Blue Sky

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I've been reading the reviews of my game, Blue Sky. (What author
wouldn't?) Your reviews have been very helpful, and I was pleased to see
it do no worse than I expected (perhaps a bit better). I don't want to
draw out your pain by posting more than one post on the subject, so here
I will answer some of the questions I've seen (even if they were meant
to be rhetorical).

First, for the record, Blue Sky was my first and so far only attempt at
writing IF. It was a lot of fun, and a lot more work than I'd
anticipated. I'll be the first to admit there are things that could be
fleshed out better.

Yes, the plot is strained. Yes, I was trying to make a travel game and
although I recognize it could have been fleshed out more I'm glad at
least some people found it mildly effective. Maybe I should have left
the plot out altogether. I wonder if anyone realized my tongue was in my
cheek. It apparently didn't come out like I might have hoped. If the
tourist seems to behave illogically or have a strange fixation to get
back with its tourist group instead of just enjoying Santa Fe on its own
terms, that is my tongue-in-cheek projection based partly in experience
with real-life tourists. (Many people who are obviously otherwise
intelligent behave in very strange ways when they are "on vacation." In
some places, such as Santa Fe, tourists are the unwitting target of more
than a few running jokes.)

I grew up in Santa Fe, so yes I've been there. I tried to make things as
accurate as possible. Although it _is_ beautiful, I recognize my writing
could use a little work. ;-) Perhaps it has improved since then, anyhow.

I don't plan on doing anything more with Blue Sky because I've lost the
source and it doesn't sound like people are clamoring for a better
version. If your opinion differs I'd love to hear your flattering words
by email.

Should I end up with the time and inclination to make another game in
the future, I wouldn't hesitate. I'd like to play a few more first,
though, and it's hard enough to find time for that.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Hans Fugal wrote:
> I've been reading the reviews of my game, Blue Sky. (What author
> wouldn't?) Your reviews have been very helpful, and I was pleased to see
> it do no worse than I expected (perhaps a bit better). I don't want to
> draw out your pain by posting more than one post on the subject, so here
> I will answer some of the questions I've seen (even if they were meant
> to be rhetorical).
>
> First, for the record, Blue Sky was my first and so far only attempt at
> writing IF. It was a lot of fun, and a lot more work than I'd
> anticipated. I'll be the first to admit there are things that could be
> fleshed out better.

And I whole-heartedly recommend you to do that. I didn't dislike the
game. It was just too sparsely described, populated, *and* implemented.
The disconnected exits didn't bother me much, but the lack of
implemented nouns and lack of more interactivity from the people around
(the llama guy, the native american vendors, etc) did. Except in one or
two places, I could play it almost right through tp the end without
going for the walkthrough.

I think IF "virtual city tours" could become an interesting sub-genre,
as long as the Fiction part is duly attended, ie. there is an
interesting plot in there. There was a comp game two or three years ago
on the same "tour an old city" theme, situated in a historic city in
Texas, I think.

Yes, insert an interesting plot and story, maybe a mystery (wasn't there
a mysterious woman?) that motivates the player, add more descriptions of
things, and scenery objects, more movimentation of NPCs and the plot,
that it may start to get much more interesting.
Emiliano.


> Yes, the plot is strained. Yes, I was trying to make a travel game and
> although I recognize it could have been fleshed out more I'm glad at
> least some people found it mildly effective. Maybe I should have left
> the plot out altogether. I wonder if anyone realized my tongue was in my

I'm sorry, if it doesn't have a story and plot, it's no good for me...

> cheek. It apparently didn't come out like I might have hoped. If the
> tourist seems to behave illogically or have a strange fixation to get
> back with its tourist group instead of just enjoying Santa Fe on its own
> terms, that is my tongue-in-cheek projection based partly in experience
> with real-life tourists. (Many people who are obviously otherwise
> intelligent behave in very strange ways when they are "on vacation." In

Humm, that might have been interesting but I didn't get that AT ALL...


> some places, such as Santa Fe, tourists are the unwitting target of more
> than a few running jokes.)

Such as?

>
> I grew up in Santa Fe, so yes I've been there. I tried to make things as
> accurate as possible. Although it _is_ beautiful, I recognize my writing
> could use a little work. ;-) Perhaps it has improved since then, anyhow.
>
> I don't plan on doing anything more with Blue Sky because I've lost the
> source and it doesn't sound like people are clamoring for a better
> version. If your opinion differs I'd love to hear your flattering words
> by email.

It's a pity, because I just said above that I like the "touring an old
city" scenario, including all the touristry descriptions of the place,
as long as there is some story and plot involved in it (the tourist gets
entangled in some local problem or intrigue, something like that).

>
> Should I end up with the time and inclination to make another game in
> the future, I wouldn't hesitate. I'd like to play a few more first,
> though, and it's hard enough to find time for that.

Agreed.
EMiliano.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Thanks for your insights!

Emiliano Padilha wrote:
>> some places, such as Santa Fe, tourists are the unwitting target of
>> more than a few running jokes.)
>
>
> Such as?

"Native Americans line the wall selling handcrafted jewelry for a lot of
money. But you think to yourself that it must be a fair price. (You are
after all a tourist.)"

The willingness of many tourists to pay huge amounts of money for mostly
worthless pieces of turquoise is one example. I overexaggerate - the
Indian jewelry is indeed art, but like almost all art sold on the plaza
it is way overpriced.

>> I don't plan on doing anything more with Blue Sky because I've lost
>> the source and it doesn't sound like people are clamoring for a better
>> version. If your opinion differs I'd love to hear your flattering
>> words by email.
>
>
> It's a pity, because I just said above that I like the "touring an old
> city" scenario, including all the touristry descriptions of the place,
> as long as there is some story and plot involved in it (the tourist gets
> entangled in some local problem or intrigue, something like that).

Then I'll keep the idea alive in cold storage for now. If I ever
end up in Santa Fe again I'll probably resurrect it. Part of the
fleshout problem was that I was going from memory and what I could find
on the web. If I could actually sit on the plaza for an afternoon or two
and take notes...