🚀 go-pugleaf

moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) writes:

     Unfortunately, what we have here is a text (very little graphics at
     all) adventure game with an animated front panel that beeps and blinks
     and does very little else.  The action of the game seems to have very
     little to do with science fiction (as the title would suggest).  It is
     the standard maze type adventure game, except the same text picture is
     used as you proceed through the adventure.  The functions and commands
     which can be used through the control panel (and accessed with the
     mouse) are generally redundant methods of giving a text command to the
     game.

Take a look at "Transylvania" by Penguin Software (and perhaps others by the
same company).  Each setting has a well-drawn picture associated with it,
taking up about 1/3 of the screen.  You can move the basic four directions
by clicking on the appropriate arrow beneath the picture, as well as typing
in the direction (I don't mind redundancy in commands myself), and the inven-
tory is in a menu.

     First, a confession; during my youth, as an undergraduate at the
     University of Washington, I discovered a game running on a Vax 780
     (VMesS) which I became addicted to, and spent many hours playing during
     the wee hours of the evening.  Suffice it to say that I eventually grew
     out of this phase... until I happened to pick up a game called
     LODERUNNER for my Mac at the local computer shoppe.  LODERUNNER and the
     game at the UW were obviously related; I have no idea who came first (I
     can guess) and could care less, but  this Mac version of the game has
     lost none of the addictive power of the VMS version, and added quite a
     few features which exploit the powers of the Macs graphic capabilities.

Yes, I too became addicted to this game at the ol' UW.  And yes, they are
related.  The Vax version came first, then Doug Smith (the author) decided
to translate it to the Apple II.  Next thing we heard was that he had sold
it to Broderbund and was making $70,000 a month.  Who says games are a waste
of time!
   Here is a technique for using the mouse to move your man (shown to me by
the 8-year-old boy across the street; I'm so embarassed!): just "lead" the
fellow with the pointer, keeping the pointer pretty much on top of the running
figure.  That way you never have a problem with running into walls.  (Aside:
I agree, though, that the keyboard is better...)

        It looks as if, in general, games built strictly for the Mac
     have not come about, though LODERUNNER should point the way to several
     interesting methods of game-building for the Mac.  The main problem
     seems to be how to incorporate the Mouse into the play of the game; the
     Mouse just does not substitute well as a joystick or a track ball
     (unless the position of the marker on the screen is not a limitation,
     as it is in LODERUNNER).  A game with good graphics and animation, with
     an imaginitive and engaging concept, could make it in the market; but
     the feature which would truly make it worth playing is a way to use the
     Mouse to control play, in a logical and smooth manner.

Games strictly for the Mac do exist!  Take a look at all the games by Videx
(Fun Pak, Mac Vegas, MacGammon).  They all use the Mac interface extensively,
and it is even possible to put the keyboard away and use the mouse for every-
thing!  They are, in general, very well-done programs that follow the Mac
guidelines logically and completely, and have excellent graphics.  As for
arcade-type games, I agree that a joystick is needed; the mouse simply will
not do for most things.

The Great Green Arkleseizure            {decvax,ihnp4}!uw-beaver!uw-june!gordon
        Jamie Green                               gordon@uw-june.arpa