Wonder if you’ll write any to-dos for this project…
Laws of writing IF (from Simon Christiansen)
Always have a description for x me
Always have items for all first-level nouns (e.g. things mentioned in descriptions)
Consider having descriptions for second-level nouns (mentioned in the first-level descriptions, etc.)
In outdoor areas think about the visibility of distant objects/scenery
General things to fix
Write a simple tutorial/hint thing at the top (also triggerable with “help”)
Stop dragging the ferry around
Bold key active nouns
Suggest key verbs as hints (e.g. talk to charon etc) bolded
Change it so all activities have notes + a separate lol somehow (at the very least this can communicate the key actions the player needs to perform)
Go through tester transcripts and find extra verbs to include to help out + bugs
Laws of writing, above
Add MORE STUFF to everywhere (perhaps especially Sisyphus) to make it a bit more entertaining to be there?
Contemplate randomized stuff? Or what is the point of that?
Enable ‘look around’? (or just say “you only need to look”)
Bold the jug (Greg missed it)
Make response to command start after a line break?
Consider a different way to enable shortcuts? (Maybe tell them they can say “I’ve been here before” and it’ll tell them how to skip to a punishment?)
Check looking at start line when you’re already running (e.g. get rid of the post it)
‘go down the hill’?
Which do you mean broken in tantalus has “nothing” injected into it
Bowl and basin in Danaids are confusing (different language would make sense, maybe a tap is better? Or a pump?)
Should ‘what is’ be allowed? No I think not…? (Maybe a generic answer to question words? Spare me your questions?)
Charon
Add information about skipping (and make the command “I am X” instead to make it less likely it just gets typed anyway)
Add Prometheus option
Add spit
Obol falls out on talking to Charon
Hint about looking at Charon’s clipboard when you try to pay
Add other skipping commands and frame it as a magical incantation so people might successfully do it by mistake and that’s okay.
Sisyphus
Add points (with notifications)
Add post-it to the boulder
Boulder pushing stuff is broken
Add “go down” hint when you see the boulder from afar. Maybe also custom “you need to go down the hill” when you try to do anything else to it.
Prometheus
Create room (rock rising out of the beach you arrive at)
Add description to Charon departure that includes him getting out and chaining you to the rock
Add idea of chains and restricted movement
Add writhing and synonyms + hint attached to other forms of movement (jump, go, etc)
Add eagle arrival
Add eagle pecking and reducing of liver
Add eagle departure
Add nightfall (room description) and liver regen
Add effective writhing and corresponding eagle dislodging
Tantalus
Create room (pool and tree up the beach)
Add Charon showing you to the pool
Have “in the pool” going
No movement from the pool
Add the tree and the apple
Replace get and drink etc. for the water and the apple
Add hunger and thirst system
Zeus lol?
Zeno
Create room (a track, a flag, maybe all just in the sand I think?)
Add Charon pointing you over to the start line, maybe firing a starter pistol
Supporters for starting line and the track itself
A table of descriptions for how far along the track you are
Track runs north away from the river let’s say, so you can run north (can you walk? No. But you can “go” and it assumes running?) but no other directions.
Fix the frustrations of walking
Fix the frustrations of the first run command not changing the description to be off the start line
Fix the frustrations of the fractional descriptions
Jumping should have a specific meaning, as should touching, anything that involves (obvious) physical movement
Archimedes lol?
Danaid
Create room (just the place as the other elements should be actual objects I think?)
Create objects (jug is a container, basin is a container, fountain is just a thing)
Put a note on the basin (lol)
Add actions for filling the jug (take it first)
MAYBE I’VE WALKED SOME KIND OF LINE WITH THIS? Deal with the fiddly life of dealing with specialist verbs. Maybe it’s better not to have fill at all. Just “get water” is enough. But “drop” seems pretty shit to get water into the basin? Does feel like we want a pour.
Maybe make the water reall be in the fountain, jug, basin as an object?
Add actions for pouring the jug (anywhere I guess, but ideally into the basin)
Make the basin empty the turn after you fill it
NOPE Don’t bother with incremental filling states? Not that interesting?
Still some bullshit around having the water show up in the container description…