Message-ID: <3A305D66.83D929A1@student.umass.edu>
Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 21:02:46 -0700
From: Jasper McChesney <jasperm@student.umass.edu>
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.75 [en] (Win98; U)
X-Accept-Language: en
MIME-Version: 1.0
Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Subject: Re: FUDGE as an IF system
References: <slrn92tptu.e8k.jcmason@xenocide.slack> <3A2FF302.14495F52@student.umass.edu> <t30cml407fap25@corp.supernews.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
NNTP-Posting-Host: lech-33.res.umass.edu
X-Trace: 7 Dec 2000 20:58:31 -0500, lech-33.res.umass.edu
Organization: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Lines: 64
Path: news.duke.edu!newsgate.duke.edu!news-hog.berkeley.edu!ucberkeley!newsfeed.stanford.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!news.tufts.edu!blanket.mitre.org!world!news.umass.edu!oit.umass.edu!lech-33.res.umass.edu
Xref: news.duke.edu rec.arts.int-fiction:81191

pblock wrote:
>
> Making an IF that plays like a TT RPG wasn't my plan (don't MUDs
> do that?  I reallly haven't checked)  But, OK.

Hmm, well MUDs do solve the no-interactivity part, but they aren't
quite like Table-Top role-playing.  Pretty close, depending on the
game, but MUDs have a lot of features that single-play IF can
(unfortunately) never have.  Namely, other players, a dynamically
changing world (via builders) and real-live immortals who do alter
the world and set things straight from time to time.

> Only as flexible as the GM.  You'd be surprised how bad some GMs can be.
> ;-)

Hehe, no I wouldn't :)  But I see your point.

> Again, not my idea, per se (it took your comments here to make me realise
> what it was I was suggesting, thanks!)

Glad to be of service.

> You see, in every IF, the author sets up a situation and figures out a
> solution, possible based on some form of system of their own devising.
> My idea is that TT RPG rules can be borrowed to for this purpose, to give
> structure to the game, consistency to the author's game which might not be
> there otherwise, and to give authors the option of not having to create
> their own system.

Okay, I can see this.  I guess if I were doing it I'd never bother using
another system.  My reason being that I can design something that is
specifically made for my purposes just as easily as adapting a pre-made
one.  As flexible as FUDGE may, be it's still been designed for the
table
and I think that a system designed just for IF might handle things
better.

> Emulating TT RPGs is of course, impossible unless you can put more than one
> player in the same game.  (Again, MUDs?)  But IFs are generally solo play.
>
> Another possibility for using RPG rules: continuing characters.

A cool idea that has, in fact, been implemented once, a long while ago.
I
doubt that many people remember it, but there was a Text-Adventure
system
called Eamon a while back.  Originally for the C-64 (then ported to
Amiga,
Atari ST, IBM, and maybe others), Eamon was a cross between Nethack
style
adventures and IF.  You had a persistent character who returned ot the
guild
hall after each adventure.  You picked up items, got followers for the
course
of one adventure or another, and pretty much just had fun.  It was
mostly
combat and exploration, but puzzles also existed in a limited fashion
(the
parser was fairly simple).  You might want to look into it.

> But then, I'd have to learn TADS and spend time doing THAT instead of
> posting here.  ;-)

Always a difficulty :)
