house, examine the objects, if he's going to get his
memory back. Later, during the game, one of the intruding memories
speaks of the practices of memory palaces, but the initial conceit is
built in right from the start, if you only know how to look at your
situation.
There is a long history of revivals of, and adherents to, the memory
palace approach, up until the present day using computers to build
virtual reality memory palaces. Much testimony supports the efficacy
of this technique. Researchers continue to look into it and visual
association in general as an aid to Alzheimer's, senility, and other
memory-loss conditions. It also intersects somewhat with Guilio
Camillo's so-called "Theater of Memory" in the 16th century.
Camillo's concept expanded upon the memory palace to suggest that by
building a physical theater, stuffed with objects and texts, arranged
in tiers from a central point, the user of the Theater could stand on
the stage and by looking at the objects, call on all the world's
knowledge, and potentially, the power of the cosmos (sounds like
Google, eh?). Another promulgator of memory palaces was Giordano
Bruno, also in the 16th century.
Both of these ideas have major relevance in The Dreamhold. The memory
palace concept explains why wandering around in this forbidding
environment will ultimately cure your amnesia. The "theater of
memory" idea also may explain why the wizard built the Dreamhold in
the first place. It is a place of power, a source of knowledge, a
container of learning, etc. It is, potentially, the "more" than
merely dangerous aspect of the Dreamhold. It is an excellent concept,
only rarely explored in the fantasy or Sci-Fi world. I'm not sure of
another example of either the memory palace or the theater of memory in
IF, but I could have missed it. It's nice to be original, so kudos
to Zarf.
The memory palace also serves as Zarf's meta-commentary on the
practice of adventure gaming in the first place. If you grant that
much of IF still constitutes of wandering around in a series of
"rooms," then the underlying memory palace theme is a not-so-subtle
pull at the tail of that unwanted, aging elephant in IF's parlor.
The parallel is irresistible. Of course, if you prefer, you can also
think of it as a commentary on the power of IF and IF authors/players
- we're creating, sharing, and inhabiting these "memory
palaces" or even "theaters of memory" that give us great powers.
If only the rest of the world understood the "science" behind IF.
Another aspect that should be mentioned is that the dreamhold as memory
palace might be literally what is says it is, namely, a "dream" or
illusion. It may actually not be a real palace from the PC's view,
but a mental construct used by the wizard to further his
memory/learning. This of course makes the use of it in an IF game a
meta-meta, or even meta-meta-meta commentary. Wheels within wheels,
clever, and a good spoof of the "traditional" gaming environment
and perspective.
Layout of the Game: By my best count, there are 70 rooms in the game.
Fourteen (or possibly more) of these locations transform under certain
conditions. This counts all the locations I was able to reach that had
a separate room title, but doesn't double-count the rooms that
transform, since they are still in the same logical space but just have
different aspects to them.
The layout is roughly triangular, along the southern face of the
imagined mountains out of which the place is carved. There is a major
central passageway that curves from northwest to southeast, and a
secondary series of rooms that connects to that and tracks away to the
northeast, in the heart of the mountains. The three major multilevel
sections are on the corners of the triangle - the Dark Dome & Orrery
on the southwest Side of the Dreamhold, the climb up the mountain and
then down to the Pleasance Garden on the southeast side, and the
cistern at the northeast corner. Major puzzles must be solved in each
area. There is a pit that is also encountered in the northeast section
of the map that must be mastered.
Overall, the game layout is evocative. Complex enough to seem like a
wizard might have made it, not so large that you can't "remember"
it as you explore. The descriptions of the rooms are fairly
distinctive and often contain clues to the game play. I enjoyed
exploring the dreamhold's structure and found moving through it to be
easy once I had been through most of the game. You definitely got the
sense of the remoteness of the location and the boundaries imposed by
the site. Obviously, part of the end game is "how do I get out of
the Dreamhold?" The layout reinforces that desire to a great extent.
Leave the Dreamhold and presumably you have your memories intact and
you are ready to go on. Or stay and find out how you can use its
power.
Many things are going on in the descriptions that make you want to find
out more, too much to detail here. One nice note is that the basically
triangular layout of the Dreamhold is echoed in the use of the triangle
as a significant object in the translucent dome, in the pyramid in the
lower part of the dome, and in the fact that there are basically 3 main
endgames (with one minor variation on the third).
Major Puzzles: There are several major puzzles in the game, and some
"meta-puzzles" that relate to the end-game. I will describe these
meta-puzzles more in the endgame section. Other than simple entry
puzzles (find a key, unlock the door), the major puzzles to be solved
in the Dreamhold relate to either getting a series of 7 masks and how
to use those masks once found, how to collect the wizard's regalia
and how to use it once found, and how to make and use the portal
described in the wizard's immense book that the player finds in the
wizard's study. The key to solving each of these is in the
collection and use of the masks, the significance of which is discussed
below.
The masks are apparently the key objects in the memory palace, the
actual physical embodiments across the spectrum of the wizard's
thoughts. Finding them and/or getting the harder ones involves
observation, understanding, and repetition - the necessary components
of memorization, I might add, so Zarf keeps his meta-theme going. It
also emphasizes the memory palace as a "scientific" technique, as
examples show below:
--One mask requires a search of existing knowledge, surely the first
step in any scientific approach. This mask is white, the color of the
innocent.
--One mask requires you to perform a basic act of observation using a
scientific instrument. This mask is brown, the earth color that
represents the basic toil required to achieve anything in this world.
--One mask requires you to observe a physical process, then repeat a
series of those processes to get your result - toppling an icon.
This mask is gold, the color of accomplishment.
--One mask requires you to observe the mysterious workings of a
biological process, then use that process to bridge the gap to reach
your end. This mask is green, the color of longing or envy.
--One mask requires you to watch and puzzle out the workings of a
machine of unknown principles, then deduce how to use its physical
properties. This mask is blue, the color of cold logic.
--One mask requires you to figure out the complex engineering
principles of a fluid system, then manipulate the plumbing until you
get it right, including some necessary repairs. This mask is red, the
color of anger that can thwart observation or drive discovery.
--One mask requires you to figure out the nature of an astronomical
device, then position it properly through trial and error to confirm
your hypothesis. This mask is black, the color of the unknown, and the
desire/fear of conquering it.
Solving these puzzles and the easier one to get all seven masks leads
you to the mystery of how to use the masks. Without completely giving
away the show, you have to find parallel characteristics in the objects
within the house, or puzzle out the sequence of events, that allow the
masks to be linked to form the chain of memories you are seeking. A
great deal of reflection is necessary, so to speak, which is the
hallmark of a "science of memory" approach. (Note: punnish
symbolism fully intended here.)
When you have solved that mystery, then accessing the wizard's
laboratory becomes straightforward. In his lab, however, there is
another puzzle that requires scientific observation, trial and error,
and experimentation. Basically, Zarf is wedded to the "science" of
the memory palace and is reinforcing a scientific approach with almost
every significant puzzle.
End-game puzzles: There are 3 major end-games, one of which has two
paths out of it. Each of them, on the first time through, requires you
to solve the puzzles of the masks. Then, by following a sequence of
events that becomes clear after that, you are presented with a choice
of end games. On subsequent trips, you can actually complete one of
the end-games without bothering with the masks at all. But to know
that, you have to have "memory" of having seen something before,
therefore you really don't need the memories in the masks at that
point. So the meta-trick about the memory palace and IF gaming is
still firmly in place.
Ultimately, the meta puzzle relates to: how do you want to use the
memory palace? No suggestions of this are really given during the game
until you are close to the end-game. In fact, only by playing the
end-games do we see that the choice makes a difference. Again,
knowledge is power, and choice based on that knowledge is what we can
leverage with our memory palace. The endings are:
1. Restore your memories and return to your prior life. This
completes the mystery of the masks by finalizing the assembly of the
memories. You return to where you were before your unfortunate
amnesia. This ending becomes possible and is simple to attain as soon
as you complete the task in the lab.
2. Use the memory palace as a portal, either to new worlds, or to a
deeper study of the knowledge contained in the memory palace contained
in the great book. Either path is enlightening, but the dangers of
knowledge and new worlds are well known. This ending is also possible
very quickly after completing the task in the lab. It basically
represents an alternate to the first ending. Note that it also
requires you to go back to where you started - the blank slate of the
cell where the game begins, in order to get anywhere.
3. Harness the true power of the dreamhold. The final ending, which
is probably the preferred one, relates to the "more" than dangerous
aspect of the dreamhold. Bearing the accoutrements of the power within
the construct, you now stride the cosmos with the other gods. This is
basically the Guilio Camillo use of the "theater of memory," as
discussed above. (Note: this ending could also be taken as a literal
sign that the PC has died. Again, the danger of the dreamhold, but is
now in a better place.) To get this ending, the player has to do
significant extra work in understanding the rooms of the dreamhold, the
object within them, and his/her own probable destiny. But first, they
must choose to ignore the other two options or, having tested those,
learned their limitations.
Each of these endings is equally sustainable. They also represent the
potential full use of the scientific process in general: from
learning, to knowledge to power. And of course power is a dangerous
thing. The question is in the choice of what you use the power for.
Conclusion: The Meta-Meaning of the Meta Puzzle. In the context of
the game, the end-game puzzles have the meanings described in the
meta-puzzle section above. But in the larger game of IF - which is
where I believe Zarf is really focused - there are also meanings that
should be clear to the authors/consumers of IF.
The critique of IF in recent days on r.a.i.f. has been either (1) IF is
a dead art or (2) IF went wrong in ever advancing past Zork-style
adventure games. Through his intricately contrived world in the
Dreamhold, Zarf is telling authors of IF to resist both sides of this
argument. In constructing new games (dreamholds), Zarf basically
argues:
(1) relying on our memories - of Advent, Zork, and all the other
classics - is OK, but basically, all you are doing is slaying more
peasant armies (you have to play the game to get the specific memory
that relates to this) who want to pull things down around your ears.
There is nothing new there, and the barbarians will be at your gate
again soon. This correlates to designing "meaningless" treasure
hunt games, and is increasingly frowned on in IF circles although the
history of IF and the direction of adventure games outside the tight
confines of the IF world follow this course.
(2) using IF as a portal, for study, learning or examination of new
worlds, is a worthwhile endeavor and is always a good choice. Explore,
experiment. Examine other experimental games. Emulate them.
Continue to build the powers of your own "dreamhold." And if you
do, then maybe you are ready for option 3.
(3) gather the implements of knowledge/power you have accumulated
around you and enter the heavens. Take IF to a place it hasn't been
- equality with the other genres of games, movies, books, art, in
general. Push the boundaries and become an artist who lifts the whole
medium upward. Take your rightful place among those of substance and
power. Raise IF to the heights.
The IF Archive is the start of your dreamhold. You have your new
marching orders (or options). The choice is up to you, according to
Zarf.
Or, as you can tell, maybe I had too much time on my hands this past
week and this was just a treasure hunt after all . . .
PJ
released Dec 7th), so I believe most of the major puzzles/endings are
covered. There may be some Easter eggs yet to be uncovered; if there
are, hopefully the discoverers will fill in the blank spots.
Zarf's new game purports to be used as a tutorial game for
introducing "newbies" to IF. Consequently, he calls it a tutorial
game, includes unprompted hints in the tutorial mode as well as many
"voice over" style interrupts by the narrator. He includes the
mechanics in the tutorial mode - intrusive hints, interruptions by
the narrators, random voices relaying key information -that might be
useful in getting newbies going on an "Adventure!" But I think his
real point is to not-so-gently mock the conventions of IF-and many of
its authors--by delivering a meta-commentary on how to design and
execute an IF game. His real tutorial is for those of us stuck in the
tired conventions of IF -- amnesiac PC, wandering through rooms picking
up treasures, opening locked doors, etc.-by showing how a game of
that sort can have a significantly larger meaning. In fact, Dreamhold
may be the apotheosis of the traditional, Zork-led approach to IF. All
"adventure" games with less intricate semiotics will be a step back
after this one. My analysis/review continues below ....
{Note: Potential spoilers begin immediately after the spoiler space
below, so if you haven't played it yet and desire to do so, go no
further.}
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
Beginning: The PC awakens or appears in a featureless cell, with aP
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
headache and no memory. The game then inserts an unasked-for
interrupt, instructing the player to type help if they don't know how
to get started. Typing help gives the newbie the three most basic IF
commands (look, inventory, examine) plus the normal movement commands
needed to begin the game. The intro text is standard amnesia stuff -
"agony," "raw lightning," "you can't remember anything."
Fortunately, this is not a "locked room" puzzle, so the first time
adventurer can proceed East. Zarf's narrator then intrudes with
congrats for figuring out the game play. He then introduces himself
and describes his narrative role. After two moves, the PC is in the
crowded study of a wizard:
"You do not know where you are, but you know what this place is: a
dreamhold. A wizard's high house.
You do not find yourself afraid. A dreamhold is more than merely
dangerous."
The game really starts here, as you contemplate what the crowded study
is all about and what a dreamhold might therefore be. From my
perspective, as an experienced game player, the intro didn't give
much for a newbie to go on. But what Zarf is really doing is setting
up the main theme of the game, as well as the major focus of the game
play. Game play will involve (a) exploring the dreamhold; (b) getting
your memories back in the process, and (c) finding out what "more"
there is to the dreamhold. The "more" has meaning not just to the
PC, but to the player as a fan/author/participant in IF. "You do not
find yourself afraid," but maybe you should be.
Game Theme: The term "dreamhold" is Zarf's synonym of the
classic (though not widely known) concept of a "memory palace."
For those unfamiliar with the term, you can go back as far as Cicero to
see reports of ancients using the technique to master the "science of
memory," or memorization as an engineered construct. Essentially, a
memory palace is a method of association. Either using a real
structure or one designed in your mind, associating something you want
to memorize with objects in the rooms of the memory palace or house can
bring the items to memory. Thus, if memorizing a poem, you put the
first stanza in your favorite chair in the living room, the second
stanza by the stove in the kitchen, etc. To recall the poem in a
word-perfect fashion, you merely "walk" through the memory palace,
looking at the objects.
A line of the intro, if referred back to, reinforces this: "You
clutch at memory, and there's nothing but empty air." The PC has
amnesia and is in an empty, featureless cell. He needs to get up, move
around the house, examine the objects, if he's going to get his
memory back. Later, during the game, one of the intruding memories
speaks of the practices of memory palaces, but the initial conceit is
built in right from the start, if you only know how to look at your
situation.
There is a long history of revivals of, and adherents to, the memory
palace approach, up until the present day using computers to build
virtual reality memory palaces. Much testimony supports the efficacy
of this technique. Researchers continue to look into it and visual
association in general as an aid to Alzheimer's, senility, and other
memory-loss conditions. It also intersects somewhat with Guilio
Camillo's so-called "Theater of Memory" in the 16th century.
Camillo's concept expanded upon the memory palace to suggest that by
building a physical theater, stuffed with objects and texts, arranged
in tiers from a central point, the user of the Theater could stand on
the stage and by looking at the objects, call on all the world's
knowledge, and potentially, the power of the cosmos (sounds like
Google, eh?). Another promulgator of memory palaces was Giordano
Bruno, also in the 16th century.
Both of these ideas have major relevance in The Dreamhold. The memory
palace concept explains why wandering around in this forbidding
environment will ultimately cure your amnesia. The "theater of
memory" idea also may explain why the wizard built the Dreamhold in
the first place. It is a place of power, a source of knowledge, a
container of learning, etc. It is, potentially, the "more" than
merely dangerous aspect of the Dreamhold. It is an excellent concept,
only rarely explored in the fantasy or Sci-Fi world. I'm not sure of
another example of either the memory palace or the theater of memory in
IF, but I could have missed it. It's nice to be original, so kudos
to Zarf.
The memory palace also serves as Zarf's meta-commentary on the
practice of adventure gaming in the first place. If you grant that
much of IF still constitutes of wandering around in a series of
"rooms," then the underlying memory palace theme is a not-so-subtle
pull at the tail of that unwanted, aging elephant in IF's parlor.
The parallel is irresistible. Of course, if you prefer, you can also
think of it as a commentary on the power of IF and IF authors/players
- we're creating, sharing, and inhabiting these "memory
palaces" or even "theaters of memory" that give us great powers.
If only the rest of the world understood the "science" behind IF.
Another aspect that should be mentioned is that the dreamhold as memory
palace might be literally what is says it is, namely, a "dream" or
illusion. It may actually not be a real palace from the PC's view,
but a mental construct used by the wizard to further his
memory/learning. This of course makes the use of it in an IF game a
meta-meta, or even meta-meta-meta commentary. Wheels within wheels,
clever, and a good spoof of the "traditional" gaming environment
and perspective.
Layout of the Game: By my best count, there are 70 rooms in the game.
Fourteen (or possibly more) of these locations transform under certain
conditions. This counts all the locations I was able to reach that had
a separate room title, but doesn't double-count the rooms that
transform, since they are still in the same logical space but just have
different aspects to them.
The layout is roughly triangular, along the southern face of the
imagined mountains out of which the place is carved. There is a major
central passageway that curves from northwest to southeast, and a
secondary series of rooms that connects to that and tracks away to the
northeast, in the heart of the mountains. The three major multilevel
sections are on the corners of the triangle - the Dark Dome & Orrery
on the southwest Side of the Dreamhold, the climb up the mountain and
then down to the Pleasance Garden on the southeast side, and the
cistern at the northeast corner. Major puzzles must be solved in each
area. There is a pit that is also encountered in the northeast section
of the map that must be mastered.
Overall, the game layout is evocative. Complex enough to seem like a
wizard might have made it, not so large that you can't "remember"
it as you explore. The descriptions of the rooms are fairly
distinctive and often contain clues to the game play. I enjoyed
exploring the dreamhold's structure and found moving through it to be
easy once I had been through most of the game. You definitely got the
sense of the remoteness of the location and the boundaries imposed by
the site. Obviously, part of the end game is "how do I get out of
the Dreamhold?" The layout reinforces that desire to a great extent.
Leave the Dreamhold and presumably you have your memories intact and
you are ready to go on. Or stay and find out how you can use its
power.
Many things are going on in the descriptions that make you want to find
out more, too much to detail here. One nice note is that the basically
triangular layout of the Dreamhold is echoed in the use of the triangle
as a significant object in the translucent dome, in the pyramid in the
lower part of the dome, and in the fact that there are basically 3 main
endgames (with one minor variation on the third).
Major Puzzles: There are several major puzzles in the game, and some
"meta-puzzles" that relate to the end-game. I will describe these
meta-puzzles more in the endgame section. Other than simple entry
puzzles (find a key, unlock the door), the major puzzles to be solved
in the Dreamhold relate to either getting a series of 7 masks and how
to use those masks once found, how to collect the wizard's regalia
and how to use it once found, and how to make and use the portal
described in the wizard's immense book that the player finds in the
wizard's study. The key to solving each of these is in the
collection and use of the masks, the significance of which is discussed
below.
The masks are apparently the key objects in the memory palace, the
actual physical embodiments across the spectrum of the wizard's
thoughts. Finding them and/or getting the harder ones involves
observation, understanding, and repetition - the necessary components
of memorization, I might add, so Zarf keeps his meta-theme going. It
also emphasizes the memory palace as a "scientific" technique, as
examples show below:
--One mask requires a search of existing knowledge, surely the first
step in any scientific approach. This mask is white, the color of the
innocent.
--One mask requires you to perform a basic act of observation using a
scientific instrument. This mask is brown, the earth color that
represents the basic toil required to achieve anything in this world.
--One mask requires you to observe a physical process, then repeat a
series of those processes to get your result - toppling an icon.
This mask is gold, the color of accomplishment.
--One mask requires you to observe the mysterious workings of a
biological process, then use that process to bridge the gap to reach
your end. This mask is green, the color of longing or envy.
--One mask requires you to watch and puzzle out the workings of a
machine of unknown principles, then deduce how to use its physical
properties. This mask is blue, the color of cold logic.
--One mask requires you to figure out the complex engineering
principles of a fluid system, then manipulate the plumbing until you
get it right, including some necessary repairs. This mask is red, the
color of anger that can thwart observation or drive discovery.
--One mask requires you to figure out the nature of an astronomical
device, then position it properly through trial and error to confirm
your hypothesis. This mask is black, the color of the unknown, and the
desire/fear of conquering it.
Solving these puzzles and the easier one to get all seven masks leads
you to the mystery of how to use the masks. Without completely giving
away the show, you have to find parallel characteristics in the objects
within the house, or puzzle out the sequence of events, that allow the
masks to be linked to form the chain of memories you are seeking. A
great deal of reflection is necessary, so to speak, which is the
hallmark of a "science of memory" approach. (Note: punnish
symbolism fully intended here.)
When you have solved that mystery, then accessing the wizard's
laboratory becomes straightforward. In his lab, however, there is
another puzzle that requires scientific observation, trial and error,
and experimentation. Basically, Zarf is wedded to the "science" of
the memory palace and is reinforcing a scientific approach with almost
every significant puzzle.
End-game puzzles: There are 3 major end-games, one of which has two
paths out of it. Each of them, on the first time through, requires you
to solve the puzzles of the masks. Then, by following a sequence of
events that becomes clear after that, you are presented with a choice
of end games. On subsequent trips, you can actually complete one of
the end-games without bothering with the masks at all. But to know
that, you have to have "memory" of having seen something before,
therefore you really don't need the memories in the masks at that
point. So the meta-trick about the memory palace and IF gaming is
still firmly in place.
Ultimately, the meta puzzle relates to: how do you want to use the
memory palace? No suggestions of this are really given during the game
until you are close to the end-game. In fact, only by playing the
end-games do we see that the choice makes a difference. Again,
knowledge is power, and choice based on that knowledge is what we can
leverage with our memory palace. The endings are:
1. Restore your memories and return to your prior life. This
completes the mystery of the masks by finalizing the assembly of the
memories. You return to where you were before your unfortunate
amnesia. This ending becomes possible and is simple to attain as soon
as you complete the task in the lab.
2. Use the memory palace as a portal, either to new worlds, or to a
deeper study of the knowledge contained in the memory palace contained
in the great book. Either path is enlightening, but the dangers of
knowledge and new worlds are well known. This ending is also possible
very quickly after completing the task in the lab. It basically
represents an alternate to the first ending. Note that it also
requires you to go back to where you started - the blank slate of the
cell where the game begins, in order to get anywhere.
3. Harness the true power of the dreamhold. The final ending, which
is probably the preferred one, relates to the "more" than dangerous
aspect of the dreamhold. Bearing the accoutrements of the power within
the construct, you now stride the cosmos with the other gods. This is
basically the Guilio Camillo use of the "theater of memory," as
discussed above. (Note: this ending could also be taken as a literal
sign that the PC has died. Again, the danger of the dreamhold, but is
now in a better place.) To get this ending, the player has to do
significant extra work in understanding the rooms of the dreamhold, the
object within them, and his/her own probable destiny. But first, they
must choose to ignore the other two options or, having tested those,
learned their limitations.
Each of these endings is equally sustainable. They also represent the
potential full use of the scientific process in general: from
learning, to knowledge to power. And of course power is a dangerous
thing. The question is in the choice of what you use the power for.
Conclusion: The Meta-Meaning of the Meta Puzzle. In the context of
the game, the end-game puzzles have the meanings described in the
meta-puzzle section above. But in the larger game of IF - which is
where I believe Zarf is really focused - there are also meanings that
should be clear to the authors/consumers of IF.
The critique of IF in recent days on r.a.i.f. has been either (1) IF is
a dead art or (2) IF went wrong in ever advancing past Zork-style
adventure games. Through his intricately contrived world in the
Dreamhold, Zarf is telling authors of IF to resist both sides of this
argument. In constructing new games (dreamholds), Zarf basically
argues:
(1) relying on our memories - of Advent, Zork, and all the other
classics - is OK, but basically, all you are doing is slaying more
peasant armies (you have to play the game to get the specific memory
that relates to this) who want to pull things down around your ears.
There is nothing new there, and the barbarians will be at your gate
again soon. This correlates to designing "meaningless" treasure
hunt games, and is increasingly frowned on in IF circles although the
history of IF and the direction of adventure games outside the tight
confines of the IF world follow this course.
(2) using IF as a portal, for study, learning or examination of new
worlds, is a worthwhile endeavor and is always a good choice. Explore,
experiment. Examine other experimental games. Emulate them.
Continue to build the powers of your own "dreamhold." And if you
do, then maybe you are ready for option 3.
(3) gather the implements of knowledge/power you have accumulated
around you and enter the heavens. Take IF to a place it hasn't been
- equality with the other genres of games, movies, books, art, in
general. Push the boundaries and become an artist who lifts the whole
medium upward. Take your rightful place among those of substance and
power. Raise IF to the heights.
The IF Archive is the start of your dreamhold. You have your new
marching orders (or options). The choice is up to you, according to
Zarf.
Or, as you can tell, maybe I had too much time on my hands this past
week and this was just a treasure hunt after all . . .
PJ