>look
You cannot make out anything, but get a vague sense of disarray from what surrounds you. Squinting, you see a shape hunched over a keyboard and a computer screen.
There don't appear to be any exits.
>examine shape
Upon closer inspection, you realize that it's the same person, the author from before, but now much more tired-looking. Rumpled clothes, rumpled hair, lightly bloodshot eyes, and intense attention to what he's currently typing as to make him oblivious to anything else. His fingers do not rest for very long and move in quick bursts over the keys.
He does not seem to notice you.
>fly
You jump up and flap your arms up and down for a bit, but gravity seems to be working properly now.
>now what?
How should I know?
>look
The sense of disarray becomes almost oppressive. You look around but still cannot see anything specific. Except for the computer screen, the keyboard, and the author, stil busy at his work.
>wait
Nothing new happens. The typing continues without slowing.
>clear throat
You clear your throat loudly, hoping to get his attention. No such luck, though.
>talk to author
What do you want to talk about?
>ask author about typing
"Oh, this?" he answers without turning away from the screen, "I'm just writing around twenty 400-word articles about bowling. Got to earn a living somehow, you know."
You can feel, if not see, him smiling sheepishly.
>ask author about bowling
"Bowling as a sport was first popularized in the 1950s by an NBC show called 'Championship Bowling', and has subsequently entered American culture.... Regulation bowling balls range in weight from eight to sixteen pounds.... Crankers choose to deliver their balls with the maximum possible force, while strokers aim for consistency and finesse....
The usual. 'Shoveling cultural snow', I think someone, a much better writer than I, called it.
Although, to be honest, he meant writing for magazines and the like, for instance restaurant and book reviews. I think my articles end up buried in websites who just want to improve their rankings by featuring 'relevant content'. As such, this work does feel demeaning and worthless, at times, but, well, can't complain. Keeps me writing - if we are generous and allow this to be called writing - at least."
Again without turning. You wonder how long it's going to take him to finish the batch.
>north
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>east
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>south. west.
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
You are able to walk a few steps in that direction, but quickly hit a wall with no doors or windows.
>up. down. out.
You can't see any stairs or ladders leading either up or down.
You can't see any stairs or ladders leading either up or down.
There are no visible doors or windows to exit through.
>hit author
Violence isn't the answer.
>kiss author
Neither is unrealistic intimacy.
>hint
The answer is a four letter word.
>quit
Are you sure (Y or N)? Y
You have quit the game, with 0 out of a possible 0 points.
Would you like to learn more about the exciting sport of bowling (Y or N)? N!
Showing posts with label IF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IF. Show all posts
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Transcript v1.1
>look
You appear to be in some sort of virtual world. The surroundings are hazy and indistinct. Opposite you is a man in glasses, looking bored.
>inventory
You are carrying nothing, or at least nothing that would be of the least conceivable use here, sorry.
>examine surroundings
Hazy and indistinct. (I told you already, sheesh.)
>examine man
He is a youngish man with shortish black hair and brown skin. Perhaps in his early twenties, he stands a bit taller and a bit wider than you do. Thin-frame glasses, thin mustache, a beard beginning to get scraggly, and a quiet air.
You feel like he'd answer your questions.
>examine hair
Just long enough to be parted down the (nearly) middle, his hair invites the touch of a hand, fingers to smoothly run through the silken strands or to tousle them good-naturedly.
>examine my hair
Oh, your hair? Same as always, I suppose.
>ask man about virtual world
"New here?" he asks with a smile.
"This is what I tell most people: it's better, on the whole, to not think anymore about how and why you got here. Everything will return to normal, eventually, so just enjoy your stay."
>ask man about escape
"Inevitable, but you can't hurry it. Relax."
>ask man about surroundings
He peers around through his glasses, then back at you, before replying, "I don't know, they seem to be as ill-described as always."
In demonstration, he walks away from you and you watch him grow smaller and smaller before he disappears - and reappears behind you.
"Some crazy topology, eh? Sometimes I think this place reacts to your expectations of it," he muses.
>fly
You fly around for a while. Yay you. Much too quickly the novelty fades (no wind here, or indeed any sort of reference for your motion save the stationary - and much amused - man), and you drift to a stop back where the man is standing.
>ask man about the meaning of life
"42," he promptly answers. "Don't people read, nowadays?"
>what am i doing here?
Sorry, I couldn't parse that.
>ask man about man
"Well, I guess I'm the author around here, yeah," he says to you. "Although, truth be told, I haven't been writing anything much lately, except for some short-lived interactive fiction."
>ask man about interactive fiction
The author sighs.
>ask man about interactive fiction
"Yes, fine, I admit that I underestimated it," the author says, after some more prodding. He runs a hand through his silky, wonderful-smelling hair (you feel like touching it yourself!)
"The ideas I had don't seem to be fleshed out enough, yet, to be worth giving the amount of time and effort that creating interactive fiction, as I found out, would require. I think I need to plan and think about this a bit more. In the meantime, I can find diversions enough to keep me in business."
>ask man about hair
(instead touching the hair)
Soft strands curl around your fingers, and you touch warm scalp. He does not protest, but is visibly uncomfortable at your intrusion.
When you withdraw your hand, he speaks up, "Why do people keep doing that? There must be something wrong with the parser."
The author becomes lost in thought.
>tell man sorry
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>ask man about thought
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>shake man
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>escape
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem - oh, crap, sorry, I mean
You didn't think it'd be that easy, did y -
- well fine okay okay -
(Author's note: there, fixed it!)
****You have won the game****
Finally, you find something better to do.
You appear to be in some sort of virtual world. The surroundings are hazy and indistinct. Opposite you is a man in glasses, looking bored.
>inventory
You are carrying nothing, or at least nothing that would be of the least conceivable use here, sorry.
>examine surroundings
Hazy and indistinct. (I told you already, sheesh.)
>examine man
He is a youngish man with shortish black hair and brown skin. Perhaps in his early twenties, he stands a bit taller and a bit wider than you do. Thin-frame glasses, thin mustache, a beard beginning to get scraggly, and a quiet air.
You feel like he'd answer your questions.
>examine hair
Just long enough to be parted down the (nearly) middle, his hair invites the touch of a hand, fingers to smoothly run through the silken strands or to tousle them good-naturedly.
>examine my hair
Oh, your hair? Same as always, I suppose.
>ask man about virtual world
"New here?" he asks with a smile.
"This is what I tell most people: it's better, on the whole, to not think anymore about how and why you got here. Everything will return to normal, eventually, so just enjoy your stay."
>ask man about escape
"Inevitable, but you can't hurry it. Relax."
>ask man about surroundings
He peers around through his glasses, then back at you, before replying, "I don't know, they seem to be as ill-described as always."
In demonstration, he walks away from you and you watch him grow smaller and smaller before he disappears - and reappears behind you.
"Some crazy topology, eh? Sometimes I think this place reacts to your expectations of it," he muses.
>fly
You fly around for a while. Yay you. Much too quickly the novelty fades (no wind here, or indeed any sort of reference for your motion save the stationary - and much amused - man), and you drift to a stop back where the man is standing.
>ask man about the meaning of life
"42," he promptly answers. "Don't people read, nowadays?"
>what am i doing here?
Sorry, I couldn't parse that.
>ask man about man
"Well, I guess I'm the author around here, yeah," he says to you. "Although, truth be told, I haven't been writing anything much lately, except for some short-lived interactive fiction."
>ask man about interactive fiction
The author sighs.
>ask man about interactive fiction
"Yes, fine, I admit that I underestimated it," the author says, after some more prodding. He runs a hand through his silky, wonderful-smelling hair (you feel like touching it yourself!)
"The ideas I had don't seem to be fleshed out enough, yet, to be worth giving the amount of time and effort that creating interactive fiction, as I found out, would require. I think I need to plan and think about this a bit more. In the meantime, I can find diversions enough to keep me in business."
>ask man about hair
(instead touching the hair)
Soft strands curl around your fingers, and you touch warm scalp. He does not protest, but is visibly uncomfortable at your intrusion.
When you withdraw your hand, he speaks up, "Why do people keep doing that? There must be something wrong with the parser."
The author becomes lost in thought.
>tell man sorry
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>ask man about thought
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>shake man
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem to notice you.
>escape
The author is lost in thought, and doesn't seem - oh, crap, sorry, I mean
You didn't think it'd be that easy, did y -
- well fine okay okay -
(Author's note: there, fixed it!)
****You have won the game****
Finally, you find something better to do.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
You see a new notice on the otherwise bare wall. Read it? (Y/N) _
Hey, people. I'm thinking of writing some interactive fiction, something like a choose your own adventure game, only in digital form, and with slightly more complicated mechanics.
It's going to be fun both in a programming sense and in a writing sense, so it should be a healthy (in the sense that it won't die out too quickly) diversion.
Anyway, preliminary question to the handful of people who still visit. If I finished the game (or the interactive fiction piece, whatever), would you play it?
It's going to be fun both in a programming sense and in a writing sense, so it should be a healthy (in the sense that it won't die out too quickly) diversion.
Anyway, preliminary question to the handful of people who still visit. If I finished the game (or the interactive fiction piece, whatever), would you play it?
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