[MUD-Dev] Games vs. simulations

[Marc Bowden]

--On Wed, Jun 14, 2000 11:00 -0400 Dmitri Zagidulin <zagidud at alleg.edu>
wrote:

> 
> Not to spark a holy war, but can anyone explain to a newcomer why
> non-room systems (read some kind of coordinate systems) are a bad
> idea? They seem like a good holy grail to me...
> Isn't that what Skotos is going for, among other things - trying to
> transcend the "you're in a room and that's it" limitation with their
> positioning engine?
> 

  It's not a 'bad' idea, on principle.

  But here's the problem.

  The idea of 'location' in the context of coordinates or map location
simply doesn't translate well to text-based adventure games; this is
one of the things (relative position of two objects is the other) that
graphics-based games do better. The medium and the generic audience are
just more ammenable to it. That's not to say it *can't* be done, but
when it is, only a fractional segment of the population will "get it".
The rest of the guests will put it up to background noise, and it'll
pass into that area (in their minds) of simulation that, while neat,
doesn't add anything to the gameplay for them.

  There's an ineffable line you can cross where too much realism starts
to impinge on the player's ability to achieve suspension of disbelief
and enjoy the game. Everyone's line is different; gauging where it is
for your personal game is one of the finer points of professional
administration.



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