Roger Durrant
2021-06-09 19:55:14 UTC
Fyleet, Crobe and Sangraal remind me of some of the early Acornsoft
games, which were my first experience of 'IF' -- like Castle of Riddles
and Sphinx Adventure. I didn't really get into IF much at that point
simply because those games were so amateurish and badly-implemented. I
had no idea that at around the same time, Infocom were producing much
better games with much better parsers; I just wish I'd had the chance to
play them back then. Many years later I played Curses, and it blew me
away.
I don't think it's just a case of games being 'good for their time'.
Some games are Just Not Very Good. Many of the Infocom games are flawed
by modern standards, but they're still good games. Sphinx Adventure
isn't. And -- in my opinion, at least -- the Phoenix games aren't very
good either.
Ouch! Well, that's put us in our place, hasn't it.games, which were my first experience of 'IF' -- like Castle of Riddles
and Sphinx Adventure. I didn't really get into IF much at that point
simply because those games were so amateurish and badly-implemented. I
had no idea that at around the same time, Infocom were producing much
better games with much better parsers; I just wish I'd had the chance to
play them back then. Many years later I played Curses, and it blew me
away.
I don't think it's just a case of games being 'good for their time'.
Some games are Just Not Very Good. Many of the Infocom games are flawed
by modern standards, but they're still good games. Sphinx Adventure
isn't. And -- in my opinion, at least -- the Phoenix games aren't very
good either.
I think we just have to accept that some people like the simple syntax
and the emphasis on puzzles, whereas others don't. I think if they
were being written now, rather than 12-15 years ago, we'd have gone
for a better parser---like the Topologika one, say---and provided
'undo' (for people who are not in the habit of saving games
regularly). Not much else.
JRP
---
In "Countdown to the Egyptian Goddesses of Fyleet," you escape the
cleaning lady by looking into the palantir but don't forget to burn
the amulet.